Other Kansas News From Outside The Metro

[WstateU]

Didn't see this coming.

KWCH - KMW to invest $105 million in Sterling, create 250+ jobs



This is a hell of a win for Rice County and the city of Sterling.

I gotta wonder if Gene's company didn't have some pull. If Genzada Pharmaceuticals hits it big, watch out... it could be a game-changer for southcentral Kansas.

See Dr. Gene Zaid | Genzada Pharmaceuticals | Hyatt Life Sciences | JACAM Chemical Company at Startup Grind Wichita

[SubGod22]

WBJ - Newman, Garden City CC expand collaboration to battle Kansas education desert

The aim is to alleviate southwest Kansas' higher-education desert while also keeping them near home to enter the professional workforce.

That's what is behind a collaboration between Garden City Community College, a 2-year school, and four-year Newman University based in Wichita.

The schools are working beyond their two-decade startup effort to offer elementary education degrees to Garden City students and expanding to degree programs in business, agribusiness and nursing. The city and business community benefit by having a better chance of keeping young adults in the area, said Jessica Bird, Newman's dean of the School of Education and Social Work.

"They are ecstatic, excited, and I think they see this as a way to strengthen the community and retain talent," said Bird, who lives in Garden City. "Brain drain is a real thing and anytime a student leaves here, there's a really good chance they are not coming back."

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) spoke at Garden City last month about the expansion of the program.

"I'm grateful to the leadership at both entities for their pursuit of filling the higher education gaps in our state and offering young Kansans the opportunity to achieve their dreams," Moran said.

No doubt this is a big issue in a lot of areas. There are some good opportunities though in western Kansas now and in the future in the right fields. I'm connected into a certain segment of the construction industry through work and I can tell you that we're involved in a lot of activity out in SW Kansas especially. Some very large projects in the Garden City, Dodge City and soon to be Greensburg areas. I think there's been talk of finding some office space out there to have someone dedicated to SW Kansas who can more closely help navigate and be on site as well as potentially grow our sphere of influence out there. Most of this would be in the agribusiness sector but there are opportunities I believe in the future for more growth out there.

On a personal level, as someone who is from a small town and would like to see growth, I think if these communities out there, and elsewhere, can retain some of the best and brightest that good things can happen. I hate when I travel and end up driving through some small, dead town that you can tell once had good life and an active main street. But jobs naturally flow into the larger cities and kill off smaller communities. If I had the fund to do so, I would love to be able to invest in some kind of industry that you could place out in some of the more rural areas of the state and give good jobs to areas that could desperately use them. If I ever play and win the lottery, I may do just that.