Topeka Needs More Retail — And Here’s Why It’s Good for All of Us

Topeka friends and neighbors,

We all want a stronger city with more jobs, better services, and money to fix our streets and parks without raising property taxes every year. One of the smartest, most practical things we can do right now is focus on attracting more quality retail to our community.

Here’s why it makes simple sense:

Our real market is much bigger than just Shawnee County.

The official Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes about 233,000 people across five counties. But our true economic reach is even larger. Topeka already pulls in shoppers from many surrounding counties, and we have enormous untapped potential from travelers and visitors.

Tens of thousands of people drive through Topeka every single day.

I-70 alone carries around 40,000 vehicles a day near downtown (with even higher volumes on other stretches), plus traffic on the Kansas Turnpike (I-335) and other major routes. That adds up to millions of travelers passing through our community every year. These are people from other towns, other states, and all over the country. Many of them would stop and spend money here if we gave them good reasons — nice stores, restaurants, and places to shop.

Tourism is already happening — and retail makes it stronger.

People come to Topeka for the State Capitol, historic sites, events, and more. When we have strong retail options, visitors stay longer, spend more on food, gas, gifts, and shopping, and they tell their friends. Good retail doesn’t just serve tourists — it actually creates more tourism by turning Topeka into a place worth stopping for.

Retail brings in “imported” money from outside our county.

Every time someone from outside Shawnee County buys something here — whether they’re from a surrounding county, passing through on the highway, or visiting — that’s new money coming into our local economy. It’s like we’re exporting our stores and services and importing dollars from other places.

This isn’t something to feel guilty about — it’s smart. It grows our sales tax base, which pays for police, fire, roads, parks, and city services. The more of these “outside” sales we capture, the less pressure there is on local property taxpayers. Successful cities do this all the time. We should too.

We can actually measure this.

We should track how much of our retail sales are coming from the broader region, the MSA, and from visitors/pass-through traffic. That data shows the real economic impact and helps us make better decisions about where and how to grow retail.

Right now, Topeka needs stronger sales tax revenue. Focusing on retail development — by making it easier for good projects to happen, updating zoning where it makes sense, and supporting businesses that serve both locals and the bigger region — is one of the best tools we have.

Here’s what you can do:

Call or email your City Council member and Mayor Spencer Duncan. Tell them:

“I want Topeka to prioritize attracting more retail. Our real market is over 233,000 in the MSA plus all the travelers on our highways and shoppers from surrounding counties. This brings in outside money and grows our sales tax base. Let’s make it happen.”

The more of us who speak up, the clearer the message becomes. Topeka can be a place where people want to stop, shop, stay longer, and invest. It starts with recognizing that our opportunity is bigger than our city limits.

Let’s get to work.

 

Jason Tryon - Let's support Jason.....staff says nice things.

Topeka Public Works Retention: A 20-Year Perspective (2006–2026)

Looking back two decades reveals a recurring pattern of leadership churn in Topeka’s Public Works Department that has likely contributed to inconsistent infrastructure progress, lost momentum on capital projects, and challenges in supporting private development. While specific tenure lengths vary and full historical lists are not always publicized, public records, news archives, and city announcements show frequent transitions at the director level and reliance on interims — a symptom of broader retention difficulties in key municipal roles.

Notable Leadership Transitions (Approximate Timeline)

• Mid-2010s: Jason Peek served as Public Works Director (visible in 2017 discussions on street paving and infrastructure needs). He was a longer-term figure compared to recent directors, involved in efforts to address worsening street conditions.
• ~2019–2020s: Braxton Copley (now Assistant City Manager) served in Public Works/oversight roles, including as interim director at times. Internal promotions helped provide continuity during transitions.
• 2021–2024 period: Additional shifts occurred, with internal staff filling gaps. Budgets frequently noted vacancies and the strain on remaining employees.
• 2024–2025: Steve Groen hired from out-of-state (Minnehaha County) with strong credentials; departed after ~11 months in November 2025 alongside another department head (IT Director). Jason Tryon stepped in as interim and was later made permanent.
• 2026: Tryon continues leading Public Works, with positive notes on department recognition (e.g., accreditation achievements dating back to 2005 for Public Works/Utilities).

Over 20 years, the department has seen a mix of internal promotions (e.g., Tryon, Copley) and external hires (e.g., Groen), but short-to-medium tenures at the top appear common. This aligns with city-wide vacancy challenges documented in budgets, where departments rely on staff “wearing multiple hats” and vacancy credits to balance finances.

Patterns and Impacts Over Two Decades

1. Disrupted Continuity: Public Works handles long-term assets (streets, drainage systems, facilities). Frequent changes make it harder to maintain multi-year strategies for pavement management, CIP planning, or infrastructure readiness — issues you’ve highlighted in projects involving sidewalks, erosion control, and development agreements.
2. Recruitment and Retention Strain: External talent like Groen brings fresh expertise but often doesn’t stick. Internal leaders provide stability but may lack the broadest external perspective. Factors likely include compensation gaps versus private sector (or nearby KC metro opportunities), bureaucratic hurdles, political dynamics, and workplace culture. City efforts at recruitment exist, but leadership-level exits suggest they haven’t fully resolved underlying issues.
3. Broader Context: Topeka has faced infrastructure backlogs (e.g., street conditions noted in 2017). While departments earn accreditations and complete projects, turnover adds friction to delivering consistent results. Compare this to Shawnee County Public Works, which has shown more stability under leaders like Curt Niehaus.
4. Economic Development Angle: Unstable Public Works leadership complicates coordination on zoning, platting, TIF/CID projects, utilities, and “shovel-ready” sites — directly affecting developers and growth goals. Your advocacy for transparent, efficient processes is especially relevant here.

Why Has This Persisted?

• Public Sector Realities: Government pay, political oversight, and regulatory complexity can lead to burnout or better opportunities elsewhere.
• Local Factors: Topeka’s challenges with economic rankings, population trends, and past critiques of bureaucracy/incentives may contribute to a less attractive environment for long-term leaders.
• Positive Notes: The department has delivered (e.g., ongoing projects, recognitions). Internal promotions like Tryon’s show resilience.

Path Forward: Stronger retention strategies — competitive total compensation, professional development, reduced red tape, and a culture that values experienced operators — could break the cycle. Learning from cases like Groen’s (quick exit but success elsewhere) highlights the need to make Topeka a place where top talent wants to stay and build a legacy.

Steve Groen: The One That Got Away – What Topeka Lost When It Let a Proven Public Works Leader Walk

I ran into Steve Groen the other day. He looked genuinely happy — the kind of settled, purposeful look a man gets when he’s landed in the right place. We talked briefly, and it struck me how Topeka’s loss became his (and the broader region’s) gain.

Steve Groen brought more than 40 years of hands-on public works experience when the City of Topeka hired him as Public Works Director in late 2024. He came from Minnehaha County, South Dakota, where he served as Highway Superintendent after rising through the ranks in Hennepin County, Minnesota — including work on iconic infrastructure like the Father Hennepin suspension bridge. He understood streets, construction management, budgeting, capital improvement programs, and how to support frontline crews while getting projects out the door on time.

When he arrived in Topeka, he hit the ground running. His early priorities were clear and practical: support staff with the resources they need, improve road surfaces, and move projects to bid earlier so construction seasons aren’t wasted. In a city that constantly wrestles with aging infrastructure, sidewalk issues, drainage challenges, and the need for shovel-ready development sites, that kind of steady, experienced leadership should have been a major asset.

Topeka needs people who know how to deliver results on the ground — not just talk about them. Someone with Steve’s background could have been a bridge between city operations and the development community. He understood both the public-sector realities and the practical needs of getting projects built. For someone like me, who spends a lot of time on site feasibility, drainage studies, sidewalk coordination, erosion control, and working through city processes on projects like Eveningside, having a knowledgeable, responsive Public Works Director in place makes a real difference.

Instead, less than a year later — right around November 2025 — he was gone. The city called it a personnel matter and offered no further explanation. Interim leadership stepped in. Another chapter of institutional knowledge walked out the door.

Here’s the part that bothers me most: Topeka didn’t just lose a director. It lost continuity, relationships, and momentum at a time when we need every bit of experienced leadership we can get. Short tenures like this send a signal to other talented professionals: “Don’t get too comfortable.” It wastes the time and money spent recruiting and onboarding. And it reinforces the very perception problems that make it harder to attract and keep good people in the first place.

The good news? Steve landed on his feet — actually, he landed in a stronger position. He’s now Associate Director and Central Region Leader at Braun Intertec, the employee-owned geotechnical, environmental, and materials testing firm with a Lenexa office right in our backyard. Braun Intertec does exactly the kind of work that supports smart development: soil and foundation analysis, environmental compliance, construction materials testing, and risk reduction on complex sites. Steve is now helping lead that work across the Central U.S. — putting his decades of public-sector insight to work for clients who actually value and reward competence.

I’m genuinely happy for him. Topeka essentially helped him move into a better chapter — one where his experience is appreciated and he’s not fighting an environment that didn’t seem to value what he brought. That’s not a failure on his part. That’s Topeka getting shortchanged.

We talk a lot around here about economic development, infrastructure readiness, and putting Shawnee County first. None of that happens without solid public works leadership and a city government that knows how to keep talent once it finds it. Steve Groen was exactly the kind of steady, experienced professional this community could have used for the long haul.

Instead, he’s thriving elsewhere — and we’re left wondering what might have been if Topeka had been a place that appreciated and retained people like him.

To Steve: Thank you for your service here, however brief. You brought real expertise and a professional approach. I’m glad you’re in a better spot now. The Central Region (and developers who work with Braun) are lucky to have you. Topeka missed out.