Kansas Economic Development Guide 2010

kansas
economic development guide

kansaseconomicdevelopment.com
A Mighty Wind
Big projects lift
renewables enterprise
Bigger Than
You Think
State’s economy
grows on innovation
Opportunity
Knocks
Novel initiatives boost
What’s
Online
Read more
about the state’s
global aviation
leadership.
small communities
Sponsored by the Kansas Department of Commerce | 2010

KANSAS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
40
Workstyle
56
Shots Heard Round the World 32
Kansas breeds a booming bioscience industry.
A Mighty Wind 40
Siemens plant investment lifts the
state’s renewable energy profile.
Economic Engine 48
Kansas soars to global leadership
in aviation innovation.
48 A Kansas Address
Business advantages make the state a
56
major draw for corporate headquarters.
Growing Global 62
A diverse economy makes the state an export leader.
Good Things in Small Places 68

Rural Kansas plays a leading role in the
state’s economic development.
Opportunity Knocks 74
Innovative programs help small communities
across the state prosper.
Into the Great Wide Open 80

Natural beauty, history, culture shape
the Kansas experience.
A Perfect Match 88
Coordinated state programs aid employers, job seekers.
Table of Contents Continued
68 ON THE COVER The 5.4.7. Arts Center in Greensburg is the first building
in Kansas to receive a LEED Platinum rating. PHOTO BY JEFF ADKINS
K A N S A S E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T. C O M 7
Insight
107
Overview 17
Business Almanac 19
Business Climate: Bigger Than You Think 24
Energy 107
Transportation 112
112 Economic Profile 125
118 Livability
‘Anything You Could Want’ 118
Education 96
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96
W H E R E G O O D I D E A S G R O W
Finney County is where you will experience unlimited growth. With a stable and reliable workforce
as well as available land and infrastructure resources, your future has limitless potential.
FINNEY COUNTY ECONOMIC s !CRE)NDUSTRIAL0ARK

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KANSAS
2010 EDITION , VOLUME 1
CONTENT DIRECTOR/BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS BILL McMEEKIN

PROOFREADING MANAGER RAVEN PETTY
CONTENT COORDINATORS JENNIFER GRAVES, ERICA HINES
STAFF WRITER KEVIN LITWIN
COPY EDITORS LISA BATTLES, JOYCE CARUTHERS, JILL WYATT
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PAMELA COYLE, MICHAELA JACKSON,
CLAIRE RATLIFF, AMY STUMPFL
MEDIA TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR CHRISTINA CARDEN
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS LAURA GALLAGHER,
JESSICA MANNER, JANINE MARYLAND, KRIS SEXTON,
CANDICE SWEET, VIKKI WILLIAMS
MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ANALYSTS CHANDRA BRADSHAW,
YAMEL HALL, ALISON HUNTER, MARCUS SNYDER
PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR JEFFREY S. OTTO
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS JEFF ADKINS, BRIAN McCORD
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS TODD BENNETT, ANTONY BOSHIER
WEB CONTENT MANAGERS JOHN HOOD, KIM MADLOM
WEB DESIGN DIRECTOR FRANCO SCARAMUZZA
WEB DESIGNER LEIGH GUARIN
WEB DEVELOPER JEREMY DICKENS
AD PRODUCTION MANAGER KATIE MIDDENDORF
AD TRAFFIC ASSISTANTS MARCIA MILLER, PATRICIA MOISAN
I.T. DIRECTOR YANCEY BOND
I.T. SERVICE TECHNICIAN RYAN SWEENEY
REGIONAL SALES MANAGER CHARLES SWEENEY
SALES SUPPORT/COMMUNITY, BUSINESS, CUSTOM
RACHAEL GOLDSBERRY
SENIOR ACCOUNTANT LISA OWENS
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE COORDINATOR MARIA McFARLAND
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE COORDINATOR DIANA GUZMAN
OFFICE MANAGER/ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
COORDINATOR SHELLY MILLER
SENIOR INTEGRATED MEDIA MANAGER CLAY PERRY
SALES SUPPORT MANAGER CINDY HALL
CHAIRMAN GREG THURMAN

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BOB SCHWARTZMAN
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT RAY LANGEN
SENIOR V.P./SALES TODD POTTER, CARLA THURMAN
SENIOR V.P./OPERATIONS CASEY HESTER
SENIOR V.P./CLIENT DEVELOPMENT JEFF HEEFNER
V.P./CONTENT DEVELOPMENT TEREE CARUTHERS
V.P./CUSTOM PUBLISHING KIM NEWSOM
V.P./VISUAL CONTENT MARK FORESTER
V.P./CONTENT OPERATIONS NATASHA LORENS
V.P. SALES CHARLES FITZGIBBON,
HERB HARPER, JAREK SWEKOSKY
CONTROLLER CHRIS DUDLEY
CONTENT DIRECTOR/TRAVEL PUBLICATIONS
SUSAN CHAPPELL
MARKETING CREATIVE DIRECTOR KEITH HARRIS
DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR GARY SMITH
RECRUITING/TRAINING DIRECTOR SUZY SIMPSON
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY KRISTY DUNCAN
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER PEGGY BLAKE
RECEPTIONIST LINDA BISHOP
Kansas Economic Development Guide is published annually

by Journal Communications Inc. and is distributed through the
Kansas Department of Commerce.
For advertising information or to direct questions or comments
about the magazine, contact Journal Communications Inc.
at (615) 771-0080 or by e-mail at info@jnlcom.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Kansas Department of Commerce
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Phone: (785) 296-3481 • Fax: (785) 296-3665
www.kansascommerce.com
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KANSAS
Wh
What’s
Online
On
Read more
Rea
about the state’s
global aviation
leadership.

A Mighty Wind
Big projects lift
Bigger Than
You Think
State’s economy
grows on innovation
Opportunity
Knocks
Lifestyle Novel initiatives boost
small communities
Find out what it’s like to live here and what SPONSORED BY THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE | 2010
makes the state such a special place to be.

Read the magazine on
your computer, zoom in
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NEWS AND NOTES >>

Our editors give you the
Inside Scoop on the latest
development and trends
across the state.
SUCCESS
Workstyle
A spotlight on innovative companies BREEDS SUCCESS >>
that call the state home Meet the people who set the
pace for business innovation.
DIG DEEPER >>

Plug into the state with links
to local Web sites and
resources to give you a big
picture of the region.
DATA CENTRAL >>

A wealth of demographic and
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GUIDE TO SERVICES >>

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tour of unique spaces, places and faces. of goods and services
special to the state
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KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM
Western Kansas …
Where life works!
What you know about us …
Western Kansas, there is space to breathe and freedom to thrive here.
It’s a great place to grow up or raise a family, to be a part of a neighborhood.
Children receive personalized education through some of the best schools in the
nation, and they are raised in safe, affordable surroundings. Find peace in the
beautiful, clear, star-filled skies.
What you may not know about us is …

Western Kansas, even today, is full of unique and plentiful job opportunities.
In addition to the traditional industries, there are a host of new businesses that
will surprise you. New technologies and ideas have transformed your possibilities.
What you will find in Western Kansas …

The quality of life is better than ever, even with the sagging national economy.
There is a lot to do, short commutes, the cost of living is lower than many other
places, housing is affordable, the entrepreneurial environment is inspiring, and
the workplace needs you and appreciates you!
Visit WesternKSjobs.com to learn more about

the jobs and lifestyle of Western Kansas.
Turn the pages of our
Digital Magazine
KANSAS
What’ss
Onlinee
Read more
about the state’s
global aviation
leadership.

A Mighty Wind
Big projects lift
Bigger Than
You Think
State’s economy
grows on innovation
Opportunity
Knocks
Novel initiatives boost
small communities
SPONSORED BY THE KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE | 2010
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Overview
Taking a Lead Role in Jobs, Investment

KANSAS PROGRAMS HELP CREATE A DYNAMIC, DIVERSE STATE ECONOMY
With all the gloomy headlines educational institutions and the But don’t take my word for it.
surrounding the national economy development of a versatile workforce Listen to the stories of the
for the past two years, it’s tempting to meet the ever-changing needs of companies profiled throughout
to think there’s no good news Kansas businesses. You’ll notice how this magazine. These are top-tier
to be found. Kansas offers a central location and companies that could go anywhere
But in Kansas, we’ve weathered logistical advantages that you can’t in the world but recognize Kansas as
the worst of the national downturn find anywhere else. the best place to grow their business.
and continue to achieve successes Most importantly, you’ll notice We like to say that Kansas is
in industries such as advanced that Kansas is about leadership, “as big as you think.” We invite
manufacturing, alternative energy, innovation and the strategic pursuit you to come see what we mean.
biotechnology, agriculture and of industries in which we have
professional services, to name a few. a comparative advantage.
Most importantly, we’ve achieved Kansas is the world’s aviation
these successes while remaining capital, producing nearly 40 percent
true to our long-term economic goals of global general aviation aircraft.
and strategies. As a result, Kansas is Northeast Kansas is home to the Gov. Mark Parkinson
well-positioned for economic growth renowned Animal Health Corridor,
in the coming years – making it a which comprises 40 percent of the
great place for business leaders world’s animal health and veterinary
to relocate or expand a business. science interests.
As you read through this inaugural Meanwhile, central and
edition of the Kansas Economic western Kansas continue to
Development Guide, you’ll notice confirm our reputation among
a few trends. First, you’ll notice the top states for wind energy and
our state’s commitment to creating renewable fuels – sectors in which
a pro-business regulatory climate. we’re primed for extraordinary growth
You’ll notice a commitment to our in the coming years.
Almanac
MAKING THE CONNECTION

Kansas is committed to promoting broadband Internet
access and connectivity in all parts of the state.
The Kansas Department of Commerce has launched the
Connect Kansas program to work with broadband providers
in every region of the state to create detailed maps of
broadband coverage that will accurately pinpoint remaining
gaps in broadband availability.
In addition, the program is surveying residents on Internet
usage and screening applicants for federal grants designed
to improve access statewide. For more on the initiative,
go to www.connectkansas.org.
INNOVATION,
ONE TURN AT A TIME
If you key in “1200 E. 151st St., Olathe, KS,
66062-3426” into one of its products, you’ll get
step-by-step directions to the headquarters of
Garmin International, a world leader in global
positioning system navigation devices.
The company, which sprang from a brainstorming
session by a group of engineers sitting around
a card table in 1989, has grown today to
a worldwide workforce of more than 7,000.
The company’s products have applications for
automotive, mobile, wireless, outdoor recreation,
marine and aviation use. For more, go to
www.garmin.com.
UNTIL THE COWS

COME HOME
Got milk? Kansas does, and lots of it.
The state is promoting itself as the
“new frontier” for large dairy operations,
and western Kansas in particular has
seen growth in its dairy industry.
Promoters note the state is well situated
geographically and agriculturally for dairy
production, and cite such factors as a
favorable regulatory environment, available
expertise, abundant water supply, ideal
annual rainfall and climate conditions, and
access to feedstock, such as the 300 million
bushels of corn grown there annually.
Go to www.dairyinkansas.com for more.
G
Z LUCAS
ussell
Z a X d b Harlow Lodging – (785) 525-7725
L id
Rental house, days, weekends, etc.
Lucas RV Parks – (785) 525-6236
Rental apartments & mobile home, RV Park
Nelson Rentals – (785) 525-7753
8
ounty
North Star Realty – (785) 525-6391
Real Estate Broker
Postusta Lodging – (785) 526-7767
Hunters, reunions, etc.
Stone Cottage Farm Bed & Breakfast
(785) 525-6494
XXXTUPOFDPUUBHFGBSNDPNr0WFSOJHIUMPEHJOH
Thacker’s Cottages – (785) 525-7739
The South House
(785) 525-6292 or (785) 786-4980
Rental house, days, weekends
Wolf Creek Outfitters – (785) 525-6200
www.wolfcreekhunting.net
Guided hunting retreat
LURAY
Lazy Cedar Hunting Cottage – (785) 698-2438
)VOUJOH SFVOJPOT WBDBUJPOSFOUBM
The Roost – (785) 698-2459
WILSON LAKE
GORAM Cedar Ridge Cabins – Wilson Lake
Dickenson Ranch – (785) 998-4401 (785) 623-3937 or (785) 628-8088
www.dickensonranch.com Weekend house for rent
Working ranch experience Wilson Lake Campgrounds – State Park
(785) 658-2465
Wilson Lake Campgrounds – Corp.
(785) 658-2551
RUSSELL DORRANCE
American Lodge & Suites Vonda Czech Inn
(785) 483-4200 (785) 666-4334
www.americinn.com Country Inn B&B
Days Inn (785) 666-4334
(785) 483-4262
www.daysinn.com
Russell Inn
(785) 483-6660
www.russellinn.com
Super 8
(785) 483-2488
www.super8.com
Dunder Estates RV Park
(785) 483-2603
Prime 8 Inn
(785) 483-2200
RUSSELL COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

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KANSAS MADE, AND PROUD OF IT
Want to get a taste of Kansas? The Kansas Department of
Commerce’s Rural Development Division operates the Simply
Kansas program, which promotes products grown, raised,
produced or processed in the state, as well as Kansas
agritourism experiences. Member companies, which include
producers of a wide range of food products, wines and crafts,
as well as agritourism-related businesses, farmers markets,
restaurants and specialty retailers, are included on the Simply
Kansas online directory. Membership includes marketing and
technical assistance and the ability to use the Simply Kansas
logo on packaging and marketing materials. For more on the
Simply Kansas program, go to www.simplykansas.com.
HIGH-PROFILE STYLE
Its client list runs the gamut from former Vice President Dick
Cheney to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sir Elton
John and Janet Jackson.
Since 1993, Plainville, Kan.-based Dessin Fournir has
made a name for itself designing, manufacturing and
marketing home furnishings targeted at the high-end
residential and contract markets. The company’s
collections are featured in 14 showrooms
throughout the United States and one in
Canada, and it also sells its products online.
The company's product lines include Dessin
A KEY STOP ON THE Fournir, Kerry Joyce and Gérard in furnishings,
textile outfit Classic Cloth, a fabric and
ROAD TO JUSTICE wallpaper operation, and C.S. Post & Co.,
The landmark U.S. Supreme Court retail and online stores that offer gifts,
decision Brown vs. Board of Education jewelry, furniture and gourmet kitchen
is commemorated in Topeka, Kan. accessories. Go to www.dessinfournir.com
for more information.
Brown v. Board of Education National
Historic Site & Museum features
interactive exhibits and audiovisual
media that educate visitors not
only about the historic high court
decision that banned segregation
in public schools, but also about
the U.S. civil rights movement.
Operated by the National Park
Service, the museum includes an
auditorium that screens the award-
winning film Race and the American
Creed, which explores events that
led up to the case. For more, go to
www.nps.gov/brvb/index.htm.
Our schools, our seasonal climate, our excellent transportation,
our growing economy, and our proximity to a major metropolitan
area all combine to make Atchison, Kansas a great place to visit,
a great place to work, and a great place to live.
+ANSAS!VEs!TCHISON+3
s FAX
www.growatchison.com
SUCCESS MAGNIFIED
Overland Park, Kan., is world headquarters for Bushnell, an industry leader
in high-performance sports optics for more than a half century.
Bushnell boasts leading market share in all
of the sports optics categories, and its
products, such as binoculars, scopes,
opes,
field glasses and range finders,
have consistently won design
and performance awards from
prestigious organizations.
The company's products are used d
in outdoor pursuits including
spectator sports, nature study,
birding, fishing, hunting and
stargazing. For more, go to
www.bushnell.com.
WHO NEEDS
AN OCEAN?
Kansas isn't known for its
deep-water ports, but that
doesn’t mean they don’t know
how to build boats there.
The state is home to Cobalt Boats,
a company based in Neodesha,
Kan., that builds sports craft,
cruisers and yachts sold through
a worldwide dealer network.
A LEG UP IN DENIM The family-owned company, which

is more than 40 years old, has
The Lee brand has been synonymous with denim jeans almost since its birth won numerous accolades for
as the Lee Mercantile Co. in 1889 in Salina, Kan. its crafts, including an eighth
The company's innovations include the Union-All work jumpsuit created consecutive “highest in customer
in 1913 and the first-ever "Overall" in 1920, the same year the Buddy Lee satisfaction” for its large
doll was launched as a promotion, but quickly became a popular play doll. runabouts in J.D. Power and
Associates Boat Competitive
Today, the company is owned by VF Corp., the largest apparel company Information Study in 2009.
in the world. To learn more, go to
Headquartered in Merriam, Lee manufactures and markets brand denim, www.cobaltboats.com.
casual pants, shirts, fleece and knit apparel. The company founded Lee
National Denim Day, the largest single-day fundraiser for breast cancer
research. The event takes place each year on the first Friday in October.
Go to www.lee.com for more.
Business Climate
Bigger Than
You Think
Kansas leverages know-how into global leadership
Story by Kevin Litwin
low costs
workforce
innovation
24 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

T
hough it has a population of just Business report and, for the second that in an eight-day stretch in
over 2.8 million, Kansas packs straight year, in the top 10 for site December 2009, the state announced
a heavy economic punch. selection by Pollina Corporate Real projects that will create 2,400 jobs and
A proactive legislative and Estate, one of the nation’s premier $131 million in capital investment.
regulatory environment, a range of corporate relocation firms. Kansas The state has built a reputation for
incentives and major advantages in was named one of the nation’s innovation in such diverse industry
costs, taxes, skilled workforce, high- 10 most competitive states for sectors as bioscience, animal health,
caliber and research-oriented higher capital investment and new facility energy technology, aviation, advanced
education, and major transportation development by Site Selection manufacturing and agriculture.
assets have combined to make magazine. Kansas ranked 15th on Wichita is the aviation capital of
the Sunflower State a haven for Forbes 2009 list of best states for the world, with 50 percent of domestic
investment, innovation, expansion business, an upgrade of six spots general aviation aircraft and 40
and jobs. from its 2006 ranking. percent of global aircraft produced
The state ranked seventh on CNBC’s As a measure of the investment in the city. Northeast Kansas is home
annual America’s Top States for buzz surrounding Kansas, consider to the burgeoning Animal Health
Kansas’ advantages have attracted a roster of national manufacturers, such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber, which has a Topeka operation.
Corridor, with 40 percent of global Kansas Department of Commerce. off-highway tires operation at its
animal health and veterinary science Global engineering and Topeka plant and retain up to 1,400
interests converged in the region. construction giant Black & Veatch employees for 10 years, in part from
A string of recent expansions and considered more than 40 options up to $14.2 million in training
new investments underscore that before deciding to buy the Overland incentives made available through
Kansas is open for business. Siemens Park building that houses its world the Kansas Department of Commerce’s
Energy announced in 2009 that it headquarters and embark on a Investments in Major Projects and
will build a 300,000-square-foot 250,000-square-foot expansion. Comprehensive Training, or
wind-turbine manufacturing facility The firm has about 2,300 employees IMPACT, program.
in Hutchinson that will begin at the headquarters, which is the “Kansas really stepped up and
operation in late 2010. That project, largest office complex in the state. showed a commitment to keeping
the first major wind-turbine The new headquarters will include us here,” says Whitney E. Watson,
equipment factory in Kansas, several sustainability features, communications manager for
will create 400 high-paying jobs. including a solar courtyard, solar Goodyear-Topeka.
“Kansas will be one of the top states canopy and bio garden. The company makes tires for
in the country for wind energy, no Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. medium-radial trucks, such as UPS
doubt about it,” says Joe Monaco, will make capital investments of vehicles and school buses, and tires for
public information officer for the up to $250 million to modernize its Humvees used by the U.S. military. In
Cost of Doing Business Comparison

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Ka Ne Ca Illi Ok Mi U.S
ns w lifo no lah sso .A
as Yo rni is om uri ver
rk a a ag
e
Source: Economy.com
2008 Cost of Doing Business Index
fact, more than 1.6 million tires have
been produced for the military alone
since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in
New York. “The word is getting out about Kansas and
The plant makes gigantic earthmover
tires that stand 11.5 feet tall and weigh its innovation in industry. It’s good to be
more than four tons apiece.
The company has been a a Kansan in business these days.”
manufacturing presence in Topeka
since 1944. The latest planned
investment comes on the heels of
$124 million in upgrades the company
made in Topeka from 2002 to 2008.
Goodyear has an annual payroll
in Topeka of $150 million in wages
and benefits, and pays another
$25 million annually to local
vendors and suppliers.
A pro-business commitment is
steadily elevating Kansas in the
overall national commerce picture.
“The word is getting out about
Kansas and its innovation in industry,”
says Monaco. “It’s good to be a Kansan
in business these days.”
Sprint Nextel maintains its world

headquarters in Overland Park.
Kansas By
the Numbers
2.8 million
Kansas population
1.49 million
Total labor force
$36,768
Kansas per capita income in 2007
42
Kansas’ rank among the 50 states
TODD BENNET T
for workers’ compensation

premium ratings
Major Projects in 2009
APRIA HEALTH CARE SIEMENS ENERGY U.S. BANK
Community: Overland Park Community: Hutchinson Community: Overland Park
New Jobs: 550 New Jobs: 400 New Jobs: 1,174
Retained Jobs: 150 Capital Investment: $30 million Capital Investment: $21 million
Capital Investment: $13.2 million Description: Wind turbine Description: Financial services
Description: Regional billing, manufacturing
customer service
TINDALL CORP.
ARCHER TECHNOLOGIES Community: Newton
Community: Overland Park New Jobs: 405
What’s Onlinee
New Jobs: 306 Capital Investment: $65.9 million Learn more about new business
Retained Jobs: 131 Description: Wind tower base activity and investment in Kansas at
Capital Investment: $6.4 million kansaseconomicdevelopment.com.
production
Description: Custom computer
programming
BLACK & VEATCH

Community: Overland Park
New Jobs: 3,300
Retained Jobs: 2,800
Capital Investment: $115 million
Description: Engineering consulting
GENERAL MOTORS
Community: Kansas City, KS
New Jobs: 1,300
Description: Auto production
HOME DEPOT
Community: Topeka
New Jobs: 300
Description: Distribution services
J.P. MORGAN
Community: Overland Park
New Jobs: 650
Description: Financial services
KC STEAK CO.
New Jobs: 201
Retained Jobs: 166
Capital Investment: $9.6 million
Description: Meat processing
NCO GROUP
Community: Lenexa
New Jobs: 725
Description: Customer service
SARA LEE
New Jobs: 250
Description: Sliced meat processing
Shots Heard
‘Round the
World
Kansas breeds a booming bioscience industry
Story by Michaela Jackson
I
f Kansas isn’t on the tip of your tongue than 16,000 people, according to a Kansas More Insight
every time you think of the word Bioscience Authority report. Bioscience
Kansas Bioscience
bioscience, you might not be getting venture capital investment in Kansas totaled Authority
the full picture. more than $101 million from 2004 to 2007 and www.kansasbioauthority.org
The state is earning a reputation around universities spent more than $220 million on (913) 397-8300
the country and the world as a hub of research, bioscience research in 2006 alone. info@kansasbioauthority.org
innovation and development in the Kansas has successfully leveraged its long KansasBio
biosciences, ranging from animal health – history of innovation in crop sciences, animal www.kansasbio.org
where it is an undisputed global powerhouse health and agriculture to create a booming (913) 495-4334
– to prescription drug production to medical bioscience cluster. The legacy of info@kansasbio.org
device manufacturing. pharmaceutical giant Marion Laboratories in
Kansas had nearly 1,100 private bioscience- Kansas City, which was partially acquired by
related enterprises in 2006 employing more Dow Chemical and renamed Marion Merrell
Kansas has emerged as a world leader in biosciences. PHOTO COURTESY OF HARLAND SCHUSTER
Dow in 1989, along with renowned
research excellence at the University
of Kansas and Kansas State University,
have helped propel aggressive
industry growth.
Since 2005, more than a dozen
bioscience companies have chosen
Kansas as a place to land or expand.
“There is really no limit to the
amount of opportunity this region will
see over the next decade based on the
stars aligning and Kansas getting
there first,” says Angela Kreps,
president of the nonprofit KansasBio,
which serves as an advocate for the
bioscience community in Kansas.
In 2004, the state created the
Kansas Bioscience Authority, a $581
million initiative focused on building
research space, expanding the state’s
growing bioscience industry cluster,
attracting bioscience innovators and
fostering the growth of homegrown
bioscience startups.
At any given time, 2,000 clinical
Bio By the Numbers
1,075
Bioscience firms in Kansas as
of 2006
424
Patents awarded in Kansas
in 2007
$61.6 million
Bioscience investment capital
in Kansas in 2007
$220 million
Research spending at Kansas
universities and colleges in 2006
Source: Kansas Bioscience Authority

PHOTO COURTESY OF HARL AND SCHUSTER
What’s Onlinee
Learn more about the Kansas
bioscience industry at
kansaseconomicdevelopment.com.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HARL AND SCHUSTER
trials are in progress in Kansas,

involving twice as many physicians
as any other place in the country.
“Time equals money. If you are in
San Diego or San Francisco or Boston
trying to get your bioscience company
off the ground, you need to take a look
at Kansas, because we are in the
business of making this happen
faster,” Kreps says. “That’s the secret
sauce. Come here, get it done faster,
make your money work for you.”
Today, nationally recognized names
such as Quintiles, Bayer and Merck
fill the state’s corporate roster, and
companies new and old are lining
up to invest in Kansas.
“People are now starting to look at
The presence of companies such as Bayer

Animal Health have made Kansas the
epicenter of global animal health innovation.
Kansas as the place where bioscience Employment in private bioscience enterprises in Kansas
is buzzing,” Kreps says. “Everybody is
looking at what’s happening in Kansas 2006
and bringing their checkbooks to
the table.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland 2005
Security announced in December 2008
that it will build the $450 million
National Bio and Agro-Defense 2004
Facility, or NBAF, in Manhattan,
Kan. Construction on the lab, which
will be dedicated to protecting the
0 5000 10000 15000
United States from bioterror attacks
and disease outbreaks, could start Source: Kansas Bioscience Authority
as early as 2010.
Roughly 32 percent of the $19
billion animal health industry is based
in the Kansas City area. The state is
known, in fact, as the animal health
capital of the world.
The early part of 2006 saw the
establishment of the Kansas City
Animal Health Corridor, which
runs from Manhattan, Kan.,
to Columbia, Mo.
“One of the advantages we saw
early on goes beyond just attracting
companies or allowing companies
here to grow. This really is an
opportunity to use the collaboration
of the industry to change the face
of veterinary medicine,” says Bob
Walker, director of communications
for Bayer Animal Health, a company
that was instrumental in the
development of the corridor. “We at
Bayer are committed to this region,
we’re committed to the Animal Health
Corridor. We see the tremendous
benefit that will come, that has
already touched us. And as the
corridor grows and thrives, the
companies that are associated
with it will follow suit.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF HARL AND SCHUSTER
The bioscience sector employs more

than 16,000 people in Kansas.
A Mighty Wind
Siemens plant investment lifts
Kansas’ renewable energy profile

Kansas is ranked third nationally in wind-generation capacity and
10th in existing capacity. In 2009, Siemens Energy and Tindall Corp.
announced plans for new wind turbine production facilities in Kansas.
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photography by Jeff Adkins
T
hat famous Kansas wind is
blowing in favor of renewable
energy production, attracting
Siemens Energy to the state for its first
U.S. nacelle plant and setting the stage
for other firms in the wind supply
chain to take a look.
Siemens, part of German
conglomerate Siemens AG, is investing
$50 million on a new facility in
Hutchinson that will mean 400
new jobs at full production. The first
nacelles – large, heavy structures that
house the gearbox, drive train and
control electronics of a wind turbine –
are expected to ship in late 2010, says
Kevin Hazel, Siemens’ vice president
of supply chain management.
The fact that each nacelle weighs
90 tons – Siemens outsources the
Power is distributed from wind turbines

at the Kansas City Power & Light Wind
Energy Facility in Spearville.
components and assembles them in the big, by the end of the third year.
What’s steel housings it makes – contributed to the Already, more than 200 existing Kansas
Online
O location choice. companies identify themselves as current
Learn more about
“It is one of the major wind zones in the or prospective wind industry suppliers,
Kansas’ role in United States,” Hazel says. “To the south you according to a December 2009 survey.
renewable energy have Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, then The Advanced Manufacturing Institute at
production at to the north are North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas State University compiled the survey
kansaseconomic
development.com.
Iowa and Illinois.” results for the Commerce Department. The
Together, the two regions are and will be department also hosted wind supply chain
major U.S. wind power producers. Siemens workshops in Topeka and Wichita that drew
wanted a spot from which its product could a combined 500 attendees.
be distributed efficiently, Hazel says. Kansas is a wind production leader, too.
Siemens is a big score for the Sunflower
State; the company received proposals from
80 communities across the country, and state
officials say the Hutchinson decision is By the Numbers
creating a buzz.
“We are working with some companies
PICKING UP A HEADWIND
that are in the supply chain, international
companies looking to set up U.S. operations
because of companies like Siemens that are
3
Kansas’ rank among U.S. states in
setting up here,” says Randi Tveitaraas Jack, potential wind generation capacity
international business recruiter for the
South Carolina-based Tindall Corp.
announced plans in Dercember 2009 to build
10
Rank among U.S. states
a facility in Newton to manufacture concrete in existing capacity
base systems for wind turbines that will
enable the towers to be extended to optimal
heights for maximum power generation.
It was not previously economically feasible
634
Number of turbines operating
to construct conventional steel towers
to those heights.
Tindall plans a 150,000- to 200,000-square-
foot facility, with a total capital investment 1,013.5
of approximately $66 million and employment Existing power capacity
of nearly 200 workers by the end of the first in megawatts
year. Employment is projected to reach 405 Source: American Wind Energy Association
people at an annual payroll of $21 million

S TA F F P H O T O
Kansas is emerging as a prime destination for wind energy component manufacturing.
The state passed the 1,000-megawatt from renewable sources by 2010; combined 12.5-megawatts, broke
mark in 2009, and its wind-generating the new goal is 20 percent by 2020. ground in October 2009. Built by John
capacity tripled in less than two years To help get there, state lawmakers Deere Renewables, which has three
as major projects in Barber, Cloud, in their 2009 legislative session dozen wind farms in eight states, the
Lincoln and Wichita counties approved incentives for big wind project is part of a broader effort to
came online. and solar energy projects. Up to rebuild a town destroyed by a tornado
The American Wind Energy $5 million in bond financing is in 2005.
Association ranks Kansas 10th available for projects that create at Greensburg is using 1.25-megawatt
in existing capacity and third in least 200 jobs with an average salary turbines; Siemens will build nacelles
potential capacity in the United States. of $32,500 or more. The minimum for the 2.3-megawatt turbine in a
Big projects owned by Westar capital investment is $30 million, 300,000-square-foot facility. Initial
Energy, BP Alternative Energy, and companies pay back the bonds output, at full speed, will be about
Horizon Wind Energy, and Enel with their share of employees’ 650 nacelles a year, though Siemens
North American added more than withholding taxes. is ready for more.
600 megawatts in 2008 and 2009. Smaller projects are part of the “The plant is designed to expand
The state met its goal early of landscape, too. The Greensburg Wind on site to double output should it be
producing 10 percent of its electricity Farm, 10 turbines that will produce a needed,” Hazel says.
Economic
Engine
Kansas soars in aviation innovation
Story by Amy Stumpfl
W
ith its proud heritage
and promising future, the
aviation industry is taking
the Kansas economy to new heights.
More than half of the general
aviation aircraft produced in the
United States are built in Kansas,
with industry giants such as Cessna
Aircraft, Spirit AeroSystems, Hawker
Beechcraft Corp., Boeing Defense,
P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y O F H AW K E R B E EC H C R A F T C O R P O R AT I O N
Space & Security and Bombardier

Aerospace Learjet leading the way.
These companies employ more than
33,000 workers, with many operations
clustered in the Wichita area.
Cessna, established in Kansas in
1927, is the largest producer of general
Hawker Beechcraft makes the Hawker 4000

in Kansas. Left: The Kansas aviation industry
employs more than 33,000 workers.
ANTONY BOSHIER

Bottom: Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems is a major content supplier for Boeing’s
new 787 Dreamliner. Left: Cessna has been a Kansas aviation fixture since 1927.
S TA F F P H O T O
aviation aircraft and business jets several Kansas institutions, including

in the world, based on the number Wichita State University and its
of units delivered annually. Today, world-renowned National Institute
Cessna has three major facilities in for Aviation Research.
Kansas – the company’s headquarters Established in 2005, Wichita-based
and main assembly facility at Spirit AeroSystems is the world’s
Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport; largest supplier of commercial
a subassembly production and airplane assemblies and components.
advanced development facility in “The quality of the workforce,
nearby Pawnee; and an assembly the Midwest work ethic – these are
facility in Independence. certainly important,” says Richard
Doug Oliver, Cessna’s director Buchanan, chief operations officer
of corporate communications, says of Spirit AeroSystems. “But it goes
Kansas’ unique location bolsters its beyond that. Aviation is almost a way
reputation as Air Capital of the World. of life in this part of the country. I’m
“The foremost advantage of doing second generation, my kids are third
business in Kansas is the quality of generation, and that’s pretty typical
the workforce,” he says. “These are here. I like to say that aerospace is
people who have grown up around a family business for Wichita.”
airplanes – it is a passion for most. Like Oliver, Buchanan sees the
Many of our employees come from area’s higher education system as
a long line of aerospace workers. a major draw for aircraft
In many cases, they come from manufacturers.
a long line of Cessnans.” “They’re at the leading edge of
The dedication to aerospace has technology,” he says. “Wichita State,
helped shape education and training Pittsburg State, the University of
in Kansas, Oliver says. Cessna works Kansas, Kansas State – they all have
directly with engineering schools at good curricula associated with what
MAJOR KANSAS AVIATION EMPLOYERS

Spirit AeroSystems 10,300
Cessna Aircraft 8,200
Hawker Beechcraft 5,300
Boeing Defense, Space & Security 2,500
Bombardier/Learjet 2,250
MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM
P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F H AW K E R B E EC H C R A F T C O R P O R AT I O N
we do, and that gives manufacturers

a good base to recruit from.”
And despite the economic HOURLY WAGES FOR SELECT
downturn, many manufacturers MANUFACTURING JOBS IN KANSAS
continue to grow. Aircraft Mechanics & Service Technicians $23.55
For example, Park Aircraft Assemblers & Fabricators $18.43
Technologies Corp. recently
announced plans to expand its Avionics Technicians $23.59
operations in Newton. The company Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal & Plastic $16.63
is adding another 42,000 square feet Electrical & Electronic Equipment Assemblers $12.14
to the recently completed facility,
which was designed to develop and Engineering Managers $50.12
produce advanced composite materials First-Line Supervisors/Managers
for the aircraft and space vehicle of Production & Operating Workers $23.18
industries. The company expects
Industrial Machinery Mechanics $19.08
to be operational by September 2010.
“We have a lot of experienced Industrial Production Managers $37.86
people available, ” Buchanan says Machinists $15.40
of the state’s aviation sector. “But we
also have strong training programs in Numerical Tool & Process Control Programmers $22.08
place, with state and local support to Production Workers, All Other $16.13
help grow the industry.”
Structural Metal Fabricators & Fitters $14.39
Tool & Die Makers $23.92
Welding, Soldering & Brazing Machine Setters,
Hawker Beechcraft’s T-6B Right: The Operators & Tenders $15.66
energy-efficient 787 Dreamliner from
Boeing PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BOEING CO. MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM

More Insight
The Kansas Legislature
in 2006 eliminated the
property tax on new
business and machinery,
generating major savings
for large-scale
manufacturers, including
aviation companies. In
2008, the legislature
approved making up
to $33 million in state
incentives available
for eligible large-scale
aviation projects.
High Flier
RENOWNED RESEARCH INSTITUTE AIDS KANSAS AVIATION
Partnerships among businesses and universities processing, aging aircraft, full-scale structural testing,
are nothing new. But the National Institute for Aviation composites and advanced materials, crash dynamics,
Research at Wichita State University takes this concept environmental testing, human factors, mechanical
to a new altitude. testing and virtual reality. A key part of the institute is
Established in 1985, NIAR is renowned for its cutting- the Walter H. Beech wind tunnel, which provides industry,
edge research, design, testing and certification, providing government agencies and educational institutions
expertise and assistance to the aviation industry, as with the facilities, equipment and staff for aerodynamic
well as government agencies and educational entities. testing and research. Other NIAR labs offer support
“We exist to serve the aviation manufacturing in areas such as CAD/CAM, calibration and quality,
industry,” says Tracee Friess, who oversees marketing computational mechanics and visual technology.
and communication for NIAR. “As part of the university, we are a nonprofit, which
An industry advisory council – which represents major means our services are quite affordable. We also are
manufacturers Boeing, Bombardier/Learjet, Cessna able to draw upon the university’s outstanding talent,
Aircraft, Hawker Beechcraft and Spirit AeroSystems – collaborating with both professors and student assistants
helps steer the direction of NIAR’s research. on research,” Friess says.
“They provide valuable feedback and give us NIAR also will serve as a partner in the new National
recommendations as to what areas we need to focus Center for Aviation Training at Jabara Airport in Wichita.
on and the types of equipment we need to invest in,” The $54 million, 200,000-square-foot facility is
Friess says. scheduled for completion in August 2010.
And with 135,000 square feet of laboratory space, “We will have significant laboratory space at the
NIAR’s research and testing capabilities are virtually new center,” Friess says. “And we will work closely
unmatched. The institute is home to more than a dozen with Wichita Area Technical College to develop high-tech
labs, specializing in such areas as advanced joining and training courses.” – Amy Stumpfl
TODD BENNET T
Student workers receive training in the advanced joining technology lab at the National Institute for Aviation Research in Wichita.
A Kansas
Address
State is a major draw
for corporate headquarters
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photography by Todd Bennett
K
ansas is growing a lot more than grain.
What’s The state is fertile ground for new and
Online
O expanding corporate headquarters, major
Learn more about the
division operations and professional offices. Kansas
Kansas advantage in has solid logistics, good schools, skilled workers and
drawing new jobs and aggressive incentives that make it a hot destination
investment at for white-collar projects.
kansaseconomic Consider this string of recent successes:
development.com.
Farmers Insurance has chosen Olathe for a new
customer service operation and will add 600 new
customer service workers and build a $25 million
facility. And U.S. Bank tabbed Overland Park for a
new service center that will spur at least $21 million
in capital investment and create 1,100 jobs when fully
staffed by 2013. The bank says the service center will
be one of its largest in the United States.
Kiewit Power Constructors Co. & Kiewit Power
Engineers Co. recently built and moved into a
Fortune 500 firm CenturyLink is based in Overland Park.

150,000-square-foot, five-story little manufacturing and it is high headquarters in Overland Park, a deal
headquarters facility in Lenexa. on the radar screen for professional that will create 800 jobs and at least
Sprint Nextel, CareCentrix, Inc., services, headquarters-type projects.” $30 million in capital investment.
General Electric, Waddell & Reed, Major new projects in Overland The move to the 175,000-square-foot
Capital One, Prescription Solutions Park include a campus for Black & facility is scheduled for early 2011.
and T-Mobile are among household Veatch, a global titan in engineering, Lenexa, also in Johnson County, is
names that share a Kansas address. consulting and construction. The another top destination. NCO Group
Overland Park and other spots in company is adding 250,000 square Inc., a global business outsourcer,
Johnson County are major magnets. feet to its world headquarters for expanded its call center there in 2009,
“It is one of most educated counties a potential total of 850,000 square generating $4 million in new capital
in the country,” says Barbara Hake, feet and a workforce topping 3,400. investment and plans for another
business recruitment manager for J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan 725 employees in 2010.
the Kansas Department of Commerce. Services signed a 10-year lease The metro area has about 2 million
“It is very white-collar, there is very in December 2009 for a new people, and “there is a great
MAJOR PRIVATE-SECTOR NONMANUFACTURING EMPLOYERS

Company Number of employers Industry
Sprint/Nextel 10,005 Telecommunications
CenturyLink 3,800 Telecommunications
Black & Veatch 3,200 Construction & Engineering Services
Farmers Insurance Group 3,000 Insurance Claims Center
Blue Cross and Blue Shield 2,890 Insurance
YRC Worldwide 2,200 Trucking
Jostens 1,200 Printing & Publishing
FORTUNE 1000 COMPANIES BASED IN KANSAS

Rank Company Revenue Location
64 Sprint Nextel $35.64 billion Overland Park
293 YRC Worldwide $8.94 billion Overland Park
405 CenturyLink $6.12 billion Overland Park
531 Seaboard $4.27 billion Shawnee Mission
620 Collective Brands $3.44 billion Topeka
824 Ferrellgas Partner $2.29 billion Overland Park
952 Westar Energy $1.84 billion Topeka
MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM

Wichita is a major center of commerce and
the undisputed aviation capital of the world.
The city ranked No. 2 on Forbes magazine’s
list of Best Cities for Jobs in 2008.
J. KYLE KEENER
U.S. Bank picked Olathe for a new datacenter. Wichita’s

Coleman is a household name in outdoors products.
infrastructure, so people can move back through Kansas City,” says JoAnn to buy one old warehouse when
around easily,” Hake says. “You can Adams, Coleman’s senior vice another property he was watching
get anywhere in the Kansas City metro president for global human resources. dropped in price. “We bought it in
area in 20 to 30 minutes.” “Distribution becomes more efficient.” May and moved in May,” he says.
That’s one of the reasons Coleman The project created in excess of 100 SAI handles transportation,
Co. Inc., the Wichita-based camping jobs, which helped Kansas top 9,100 warehousing and trade shows for
and outdoors gear giant, picked in new and retained jobs for the year power sport vehicles, electronic
Gardner for a huge new warehouse ending June 30, 2009. equipment suppliers and other sectors
and distribution facility that opened Sports Associated Inc. and its that need customized transportation.
in December 2009. The $43 million affiliated firms brought another Kansas came up with an incentive
facility is 2.5 miles outside Kansas 100 or so jobs when the specialty package that included a forgivable
City in the Midwest Commerce Center transportation company moved from loan, workforce training, tax credits
and will benefit from an intermodal Missouri in May 2009. CEO George and sales tax exemptions.
railway facility in the works. Hersh grew up in Kansas City, Kan., “They were all great,” Hersh says of
“We found that we had shipments and was working with Kansas state and local officials. “They made it
going to Kansas City and then coming Department of Commerce officials easy for me to make a decision.”
Growing Global
Diverse economy makes Kansas an export leader
Story by Pamela Coyle • Photography by Todd Bennett

$346M
F
rom aircraft and cereals to meat nearly tripled since 1999, though the
and machinery, Kansas is selling state is not resting on its traditional
more goods to more countries, products or markets. $380M
posting its fourth straight all-time India and Brazil are emerging as
high in 2008, with $12.5 billion strong buyers, further diversifying $2B
in exports. a lineup topped by Canada, Mexico, $624M
General aviation remains the state’s Japan and Germany.
biggest industry and its largest source The Kansas Department of
of exports. Commerce operates trade offices in $1.2B
Wichita produces 50 percent Beijing, Mexico City and Tokyo and
of general aviation aircraft in the contract representatives in several
United States and 40 percent of the other countries. State leaders will go
global supply. where the business is, and in October MAJOR KANSAS EXPORT MARKETS
Industrial machinery, cereals and 2009, Gov. Mark Parkinson and top United Kingdom
electrical machinery are next in size, Commerce Department officials made Canada
and total exports from Kansas have two separate trips to Asia, including Mexico
Japan
Germany
SOURCE: Kansas Department of Commerce
Vortex Valves in Salina increased exports nearly 150 percent in a three-year period. MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM
A worker checks a valve before it’s shipped from Vortex Valves in Salina. Right: Vortex, winner of the Governor’s Exporter of the Year
Award in 2008, makes gates and valves used by global customers in such industries as flour milling, plastics and petrochemicals.
China’s Henan Province, a long-time powder, dust, granule, pellet and Ingredients in late 2009 added
“sister state” of Kansas and buyer of aggregate form. The company’s Indonesia as its 19th export
Kansas goods. customers include original equipment destination, says Kim Bledsoe,
At home, Kansas spotlights one manufacturers, Fortune 500 outfits executive assistant to Chief Executive
exporter each year for the Governor’s and process engineering firms. Export Officer Robert Hatch, who founded the
Exporter of the Year Award. Winners destinations include Italy, Greece, company in Missouri in 1990.
are strong international marketers and Poland, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Cereal Ingredients moved to
solid neighbors at home. Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Kansas, where it built and opened a
Vortex Valves, based in Salina, Vortex, which is privately owned, new plant and headquarters in 2005.
won the award in 2008. The company opened an office in Shanghai in Two years later, it bought a
makes material handling valves May 2009 that serves countries in 40,000-square-foot building next door
and increased its export sales by the Pacific region, including China, in the Leavenworth Industrial Park,
148 percent from 2004 to 2007. Australia and New Zealand. doubling its space.
“Our core industries around the Cereal Ingredients Inc. won the “We grew so fast we didn’t have
world are flour milling, plastics, export award in 2009. The company time to build,” Bledsoe says.
petrochemicals and minerals,” makes food particulates that add flavor, Exports make up about 30 percent
says Russ Barragree, the company’s color and texture to baked goods, of the company’s business, though
marketing director. cereals, ice cream, crunches and domestic and foreign sales continue to
Vortex’s gates and valves are used toppings. Its latest line, Nutri-Bites, grow. Cereal Ingredients typically
to produce everything from Pringles is used in high-nutrition food bars. customizes products for its customers
potato chips to solid rocket fuel and Exports increased 76 percent and has its own research and
handle hundreds of materials in between 2005 and 2008, and Cereal development lab in Leavenworth.

The annual award winners may not
need it, but the Kansas Department
2008 KANSAS EXPORT TOTALS of Commerce sponsors conferences
Products Value and Web-based seminars to educate
companies about the export business.
Total value $12.5 billion Kansas itself keeps one strategy at
1. Aircraft, Spacecraft and Parts $4.0 billion the top of its list. “Face to face contact
is absolutely critical,” says John
2. Industrial Machinery $1.5 billion
Watson, director of the Trade
3. Cereals $1.2 billion Development Division of the
4. Electrical Machinery $800 million Kansas Department of Commerce.
“Any time we can help Kansas
5. Vehicles and Parts $594 million business leaders make direct contacts
SOURCE: Kansas Department of Commerce with foreign business leaders, we
MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM make a big world a little smaller.”
Good Things
in Small Places
Rural Kansas plays a lead role in economic development
A
More Insight ny way you slice it, McPherson is a Rural Opportunity, which caters to
small town. communities of 5,000 or fewer, and Kansas
The Kansas Department
of Commerce’s Office of
With just 14,000 residents, the entire PRIDE, which focuses on targeted community
Rural Opportunity is an central Kansas community weighs in at barely improvement, form a network of resources
initiative designed to serve more than half the population of Kansas State that give rural Kansas towns a leg up.
communities of 5,000 or University in nearby Manhattan. A steady tide of success stories proves
less and is a unique model
nationally. Housed within
But a closer look reveals that small that the efforts are not in vain.
the Kansas Department of town does not equal small time. More than In Junction City, population 18,000,
Commerce, the office has 50 businesses spanning at least a dozen a veritable bioscience hub has taken root.
four regional locations industries make McPherson arguably one of In the last three years, the city has lured
throughout Kansas, which
allow staffers to maximize
the most industrialized communities in the three big-time players in the industry:
their time in the field and country on a per-capita basis. The business pharmaceuticals firm Ventria Bioscience,
create a community-driven, roster includes national names like Hospira, renewable fuels producer Edenspace and
bottoms-up approach to CertainTeed, Ultrafab, Milacron Marketing, medical reference system developer Lead
rural development in
Kansas. For more, go to
National Cooperative Refinery Association Horse Technologies.
www.kansascommerce. and Johns Manville, companies producing A biotech park is currently in development,
com/RuralDevelopment. everything from hospital supplies to frozen and that project, along with aggressive capital
food products. incentives, make Junction City a top-notch
“A lot of states talk about rural devel- location for budding bioscience firms.
opment, but not all of them have industries “We thought, ‘OK, we’re coming into a
in those areas that really have potential,” nice, sleepy little Midwest town,’” says Ramie
says Joe Monaco, public information officer Leibnitz, president of Lead Horse Technologies.
for the Kansas Department of Commerce. “And in fact, we have been embraced and
“But Kansas does.” supported and cheered on every step of the
A slew of community readiness and way ... and it’s been wonderful.”
economic development programs such as A medical reference system developer,
Kansas Main Street, which emphasizes Lead Horse relocated from Colorado in
downtown redevelopment, the Office of part because of a generous economic
The C.L. Hoover Opera House in Junction City, one of Kansas’ many rural success stories. PHOTO BY JEFF ADKINS

70
JEFF ADKINS JEFF ADKINS
KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

S TA F F P H O T O
What’s Onlinee Junction City
Read more about initiatives that
boost investment in rural Kansas at
kansaseconomicdevelopment.com. McPherson
Newton
development incentive package.

The identification and cultivation of economic
development assets in rural communities, such as
McPherson’s knack for large-scale manufacturing,
is what makes Kansas unique, Monaco says.
One of the most promising sectors on the rural Kansas
horizon is the rapidly growing wind energy field. In May
2009, Siemens Energy, a global leader in wind turbine
production, announced it would build its first U.S.-based
turbine nacelle production facility in Hutchinson.
“When you look at Kansas, especially when you look
at renewable energy and wind energy, there is incredible
potential to not only rejuvenate, but also to spur growth
in rural communities,” Monaco says. “It really is the most
high-potential growth industry for rural Kansas right now
in a lot of ways.”
In 2008, Park Aircraft Technologies Corp. chose Newton,
a small community 20 miles north of Wichita, as the site
for a 50,000-square-foot advanced composite materials
facility. The company has the potential to tap into the
skilled aviation workforce and infrastructure in Wichita,
but also benefit from the cost and quality-of-life benefits
of a smaller suburb.
The small communities of Kansas are not putting all
their eggs in one basket. They’re inviting visitors to stop
by the farms and pick up a few eggs of their own.
Agritourism is a focal point of Kansas’ rural economic
development strategy, giving farms another revenue
opportunity and tourism backers more attractions to
promote. Just one example is the state’s blossoming
wine industry, which now numbers 19 wineries.
A companion program, Simply Kansas, encourages
Kansans to buy locally produced products. At
SimplyKansas.com, visitors can browse listings
of Kansas goods and even place orders directly.
“It might be hayrides, pumpkin picking or apple cider
tasting,” Monaco says. “You name it, but it’s anything that
will allow a farmer to expand his or her business to bring in
tourists and supplement their income.”
ANTONY BOSHIER
Rural Kansas communities have created vibrant and diverse

industry sectors, from agriculture to renewable energy to high tech.
Opportunity from Tragedy
AFTER A DEVASTATING TORNADO, GREENSBURG DEDICATES ITSELF TO A GREEN RECOVERY
When May 4, 2007, dawned, A small group of local business Mike Estes, a leader in Greensburg’s
Greensburg was a typical Kansas owners assembled the largest group economic recovery, whose family
community. Just 24 hours later, they could muster from Greensburg’s company, BTI Greensburg, owns the
95 percent of the town was gone. roughly 115 businesses, along with local John Deere Dealership. “So we
A powerful tornado leveled the local officials, citizens and state and set about laying out plans as to how
community and left residents at federal recovery workers. we were going to get that economic
a life-changing crossroads: was “At that meeting, 66 of the recovery going.”
rebuilding an entire town worth businesses said they wanted to come With a clean slate before them,
the effort? back in some way or fashion,” says leaders of Greensburg decided

the circumstances gave them a a wind farm of 10 1.25-megawatt
unique opportunity to rebuild their turbines that will allow the city to
community according to its name: it run solely on renewable energy.
was time to go green in Greensburg. “Were we in the wrong place at
The city and county committed the wrong time? Well, maybe we were
to rebuilding all of their facilities in the right place at the right time,”
according to the LEED Platinum Estes says. “A tornado made us see
and Gold standards, the two highest the opportunity.”
certification levels established by
the U.S. Green Building Council.
Greensburg is being rebuilt as a ‘green’
It’s ?fd\ to Me
The City of Greensburg is also community. The new 5.4.7 Arts Center
partnering with John Deere Renewables includes such sustainable features as
and the Kansas Power Pool to build solar panels and wind turbines.
What’s Onlinee
See video of how a town rebuilt itself into A community willing
a green community following a devastating
to work with you.
tornado at kansaseconomicdevelopment.com.
A growing business climate.
An industrial park
with open choices.
Calling all site selectors!

We are looking to fill
our industrial park lots.
CITY OF ANDOVER
909 N. Andover Rd.
Andover, KS 67002
(316) 733-1303 Ext. 226
(316) 733-4634 Fax
scoelho@andoverks.com
PHOTOS BY JEFF ADKINS
Visit us at
www.andoverks.com
State incentives/local incentives
Opportunity
Knocks
Innovative Kansas program helps
small communities prosper

A
t the Office of Rural Opportunity in Kansas,
size definitely matters. The smaller the better.
In fact, this unique economic development
resource – the only one of its kind in the nation – is
exclusively for communities with fewer than 5,000 people.
“The Office of Rural Opportunity is a connector,” says
Carol Meyer, the Southwest Region representative for the
ORO. “It’s a connector to other programs, not only to the
Kansas Department of Commerce programs, but to other
programs that might be out there, and to information
and expertise.”
While many rural development organizations take a
financial approach to luring industry to rural communities,
the Office of Rural Opportunity focuses on community
development first and foremost, making sure that
towns are whole, healthy and ready before they begin
recruiting jobs.
Infrastructure development, health-care improvement
and housing availability are the kinds of issues that the
Cindy Boller, left, and Georgia Mann opened Destination Kitchen,

a combination store, restaurant and gourmet food shop, in Norton
in 2008 after they attended a Kansas Main Street conference.
The Kansas Office of Rural Opportunity provides a range of resources and expertise to communities such as Norton.
office helps communities address. The state Scott and Greeley counties, each in Meyer’s
What’s is covered by Offices of Rural Opportunity 28-county Office of Rural Opportunity region,
Online
O in four regions, so communities get highly were selected as two of nine E-Communities,
Learn more about
personalized attention. a competitive statewide program that allows
growth opportunities “All the resources don’t fit all the communities to use tax credits for
in Kansas rural communities, so telling them about all of them entrepreneurial endeavors.
communities at probably isn’t going to do any good,” Meyer Greeley County is also restoring a historic
kansaseconomic
development.com.
says. “Finding out what they need assistance theater with a grant through the Small
with, or what they’d really like to get done and Communities Improvement Program, which
then connecting them with the resources is helps fund projects that are completed with
more valuable then just handing them phone 40 percent volunteer labor in communities
numbers and programs.” of 5,000 people or less. The community has
In Scott County, a new jail and a new law also established innovative programs for youth
enforcement center, an expanded library and involvement and built a solid reputation for
plans for a new 25-bed hospital are the result its health-care services.
of focused cooperation between various Meade County recently joined the Public
agencies throughout the county. Square Program, which helps communities

Destination Kitchen was born from the entrepreneur owners’
passion for food and cooking.
foster collective discussions about problems and their

solutions within the community. The county is also home
to an investor park, and in the last year, community leaders
have begun looking in earnest at what it will take to attract
corporate tenants and create jobs for the county.
Entrepreneurship is a major emphasis of Kansas’
community readiness programs, and nowhere is the fruit
cutline bold: cutline cutline italic cutline of those efforts more clearly seen than inside Destination
cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline Kitchen in Norton.
Cindy Boller and Georgia Mann, owners of the specialty
shop that draws customers from a 90-mile radius, opened
their doors in October 2008 after a Kansas Main Street
conference encouraged them to attend a small business
boot camp in Colorado.
Playing on the owners’ passion for cooking and
food, Destination Kitchen is a combination retail store,
restaurant and gourmet food shop that has quickly
turned into a regional attraction. “People were anxious
for something like this and really looked forward to us
opening,” says Mann. “We have been greatly supported
by our community and the surrounding area.”
Norton County
Scott County
Meade County
Into the Great
Wide Open
Natural beauty, history, culture
shape the Kansas experience

Big Business
A 2006 economic impact
study found tourism
expenditures in Kansas
totaling more than $7.2
billion from more than
32 million business and
leisure travelers. More
than 50 percent of tourism
visits came from people
outside the state. The
study found more than
128,000 direct and
indirect jobs in Kansas
were associated with
tourism and travel
economic activity.
Story by Amy Stumpfl
Photography by Jeff Adkins
O
ver the years, visitors to Kansas have come to expect
the unexpected. Sure, there’s plenty of wide open
plains and frontier fun in the Sunflower State.
But the uncommonly distinctive landscape holds a few
surprises, too.
“One of the things we hear from first-time visitors is that
they are surprised by the terrain,” says Richard Smalley,
marketing manager for the Kansas Department of
Commerce’s Travel & Tourism Division. “They assume
it’s all going to be flat, high plains. But, of course,
that’s not the case.”
In fact, the state is home to several significant geological
formations, including vast deposits of limestone and chalk.
Monument Rocks and Castle Rock are both chalk
formations, while the Gypsum Hills in south-central
Kansas feature breathtaking views of buttes and mesas.
And the Kansas Underground Salt Museum invites tourists
to journey 650 feet below the Earth’s surface to see salt
deposits created millions of years ago.
The Flint Hills National Scenic Byway and the Tallgrass
Prairie National Preserve are two of the state’s most
popular tourist destinations.
The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is home to the largest
remaining area of tallgrass prairie in North America. “But it’s
Clockwise from top: The entrance to the Tallgrass Prairie National

Preserve near Strong City; Chip Ferguson tends bar at the Long
Branch Saloon at the Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City. A one-room
schoolhouse at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve; Wyatt Earp’s
legend lives on in Dodge City.
more than just a unique ecosystem,” Smalley says. “The Flint allows grandparents to experience space training with their
Hills area is an important part of our history and culture. grandchildren, where they can build robots and rockets
The historic forts and cattle towns, the Santa Fe Trail, the and log time in simulators.
Pony Express – all of these things are part of our story.” This type of family-friendly programming is typical
The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center honors of the Kansas experience, Smalley says.
another important chapter in American history – the Space Major chapters of U.S. history are woven into the history
Race. Founded in 1962 as the Hutchinson Planetarium, of Kansas. The state played a key role in the War Between
the Cosmosphere is one of the world’s most comprehensive the States, and Kansas forts helped protect the frontier.
space museums, attracting approximately 150,000 visitors The U.S. Cavalry Museum at Fort Riley includes exhibits
each year. of cavalry activities from their early beginnings in the
The museum boasts the largest collection of U.S. space Revolutionary War to their modern deployment in the
artifacts outside the Smithsonian National Air and Space Persian Gulf.
Museum in Washington, D.C., as well as the largest Cattle drives and cowboys are part of the Kansas
collection of Russian artifacts outside of Moscow. experience, and historic Dodge City, with attractions such
In addition, the Cosmosphere offers a wide range as the Boot Hill Museum and the Dodge City Trail of Fame,
of camps and educational programs. gives visitors a flavor of the Old West’s wilder days.
“We have about 30,000 school children visit the “Whether you’re into sports and outdoor recreation or
Cosmosphere each year through field trips,” says arts and history, you’ll find a number of sites that cater to
Christopher Orwoll, president and CEO. “And we families,” Smalley says. “The Kansas Museum of History
have camp programs available for students starting in Topeka, the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita, there
in elementary school on up through high school. are even working cattle ranches where you can experience
We even have programs for adults and seniors.” hands-on a day in the life of a cowboy. There’s really
The museum’s Intergenerational Camp, for example, something for everyone.”
The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson draws 150,000 visitors a year. PHOTO BY TODD BENNETT
IN GOOD COMPANY FROM BUFFALO BILL TO IKE, KANSANS STAND OUT

Though born in Texas, Dwight D. Eisenhower, a child. Independence was the site of the original
famous general and 34th U.S. president, called Little House, and a cabin there re-creates her home.
Kansas home. The Eisenhower Center in Abilene Walter Chrysler was born in Wamego and grew up
includes his presidential library and boyhood home. in Ellis. After a stint with General Motors, Chrysler
Amelia Earhart disappeared without a trace, but took over an ailing car company and turned it into
the Atchinson native’s life can be discovered at the car colossus Chrysler Corp.
Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum, and some of Famed cavalry scout and hunter William F.
her personal effects are on display at the Atchison “Buffalo Bill” Cody came to Kansas with his family
County Historical Society Museum. in 1854. In Oakley, a 16-foot tall Buffalo Bill
Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote the Little House statue sits prominently on a hill outside of town
on the Prairie books, lived in Independence as to commemorate the famous frontiersman.
Three industrial parks
in south central Kansas
offering buildings,
land and infrastructure.
Supporting a strong industry

base with companies such as:
= Creekstone Premium Beef
= GE – Jet Engine Services
= Meadwest Vaco-Calmar
= Morton Buildings
= Newell-Rubbermaid
Plus …
Skilled Workforce
Quality Customized Training
Access to Transportation
Central Location
Give us a Call!
Serving Arkansas City,

Winfield and
Cowley County, Kansas
Cowley County Economic

Development Partnership
Kerri Falletti, CEcD, Director

22193 Tupper St., P.O. Box 832
Winfield, KS 67156
LIVING GREEN
STARTS FROM THE GROUND UP.
(620) 221-9951 Living green is making sure the air in your home is healthy for your family to breathe. Test
your home for radon and build radon-resistant. It's easy. That's living healthy and green.
www.cowleyfirst.com
Just call 866-730-green or visit www.epa.gov/radon

ANTONY BOSHIER JEFF ADKINS
New Opportunity in a Vintage Business

WINE MAKING TAKES ROOT IN KANSAS
With its rich, fertile soil, it’s no surprise that Kansas cabernet sauvignon and merlot, which don’t do well in our
is a top location for agriculture. Midwest climate. But if we can have a conversation about
But along with its wheat and beef production, Kansas the style of wine they enjoy – in other words, sweet or dry
is cultivating a growing number of wineries, 19 in all, – people are usually happy to break open a bottle and try
that together produce more than 50,000 gallons of something new.”
wine each year. Jennings also sees the emerging agritourism
Using locally grown grapes, berries and other fruits, movement as having tremendous potential.
Kansas winemakers are steadily building a reputation, “For new wineries especially, it’s important to offer
garnering more than 300 international awards in ongoing specials to keep people interested,” he says.
recent years. “We offer winemaker dinners and special events, such
“Kansas wines have gone toe to toe with prominent as a Christmas open house and murder mystery dinners.”
wines across the country, so the quality is there,” says Of course, the winery also welcomes a number of
Norm Jennings, a third-generation winemaker and general private parties each year, including everything from
manager of Smoky Hill Vineyards & Winery near Salina. corporate meetings to weddings. Kansas Wedding Plan
“The challenge is in getting the word out and reassuring magazine recently named Smoky Hill Vineyards as one
people of the experience they’ll have.” of the state’s top five wedding locations.
Key to that goal, says Jennings, is a commitment to “It’s all about the experience,” says Jennings,
education and customer service. “the ability to provide the personal touch that is
“Just as different flowers and plants thrive in different so often missing in our world today.”
parts of the country, so do different types of grapes. Visit www.winesofkansas.com for a list of Kansas
Most wine drinkers think in terms of chardonnay, wineries. – Amy Stumpfl
Smoky Hill Vineyards and Winery near Salina is one of 19 wineries in Kansas.
A Perfect
Match
Kansas programs boost workforce development
Story by Joe Monaco • Photography by Todd Bennett
I
Key n today’s complex global economy, a skilled search applicant databases and explore
and adaptable workforce is crucial to training options, while job seekers can
Workforce economic growth. get resume-writing assistance, take online
Partners Recognizing this, Kansas business leaders assessments or receive certifications.
Kansas Department of
continue to enhance the state’s workforce In addition, KANSASWORKS integrates
Commerce – Workforce development system, titled KANSASWORKS, Kansas universities, community and technical
Development (State to ensure that Kansas businesses have access colleges so they can tailor their curriculum to
Administrator) to a pool of skilled workers. In recent years, the needs of Kansas businesses. The result is
State Workforce Board the KANSASWORKS system has emerged as a seamless network in which workers receive
Local Workforce one of the nation’s best – and those skilled job-specific training that prepares them for
Investment Boards (LWIBs) workers continue to be a key reason businesses jobs in Kansas.
Kansas Department are choosing Kansas. A crucial tool in shaping curriculum to
of Labor “Of all the factors that make Kansas an fit the needs of business is the Workforce
Kansas Board of Regents – attractive business location, none is more Solutions Fund. Established in 2004, the
Technical Education important than our workforce,” says Caleb WSF provides grants to Kansas post-secondary
Authority Asher, deputy secretary of workforce services training institutions to respond to the training
Kansas Department of for the Kansas Department of Commerce. needs of the state’s critical industries.
Education “Business executives constantly cite the In February 2010, Flint Hills Technical
work ethic, skill level and versatility of College was awarded $150,000 through the WSF
the workers here.” to expand its industrial engineering technology
The KANSASWORKS system’s goal is program and prepare more students for careers
straightforward: to link businesses, job in manufacturing. The award will help the
seekers and educational institutions to college purchase hydraulic-pneumatic and
ensure that Kansas employers can find automation equipment to provide students the
skilled workers. One such linkage is the chance to train on the same machines they’d
system’s network of 25 workforce centers, encounter in the workforce. Other institutions
where businesses can interview job seekers, to receive funding include Cloud County

JoLynn Ashmore leads an employee skills training session at a KANSASWORKS office in Hays.
Community College, Northeast Kansas core sectors, including advanced For more
Technical College and Hutchinson Community manufacturing and aviation, biotechnology
College, to name a few. and green energy, which encompasses wind information
In addition to the Workforce Solutions and solar technologies, as well as alternative KANSASWORKS.com is
Fund, the state offers businesses workforce fuels. These green efforts garnered even more the official labor exchange
training and retraining funds through the momentum in January 2010, when Kansas site of the State of Kansas
Kansas Industrial Training (KIT), Kansas was awarded a $6 million grant from the and a highly utilized
resource for posting and
Industrial Retraining (KIR) and Investments U.S. Department of Labor to train Kansans finding jobs in Kansas.
in Major Projects and Comprehensive Training for employment in green industries. The site includes an array
(IMPACT) programs. These three incentives While the state is focusing on these key of information, links and
encourage dozens of corporate expansions industries, officials continue to structure listings for landing the
perfect job, finding
and relocations in Kansas each year. KANSASWORKS so that it can adapt to an the perfect employee
Recently, Kansas workforce officials have ever-changing and unpredictable economy. or researching an industry
taken steps to streamline the KANSASWORKS Asher says it would be short-sighted to create or workforce.
system by eliminating program and staffing a system that addresses today’s business needs
silos between various federal funding sources. but won’t be able to adapt to tomorrow’s.
The goal is to provide seamless services for “If we expect our workers to be flexible,
customers, increase responsiveness and reduce we need our KANSASWORKS system to be
overhead costs associated with duplicative equally flexible,” Asher says. “What we’re
services. Officials have also condensed various doing now, through integration, improved
online services into KANSASWORKS.com, online services and increased partnerships
the state’s official job-matching and career between business and training institutions,
services site, creating a user-friendly, one-stop is creating a system that we can use for today’s
shop for job seekers and businesses. key industries but that will be just as effective
While KANSASWORKS can help businesses 10 years from now if our critical industries
and job seekers in nearly every industry, the change. If we do it right, our workforce will
system has increased its focus on the state’s be prepared for anything.”
Gallery
A windmill stands alone on the prairie along the Flint Hills Scenic Byway.
Photo by Jeff Adkins

A memorial in stained glass at
the Kansas Cosmosphere and
Space Center in Hutchinson
Photo by Todd Bennett
The 322-foot Wichita Riverfront Pedestrian
Bridge spans the Arkansas River.
Staff photo

The Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010.
Photo by Todd Bennett
The Coronado Cross near Fort Dodge marks the spot where Spanish explorer
Francisco Vazquez de Coronado is said to have crossed the Arkansas River
(then known as the St. Peter and St. Paul River) in search of the fabled
“cities of gold” in 1541. Photo by Jeff Adkins

The sun sets over Greensburg’s new
5.4.7 Art Center, a building whose
numerous sustainable features include
three wind turbines and solar panels.
Photo by Jeff Adkins
96
JEFF ADKINS JEFF ADKINS

S TA F F P H O T O
ANTONY BOSHIER
Education Education
Schools
of Thought
Kansas universities are
backbone of research,
innovation
B
arth Hague likes to say that many students who
graduate from Wichita State University have a
diploma – and a resume. Hague, Wichita State’s
associate vice president for public relations, points out that
the university has the largest cooperative education program
in Kansas, with more than half its students participating.
What makes it even more advantageous is that the
university is located near many top employers in the
Wichita area, including its renowned cluster of aviation
and aerospace companies. “Some WSU students even
co-op with NASA. Imagine working part time at NASA
while going to college – think of the career opportunities
Clockwise from top: The University of Kansas in Lawrence.

The Ablah Library at Wichita State University. Anderson Hall,
the administration building at Kansas State University in
Manhattan. On the move at KU.
you’d have once you graduate,” Hague says.
With seven major universities including Wichita State,
Kansas State University and the University of Kansas, and
26 technical and community colleges creating a deep pool
of highly skilled graduates, companies doing business in
the state or considering it have a major advantage.
At Kansas State University, a world-renowned animal
health and agricultural sciences program attracts hundreds
of students each year, providing highly trained recruits for
the state’s booming Animal Health Corridor.
Kansas State’s agriculture curriculum dates to the 1860s,
and today, the Animal Sciences & Industry Department
manages 6,500 acres for research purposes, close to the
PHOTOS BY JEFF ADKINS

university’s main campus in Manhattan. In a typical year,
Kansas colleges and universities are key components in producing a

skilled workforce that attracts new investment and high-paying jobs.
89.1 16 65.4 16
Percentage of Kansans with a Rank of Kansas among Percentage of State General Rank of Kansas among
high school diploma, among states for percentage of Funds in Kanas that are states for average score
the highest rates in the nation adults with college degree devoted to education on ACT
S TA F F P H O T O
JEFF ADKINS
Clockwise from above: On the campus at the University of Kansas

in Lawrence. Hale Library at Kansas State University. A statue of
Thomas Jefferson at Wichita State University
the department’s research and teaching facilities

accommodate 3,000 cattle, 3,500 swine, 1,500 laying
hens, 250 sheep and 45 horses.
Construction began in 2009 on the $28 million Kansas
State Olathe Innovation Campus, which will house office
and lab space for research, education and technology
commercialization and become the home for the National
Institute for Animal Health and Food Safety when it opens
by early 2011. The university also offers major programs in
aeronautics, bioscience, energy research, engineering and
environmental studies.
The University of Kansas in Lawrence has one of the
nation’s top-ranked schools of pharmacy. Students who
earn an advanced pharmacy degree are virtually guaranteed
to earn a starting salary in excess of $100,000 a year.
TODD BENNET T
“One of the pharmacists who taught here at KU

helped develop timed-release capsules, while one
of our alums helped develop insulin,” says Lynn Bretz,
KU’s director of communications. that it offers 38 languages of study. Public
Valentino Stella, a pharmaceutical chemistry “Our public affairs curriculum is perennially
professor at the university, holds 34 drug No. 1 in the country, and so is our special universities
patents, including eight for anti-cancer drugs education teaching curriculum,” she says. in Kansas
that have been produced by the American “And perhaps surprising to many people, University of Kansas
Cancer Institute. we are strong in paleontology. Newt Gingrich www.ku.edu
In 2009, Forbes magazine named KU as one spoke on campus in 2009 and happened to visit Enrollment: 26,000
of the Top 10 IQ Campuses in the United States our Natural History Museum and Biodiversity
Kansas State University
for trailblazing research. Bretz says the Research Center, then Twittered that he believed www.k-state.edu
university is also proud of many other KU has one of the top paleontology collections Enrollment: 22,000
accomplishments, including the fact in the world. He’s correct – we do.”
Wichita State University
www.wichita.edu
Enrollment: 15,000
Washburn University *
www.washburn.edu
Enrollment: 6,200
Pittsburg State University

www.pittstate.edu
Enrollment: 6,000
Emporia State University

www.emporia.edu
Enrollment: 5,900
Ft. Hays State University

www.fhsu.edu
Enrollment: 12,000
Jeff Adkins * Municipal university
Kansas ranks 16th among states for adults with college degrees.
k a n s a s e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t. c o m 103
Green with Opportunity
$6M FEDERAL GRANT STIMULATES EMERGING ENERGY JOBS
Kansas has been awarded a efficiency and renewable energy. credentials. Specifically,
$6 million grant from the U.S. The grant will focus primarily on the grant will allow Kansas
Department of Labor to train the green industries of renewable workforce partners to:
Kansans for employment in energy operation and construction; ● Create an integrated system
green industries. renewable energy manufacturing and of education, training and
The State Energy Sector supply chain; energy transmission; support services that promotes
Partnership and Training Grant – as biomass; and green construction/ skill attainment and career
authorized by the American Recovery manufacturing. Through the grant, pathway development for
and Reinvestment Act – is designed program participants will receive low-income, low-skilled
to teach skills needed in emerging the technical and occupational skills workers leading to green
green industries, including energy needed to obtain industry-recognized industry employment.
● Support implementation
of a statewide energy sector
strategy, including the
governor’s overall workforce
visions, state energy policies
and training activities that lead
to employment in targeted
industry sectors.
● Build and strengthen
partnerships dedicated
to building a skilled clean
energy workforce.
● Partner with other agencies
receiving Recovery Act funds
to support planning and
implementation.
“This grant will help Kansans
re-train for new jobs in the
renewable energy sector,” said
Gov. Mark Parkinson. “With
these new resources, made
possible through the American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, Kansas will continue its
role as a leader in renewable
energy, with a ready and
skilled workforce.”
Kansas’ grant application
was shaped by the State
Energy Sector Partnership,
which was convened by
Gov. Parkinson and comprises
the KANSASWORKS State
Board; Local Workforce
Investment Boards;
KCC; energy and utility
representatives; labor
organizations; Kansas
Apprenticeship Program; The
Land Institute; KBOR; Veterans
Programs; Kansas economic
development agencies; and the
Kansas departments of Labor,
Corrections and Commerce.

DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT
... see it for yourself
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that makes people who move there to work decide seen it before, thanks to the work of our
to stay for the long term? award-winning photographers and writers.
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wKREDA
western Kansas Rural Economic
Development Alliance
Welcome Home to Western Kansas ...
Where Life Works
Special Advertising Section

Welcome Home to we s tern Kans as ... Where Life Wo rk s !
PHOTOS BY TODD BENNETT

wKREDA
Coming Together as One

wKREDA’s communal effort builds business success in 46-county region
T
rying to get a single, unified region, says Steve Miller, senior manager trade-show visitations around the
voice out of a 54-county region of special projects for Sunflower Electric country to put western Kansas in front
is no easy feat, but that was the and a founding member. of different business and industry
challenge in 1994. Sixteen years later, “I was spending a lot of time on groups that are deemed to be a good fit
the visionary founders of what would economic development, calling on for the area. Successes include a major
become the western Kansas Rural various chambers and development uptick in dairy production thanks to
Economic Development Alliance can people across the western half of solid recruitment efforts, as well as a
look back on an organization that Kansas, and it dawned on me that they growing manufacturing and
continues to transform the landscape all had the same problems,” Miller distribution sector.
for its members. recalls. “Most of the assistance we had A strong belief in the region’s future
The goal was simple: Create an entity access to was more logically available drove Carol Meyer, then the economic
that could address the economic to larger places, so we got together and development director for the Garden
development concerns of roughly half said if we could group our resources, City Chamber of Commerce and now a
the state. While the communities and we could market ourselves with a lot representative for the Kansas Office of
counties were many, the problems were of passion. That’s what drove us then, Rural Opportunity, to jump on board
all the same — loss of young people to and what does so now.” in the early days.
more populated areas, stagnant local Since those early days, wKREDA has “We knew we couldn’t compete with
economies and little influx of new grown to encompass ongoing education each other, but also knew that there would
residents and businesses. The thought programs for its members, an annual be some crossover where a marketing
was that by pulling together, major issues trip to the state capital to ensure that its push might be geared toward one area,
could be tackled on behalf of the entire members’ voices are heard and multiple but would need another area’s help,”
Meyer says.
“We always look hard at what
industries match who we are and what
we do well,” she says. “We want those
that are growing, that fill a niche, to
continue to expand here. We still have
a lot of challenges, but we’ve been very
successful.”
– Joe Morris
This special section is published for western Kansas Economic

Development Alliance by Journal Communications Inc.
For more information, contact:

western Kansas Rural Economic Development Alliance
301 W. 13th St. • Hays, KS 67601
(785) 533-2222 • www.discoverwesternkansas.com
©Copyright 2010 Journal Communications Inc., 725 Cool

Springs Blvd., Suite 400, Franklin, TN 37067, (615) 771-0080.
All rights reserved. No portion of this special advertising

section may be reproduced in whole or in part without
written consent.
On the cover: Wyatt Earp Boulevard in Dodge City, Kan.

The 46 counties of western Kansas have banded together to promote economic Photo by: Jeff Adkins
development and the superior quality of life in their communities, such as Hays.

A wKREDA
initiative helps
promote the
numerous job
opportunities in
the region’s
communities.
Making it Work
wKREDA promotes job recruitment, retention for region
B
y successfully recruiting and retaining different maintenance of the site, www.westernksjobs.com, which
industries and businesses, the western Kansas Rural lists jobs and serves as a hub for communities to link their
Economic Development Alliance has been able to help sites to. A collaboration with KansasWorks that allowed
grow the region’s workforce. The focus now is on finding and spidering searches from there to include those of wKREDA’s
keeping good employees for those companies, which should Web site proved beneficial as well.
spur even more growth and development going forward. A plan to generate traffic on the site included outside
“Four years ago, we got together to talk about how all of marketing, such as billboards around the state, visits to
our businesses needed employees to expand their businesses, career fairs and other targeted efforts above and beyond what
and how we could help in that effort,” says Jeff Hofaker, wKREDA already was doing. The initiative also heightened
director of Phillips County Economic Development and the organization’s profile within its coverage area, which
co-chair of wKREDA’s workforce initiative committee. “We brought in more communities to the overall effort.
began to talk about what we could to in terms of marketing “We provided communities that didn’t have a full-time
our region not just for new businesses, but also toward economic development person or office the help to develop a
recruitment of a new workforce.” local Web site for jobs,” Hofaker says. “These local Web sites
Those early discussions led to a workforce-initiative provided much-needed grassroots representation, but also
committee, which focused its efforts on a regional approach engaged someone locally to enter the same data into our site.”
to recruiting, centered around a specialized Web site. At the end of the day, Hofaker says, “The connections are
“It seemed the most reasonable way to put everything being made. Thinking regionally and collaboratively, helping
together in one very accessible place, where we could put a people find jobs, is happening. Residents of one county can
lot of information about our different communities in front search and find work 40 to 50 or more miles away, and still
of people,” Hofaker says. have the benefit of living in a rural area. This keeps people
A grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce’s in our state, and provides them with options not afforded
Workforce Investment Act helped fund creation and to them in other areas.”

wKREDA
Milking Success in Dairy

Revitalized industry showcases wKREDA’s successful marketing efforts
R
evitalizing the dairy industry “They had a lot of good programs which leads to more efficiency.”
was an early mandate for the that gave us a lot of help when we moved The effort is now helping dairies
western Kansas Rural Economic from Pennsylvania,” says Tom McCarty, expand into full-scale production
Development Alliance and its members, who along with wife, Kathy, and their for cheese and other products.
and those efforts have been remarkably four sons relocated in 1999. “We had a Partnerships have been formed with
successful. lot of contact with wKREDA when we local grain and beef operators, which
While dairy farming and production were looking at different locations in are using dairy herds to expand their
had been strong in the region western Kansas and we met a lot of great own operations.
historically, many family farms had people through them and also learned Dairy University brings in national
been sold off or shuttered in recent a lot about all the different counties.” experts to talk about industry trends,
decades. But everything that made The McCartys are in Thomas giving local economic development
western Kansas good for dairy County, about 14 miles east of Colby, officials not yet involved a chance to
production – land, cost of living, where they operate McCarthy Dairy. get into the game as well.
climate – was still intact, and just They also own and operate the Bird City The initiatives have made a
needed a little promotional push. Dairy, which they built and opened two substantial positive impact, and the
Enter the western Kanas Rural years ago. They have around 6,500 head continued efforts should help a thriving
Economic Development Alliance, and of cattle between the two operations. old-and-new industry sector regain its
its traveling road show that put Kansas They’ve made it a family affair, with historical place in the region.
dairy land in front of farmers from three or their sons involved in their “Agriculture back east is dying
coast to coast. Families from California, operations and a fourth running two because it’s a numbers game and you
Minnesota, Pennsylvania and other dairies just south of Syracuse, Kan. just can’t create the level you need to
states pulled up stakes to come to a “Where we’re from, the biggest operate successfully,” McCarty says.
region with plenty of room, not only problem was the lack of ability to grow,” “That’s not the case here, and they are
to set up a farm, but to expand in McCarty says. “This part of the world very smart to show off western Kansas
just about any direction. gives you a lot of opportunity for that, as a good place for dairies.”
ANTONY BOSHIER

Built to Last
Manufacturers, distributors find many reasons to call western Kansas home
E
fforts to promote western focus is here,” Comeau says. “We’re Comeau says based on his success,
Kansas as a manufacturing working with about 14 mills in nine he sees strong growth for western
and distribution hub continue countries, and also have a joint venture Kansas as a manufacturing and
to show positive results, thanks to the in Thailand, as well as work in Vietnam, shipping center, especially as state,
presence of Interstate 70, excellent road India and Bangalore. All the textiles are regional and local incentive packages
infrastructure, strong rail access and imported to and distributed out of here, are put into place that allow for localized
air connections to the entire region. and we do all of our architectural borrowing for startup and expansion.
The growth of manufacturing in lighting work here. We do tons of “Everyone needs money to tap into,
the region is a plus for those seeking shipping, and have been able to work and that will greatly advance rural economic
jobs, and the western Kansas Rural out a wonderful working relationship development,” he says. “But this is a great
Economic Development Alliance has with FedEx. Our location, even though place to be. One of the biggest marketing
been working with both employers we’re not right on I-70, has never been coups I ever pulled was setting up shop in
and employees to ensure a steady an inhibiting factor.” a small, rural area.”
supply of qualified workers to
companies looking to move into
the area or expand their presence.
All this, plus a desire to come back
to his hometown, led Charles “Chuck”
Comeau to bring the distribution arm
of DessinFournir, a manufacturer of
customized furniture, lighting and
textiles, to his Plainville-based
headquarters in the 1990s. Comeau
has kept his manufacturing arm in
Los Angeles for a variety of reasons,
but says that Plainville has been a great
place to base the rest of his operations.
“I had been having trouble with a
lot of employment and quality issues
in California, and about that time a lot
of local people here were unemployed
because of the oil business going
down,” Comeau says. “I had put an ad
in the paper for someone to take care
of my yard, and a gentleman came and
said he wanted the job, and would do
what it took to remain here because his
family loved it in Plainville. He’s now
one of our top executives.”
Finding people with solid leadership
skills and the training necessary for the
business helped Comeau eventually
relocate most of his operations to western
Kansas, everything from public relations
and accounting to design, customer
care and warehousing. And as he’s
acquired other companies, he’s moved
their operations to Plainville as well,
and has grown his staff to about 85
people at the main operations center
and about 120 total around the country.
“We have offices all over, but the Upscale furnishings company Dessin Fournir has found a home in western Kansas.

wKREDA
Travis Ruff operates

a gun dog training
facility Hanston.
Modern-day Settlers
Returning families prove you can go home again – and successfully
T
hanks to family ties and a growing reputation for job undiscovered jewel, and our house payment is not even a
opportunities, low cost of living and a great overall tenth of what it was in Denver.”
quality of life, western Kansas is seeing a whole new Quality of life, solid schools and a hometown feel are what
crop of settlers these days. drew Travis and Katie Ruff back to Hanston, where Travis
Take April and Arnie Teves. She grew up in Denver while operates Professional Gun Dogs, a full-service training
he’s a native of rural California, but her grandfather and his facility for pointing and retrieving breeds of hunting dogs.
family homesteaded in Logan and remained there over the (www.progundog.com)
years. Family reunions and vacations were spent there, and The Ruffs note that access to high-speed Internet
the seed was planted early on that this would be a good place connectivity allows them to operate a business well beyond
to live, April says. Hanston and for Katie to work remotely for a business in
“When my grandmother moved to Denver, my husband Dodge City and be at home with the couple’s children.
said, ‘Let’s buy her house,’” she recalls. “He loves hunting and Sean and Monica Kats and their three children moved
fishing, that small-town atmosphere, and I really enjoy that, back to the region in mid-2009 to operate her family’s farm
too. We worked really hard to get ourselves out here, but since and be closer to family, but they discovered a whole new side
arriving in October 2009, we have been absolutely loving it.” to the Kansas they thought they already knew.
Arnie is a mechanic with 30 years’ experience, and was “We were able to find work through Prairie Land Electric,
almost immediately offered a supervisory position at a NAPA while also operating the farm,” says Sean. “Our working farm
store, while April was able to transfer her work-from-home involves a cow-calf cattle operation and commodity crops, like
job with little difficulty. She also began to explore opportunities wheat for grain, so it’s a real working farm.”
in ministry, and a youth-oriented position in nearby The Kats, too, say that the area’s quality of life just can’t be
Phillipsburg is looking like a good fit. matched, and it’s a good place to live, work and raise a family.
“A lot of doors have opened for us here, but we already “It’s certainly different than living in the city, but we really
knew some people from visiting over the years, and I have enjoy it here,” says Sean Kats. “We’re really glad that the farm
family here,” she says. “This part of Kansas really is an brought us back.”

Cultivating
Homegrown Talent
Push to keep local youth down on the farm, and in the region, pays dividends
K
eeping and expanding a pool of economic development and networking and have great memories of.”
qualified, well-trained workers specialist for Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech wKREDA also is targeting alumni
is vital for any ongoing economic and wKREDA’s current president. of high schools throughout western
development plan, and the western “We want to remind them of the Kansas, promoting a "come home"
Kansas Rural Economic Development hometowns and all there is available to theme through brochures inserted in
Alliance is working to ensure that young them now that they may be married alumni mailers. wKREDA members are
people are included in those efforts. with children, and are looking at their also attending job and career fairs at
Through its jobs initiative and its current situation and realizing how most of the state’s universities and even
work with local economic development great it would be to have grandma just reaching into neighboring Nebraska.
organizations, wKREDA has been able down the street and knowing that their Cable television ads, billboards and
to ramp up recruitment and retention children will be getting a great education other promotional material all dovetail
throughout western Kansas. Now the in the same classrooms they were taught into the ongoing job-recruitment efforts
word is getting out to high school and in and how life is so much safer and at www.westernksjobs.com, which
college students about the region’s enjoyable ‘back home.’” itself has brought many Kansans back
opportunities, so that when they finish The organization has been getting a into the fold.
their studies they’ll go … right here. boost in recent months from the national “The youth initiative and other
"As counties in western Kansas economic downturn, which has brought related efforts to recruit and retain
witness declining population, we as several natives back to formerly empty skilled workers for multiple industries
wKREDA members have decided to nests in search of employment, a better in western Kansas is one that will be
focus on how to retain the current youth quality of life and lower-cost housing. ongoing and ever evolving,” Alexander
population in our territory, as well as "All of these are available to them in says. “And when a former student
try to recruit former members of our their hometowns,” Alexander says. comes back home to work and raise a
communities who have left home to “And, since they have lived there before, family, the community will embrace
attend college, explore the world and it is easier for them to relocate to a this young professional and welcome
enter the workforce,” says Mendi Alexander, location that they are familiar with them with open arms.”
STAFF PHOTO

Energy/Technology
Renewed Energy
Ethanol advances, oil and gas production fuel an industry

What’ss
K
ansas is an energy leader on a number Kansas has also developed a potent biofuels
of fronts. The state is fast becoming a industry and is now ranked among the
wind-energy powerhouse and, with one nation’s top five in ethanol production. Onlinee
of the largest deposits in the world, it is among Ethanol is a biofuel additive for gasoline Learn more about the
the nation’s leading producers of natural gas, that goes into cars and trucks. Corn along with energy and renewables
its 25,600 wells turning out 377.7 million Mcf milo (sorghum) and cellulose are used in the industry in Kansas at
of gas in 2008 alone. The state’s more than biofuel’s beginning process. Kansas is the No. kansaseconomic
development.com.
45,000 oil wells accounted for 39.6 million 7 producing state for corn, and No. 1 for milo.
barrels of production in 2008. Kansas producers turn out some 440
Playing on its long roots in agriculture, million gallons of ethanol a year. State
The White Energy facility in Russell is one of a dozen ethanol production operations in Kansas.
air-quality standards allow existing
plants to produce a combined 520 Average consumer natural gas prices
Dollars per 1,000 cubic feet
million gallons of ethanol annually,
says Corey Mohn, agribusiness Kansas
development specialist with the
Oklahoma
“We have 12 ethanol facilities
in Kansas, plus a couple of small
biodiesel plants that use soybeans California
or waste animal fat,” he says. “We
are certainly one of the leaders in New York
this industry.”
Kansas is also home to ICM Inc.,
headquartered in Colwich and Illinois
considered the leading ethanol
engineering and design company in Missouri
the United States. The company works
around the country getting ethanol
U.S. Average
plants up and running, and at
maximum efficiency.
Mohn notes that the corn and milo $0 $3 $6 $9 $12 $15
Kansas suppliers, such as Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy in Phillipsburg, produce some 440 million gallons of ethanol per year.
end product that doesn’t go into

ethanol can be distributed as livestock
feed. “There are certainly plenty of “The ethanol industry in this country is only going
livestock head in Kansas,” he says.
“And with so many cattle in the state, to get larger and more advanced, and Kansas is
the end product feed doesn’t have to
be trucked long distances from the going to remain in the forefront.”
ethanol plants to the farms.”
The U.S. Department of Energy has
approved several multimillion-dollar
grants that allow companies to further
research and develop the industry.
One current project involves KANSAS OIL PRODUCTION
developing an innovative biomass
collection system. Another project Year Barrels Wells
is researching how cars can efficiently 2004 33,878,472 41,920
perform on ethanol fuel blends
2005 33,619,258 43,012
that are higher than the current
10 percent maximum. 2006 35,668,804 43,923
“The ethanol industry in this 2007 36,591,296 43,412
country is only going to get larger and
more advanced, and Kansas is going 2008 39,581,656 45,105
to remain in the forefront,” Mohn Source: Kansas Geological Survey
says. “This is where the grain is.” MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM
Transportation
In the Middle
of Everywhere
Location, transportation network
put Kansas in the sweet spot

I
ts location in the heart of the nation and
proximity to major markets makes Kansas What’ss
an attractive logistics and distribution Onlinee
destination and allows companies to bring in Learn more about
raw materials and ship out finished products what moves the
easily and efficiently. goods in Kansas at
Kansas is centrally located, providing kansaseconomic
development.com.
next-day freight delivery to 70 percent of U.S.
markets. Major east-west route Interstate 70
and north-south route I-35 cross in Kansas
and connect with I-29, part of the NAFTA
highway corridor linking the United States
to Mexico and Canada. In addition, the state
is served by Class I rail service.
Major airports in Kansas City, Mo.,
and Wichita offer service by national and
regional carriers and are supported by eight
regional airports that also offer commercial
air service.
Facilities such as Syracuse-Hamilton
Class I rail service is a Kansas advantage.
sss
www.flywichita.com
Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
is a full-service air carrier airport
that serves as the primary hub
for air travel in Kansas. Most
major airlines operate out of
The Air Capital
Mid-Continent, offering
worldwide travel capability and
nearly 100 daily flights. Wichita’s
renowned aerospace manufacturing
of the World
industry is responsible for producing sss
70% of US general aviation aircraft.
By taking residence in It’s where you belong
Mid-Continent’s aerospace
industrial campus, you’ll join
world-class aviation tenants such
as Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft,
Bombardier/Learjet, Honeywell,
Garmin, Rockwell Collins, Pratt &
Whitney, and more. We have over
800 acres of land available for
development for your company.
Mid-Continent is conveniently
located 5.2 miles southwest of the
central business district, bordered
on the north by US Highway 54/400
and on the south by Highway K-42.
It also provides easy access to and
from Interstate 235.
Supplementing Mid-Continent
Airport is Colonel James Jabara
Airport, a general aviation reliever
airport for the Wichita metro area.
Located nine miles northeast
of the central business district,
Jabara Airport consists of 802
acres of which 208 acres are
available for development.
sss
CONTACT:
Victor D. White, A.A.E.
Director of Airports
Wichita Airport Authority
E-mail: vwhite@wichita.gov
2173 Air Cargo Rd.
Wichita, KS 67209
(316) 946-4700
(316) 946-4793 fax
County Airport serve an important role in the state’s
transportation network. Syracuse-Hamilton County is MARKETS WITHIN
in a rural portion of the state, but the presence of an air 500 MILES OF KANSAS
facility offers a benefit to large companies that often Population 89.3 million (30.2% of U.S.)
insist on having their offices or plant near an airport.
Households 33.7 million (30.4%)
“We are certainly in remote farm country, but are
important to our area’s dairy industry, as well as Buying Power $1.6 trillion (29.5%)
corporations out here that grow and ship wheat, alfalfa, Businesses 3.9 million (30.7%)
corn and milo,” says Steve Phillips, manager of Syracuse-
Hamilton County Airport and president of the Kansas Total Sales $5.3 trillion
Association of Airports. Consumer Expenditures $1.22 trillion (31.0%)
As for the overall state, Phillips says being in the heart
of the nation and near major markets makes Kansas an MORE AT KANSASECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM
attractive logistics and distribution destination.
“Wichita is already huge in aviation manufacturing and
engineering, so it seems natural that a current goal of the
Kansas Association of Airports is to evolve our statewide
airport system into one of the best in the country,” he says.
“In the last couple of years, we have aggressively addressed
many airport maintenance issues, and now we will
make even more improvements to make this part of
the transportation sector as strong as it can be.”
Transportation and logistics were key factors in a May
2009 announcement that Siemens Energy will build a wind
turbine nacelle production plant in the state. Hutchinson
BILLARD AIRPORT
– Located northwest of the
City of Topeka, close to downtown
FORBES AIRPORT
– Located south of the city
– Catering to military and large
charter operations
METROPOLITAN – Approximately 1,000 acres of land
TOPEKA available for lease development,
AIRPORT equally divided between air-side
and land-side property
AUTHORITY
CONTACT:
Eric M. Johnson
President/Director of Aviation
METROPOLITAN TOPEKA
THE TOPEKA AIR INDUSTRIAL PARK AIRPORT AUTHORITY
Forbes Field, Bldg. 620
– Located at Forbes Field, approximately a mile from two
P.O. Box 19053
warehouse distribution commerce parks developed by
Topeka, Kansas 66619
the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce
(785) 862-2362
– Approximately 250 acres of green space in various lot sizes ejohnson@mtaa-topeka.org
– Adjustable lot size to accommodate specific development www.mtaa-topeka.org
was the city selected after an extensive search showed costly and complex. A central location puts manufacturers
it offers a viable workforce and excellent transportation nearer to customers and can make shipping more efficient.
network, which includes Hutchinson Municipal Airport Construction on the wind energy site commenced in
and an Arkansas River port. August 2009, with the first shipment scheduled to occur
“Large companies want to be located near airports, in December 2010.
but the entire transportation in this state is impressive,” “It speaks volumes about our prime transportation
Phillips says. “Transportation is a key reason why Kansas location in the nation’s wind corridor,” says Kansas Gov.
will be making plenty of big news in the near future.” Mark Parkinson. “Kansas should be a national hub of both
Such a transportation network is vital in the wind wind farms and the factories that manufacture turbine
industry because turbine parts are large, and shipping is parts. It makes perfect sense.”
A network of commercial airports keeps people and business moving in Kansas.
KANSAS COMMERCIAL SERVICE AIRPORTS

Dodge City Regional Airport Hays Regional Airport
www.dodgecity.org/index.aspx?nid=60 www.haysusa.com/html/airport.html
Forbes Field (Topeka) Liberal Mid-America Regional Airport
www.mtaa-topeka.org www.cityofliberal.com/c_airport.htm
Garden City Regional Airport Manhattan Regional Airport
www.fly2gck.com www.flymhk.com
Goodland Municipal Airport Salina Municipal Airport
www.goodlandks.us/ salinaairport.com
Great Bend Municipal Airport Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
www.greatbendks.net/?nid=190 www.flywichita.org
118
S TA F F P H O T O JEFF ADKINS

ANTONY BOSHIER
Livability
‘Anything
You Could
Want’
From east to west, the heart
of America beats in Kansas
Story by Claire Ratliff
C
hrista and Jason Hines wanted to raise
their family in a culturally diverse What’ss
metropolitan area. Onlinee
“We wanted to have plenty to do, see See what the Old West
and learn without sacrificing a wholesome, was like through a video
family-friendly environment for our children,” tour of Dodge City at
Christa Hines says. “I think we’ve found kansaseconomic
development.com.
that place.”
Growing up as a military brat, Hines had
tasted life in five states and Germany before
she and Jason moved to Olathe, a city of about
115,000 in northeastern Kansas.
“We love living in the Midwest. Eastern
Kansas has its own unique charm,” she says.
“Most people assume Kansas is flat and
boring, but the landscape is a bit unexpected
with its rocky, hilly terrain and rough,
bucolic beauty.”
Jason Hines enjoys the many sporting teams
and events available nearby.
With two small children, Christa Hines is
JEFF ADKINS
Kansas offers an abundance of arts,

entertainment, culture, sports and outdoor
recreation opportunities.
JEFF ADKINS
Kansas communities have preserved and restored their historic downtowns.

grateful for the accessibility of quality Clay Belcher accepted a position at the “We’ve raised a family here and we
health care, strong public schools, a University of Kansas. After 17 years really enjoy it.”
wide variety of attractions and events, of teaching, he decided to open The Belchers and their four children
and good neighbors. a business and stay in Lawrence. enjoy hiking, fishing and simply
“The people here are very warm “The cost of living is pretty taking advantage of amenities such
and friendly,” she says. “I can’t tell you moderate,” Belcher says. “In general, as nearby Clinton and Perry lakes and
how many times I have had people ask Kansas is a pretty inexpensive place Perry State Park. Still, it’s the people
me if I need help when I’m in parking to live and do business.” that give the Belchers roots in Kansas.
lots trying to steer a full grocery cart Clay’s Signs of Life bookstore and “There are natural wonders all over
with my sons in tow.” art gallery overlooks picturesque and the country, so you could make an
Clay and Beth Belcher met in historic Lawrence. argument for just about anywhere,”
Chicago and lived in France before “This is a great town,” he says. Belcher says. “It’s the personal
24 6 18 10
Number of state parks Number of national parks Average travel time in Kansas’ rank among states
in Kansas and historic sites minutes for Kansas for lowest cost of living
commuters
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No Place
Like Home
It’s one of the most famous
lines in movie history, and
it’s also the premise of the
Commerce’s campaign
to encourage young
professionals to consider
a life in Kansas. While the
campaign promotes Kansas
to a variety of audiences,
it’s geared primarily toward
recent Kansas graduates
who’ve left the state to
pursue a career but who
might now be interested in
returning home. “When it’s
time to buy a home, start
a family and settle in a
community that offers a real
quality of life, we want to
remind these former Kansans
that there’s no place like
their home state,” says Caleb
Asher, deputy secretary of
workforce services for the
Commerce. An online hub
at www.thinkkansas.com
includes a cost-of-living
calculator, links to Kansas
job databases, video
testimonials and social
networking opportunities.
relationships that make this our home.

The people are down to earth. That’s
the main thing.”
A native of North Central Kansas,
Leon Flax is a senior vice president
at Fidelity State Bank & Trust Co. in
Dodge City. He credits the foresight of
community leaders for the economic
strength of his city.
A dedicated 1 percent sales tax
garners approximately $4 million
annually for recreational purposes.
The area boasts baseball complexes,
soccer facilities and a new, 6,000-seat
special events center for hockey,
concerts and rodeos. Within 25 miles,
a reservoir is nearly complete, offering
S TA F F P H O T O
bountiful recreational opportunities.

A casino is scheduled to open soon.

ALL TRAILS LEAD
TO SUMNER COUNTY, KANSAS
LOCATION, HIGHLY SKILLED

LOCATION, LOCATION WORKFORCE
Center of the United States Midwest Work Ethic
Wichita MSA Aviation, Plastics, Composites,
Communications, Wind, Wine
TRANSPORTATION
ADVANTAGES HOMETOWNS WHERE
I-35, BNSF & UP Rail, Airport YOU HAVE ALWAYS
WANTED TO LIVE
INCENTIVES AVAILABLE Small-Town Living Near Big City Amenities
Enhanced Enterprise Zone Low Crime Rate
Hub-Zone Designation Great Schools
CONTACT:
Sumner County Economic Development Commission
sSCEDC COSUMNERKSUS
WWWGOSUMNERCOM
“Helping Your Business Is Our Business”

JEFF ADKINS
“There’s tremendous history here,”

Flax notes. “But we’re also very
progressive.”
While many communities
nationwide are struggling with high
unemployment, Dodge City is actually
seeking employees. Agriculture is
strong and the city is home to two of
the nation’s largest packing plants.
“We’d love to show you what we’ve
got,” Flax says. “Come look around.
We have diversity in weather, business
and lifestyle. Anything you could want
is right here in Kansas.”
From top: The Emporia Granada Theatre is

a multipurpose facility capable of seating
800 people; young professionals are being
drawn to Kansas in increasing numbers.
Getting to Know Kansas Culture
THE STATE IS RICH IN HISTORY, ARTS, MUSIC
WICHITA ART MUSEUM MARIANNA KISTLER BEACH MUSEUM OF ART
www.wichitaartmuseum.org beach.k-state.edu
Three centuries of painting, sculpture, works on The museum in Manhattan houses Kansas State
paper and decorative arts are a part of the impressive University’s permanent collection, which numbers
collection of American art. The museum, the largest more than 6,500 pieces featuring Kansas and
in Kansas, includes the nationally renowned Roland P. Midwestern artists.
Murdock Collection, with masterworks by such renowned Housed in a 43,000-square-foot complex that was
artists as Mary Cassatt, Arthur Dove, Grace Hartigan, expanded in 2007, the museum draws more than
Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. A centerpiece of 25,000 visitors each year.
the museum is a spectacular 6,000-square-foot hall that
features elegant glass works by internationally renowned NICODEMUS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
artist Dale Chihuly. www.nps.gov/nico/index.htm
Settled by former slaves fleeing the South in 1877,
Nicodemus is the only remaining town west of the
Mississippi River founded and settled by African
Americans at the end of Reconstruction.
Now a National Historic Site, Nicodemus features five
signature structures: A.M.E Church, First Baptist Church,
Nicodemus School, Fletcher Hotel and Township Hall.
A visitor center in Township Hall includes orientation
videos.
WALNUT VALLEY FESTIVAL AND NATIONAL

FLATPICKING CHAMPIONSHIPS
www.wvfest.com
Each September, Winfield in southeastern Kansas
is the epicenter of bluegrass and acoustic music. The
five-day festival features dozens of renowned performers
appearing on four separate stages and competitions
in such events as the National Flat-Pick Guitar
Championship, National Bluegrass Banjo Championship
and National Mountain Dulcimer Championship.
In addition to the music, the festival features
workshops, arts and crafts, camping, children’s events
and food. The dates for the 2010 festival are Sept. 15-19.
WILLIAM INGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

www.ingecenter.org
Located at Independence Community College, the
center is named after award-winning playwright and
Kansas native William Inge. The center, which began
year-round activities in 2002, includes a Playwrights
in Residence program and a Playwrights-in-the-Schools
program, a teaching residency that places accomplished
playwrights in area schools to teach literary skills.
The center stages the annual four-day William Inge
Festival, now in its 29th year, which includes seminars,
S TA F F P H O T O
workshops, lectures, readings of Inge’s works and

showings of select film adaptations of his plays and
The Wichita Center for the Arts original screenplays. The 2010 dates are April 21-24.

ECONOMIC PROFILE
POPULATION BUSINESS SNAPSHOT
Wichita is the aviation capital of the world, with 50 percent of domestic
general aviation aircraft and 40 percent of global aircraft produced in the
2,802,134 city. Northeast Kansas is home to the burgeoning Animal Health Corridor,
with 40 percent of global animal health and veterinary science interests
converged in the region.
2008
2,688,816
2000
Change: 4.2%
MAJOR POPULATION
CENTERS
Wichita
357,000 (MSA - 545,000)
Overland Park
166,000 (MSA - 1.8 million)
Kansas City, KS
147,000 (MSA - 1.7 million)
Topeka HOUSING MARKET LABOR FORCE
122,000 (MSA - 170,000)
Median house or condo value (2007) Nonagricultural employment
MAJOR EMPLOYERS 2008: 1,391,000
Spirit AeroSystems
Sprint/Nextel
10,300
10,005
$92,100 2007: 1,379,800
Topeka 2006: 1,353,800
Cessna Aircraft 8,200
Hawker Beechcraft
CenturyLink
5,300
3,800 $93,800 INCOME
Kansas City Per Capita Personal Income (2007)
Black & Veatch 3,200
$36,483
Cargill 3,200
Farmers Insurance Group 3,000
Blue Cross and Blue Shield 2,890
$111,000 Median Household Income (2007)
$47,341
Wichita
Garmin International 2,700
TRANSPORTATION
Schwan’s Global
Supply Chain
Boeing Defense,
2,700 $224,600 COMMERCIAL
Overland Park SERVICE AIRPORTS
Space & Security 2,500
Dodge City Regional Airport
Bombardier Learjet 2,250
YRC Worldwide 2,200 $121,200 www.dodgecity.org/index.
aspx?nid=60
Koch Industries 1,800 Kansas
Forbes Field (Topeka)
www.mtaa-topeka.org
What’s Onlinee Garden City Regional Airport

www.fly2gck.com
For more in-depth demographic, statistical and community information on
Kansas Economic Development Guide, go to kansaseconomicdevelopment.com Goodland Municipal Airport
and click on Economic Profile. www.goodlandks.us/
Great Bend Municipal Airport and I-44 offers east-west, four- MAJOR EMPLOYMENT
www.greatbendks.net/?nid=190 lane access close to communities SECTORS
in southeast Kansas. There are
Hays Regional Airport
65 intrastate contract carriers
www.haysusa.com/html/
and more than 2,400 intrastate
airport.html 3.6%
common carriers, 1,600
3.6%
Liberal Mid-America Kansas-based and nearly
Regional Airport 2,900 interstate-exempt 5.6%
23.1%
www.cityofliberal.com/c_airport.htm carriers licensed in Kansas.
Manhattan Regional Airport RAILROAD (CLASS I) 15.2%

www.flymhk.com
Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Salina Municipal Airport www.bnsf.com
14.2%
salinaairport.com 12.8%
Kansas City Southern
Wichita Mid-Continent Airport www.kcsouthern.com
www.flywichita.org
Norfolk Southern
www.nscorp.com
HIGHWAYS Services
Interstate 70 provides east-west Union Pacific Government
access to major markets on both www.up.com
Wholesale & Retail Trade
coasts. Interstate 35 runs north
Manufacturing
and northeast to the Kansas/ WATER
Finance, insurance and real estate
Missouri border. I-35 connects Access to 122 miles of the
Construction
with I-135 in Wichita and runs Missouri River along the northeast
Transportation and warehousing
south to north connecting corner of the state. Kansas ports
Oklahoma with Nebraska. I-29 are at Atchison, Leavenworth and MORE AT KANSASECONOMIC
heads north from Kansas City, Kansas City. DEVELOPMENT.COM
>OWR/RdS`bWaS[S\b
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PSbeSS\2S\dSÒ\R9O\aOa1Wbg Development Board Economic Development
]\7%)ZOÙSab`SbOWZ^cZZTOQb]`W\ www.growatchison.com www.jcgced.com
bVSabObS)7%O\RCA&!bÒT¿Q City of Andover Kansas Association of Community
Q]c\b(#$#ROg)VWUVZgSRcQObSR www.andoverks.com College Trustees
e]`YT]`QS)be]7\Rcab`WOZÔ`Ya)
V]bSZ`]][a)aSdSÒZPSR`]][ City of Derby www.kacct.org
Q][[c\WbWSa)aV]`bQ][[cbSa) www.derbyweb.com Kansas Bioscience Authority
VWUVZgÒ\YSRPg>`]U`SaaWdS www.kansasbioauthority.org
City of Fort Scott
4O`[SÒ\R0Wh8]c`\OZ
www.fscity.org Kansas Department of Commerce
>=>C:/B7=< City of Independence www.thinkbigks.com
6Oga³ www.independenceks.gov Kansas State University
3ZZWa1]c\bg³! City of Liberal www.ksu.edu
www.cityofliberal.com KCP&L
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www.osagecity.com
Kingman County Economic
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AS`dWQSa)O\R;O\cTOQbc`W\U www.parsonsks.com www.kingmanks.com
4]`b6OgaAbObSC\WdSàWbg City of Pittsburg Lawrence Chamber of Commerce
>O`b\SàVWâeWbVW\Rcab`g
Clay County Economic Development Group www.lawrencechamber.com
A^SQWOZ\SSRabÒW\W\U
www.claycountykansas.org Location One – “Real Estate”
7\bS`\ObW]\OZÔ`b\SàVWâ www.locationone.com
CloudCorp/Cloud County
<]`bV1S\bÒZ9O\aOaBSQV\WQOZ www.cloudcorp.net
1]ZZSUS(E]`YT]`QSbÒW\W\UO\R
Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce
bSQV\WQOZSRcQObW]\ Cowley First www.pickmanhattan.com
www.cowleyfirst.com McPherson Industrial
6Oga;SR³BS`bWO`g[SRWQOZQO`S
2S0OYSg6SO`b1S\bS` Dodge City Ford County Development Company
2`SWZW\UAQV[WRb Development Corporation Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority
1O\QS`7\abWbcbS www.dodgedev.org www.mtaa-topeka.org
1S\bS`T]`6SOZbV7[^`]dS[S\b El Dorado Inc. Olathe Chamber of Commerce
www.360eldorado.com
1S\bS`T]È][S\¸a6SOZbV www.olathe.org
=`bV]^SRWQ7\abWbcbS Ellis County Coalition
of Economic Development Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
3<B3@B/7<;3<B www.haysamerica.net www.ottawakansas.org
7\bS`Q]ZZSUWObSObVZSbWQa)3\Q]`S Emporia Regional Overland Park Economic
^S`T]`[W\UO`ba^`SaS\bObW]\aPg Development Association Development Council
bÒdSZW\U^`]TSaaW]\OZb`]c^Sa) www.emporiarda.org www.opedc.org
]ZRSab/`ba1]c\QWZW\9O\aOa)
Emporia State University Russell County Economic Development
]cbR]]à^]`ba)Vc\bW\U)¿aVW\U)
www.emporia.edu & Convention & Visitors Bureau
QO`ÒQW\U)Q]c\bgTOWà)R]hS\a
]TO\\cOZQcZbcÒZSdS\ba)[caSc[a)
www.visitrussellcoks.com
Finney County Economic
c\W_cSR]e\b]e\ Development Corporation Salina Area Chamber of Commerce
www.ficoedc.com www.salinakansas.org
B@/<A>=@B/B7=<
7%)CA6eg&!)C>ÒWZ`]OR Fort Hays State University Shawnee Economic Development Council
/W`^]`b³$#T]]b`c\eOg) www.fhsu.edu www.shawnee-edc.com
T]c`Q][[S`QWOZÀWUVba^S`ROg Great Bend Chamber of Commerce for Sherman County Economic Development
;72E3AB3<3@5G Economic Development www.gogoodlandks.com
www.greatbend.org
9O\aOa¸ZOÙSabQ][PW\ObW]\ Sumner County Economic
\ObcÒZUOaO\RSZSQb`WQcbWZWbg Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce Development Commission
<ObW]\OZZg`SQ]U\WhSRS\SÙg www.topekachamber.org www.gosumner.com
ST¿QWS\Qg^`]UÒ[a Greater Wichita Economic
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The University of Kansas
Development Coalition www.ku.edu
POaSR]\^S`QS\bOUS]TeW\R
www.gwedc.org
^c`QVOaSRPgQcab][SÒdSÒUS Washburn University
Harvey County Economic www.washburn.edu
4]`;]`S7\T]`[ObW]\( Development Council
;WYS;WQVOSZWa www.harveycoedc.org Wichita Airport Authority
3ZZWa1]c\bg1]OZWbW]\ www.flywichita.com
[WYS.VOgaO[S`WQO\Sb
Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber
%&#$ &! of Commerce wKREDA
eeeVOgaO[S`WQO\Sb www.hutchchamber.com www.discoverwesternkansas.com
COST OF LIVING
COMPARISON CLAY COUNTY 
in the center of it all!
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Hays
Make Clay County your next
destination on the road to success!
94.4 Clay County Economic Development Group
Hutchinson

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93.4
Lawrence MSA
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97.9 E7B6G=C@433B
Manhattan
88.4
Salina
89.6
Topeka MSA
100
U.S. Average
Source: ACCRA Cost of Living
Composite Index
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ÒWaSdWbOZTc\RaT]`bVS¿UVbOUOW\abP`SOabQO\QS`0cbR]\¸bZSbg]c`X]c`\Sgab]^bVS`S
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USbbW\U`SUcZOàQ`SS\W\UaAbS^PgabS^bVWa@OQSeWZZPSe]\
www.city-data.com
:SO`\[]`SOP]cbbVS9][S\@OQST]`bVS1c`SPgdWaWbW\UeeeY][S\]Ù
thinkbigks.com ]`QOZZW\U&%%5=9=;3<
quickfacts.census.gov
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Ad Index
22 ATCHISON COUNTY 105 DODGE CITY
ECONOMIC FORD COUNTY
DEVELOPMENT BOARD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
73 CITY OF ANDOVER 15 EL DORADO INC.
86 CITY OF DERBY 128 ELLIS COUNTY COALITION

OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
54 CITY OF FORT SCOTT
6 EMPORIA REGIONAL
46 CITY OF INDEPENDENCE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
110 CITY OF LIBERAL 102 EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY
121 CITY OF OSAGE CITY
10 FINNEY COUNTY ECONOMIC
126 CITY OF PARSONS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
98 CITY OF PITTSBURG 60 FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY
129 CLAY COUNTY ECONOMIC 66 GREAT BEND CHAMBER

DEVELOPMENT GROUP OF COMMERCE FOR
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
18 CLOUDCORP/CLOUD COUNTY
C2 GREATER TOPEKA
86 COWLEY FIRST CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Ad Index (cont.)
C3 GREATER WICHITA ECONOMIC 8 SHAWNEE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT COALITION DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
16 HARVEY COUNTY ECONOMIC 38 SHERMAN COUNTY

DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
108 HUTCHINSON/RENO COUNTY 123 SUMNER COUNTY ECONOMIC

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
11 JUNCTION CITY- 4 THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

GEARY COUNTY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 104 WASHBURN UNIVERSITY
31 KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF 114 WICHITA AIRPORT AUTHORITY

COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES
14 WKREDA
36 KANSAS
BIOSCIENCE AUTHORITY
C4 KANSAS DEPARTMENT
OF COMMERCE
100 KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
130 KCP&L
123 KINGMAN COUNTY ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
1 LAWRENCE CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
12 MANHATTAN AREA CHAMBER

OF COMMERCE
26 MCPHERSON INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
115 METROPOLITAN TOPEKA

AIRPORT AUTHORITY
2 OLATHE CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
116 OTTAWA AREA

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
28 OVERLAND PARK ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
20 RUSSELL COUNTY ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT & CONVENTION
& VISITORS BUREAU
127 SALINA AREA

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Kansas Economic Development Guide 2010

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economic development guide

Sponsored by the Kansas Department of Commerce | 2010

Good Things in Small Places 68

Into the Great Wide Open 80

112 Economic Profile 125

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Taking a Lead Role in Jobs, Investment

MAKING THE CONNECTION

UNTIL THE COWS

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A LEG UP IN DENIM The family-owned company, which

24 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

Cost of Doing Business Comparison

Sprint Nextel maintains its world

for workers’ compensation

BLACK & VEATCH

Story by Michaela Jackson

Bio By the Numbers

34 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HARL AND SCHUSTER

trials are in progress in Kansas,

The presence of companies such as Bayer

The bioscience sector employs more

40 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

Power is distributed from wind turbines

44 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

Story by Amy Stumpfl

Space & Security and Bombardier

Hawker Beechcraft makes the Hawker 4000

50 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

aviation aircraft and business jets several Kansas institutions, including

MAJOR KANSAS AVIATION EMPLOYERS

we do, and that gives manufacturers

52 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

Fortune 500 firm CenturyLink is based in Overland Park.

56 KANSAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

MAJOR PRIVATE-SECTOR NONMANUFACTURING EMPLOYERS

FORTUNE 1000 COMPANIES BASED IN KANSAS

FINNEY COUNTY ECONOMIC s !CRE)NDUSTRIAL0ARK