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He and colleagues discussed combining Topeka and 69传媒 69传媒� as well as Lawrence and possibly other cities 69传媒� to form a bigger metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The benefit, they said, is showing a higher population to be able to compete for businesses and economic development projects or programs that might have a higher population cutoff than any of those cities has on its own.

He said he got the idea when he was traveling near Tucscon, Arizona, and drove to Nogales. He wondered what MSA Nogales was in and found that it was in Tucson69传媒檚.

69传媒淭hat is a long way; that is like 80-something miles,69传媒� he said. 69传媒�... I started thinking, 69传媒榃hat a boon for Tucson and that whole region that they have these numbers in their MSA that they69传媒檙e able to compete for economic development projects because they make the cut because they69传媒檙e over a specific number.69传媒�69传媒�

Pivarnik said he loves 69传媒. He said he and his wife love Bourbon and Baker, and he said they can get here quickly when they want to have dinner there. He said it69传媒檚 a shorter distance than most restaurants were from his home when he lived in the Tulsa area.

69传媒淚 would much rather us compete together for a project and 69传媒 get it than Columbia, Missouri, get it,69传媒� he said. 69传媒淣ow, my preference would be that Topeka would get it. But I think 69传媒 and Lawrence and Topeka are different enough that companies are going to know where it makes sense for them to go, right? So we69传媒檇 be rooting for each other... But let69传媒檚 get 69传媒榚m here, get 69传媒榚m in the region.69传媒�

They69传媒檙e also looking at approaching Emporia and/or Salina to make an MSA that passes the 500,000 population mark.

Pivarnik said he roots for other cities in the region.

69传媒淎 rising tide raises all ships, so we69传媒檙e out there rooting for you guys,69传媒� he said. 69传媒淲e want you to win so bad.69传媒�

Bob Ross, the chief marketing officer for the Greater Topeka Partnership, said the current Topeka MSA is 235,000 residents with five counties and a GDP of $14.4 billion. 69传媒69传媒檚 MSA is 135,000 residents with three counties and $8.5 billion in GDP. Lawrence69传媒檚 MSA is 121,000 residents in one county and $6.2 billion in GDP.

69传媒淲hat that means is when they69传媒檙e comparing their peer sets, when people are looking at Topeka, 69传媒 or Lawrence individually, what they see is 69传媒 is ranked 310th in the nation for metropolitan areas, Lawrence is at 331, Topeka is at 203,69传媒� Ross said. 69传媒淎nd then you go all the way up to some of our real competitors. Springfield, Missouri, is at 111, Northwest Arkansas (is) at 98, Wichita (is) at 90, and of course, Kansas City is at 31.69传媒�

He said they considered what it would look like if 69传媒, Lawrence and Topeka really did decided to represent themselves together when competing for economic projects.

69传媒淎 joint metro would create a metropolitan area of 486,770 residents,69传媒� he said. 69传媒淭hat would put us at a $30 billion GDP. It would become a nine-county metro.

For comparison, the Kansas City metro has 13 counties. Ross said that region would put the Topeka MSA on par with Wichita and higher on rankings than Lincoln, Nebraska.

Attendees asked who decides what MSA 69传媒 is in.

Pivarnik said the federal government essentially decides what constitutes each MSA, though the decision might include several entities and isn69传媒檛 very clear-cut. He and his colleagues before the change in administration went to the White House to speak to the Office of Management and Budget about the idea. He said federal officials tend to follow what local and state officials want and whether they want to work together.

69传媒淚n the West Wing, they said the most important thing is all the communities need to want it,69传媒� Pivarnik said. 69传媒淲e said, 69传媒極oh, that69传媒檚 not very scientific.69传媒� But they said that69传媒檚 really important.69传媒�

Another person asked whether any communities, especially smaller communities, would see any negative effects.

Pivarnik said officials will be careful to consider that. Programs such as Reinvestment Housing Incentive Districts, for example 69传媒� formerly called Rural Housing Incentive Districts 69传媒� use city populations, not metropolitan areas, so there wouldn69传媒檛 be a negative effect in that case.

Daryn Soldan, economic development director for the 69传媒 Area Chamber of Commerce, said area leaders will continue discussing whether they want to work together and present a unified front.

69传媒淲hen you get into the site selection process, it69传媒檚 an elimination game,69传媒� he said. 69传媒淵ou69传媒檝e got to get on a list, and you69传媒檝e got to stay on a list, and you69传媒檝e got to keep staying on a list until you69传媒檙e on a short list, and you can actually really compete, right? But we could potentially see additional project opportunities across that region.69传媒�