Topeka and Lawrence leaders to further develop 'good locker room mojo' with 'City Swap'
LAWRENCE — Topeka and Lawrence will look at each other with fresh eyes to understand how the cities can work together.
On Friday morning, the Greater Topeka Partnership and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce announced the 2023 Topeka-Lawrence "City Swap" event. The effort is aimed to bring together business leaders, community stakeholders and elected officials to tour each city.
The two-day event will be Oct. 12 in Topeka and Oct. 13 in Lawrence and will feature speakers, networking and opportunities to learn about the exciting developments in each community.
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Matt Pivarnik, CEO of the Greater Topeka Partnership, said the swap is a unique opportunity for the two cities to come together, exchange ideas and showcase the strengths and successes of each community.
"I feel like we have good locker room mojo on our team, especially with Lawrence and Topeka, and we are going to lift one another up, so that we can accentuate our strengths," Pivarnik said.
"There are 4,569 people that live in Lawrence but work in Topeka, and there 5,372 people that live in Topeka and work in Lawrence," Pivarnik said. "So whether the naysayers want us to be tied and don't want us to understand the strengths that we both have, the statistics say that we already are and we're a feather in one another's cap."
What will the Topeka and Lawrence tours include?
Scheduling for the Topeka visit includes a 9 a.m. welcome panel, 10 a.m. bus tour, noon lunch presentation, 1:30 p.m. bus tour and a 3:30 p.m. networking reception.
Last year, Lawrence and Topeka leaders went to Arkansas to study regional branding efforts. Lisa Larsen, mayor of Lawrence, said she learned how a community was formed to bring things to northwest Arkansas. That's what she hopes to learn while in Topeka.
"I know Topeka has some really good industry, and I would really like to see more of that, because we're trying to pull more industry here," Larsen said. "I know there's been work in the downtown area, so I want to see how that works."
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Scheduling for the Lawrence visit includes a 9 a.m. coffee and networking event, 10 a.m. panel discussion, 1:15 p.m. bus tour and a 3:45 p.m. networking reception.
The city swap is a follow to the joint intercity visit the two cities collaborated on in 2022.
Here is what the Topeka mayor hopes to learn from Lawrence
Topeka Mayor Mike Padilla, said when Lawrence visits Topeka they'll need to be honest and show the good along with the bad.
"We need to acknowledge that we're still having issues just like every other city is," Padilla said. "Everybody does it in the way that they are comfortable with sometimes, so stepping out of that comfort zone is something that we're to do."
Padilla said he hopes to learn how to build a team mentality into what the city does.
"I think that's important and most cities do it in different ways," he said, "and I think we can see how maybe adding a different ingredient to what we do and vice versa."
For those interested in registering or learning more about the city swap, you can visit the Greater Topeka Partnership website or contact the GTP at communications@TopekaPartnership.com and the Lawrence chamber at jmartin@lawrencechamber.com.
Bob Ross, senior vice president of marketing, said tickets will go on sale by June.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka and Lawrence will have 'City Swap' in October to lift each city
