SPARK task force advisory committee members named

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(Updated to correct titles for Decker and Sullivan)

Nearly 40 people on Thursday were named to a special task force charged with recommending how more than $1 billion in federal COVID-19 relief money is spent.

The executive committee of the so-called SPARK task force — shorthand for Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas — named its appointments to four advisory committees that will help decided how the money will be spent.

The appointments were made to four committees that will concentrate on the areas of economic revitalization, health and education, connectivity, and efficiency and modernization.

The advisory panels can make recommendations but final decisions are delegated to the task force’s exective committee and ultimately the State Finance Council.

The executive committee is made up of House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., Senate President Ty Masterson and Secretary of Administration DeAngela Burns-Wallace.

It also includes Johnson County businessman Greg Orman as well as Wichita businessmen Jon Rolph and Bill Pickert.

Economic revitalization

Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell.
Sen.  J.R. Claeys, R-Salina.
Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita.
Tien Huynh, Wichita businessman.
Andrew Nave, executive vice president/economic development, Greater Wichita Partnership.
Lona DuVall, president, Finney County Economic Development Council.
Tim McKee, chief executive officer, Olathe Chamber of Commerce.
Brett Leopold, vice President, ITC Holdings Corp. and president, ITC Great Plains.
Sam Sackett, senior manager, government relations and corporate communications at Spirit AeroSystems.
Matt Condon, founder and CEO of Bardavon Health Innovations.
Ryan Flickner, senior director of public policy, Kansas Farm Bureau.

Health and Education

State Rep. Kristey Williams, R-Augusta.
Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita.
Sen. Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa.
Robyn Chadwick, vice president operations, behavioral health, Via Christi.
Raphael Wahwassuck, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
Jarvis Collier, pastor.
McClain Macklin, director of policy and strategic initiatives, Health Forward Foundation.
Kathe Decker, former chief of staff at Department for Children and Families.
Shawn Sullivan, former state chief operating officer, president and CEO of Midland Care Connection.

Connectivity

State Sen. Mike Petersen, R-Wichita.
State Rep. Adam Smith, R-Weskan.
State Sen. Tom Hawk, D-Manhattan.
Tiffany Anderson, Topeka Public Schools superintendent.
Stanley Adams, director, state Office of Broadband.
Ed Taylor, environmental engineer.
Brian Vulgamore, Vulgamore Family Farms.
Paul Truitt, vice president of field operations for Cox Communications.
Molly Kocour Boyle, president, AT&T Kansas.

Efficiency and Modernization

Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill.
State Sen. Mike Fagg, R-El Dorado.
State Rep. Kathy Wolfe-Moore, D-Kansas City.
Tanya Heffel, state’s chief technology officer.
Joe Mandala, chief information officer, Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Frank Burnam, state director of facilities and property management.
Michael Wilkes, Olathe city manager.
Mark Hutton, former lawmaker, member of Board of Regents.
Matt Billingsley, former chief of staff at Kansas Department of Revenue.
Shane Mathis, chief executive officer at Ally RNG in Lenexa.