Rimsie McConiga
Special to the Citizen
When Alicia Stephens was honored Oct. 29 at Embassy Suites KCI at her retirement celebration as Platte County Economic Development Council Executive Director, hundreds of her colleagues and friends toasted her many achievements over her 26 years of helping local communities thrive. She is a firm believer in the Rotary Club motto ‘Service Above Self.’
She spent seven years in Liberty where she served as the Liberty Economic Development Council’s first executive director. She’s worked in economic development in Platte County for two decades.
Unsure of what her perfect career choice would be Stephens studied elementary education when she started college but didn’t finish her degree. When her two children were in college she decided to return to college herself and enrolled at Park University, where she finished her studies and earned her degree in business management.
“They offered such a great program for working adults,” Stephens said. “So I was working full-time and finished the year I turned 50.”
Beginning her career as a volunteer for economic development in Platte City she worked her way up through many positions at Platte County Economic Development Council, including secretary and treasurer. She soon realized she had found the perfect career fit and was appointed to the executive assistant position. She rose to executive director.
“Platte County Economic Development Council is a not-for-profit,” Stephens said. “It’s a member-based organization and not a public entity, which is in my view the best of both worlds when you get to interact with the communities and help them realize a vision but then to be on the private side as well.”
There are several programs she worked on that make her proud, including the Platte County Visitors Bureau.
“One of the things we really wanted and needed to see was tourism in Platte County,” Stephens said. “How can you have the airport in your backyard and not have a tourism entity? So we took that on as an organization and did trade shows and brochures and I finally convinced the county that there’s real money in tourism. The county put a hotel/motel bed tax on the ballot in 1995 and so we have a separate Platte County Visitors Bureau, which is pretty unusual for a county our size, especially back in 1995, so we basically incubated that.”
From 1998 to 2001 she worked on a school-to-career partnership. Businesses partnered with educational facilities to place young people in job shadows and internships.
“I think it was a little ahead of its time, because when it came time to stand on its own it did not, Stephens said. “You see it a lot now though. I think we were probably 10 years too early. It was really a great program and a real success and it was one of my disappointments. I wish it could have stood on its own and funded by the private sector and schools. When we began to step away it began to falter. But they do a great job now and just about every school district uses it.”
One of the highlights of her career was working on garnering support for the new airport. “We knocked on doors, we did an education campaign and we did over 40 presentations all across the metro about why it was important,” Stephens said. “It’s very important for Platte County, we’re the ones that get to claim it right? And we worked really hard to get that over the finish line. The foundations are going in and the workforce is huge. It’s so important to make people know that there are lots of jobs available. You can live here and you can work here and it’s one of the best parts of what we do. It benefits everybody and every business when people have jobs.”
Knowing that community members have family-supporting jobs is Stephens’ favorite part of being an economic developer.
She said once jobs are secured businesses move to the area and school districts benefit due to the real estate tax.
“She was a true leader and a visionary who tells it like it is,” Jill McCarthy, senior executive at KC Area Development Council said. “She’s always right on point. She looks at the comprehensive project and says, ‘Here’s our A-Z and here’s how we get it done.’ She was always passionate about her work.”
Successful projects that Stephens worked on include the groundbreaking in Liberty for Magna, a large auto industry supplier. “To watch it grow even though I’m away from there now is just very fulfilling,” Stephens said. “We have some of those great projects on the Platte County side as well like the overhaul base. It used to be the TWA overhaul base which was a major employer in Platte County for decades and built a lot of Platte County residential homes and neighborhoods. So when American shuttered that it was really hard to watch. But we have since recruited a new company in there, Aviation Technical Services and it’s nice to know that they are utilizing that very special place. It’s very rewarding, I love seeing activity there again. They’ve been there about five years. I would rather work on an industrial project any day than any other type of project because industrial jobs feel more permanent. I really like the industrial sector, they’re not fickle and they’re going to stay.”
One of her disappointments has been the closing of the Harley-Davidson plant which has left a 500,000 square feet empty space. Stephens said they have worked very hard to refill that space and she is excited that a company scheduled a site visit there recently.
“I got into economic development as a volunteer and it gets into your blood and you love it or you just don’t get it,” Stephens said. “It’s really in my blood. I’m finding it hard to let go. In economic development you’ve got to have good partners and in Platte County we’re so fortunate to have really great partners. Our membership base is about 140.”
For Stephens, economic development success depends on business recruitment, which is everything from retail to industrial. She believes strongly in business retention and helping existing businesses grow and expand.
“We can help with loans, new space, city processes or workforce issues,” Stephens said. “We focus on retention as much as we focus on recruitment. Recruitment is great but if you bring a new business in the front door and an existing business is going out the back door you need to take a look at that. It’s not good. It’s about community development.
“It just makes the community stronger so you can do more infrastructure and benefit the schools. Nobody likes to talk about water and sewer but you’ve got to have water and sewer and transportation as well. We do a lot on the community development side to make sure the infrastructure can meet not only today’s needs but needs in the future.”
Even during the years of the most recent economic downturn Stephens said the area was fortunate that there were still many building projects in the Northland. “A lot of it is about location,” Stephens said. We’re near I-29, I-435, I-635, you can get anywhere from here. But it’s also about quality of life. The great thing about Platte County is it’s all about choice. If you want to live on a small farm you can do that. If you want suburban living you can do that and if you want a small town you can do that. It’s all about choice at different price points.”
She has a contract with the Economic Development Council and is still working on the Northland Sports Complex, which she’s been working on for six years. The council told her she was the one who needs to get it over the finish line.
“I’m not quite finished yet, I have a lot of advocating and educating to do about the Northland in general let alone the sports complex,” Stephens said. The sports complex means a lot to me and as an organization we’ve invested a lot of resources, time and money, but it still has to go through the KCMO City Council to select a contractor and decide how to pay for it.”
Liberty Mutual Senior Project Manager Tim Daily said, “I will remember how giving and passionate Alicia was, always willing to help everyone out.”
Stephens said that she will really miss making a difference as an economic developer but she knows she will find other ways to make a difference.And she is looking forward to extended road trips with her family.
Building and sustaining relationships was an important part of her job and she will miss her co-workers and partners. When someone asked her how she knew it was time to retire, she said she just knew it was time.
“I’m really looking forward to waving to people out my front window when they’re trudging through snow on their way to work,” Stephens said. “That’s what my husband would do after he retired and I left for work. I don’t feel old but I know I have a select number of years left and even though I loved my job I feel it’s time to focus on some different things.”