This was a citizen-driven project that began in 2016 when the grocery store in St. John closed.
When it became clear that the scope of the project required to recruit a grocer was beyond what the task force or city could accomplish on its own, EcoDevo eventually stepped in to became the developer of the Stafford County Marketplace.
Initial 20 year projections.
$40,000 in Sales a Week
• $1 million investment
• $2,080,000 sales/year
• $41,600,000 cumulative sales
• 25 Jobs
• Payroll estimate $5,291,000
• Annual sales tax $176,800
• Total sales tax $3,536,000
• No new property tax
$75,000 in Sales a Week
• $3.8 million investment
• $3.900,000 sales/year
• $78,000,000 cumulative sales
• 33 jobs
• Payroll estimate $9,360,000
• Annual sales tax $331,500
• Total sales tax $6,630,000
• $38,000/year new property
tax
Altogether, it took a dozen public, private, and nonprofit funding sources.
We raised initial equity through donations and a few grants; however, the majority of the project was funded through debt financing: $2.3 million in loans.
LOANS
$1.3 million 4% fixed-rate, 20-year loan from SJN Bank of Kansas
$1 million 0% interest, 10-year loan through the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program
GRANTS
$780,800 Job creation grant through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
$75,000 Kansas Health Food Finance Initiative
$75,000 Sunflower Foundation
$63,000 Kansas Corn Commission
$45,000 Network Kansas
DONATIONS
$300,000 from private citizens
$100,000 from SJN Bank of Kansas
$100,000 pledged $10,000/year for 10 years from the Independent Order of Oddfellows in St. John
CITY OF ST. JOHN
$1.4 million (estimated $70,000/year for 20 years) through Tax Increment Financing (TIF) from the sales and property taxes of the marketplace
$500,000 pledged $50,000/year for 10 years from the City of St, John
$200,000 (estimated sales tax exemption)through an Industrial Revenue Bond
In order to take on that amount of debt, we had to have a plan on how to pay it back. We knew that rent alone would not cover our monthly loan payments. We had to piece together additional ongoing revenue sources to make it work: fuel fees, tax increment financing (TIF), an annual pledge of $50,000 from the City of St. John for 10 years, and an annual pledge of $10,000 from the Independent Order of Oddfellows for 10 years.
After 88 years in business, the Dillons Grocery Store in St. John closed its doors.
After a couple of months of meetings and preliminary research, the St. John City Council appointed six community leaders to steer efforts to help bring a grocery store back to St. John. The Grocery Task Force was made up of Laura Davis, Chad Fisher, Kim Hullman, John Mansel, Josh Meyer, and Tonya Sanders.
Unlike neighboring communities, St. John had been collecting zero local sales tax. Voters approved a 10-year 1% sales tax for economic development purposes and infrastructure projects.
The City of St. John purchased the former Dillons building in an attempt to attract a new grocer and the Grocery Task Force interviewed prospective grocers.
The City and EcoDevo split the cost of a feasibility study by Perkins Marketing to determine if the old Dillons building would be suitable to open a grocery store in or if a new, bigger building would need to be constructed.
With the results of a feasibility study and feedback from established grocer White’s Foodliner, it became clear that the scope of the project required to recruit a grocer was beyond what the Grocery Task Force or the City of St. John could accomplish on its own. It would require constructing a new 15,000 sq. ft. facility along the highway that had compassion business to drive traffic.
The EcoDevo board agreed to accept a donation for a down payment or purchase option on property to be used for a new grocery store in St. John.
EcoDevo received over $130,000 in private and corporate donations as seed money for start-up costs for the grocery store project.
EcoDevo awarded a $15,000 planning grant from Sunflower Foundation for technical assistance preparing legal documents related to the grocery store project.
EcoDevo purchased land at U.S. Highway 281 and 5th Avenue in St. John for the construction of a new grocery store.
A fuel study was conducted by IMST to see if this service would bring more grocery sales to the grocery store. The study found that residents were buying fuel out-of-county 60% of the time. With gas pumps, a new grocery store would see a projected increase of 16% in grocery sales each time a customer bought fuel.
White’s Foodliner signed a letter of intent to operate in the future Stafford County Marketplace for 10 years. Stafford County Drug also signed a letter of intent.
The City of St. John voted to enter into and signed a development agreement with EcoDevo.
EcoDevo was awarded a $780,800 grant for job creation from the Department of Health and Human Services to develop the Stafford County Marketplace.
This was definitely a game-changer in the $3.8 million project. It wasn’t everything, but it was the equity needed to secure a couple of loans. All together, it took a mix of 12 public, private, and nonprofit funding sources.
The existing building on the property at U.S. Highway 281 and 5th Avenue was demolished.
The general contractor J.A. Knight & Sons out of Pratt began construction on the Stafford County Marketplace.
The Grand Opening was held Wednesday, October 10th. The Stafford County Marketplace is home to White’s Foodliner, Stafford County Drug, and Tiger Stop which is a convenience store and fuel pumps. Here are some photos of the event taken by St. John Community Member, Dick Smith.
