Months of hard work failed to deliver a cheese factory to Finney County.

News came recently that Denver-based Leprino Foods, the world's largest manufacturer of mozzarella cheese, would instead invest $270 million in a new facility in Greeley, Colo.

Leprino representatives had considered a number of sites in Finney County, including the vacant ConAgra plant.

A spurt in milk production was one factor that kept Finney County in the running. Negotiating with the cheese maker since February 2007, Finney County forces sweetened the deal with a package that included a local tax abatement and addressed water and electricity needs. The state offered tax credits and workforce training.

But it wasn't enough to convince a company that instead chose the Colorado community, reportedly in part because that region offered even greater prospects for milk industry growth.

The announcement was a letdown in a community that had heard the Finney County Economic Development Corp. discuss "Prospect 1-07," which we now know would deliver some 500 jobs at an average of about $17 an hour.

And it mirrored January 2007 news of Finney County being passed over by Beef Products Inc., which chose Nebraska for a $400 million expansion with 300 high-paying jobs.

While competition for landing such deals that boost local economies is fierce, the question is whether our best pitch is good enough, especially when it comes to companies that appear an ideal fit here.

Do our financial incentives measure up favorably? Are Finney County and Kansas as business friendly as possible?

Or was it something else? Companies consider more than incentives. A tight labor pool, and even an overcrowded high school could be factors in decision-making.

The bottom line is the FCEDC should do what it can to find out, and share publicly, specifics on why Finney County didn't get the nod with recent prospects. That should include explaining how additional funding that would have come with the twice-rejected proposal to use local sales tax dollars for economic development could have helped.

Only then will we have a better idea of what needs to happen, and realistically can be done, to better position this community as a destination for new business needed to stimulate the local economy.