‘Blueprint’ aims to plot path for region’s economy

General aircraft construction may be beginning a slow recovery, but it may never be the employment engine it once was.

That’s why Wichita State University and several other regional groups are unveiling to the public their ongoing study – the Blueprint for Regional Economic Growth – on how to develop both the university’s Innovation Campus and the regional economy.

The public forum will be from 9:30 a.m. to noon April 2 at the Meridian Center, 1420 E. Broadway Court, in Newton. Study leaders will discuss why the study is needed, how they will proceed and what they expect to get out of it.

The study will be completed in the first half of the year, with preliminary results available in the fall. Chairmen of the effort are Charlie Chandler of Intrust Bank and Brad Dillon of Gilliland & Hayes in Hutchinson.

The counties included in the study are Sedgwick, Butler, Cowley, Harper, Harvey, King, Marion, McPherson, Reno and Sumner.

Lou Heldman, WSU’s vice president for strategic communications, said the Blueprint was started by WSU last year to help decide how to develop the Innovation Campus, envisioned as a collection of private research and development labs with close ties to university staff and students, and located on the university campus.

Other universities have built similar technology and research parks, and some first built buildings and then came under financial pressure to fill them with whoever would come. Wichita State won’t face such pressure because it won’t build any spec buildings, Heldman said.

The buildings will be built by private developers, he said, who will be restricted to leasing space to businesses in targeted industries that agree to work with students and faculty.

But which industries to target? The study is aimed at identifying eight industry clusters, collections of companies that are tied together economically, sell goods and services outside the region, and are big enough to affect the local economy. Aviation is the obvious one, Heldman said, but the region must focus on building clusters where the region already enjoys advantages such as metal fabrication, composite fabrication and food processing.

That’s why the study also has a broader mandate: to develop and diversify the south-central Kansas economy. As part of the study, those clusters will be identified and company representatives will be asked to meet and share their thoughts about barriers to growth.

The whole process will be guided by consultants Paul Masson and Jim Gollub, of StarNet LLC. The study is expected to cost $235,000, split between the city of Wichita, Sedgwick County, WSU, the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, with each paying $43,000; and the Wichita Downtown Development Corp., which is paying $20,000.

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 12:23 PM with the headline "‘Blueprint’ aims to plot path for region’s economy."