A new small business report released by U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids’ office shows strong numbers for Kansas’s Third Congressional District, which includes Johnson County.
Released on Thursday, the report shows the Third District saw an increase in overall business requests, with Johnson County leading the state in small business applications. It also shows an increase in manufacturing jobs.
“It’s just really clear that we have to continue to do everything we can to support our small business owners,” Davids said to the Johnson County Post at a small business roundtable in Lenexa.
The report comes as Rep. Davids gears up for another campaign season in which she is seeking her fourth term in Congress. Two Republicans are vying in a primary next month for the chance to challenge her, along with a Libertarian candidate.
The new report shows strong numbers for the Third District
Some of the key findings in the report, which was prepared by Davids’s office, include:
- In 2023, 10,704 new business applications were filed in Kansas’ Third District, up 12.6% since 2022 and 42.7% since 2019.
- Out of the state’s overall 33,269 new small business applications in 2023, Johnson County led the state with 8,272 new applications.
- Of the 10,600 jobs created in the state in 2023, 2,300 come from manufacturing.
- In 2023, the Kansas Small Business Development Center — a state-based arm of the U.S. Small Business Administration — served 1,399 clients, leading to $94 million in annual sales, 4,714 jobs created and 52 new businesses.
Davids was in Lenexa for a small business roundtable
Before the release of the report Thursday, Davids met with local barbecue restaurant owners and other small business representatives, as well as officials from the Kansas Department of Agriculture and Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce, for a roundtable discussion at Jack Stack Barbecue in Lenexa.
While Davids spoke with the media after the event, reporters were not invited to sit in on the roundtable conversation itself.
The discussion ranged from job creation to how small businesses have been able to navigate the rising costs of goods and services, like food and equipment, Davids said.
“We brought together a diverse group of people to talk about … how they’ve been handling some things, like the rising costs of inputs and the impact it’s having on customers. But also, what are some of the things that folks have done to navigate that? And what are ways that, from the federal perspective, I can be helpful?” she said.
Highlighting a bipartisan Farm Bill that her office has been working on, Davids said she’s hoping to help make things easier for small businesses along the supply chain.
“We want to make sure that, as we’re looking at the federal policies, that they’re not overly burdensome on our farmers and ranchers,” she said.
Davids’s potential GOP challenger disagrees on her policies
Vying for Davids’s seat in Congress, Republicans Prasanth Reddy and Karen Crnkovich are facing off in a primary in August to see who will be her challenger in November.
Both opponents have been critical of Davids’s job policies, with Reddy stating on his website that he “will undo the Biden-Davids policies that have caused the worst inflation in a generation.”
Reddy did not return The Post’s request for comment for this story.
Speaking as a small business owner, Crnkovich said events like Thursday’s don’t match Davids’s record in Congress.
“She talks about small business a lot. She sits on the Small Business Committee (in Congress). And yet, her voting record to support small business initiatives is deplorable,” she said.
Crnkovich cited the National Federation of Independent Business’s 118th Congress Interim Report, which says Davids voted in favor of small business issues 17% of the time during the first session of the 118th Congress.
“Davids has done a great job of communicating one thing in our district, but voting and acting a completely opposite way in Washington D.C.,” Crnkovich said.
What’s next
Davids is now looking to continue pushing for passage of the federal Farm Bill, which she hopes will help out small businesses in the area and beyond.
“We’re working on it right now,” she said. “It will have massive impact, not just on the nutrition assistance program’s side, but also on the ability of our farmers, producers, our ranchers to be able to function (and) there’s a level of consistency and predictability.”
Reddy and Crnkovich will face off in the Republican primary election on Aug. 6.
Also on the ballot in November will be Libertarian Party candidate Steve Roberts.
