General News in the 316

[SubGod22]

I'll be interested what the 2nd business will be. But I like having something else around the arena.

MSN - Once home to a carriage factory, this 1888 downtown Wichita building is getting new life

Marketer-turned-downtown-investor Bruce Rowley and some business partners are renovating another building in the city’s core, this time to the north of Intrust Bank Arena, and it’s another one with some fun history.

The group purchased the approximately 10,000-square-foot building at 114 N. St. Francis.

“It is right at the end of Gallery Alley,” Rowley said.

That was part of the attraction to the building, much of which had either been warehouse space or empty for years. The entrance to Gallery Alley is off of Douglas just down from the Old Mill Tasty Shop across from Naftzger Park.

It’s a bustling part of downtown, and Rowley and his partners plan two house-sized apartments on top of the building and space for two businesses below, one of which is already there.

Nerds unite!

“Just in the few short months we’ve been there, we have new customers,” Hunter said. “We get people all the time now from out of town that we didn’t have before.”

The business, which he called a geek store and tavern with food and drinks, started in 1994 as Agents of Comics.

Today, it has new and vintage comics, cards, hobby supplies, a variety of games for sale and use for free at the business, drinks, sandwiches and what Hunter called “Wichita’s OKest pizza.”

The move fulfills a dream for him.

“I just always as a kid wanted to run a business downtown.”

It's good to see someone take a chance and be rewarded. I've never personally been a comic book guy, but it sounds like a pretty decent store in a very centralized location. I hope he has years of success.

It's also interesting that they've chosen to go with two very large apartments (3 bed, 2 bath each) instead of breaking the space up into 4,6, or 8. These apartments will be larger than a lot of homes as the smaller of the two will be 1650 square feet.

I like the overall vision and doing something a little different.

They also paved the parking lot which was apparently just a big dirt lot that was an absolute mess.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - It's a deal: Wichita's Spirit AeroSystems confirms agreement for reacquisition by Boeing

The Boeing Co. and Spirit AeroSystems confirmed late Sunday night an agreement in which the global planemaking giant will reacquire the company it spun off 19 years ago when its commercial programs left Wichita. The purchase with Boeing stock is worth roughly $4.7 billion.

The companies said Boeing will pay $37.25 per share of Spirit stock to bring Spirit, its largest supplier, back under the Boeing name in an attempt to improve manufacturing processes that have caused safety concerns in the 737 Max program and publicly plagued both companies.

As part of the deal, French planemaker Airbus — Boeing's rival that has consistently delivered more commercial aircraft in the decade — has agreed to purchase Spirit facilities in North Carolina, Northern Ireland, Morocco and France, where Airbus components are made. Airbus said Spirit would pay $559 million before final terms because Airbus is taking over portions of the company that have lost money consistently.

Official numbers.

[SubGod22]

MSN - Tanginikya welcomes baby zebra

Last week, Tanganyika Wildlife Park welcomed its latest newcomer, a baby zebra.

Specifically, a Grevy’s zebra. Tanganikya said this addition marks a significant milestone for their conservation efforts and for preserving this endangered species.

Grevy’s zebras are the largest and most endangered of the three zebra species, with fewer than 3,000 individuals remaining in their wild habitats of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia.

Tanginikya said the foal is already showing signs of strong health, staying close to its mother and nursing.

Too stinking cute

[WstateU]

Anyone familiar with The Poet? Apparently it was a case WPD was working on during the late 70's and early 80's while BTK was causing trouble. I'd never heard of it until I saw an Eagle headline about a Lifetime movie that is apparently coming out based on it.

Eagle - New Lifetime movie features 'The Poet,' who terrified Wichita during the same time as BTK



I had to pull up The True Crime Database to read up on it. Interesting story to be sure, but I'd never heard of it. Granted, it mostly took place before I was born and my parents may have still been stationed in Texas when it began.

I remember it well... those were some scary times.

[SubGod22]

Anyone familiar with The Poet? Apparently it was a case WPD was working on during the late 70's and early 80's while BTK was causing trouble. I'd never heard of it until I saw an Eagle headline about a Lifetime movie that is apparently coming out based on it.

Eagle - New Lifetime movie features 'The Poet,' who terrified Wichita during the same time as BTK

A new movie on Lifetime focuses on Ruth Finley, the Wichita woman who was the victim and perpetrator of a crime hoax more than 50 years ago.

The TV movie, “The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story,” stars Teri Hatcher as Finley and premieres at 7 p.m. Central on Saturday, June 29.

The movie shows Hatcher and Tahmoh Penikett, who plays Finley’s husband, Ed, living a “tranquil life in Wichita, Kansas which is suddenly turned upside down when Ed suffers a heart attack,” according to a synopsis on A+E Networks website.

The purported harassment by the Poet started in 1978, taking place during the same time Dennis Rader terrorized Wichita as the BTK serial killer. Finley eventually admitted the hoax to investigators — including stabbing herself with an ice pick in the parking lot of Towne East Square.

No criminal charges were filed against her after the Sedgwick County district attorney said a psychiatric examination showed her actions as the Poet were not malicious.

I had to pull up The True Crime Database to read up on it. Interesting story to be sure, but I'd never heard of it. Granted, it mostly took place before I was born and my parents may have still been stationed in Texas when it began.

[SubGod22]

KSN - Wichita chosen to host Special Olympics golf championship in October

Special Olympics Kansas is a growing and thriving organization. Special Olympics North America thinks so much of Kansas that the association chose Wichita to host one of its major sporting events.

City leaders and the COO of Kansas Special Olympics from Topeka were at Crestview Country Club Thursday morning to make the formal announcement.

Vice Mayor Maggie Ballard shared the news that Crestview Country Club will host the 2024 Special Olympics North America Golf Championship on Oct. 28-30. Up to 200-250 players from across the United States and Canada and their partners are expected to compete in the championship.

Wichita is doing very well in getting some of these national level events here.

[SubGod22]

KSN - Wichita native competing at USA Boxing Junior Olympics

Wichita native Evelyn Hernandez is only 14, but age is just a number when you have the talent she possesses.

“Competing in some of the skills is a privilege,” Hernandez said. “I worked really hard to get here, and I’m just I’m just grateful for it.”

This is the first time Hernandez is competing at the Junior Olympics and she’s punched her ticket to Saturday’s championship.

“It’s just been amazing,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been meeting a lot of people, and I’ve been able to get my name out. You know, I am. I’m an unrecognized person, and a lot of people are starting to know me.”

Nice to see a local having success.

[ShockTalk]

New gas station brand entering the market.

WBJ - Utah-based Maverik gas station convenience store expands to Park City



KC Star is reporting another location in the works in Edgerton.

Sounds like they also promote fresh made food/snacks kind of like QT. Not sure if they have kitchens like QT, but they mention food made fresh daily. Looks like they offer burritos, salads, wraps, pizzas, and sandwiches.

Can't recall ever being to a Maverik or a Kum & Go now that I think about it.

We travel the southwest and see them often. I think they will/would find moving into Kansas (Wichita), Oklahoma and Texas difficult in a large scale. From the ones I seen and been in, they are a step or two down from Quik Trip.

[WstateU]

Can't recall ever being to a Maverik or a Kum & Go now that I think about it.

'Kum & Go' and 'Hawk Tuah' should team up...

[SubGod22]

New gas station brand entering the market.

WBJ - Utah-based Maverik gas station convenience store expands to Park City

A popular gas station convenience store from the southwest is headed to Park City.

Maverik, a Utah-based gas station convenience store operator, is set to build its first location in the Wichita area on the northwest corner of 77th Street and I-135, Park City administrator Sean Fox tells the WBJ.

The convenience store operates about 400 locations across 12 states, which include Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Nebraska and Idaho, according to its website. The company acquired Iowa-based Kum & Go in April last year and has since rebranded Kum & Go in Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.

Fox said Maverik reached out to the suburb in April and has been in contact since.

"They reached out to us and started looking for the area," Fox said. "I believe that they were looking at rebranding all the Kum & Go's and then were just trying to figure out where to connect the dots. It seemed logical for a place in Kansas."

KC Star is reporting another location in the works in Edgerton.

Sounds like they also promote fresh made food/snacks kind of like QT. Not sure if they have kitchens like QT, but they mention food made fresh daily. Looks like they offer burritos, salads, wraps, pizzas, and sandwiches.

Can't recall ever being to a Maverik or a Kum & Go now that I think about it.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - Wichita's Largest Employers in 2024

Apparently they sent out the questionnaire to over 3,000 companies in the metro area and received 306 replies. Over 100K people work for the 306 in the metro and they employ over 2M worldwide.

Spirit Aerosystems (13,095)
Textron Aviation (10,700)
McConnell AFB (5,976)
Wichita Public Schools (5,503)
Steven Enterprises (3,573)
Ascension Via Christi (3,440)
Wichita State (3,016)
City of Wichita (2,818)
Koch Industries (2,764)
Sedgwick County (2,670)
Wesley Healthcare (1,970)
Bombardier (1,400)
Maize Public Schools (1,357)
The Arnold Group (1,200)
Derby Public Schools (1,146)
Cox (836)
Dold Foods (725)
Intrust Bank (663)
T-Mobile USA (592)
NMC Health (585)
Newton Public Schools (550)
BG Products (515)
Andover Public Schools (504)
NetApp (475)
Goodwill Industries (430)
Foley Industries (420)
Butler Community College (418)
COMCARE SG CO (405)
Friends (399)
Heartspring (390)
Fidelity Bank (386)
Metal Finishing (380)
Meritrust CU (346)
Equity Bank (340)
Metal-Fab (333)
OxyChem Wichita (325)
Pratt Industries (325)
Starkey Inc. (324)
IMA Financial (320)
Bluestem Communities (296)
WSU Tech (296)
Airbus Americas (285)
CU of America (282)
InfoSync Services (277)
Globe Engineering (265)
Dondlinger Construction (248)
HM Dunn AeroSystems (245)
RedGuard (245)
Kice Industries (241)
Sharpline Converting (240)


I believe InfoSync, despite having the biggest gains in the last year is still below the employee total from when I worked there about a decade ago.

Aviation obviously has the largest job totals approximately 25,700 (minus the 300 or so that were/are being laid off)

Government and education (often the same but splitting them here) are up there with approximately 12,000 and 13,000.

Healthcare is around 6,300 (I'm sure this will grow in the next 5-10 years by quite a bit)

Banking is around 2,000.

I don't want to breakdown everything else as that would require looking into some of these companies that I'm not entirely sure what field they might fall under. But it provides a snap shot of what we see right now.

And these are just the top 50 or so of respondents. I know aviation as a whole is more than what's shown here as there are a lot of smaller businesses tied to it as well as space.

Here in a couple of years (hopefully) we'll see a bit increase in tech related jobs with the Integra expansion coming. I think between Integra and the suppliers they'll have nearby, they're expecting around 5K jobs connected to it.

[SubGod22]

KSN - Greater Wichita Sports Banquet honors award winners

The Lynette Woodard High School Female Athlete of the Year Award was given to Elizabeth Tjaden, a multi-sport athlete out of Clearwater High School.

The Barry Sanders High School Male Athlete of the Year winner was Omari Elias, a running back out of Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School.

Kiki Smith, a basketball guard from Hutchinson Community College, won the Junior College Female Athlete of the Year Award.

The Junior College Male Athlete of the Year Award was given to basketball guard Jeff Nwonkwo out of Cowley Community College.

The College Female Athlete of the Year Award was given to Wichita State pentathlon athlete Destiny Masters.

The College Male Athlete of the Year Award was given to Keegan Martin, an offensive lineman out of Friends University.

The Professional Athlete of the Year Award was given to Jay Dickman, a hockey player with the Wichita Thunder.

The Greater Wichita Sports Banquet also gave out the Buster Posey Collegiate Catcher of the Year award, which is given to the nation’s best college catcher in the nation.

The winner of that award was Walker Janek from Sam Houston State University.

Destiny won so no riot necessary

[SubGod22]

MSN - Inaugural Elsewhere Fest & Conference brings 12K to downtown Wichita

The Elsewhere Fest & Conference, Wichita’s new music event, brought around 12,000 people to downtown Wichita on June 21 and 22.

Midtopia, an artist and music worker collective dedicated to building a new model for the music industry, created Elsewhere Fest & Conference.

“We’ve been working towards this moment for years––even before we started Midtopia, we dreamed of making our own music festival,” says Midtopia Director Jessie Hartke. “We’re so proud to finally see that dream come to life, and to see so many people come out and support our mission.”

The event had multiple stages for live music across downtown Wichita, including one that was free to the public. There was also conference programming, visual art installations, and events held in partnership with community and social change partner organizations.

Midtopia says they featured a total of 12 social change partners, 36 speakers, over 60 visual artists, and over 75 bands, which included headliners Killer Mike, both as a speaker and a performer, Steve Aoki, Vince Staples and Lane 8, as well as speakers from TikTok, The Orchard, No Depression, and more. Social change and community partners included The Phoenix, Greater Wichita Partnership, Café Momentum, and more.

Midtopia says they look forward to next year’s Elsewhere Fest & Conference.

First actual number on attendance I've seen out there. I wonder what the economic impact of this event figures to be.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - Group of business owners open Augusta's first brewery

After an initial conversation between the two in February 2023, plans quickly developed to open Redbud Brewing with Scott being approached by El Dorado-based Walnut River Brewing. Brown said the brewing company was excited to venture into something different.

After Walnut River's involvement became concrete, Brown said they were "on the hunt" for a brewer when they approached Denver Ridgeway, the head brewer at River City Brewing in Wichita.

"He lived here in Augusta. We talked to him and he decided to come on board and join the team," he said.

After buying the building on 418 State Street from Scott in October, Brown and the co-owners established Redbud Brewing and started remodeling the location.

They're now open and sold 1,000 pints of beer in week one.

They plan to always have 14 beers on tap with 8 of those being theirs and Walnut River Brewing. They want to have local options but will also be looking to bring in some from outside of the state.

This is a nice addition for Augusta.

[SubGod22]

KSN - Grant received to study improving Wichita's Canal Route

The U.S. Department of Transporation announced that a project in Sedgwick County is one of four in Kansas to receive part $45 million from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program.

The Canal Route modernization study will receive a $1.6 million grant. The money will be used to complete a planning and environmental linkages study to develop options for replacing infrastructure along an approximate 5.5-mile segment of Interstate 135 in Wichita. The Canal Route is comprised of the two largest bridge structures in Kansas, two interchanges, 53 roadway bridges, and four pedestrian bridges.

It will also evaluate ways to bring crash rates well below the statewide average, explore solutions to help increase
walkability to amenities, reduce transportation costs and look at utilizing nature-based solutions to address air quality and stormwater runoff.

We'll have to wait and see what this leads to.