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Wichita East 7309 E. 21st St., Ste. 200 (316) 686-9700 Wichita West 10300 W. Maple (316) 729-9700 El Dorado 127 W. Central (316) 321-2481 Newton 400 S. Main (316) 283-1330 Each office is independently owned and operated

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Learn more about Wichita’s cultural and professional magnetism in the Wichita: Engineered for Excellence special section within this magazine.

For more career options with more aviation giants than anywhere else, take wing and focus in on Wichita, the Air Capital of the World.


2009 EDITION | VOLUME 4 TM

OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA, KANSAS

CO NTE NT S F E AT U R E S 12 TRULY A GLASS ACT Glass as a preferred medium recurs throughout the local arts scene.

16 GET OUT! Fill your downtown datebook with this go-to guide to the best of the district’s dining and entertainment options.

18 SWEET SUCCESSES Candy shops here range from old school to cutting edge, but they all have the same mission: sugary satisfaction.

20 LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT Relocations are making Wichitans out of people from all corners of the country.

22 FAR-REACHING RETAIL Shopping development is taking off, from downtown outward in all directions.

43 NEVER-ENDING SUMMER ROMANCE Music Theatre of Wichita’s top-notch talent has developed a loyal following. ON THE COVER Photo by Todd Bennett 1929 Travel Air D-4000 at Col. James Jabara Airport

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

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TM

O F TH E G R E ATE R WICH ITA AR E A

GREATER WICHITA AREA BUSINESS 30 Affirming an Aviation Legacy The National Center for Aviation Training will ensure a continuous supply of aircraft industry professionals.

34 Biz Briefs 37 Chamber Report 38 Economic Profile

D E PA R TM E NT S 8 Almanac: a colorful sampling of the Greater Wichita Area culture

25 Portfolio: people, places and events that define the Greater Wichita Area

39 Education 41 Health & Wellness 45 Sports & Recreation 49 Community Profile: facts, stats and important numbers to know

Inside:

WICHITA AVIATION ENGINEERING SPECIAL SECTION

This magazine is printed entirely or in part on recycled paper containing 10% post-consumer waste.

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

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Almanac

Entrepreneurial Environment

Fast Facts

Wichita provides a thriving environment for entrepreneurs and boasts a long list of successful ventures to prove it. Given the city’s Air Capital of the World status, it should come as no surprise that the modern companies Hawker Beechcraft Corp., Cessna Aircraft Co. and Bombardier Aerospace Learjet Inc. were founded here. There are many more high-profile companies that originated here, as well, including Pizza Hut, Coleman, Koch Industries, Rent-A-Center, White Castle and Taco Tico. Wichita State University continues the city’s rich tradition of business innovation with its Center for Entrepreneurship, which offers undergraduate and graduate classes and degrees. In 1986, the university moved the original Pizza Hut building to the campus as a permanent symbol of entrepreneurial spirit and to honor Frank and Dan Carney, brothers who launched the company in 1958 when they were students at WSU.

Q Wichita has many cultural events each year, such as MultiCultural Celebration Week, the Cinco de Mayo Celebration, the Wichita Black Arts Festival, the Wichita Asian Festival and the MidAmerica All-Indian Center Intertribal Powwow. Q Wichita’s Riverfest, held each May, originated as a way to celebrate the city’s 100th birthday in 1970. Today, it draws approximately 350,000 people during its nine days. Q The city is home to hundreds of places of worship representing every major religious denomination.

Is That a Springbok? Tanganyika Wildlife Park has quietly bred and cared for rare and endangered animals for more than 20 years. In spring 2008, it opened its doors to the public for tours. The park, located on the west edge of Wichita, has dozens of unusual animals that are living in habitats similar to if they were in the wild. Animals at Tanganyika include black-footed penguins, white Bengal tigers, clouded leopards, red pandas, blue-tongued skinks and ringtailed lemurs, pictured at right. There are also caracals, mouse birds and springboks. By the way, a springbok is a small antelope.

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

Q Jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker made his first complete recording at the Trocadero Ballroom here in 1940. Q Wichita is a fabulous place to relax, thanks to scores of quality day spas. They include Healing Waters Medical Day Spa, named the nation’s Best Themed Spa in 2005 and the No. 1 Medical Day Spa in 2004 by Day Spa magazine. SEE MORE ONLINE | For more Fast Facts about Wichita, visit imageswichita.com.

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Best Western Airport Inn & Conference Center 6815 W. Kellogg • Wichita, KS 67209 (316) 942-5600 www.360wichita.com


Almanac

Way To Go, Derby Congratulations, Derby – and congratulations again. In 2007, the city located in the southeast portion of the Wichita metropolitan area was named a Top 10 Town for Families by Family Circle magazine and among Best Places to Retire by U.S. News and World Report. Derby is a city of 21,000 residents that has a great school system, a strong business environment and plenty of recreational opportunities, including Rock River Rapids – a waterpark popular throughout the region.

Star Students Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer has organized a Youth Advisory Council. Why? To provide Wichita youth with the opportunity to weigh in on community issues and learn about city government. The council is made up of 40 Wichita high school students in grades nine through 11 who are interested in making Wichita a better place to live. Students periodically meet with city officials to discuss the concerns and aspirations of young people living in Wichita. Students on the Youth Advisory Council also elect their own mayor, vice mayor, seven council chairs, city manager, clerk of council and sergeant-at-arms. The remaining 28 members represent the general council.

Greater Wichita Area | At A Glance POPULATION (2006 ESTIMATE) Wichita: 360,410 Wichita MSA: 592,126 Sedgwick County: 474,500

Wichita H Hutchinson

LOCATION Wichita is in south-central Kansas, at the junction of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers, about 60 miles north of the Kansas-Oklahoma state line. BEGINNINGS Wichita was named for the Wichita Indians, who originally inhabited the area. The first white settlers came to the region in the 1850s and 1860s. Wichita was incorporated as a village in 1870. FOR MORE INFORMATION Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 350 W. Douglas Ave. Wichita, KS 67202 Phone: (316) 265-7771 Fax: (316) 265-7502 www.wichitachamber.org

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SEE VIDEO ONLINE | Take a virtual tour of W Wellington g Wichita at imageswichita.com, courtesy of our award-winning photographers.

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SEE MORE ONLINE | Visit Scott Hartley’s Infinity Art Glass studio at imageswichita.com.

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G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


Truly a

Glass Act ARTS MEDIUM RECURS THROUGH PUBLIC DISPLAYS, STUDIOS AND CLASSES

STORY BY ANNE GILLEM

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

PHOTOS BY TODD BENNETT

I

t’s clear: Wichita is a glass act. From inspiring installations by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly at the Wichita Art Museum to pieces created by acclaimed local artisans, glass is an art form that resonates here. Rollin Karg began creating glass art using a five-foot blowpipe 26 years ago and remains passionate about his work, which he says demands strength, concentration, patience and skill – as well as creativity. After a career in sales, Karg became a woodworker. A trip to upstate New York where he watched glassblowers at Corning Incorporated for hours on end changed his life forever. “The designs just sort of bubble out of me,” says Karg, whose Karg Art Glass studio and gallery are located in nearby Kechi. “Ideas for me are pretty easy, but [then] it’s getting the idea into some kind of form that can end up in somebody’s home. You can imagine stuff, dream it up, draw it and start making it, refine it and turn it into something people pay money for. There’s a lot of work involved in that.” The glass is heated in furnaces, “gathered” on the blowpipe,

Glassblower Scott Hartley begins a new project at his studio, Infinity Art Glass in Benton. Left: Hartley’s work is among a variety of fine glass creations found in the area.

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SEE VIDEO ONLINE | Peek inside the Wichita Art Museum at imageswichita.com.

TODD BENNETT

shaped, cooled, reheated, and more color or a pattern is often added. Karg’s creations range from small objects, such as paperweights, starfish and small disks to much larger works. Six people work in the shop with Karg, who has his art in galleries worldwide. “I do like the variety of it,” he says. “When I started, you couldn’t buy glass equipment; we had to learn to build it. So we were in the process of learning along with everyone else in the glass business.” Another area glass artisan, Scott Hartley, whose Infinity Art Glass studio and gallery are in Benton, taught biology before turning to glassblowing nine years ago. Hartley describes creating glasswork as “a process.” “When you first start, you’re not making things that are really all that aesthetically pleasing,” Hartley says. “As you progress, you’re constantly pushing your skills and trying to

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Left: Glassblower Scott Hartley works in his Benton studio. Above: The Wichita Art Museum, a popular attraction for both visitors and residents alike, boasts a dramatic chandelier by Dale Chihuly.

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


City Earns Arts Honor

H

STAFF PHOTO

ats off to Wichita! The city and its Division of Arts & Cultural Services were selected to receive a 2008 Governor’s Arts Award – the first time a city has been so honored. The governor and the Kansas Arts Commission have presented the awards annually since 1974 to recognize outstanding contributions and commitment by artists, as well as by arts patrons, advocates, educators and organizations. In 2008, the commission added the category of arts community, says Kansas Arts Commission Executive Director Llewellyn Crain. “The reason we added that category was because we wanted to begin to recognize those parts of the state that have made a significant commitment to the arts locally,” Crain says. “Wichita is probably the premier one in the state.” The recipients were honored at a dinner June 26, 2008, at Washburn University in Topeka. “[Wichita] has made a huge financial commitment to supporting the arts. They have a longstanding recognition of the value of the arts in the community, dating from the 1930s and even earlier,” Crain says. “It is the largest city in Kansas. Other cities have made a commitment to the arts, but Wichita has really done it in a big way and a very powerful way, too, in terms of the public art they have throughout the city and the support of the museums. The whole infrastructure they have for the arts is very impressive.” – Anne Gillem

develop new techniques. If you do it long enough, you’re going to improve. “I try to do a huge variety of different things,” he explains. “I want people to enjoy the glass as much as I do.” Hartley, who has work in galleries across the U.S., says he loves having visitors watch him because he can draw on their excitement and wonder. Glass art is used to create that same reaction at the Wichita Art Museum, which welcomes visitors with two of Chihuly’s works prominently displayed in the entry and great hall. Both sculptures were commissioned during the museum’s renovation in 2003. The Persian Seaform installation is a 20-foot, second-floor bridge that visitors can view from below when entering the museum and then actually walk on when upstairs. The Confetti Chandelier is 14 feet high with 680 pieces of glass, says Crystal Walter, museum public relations coordinator. With so much of the medium incorporated into the surroundings here, it makes sense that some are even inspired enough to pursue the craft themselves. To answer that need, CityArts, a not-for-profit organization located in Old Town, offers classes for would-be glass artists who are age 16 and older. G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

Wichita received a 2008 Kansas Governor’s Arts Award, honoring the city government’s longstanding and continuous commitment to funding the arts.

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Get Out! FILL YOUR DATEBOOK WITH THIS DOWNTOWN GO-TO GUIDE

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G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


TODD BENNETT

STORY BY DANNY BONVISSUTO

W

hen the sun goes down, the scene heats up downtown, the cultural center of Wichita. “It is truly the heart of our city. It’s 24/7,” says Ann Keefer, vice president of marketing for the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation. Feed your head with everything from movies to music, and fill your belly with diverse dining options from snacks to steaks – then get ready for more. Downtown development is set to skyrocket in the next few years, with ongoing construction of the new Intrust Bank Arena and development of the WaterWalk. But for now, carve out a week on the calendar and let this be your guide to the best of downtown:

MONDAY Make a date with history at The Pumphouse [825 E. Second St.], a gas station and restaurant, purchased by the Ross family in the early 1940s, that makes some of the best burgers in town. Then catch a game on the big screen and a brownie bomb at the recently renovated downtown location of Emerson Biggin’s [808 E. Douglas Ave.]. Or check out who’s on stage at the Concert Hall at Century II [225 W. Douglas Ave.]. TUESDAY Who needs Hollywood? The retro styled Old Town Warren Theatre [353 N. Mead St.] is the perfect place to experience movie magic after digging into a big bowl of paella from Sabor Latin Bar & Grill [309 N. Mead], a sophisticated South American spot just down the street. WEDNESDAY Live high on the hog, or should we say the cow at Eaton Steakhouse [523 E. Douglas Ave.]. This fine dining restaurant serves premium Black Angus, Wagyu and Kobe beef in a Wichita landmark, the former Eaton Hotel. Then head over to the Century II, sit back and let the cast of the Music

Theatre of Wichita entertain you with a Broadway classic. Their season runs June through August. THURSDAY River City Brewing Co. [150 N. Mosley St.] has brats, baby back ribs and handcrafted beer on tap, plus Loft 150 upstairs, an entertainment escape with live shows Thursday through Saturday nights and one of the largest open-air decks in Old Town. Between your meal and the music, catch a movie during the Thursday night film series at the historic Orpheum Theatre [200 N. Broadway, Suite 102]. FRIDAY Get to the art of the matter at the Final Friday Art Crawl, a free year-round event in which galleries and other businesses stay open till 10 p.m. From sculpture to stilt walkers, it’s a “very vibrant, high-energy scene,” according to Elizabeth Stevenson, a member of the Fisch Haus artists’ collaborative. Refreshments are served at some of the stops, but you can top off the night with tapas and a glass of vino at Oeno Wine Bar [330 N. Mead St.] SATURDAY Pick from a long list of paninis at Caffe Moderne [300 N. Mead St., Suite 108], where owner Janet Rine picked downtown to set up shop because she “liked the combination of the artsy, edgy group and the business crowd clientele.” Then laugh it off at Mosley Street Melodrama [234 N. Mosley St.], one of Wichita’s oldest established entertainment traditions, where the audience is part of the action. Head out early for the dinner buffet or just go for the show. SUNDAY Can’t get enough professional dinner theater? Perfect. Crown Uptown puts on performances of campy classics yearround at 3207 E. Douglas Ave.

Old Town Warren Theatre is a bright beacon for evening entertainment in downtown Wichita. STAFF PHOTO Above: Final Friday Art Crawl participants stop to consider works on display at CityArts downtown.

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

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Sweet Successes MAKE A CONFECTION CONNECTION IN WICHITA’S MANY TREAT SHOPS

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G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


STORY BY DANNY BONVISSUTO PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

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empted by truffles? Craving a caramel? How about a big bite of a chocolate buffalo? Candy shops in Wichita range from old school to cutting edge, but each has the same mission: sugary satisfaction. One current confectioner traces its roots to 1885 when Pete Cero, a Greek sailor turned railroad worker, started a candy company to make ends meet after he was left behind by his crew because he had fallen ill. Since then, three generations of the Cero family produced chocolates and creams the oldfashioned way at Cero’s Candies. “We do everything by hand,” says Marni Eickelman, Cero’s general manager. “Pete Cero used to say, ‘Why use a machine when hands can do it better?’” The Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas bought the booming business in 1999 to help keep the family’s tradition alive while giving jobs to adults with special needs. Visitors to the Old Town shop are part of the action, as well, and can watch through big windows as everything from peanut brittle and cherry cordials to a chocolate buffalo [the official state animal] is made. Everyone is a kid in a candy store at The Farris Wheel, a 3,000-square-foot wonderland of every gumball, rum ball and peanut butter malted-milk ball you can imagine – and some you can’t. The 550-item shop runs the gamut from trail mix to English slab toffee and is operated by Farris Farha and his wife, Karen, both Wichita natives who shell out samples of their sweets to customers who come in with a craving. “One item we import from Spain is sugared grapefruit slices,” Farris Farha says. “And until we got people to taste it, they wouldn’t even look at it. Then we started to sample them, and customers went crazy.” Novelty is also the name of the game Hard Shell Creations, a Web-based business that sells “things you wouldn’t go to a normal candy store to buy,” says owner Bob Turkot. His most popular item is the choco-chips, crushed potato chips coated with milk chocolate, white chocolate or white chocolate with cinnamon dots. And though Turkot explains that “milk chocolate pecan turtles started the company,” it’s the more exotic edibles that get the most attention, including drumsticks, which are pretzel logs coated in whole cashews,

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The “Classic” chocolates at Cocoa Dulce Above: The Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas has operated Cero’s Candies for a decade. Left: Beth Tully makes candies at her shop, Cocoa Dulce.

chocolate and caramel. Each piece is individually wrapped and can be shipped all over the country, including a recently debuted line of sugar-free items. Sweets seekers may visit foreign lands without ever leaving Wichita at Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates, where master chocolatier Beth Tully creates custom pieces with ingredients including Tahitian vanilla and Colombian and Belgian chocolates. Customers can take their truffles to go or curb their sugar fix in the chocolate lounge with an espresso-based coffee drink. The tiny tastings are works of art – the Mayan contains vanilla, cinnamon, honey and ancho chile pepper with a picture of a Mayan dropping a cocoa bean into its mouth on top – but don’t mistake the sophisticated spin for snobbery. “My philosophy about chocolate is that it should be approachable,” Tully says. I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

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Love First at

Flight AVIATION CAREERS, CULTURE DRAW TALENTED PROFESSIONALS TO REGION

STORY BY DANNY BONVISSUTO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

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Becca Moyer, with husband Nate, has called Wichita home since 2006.

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orbes named Wichita the No. 1 place in the country to live the good life inexpensively and No. 9 for job opportunities. American City Business Journals calls it No. 2 among the most affordable markets to own a home. Money magazine has it pegged as No. 9 on their list of Best Big Cities in which to live. But don’t just take their word for it. Recent relocations are making Wichitans out of people from all corners of the country. Here’s their take: “Everything you could want in a city, they have here,” Becca Moyer says of Wichita, her home since July 2006. An office administrator for Spirit Aerosystems, Moyer married and moved to Wichita from Arkansas, having also lived in California and Texas. She and her husband, Nate, love to experience the local sports, theaters and restaurants, and she says Wichita will be a great place to raise their future family. “The housing market is good, the jobs are good and the people are nice,”

Moyer says. As the president of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, Vicki Pratt Gerbino promotes the city as a place for business investment and job growth. But as a woman who’s lived in Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado, Wisconsin and most recently Rochester, N.Y., it’s Wichita’s natural beauty she picks as her personal favorite. “There’s something absolutely beautiful about watching fields of wheat move,” Gerbino says. “And I love the sky; it’s so big and always changing.” With relatives scattered from Seattle to New York, location is another big benefit. “I like being in the middle of the country,” Gerbino says. “I can get to my family easier.” Mark Hebert, manager of the industrial engineering department at Hawker Beechcraft, moved to Wichita from San Diego, Calif., but bounced around the country as a “Navy brat” for most of his childhood. Though the aircraft industry was a lure, job opportunities were only one G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


of the many reasons Wichita topped the list when he was ready to make a move. “No matter where you move, you’re still you. The important part is to enjoy where you are,” Hebert says. “I made a spreadsheet of about 35 cities and plotted out cost of living, crime rates, stability of the economy and other factors. What I really like the most about Wichita is that the houses are a quarter of the cost they were in San Diego, and they’re twice the house.” It took Hebert less than a week to find a job, and he enjoys exploring the city, going to car shows and working on his house. For brand strategist Kristjan Olson, this availability of affordable, stylish homes is just one of many facets of Wichita’s high quality of life that has kept him in the city since relocating with his family when he was still in

high school. A relative newcomer to the business scene, Olson, now 23, plans to buy a home here soon. He also is an active member of the Young Professionals of Wichita organization. A 2007 Wichita State University graduate, he enjoys the vibrant atmosphere of working in the Old Town office of Sullivan Higdon & Sink, a marketing, public relations and advertising agency. “I live and work in Old Town, and can look out my window at any time and see people enjoying the weather, art galleries and museums, shops and restaurants in the district,” Olson says. “I also like how it has the desirable feel of a small city where you can walk down the street and see two or three people you know, while still enjoying all the benefits and conveniences of a larger city. There is a camaraderie that exists among Wichitans that is unique.”

Right: Vicki Pratt Gerbino, president of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, recently relocated here and says her favorite things about the area are its natural beauty and convenient location. Above: Vintage aircraft at Col. James Jabara Airport impart the city’s rich aviation history, which is a major draw, especially to those with careers in technology.

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Far-Reaching

Retail

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NEW SHOPPING, DINING DEVELOPMENTS EXTEND IN EVERY DIRECTION

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STORY BY JOE MORRIS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

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sk a Wichitan which part of town has the best shops and you’ll get a simple answer: all of them. From downtown outward in all directions, retail growth is taking off throughout the Greater Wichita area. Destination shopping centers continue to be popular, and as more mixed-use, lifestyle developments continue to come online, the area’s shopping and dining choices are becoming even more diverse. High-profile new developments include The Waterfront at 13th Street and Webb Road in northeast Wichita. The 165acre, scenic property includes specialty stores, offices, a 100-room, extended-stay Hilton Homewood Suites and 60 acres of residential development. The Clark Investment Group, which is developing the property, says that response has been solid across the board. “The community has responded overwhelmingly to The Waterfront,” says Steve Clark, president and CEO. “Retailers have responded well, and it is establishing itself as a major shopping area as well as for dining, Class-A office space and lodging.” Downtown, the WaterWalk project continues to turn heads as it comes out of the ground. The complex is taking advantage of downtown’s residential and commercial renaissance and soon will be home to the Wichita Area Association of Realtors and the Greater Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We really have a lot of momentum,” says Tom Johnson, president of WaterWalk LLC. “Our WaterWalk Place mixeduse building will be complete in summer 2008 and will have space that looks onto the public plazas and waterways that meander through the project. It’s also got a five-story parking

garage that will serve visitors and the homeowners of the condominiums that will be on the west side of the building.” WaterWalk’s next phase will be a restaurant and entertainment district, which will capitalize on the district’s growing residential base and the new Intrust Bank Arena. “We are getting very close to creating that urban entertainment destination that everyone was anticipating when this project began,” Johnson says. “Everyone is very excited about the direction we’re taking, and this is going to be a showpiece not just for downtown, but the entire community.” Wichita’s existing shopping destinations also continue adding to their mix of tenants and expanding facilities to meet customer demand. They include Towne East Square and Towne West Square, which have more than 200 stores between them. There’s also NewMarket Square, Wichita’s largest outdoor shopping center, known for its Main Street ambiance, and Clifton Square, which began in 1972 when a Victorian boarding house became the anchor of a new shopping village complex in the College Hill District. And since 1990, Laham Development’s Bradley Fair lifestyle center has been attracting visitors to its 52 stores, restaurants, open-air plaza, lake and waterfalls. “We’ve been here 19 years, so we’ve got some longevity in the market,” says Karen James, marketing director. “But we try to keep everything fresh. Occasionally we may see an existing store move into another spot to add more concepts. When Talbot’s did that recently, we changed the entire façade of that stretch of the center, which allowed us to give it a whole new look. That really is our approach to everything here, and we think people appreciate it.”

Left: Gander Mountain is an anchor for the new WaterWalk development along the river downtown. Above: Bradley Fair is an upscale retail destination that has been home to many national retailers since it opened in 1990.

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Branch Out To Find Beauty BARTLETT ARBORETUM PROVIDES A LUSH, NATURAL OASIS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS

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wenty minutes and 100 years south of Wichita, the Bartlett Arboretum greets visitors to the peaceful Kansas community of Belle Plaine. The privately owned tree plantation has been a growing attraction since Dr. Walter E. Bartlett transformed the 15 acres of flat, once-treeless property in 1910. Following his death in 1937, Bartlett’s son, Glenn, continued his father’s horticulture legacy, bringing to the arboretum his passion for French gardens and landscapes. In 1997, Bartlett Arboretum became the unexpected destination of Texas teacher and founding Dixie Chicks singer Robin Macy, who stumbled upon the prized plantation while traveling across Kansas. “I had never owned a piece of property G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

in my life, but I saw a for-sale sign and let myself in the gate,” Macy says. “It was like The Secret Garden – jumbled up and a little broken, but it had a fabulous spirit about it.” A geometry teacher at Wichita Collegiate School, Macy now devotes her spare time to restoring Bartlett Arboretum and relies on generous volunteers like the Soil Sisters – a group of women who regularly tend portions of the property. Macy has reinstated weddings and concerts in the arboretum’s gardens and made it available for business events and garden clubs. Fundraisers help support the arboretum, including the annual Summer Solstice Garden Party. That event brings more than 300 Kansans out for a night

of croquet, Southern food and music, the latter of which Macy remains passionate about 10 years after trading in the spotlight for a shovel. Her new CD, Songs from the Garden, was inspired by reflections on her country and community and a passionate call to steward the now revitalized arboretum. “This is just a beautiful place where generations of Wichitans have enjoyed a Sunday drive for the soul,” Macy says. “It speaks to a lot of people.”

Robin Macy, friends and volunteers have revitalized the historic Bartlett Arboretum. PHOTO BY TODD BENNETT

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Portfolio Katie Chrapkowski takes her dog, Bailey, for walk at a local park.

Four-Legged Friends Drive Fundraising

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ichita’s gone to the dogs, and that’s good news to the furryeared friends of the Kansas Humane Society and the Wichita Animal Shelter. Soon, resident pets and four-legged visitors of both organizations will sit, fetch and play on a 20-acre campus dedicated to care of the city’s animal population. Located on 20 acres of land in northeast Wichita, the Murfin Animal Care Campus will include a $6 million, 26,000-square-foot Wichita Animal Shelter as well as a $9.1 million, 40,000-square-foot facility for the Kansas Humane Society. Plans also call for 2.7 acres of public dog parks. The campus is expected to open in 2009. “The adoption of healthy and happy pets to loving and responsible owners is our ultimate mission,” says Kim Janzen, president and CEO of the Kansas Humane Society. “Our cooperative alliance allows each organization to operate independently, in two separate facilities, and provide services to the community in the best possible way.” The partnership is the first of its kind in the Midwest and is expected to eliminate duplication of services while maximizing public and private donations. The campus will help lost pets reunite with their owners, ensure the pets are spayed or neutered prior to adoption, strengthen education programs and help create community-based solutions to pet overpopulation. The campus will include ample space for the more than 16,000 animals cared for by Humane Society each year. The public/private partnership was funded with public dollars, a capital campaign and Humane Society fundraisers like Woofstock, which raised more than $200,000 in 2007. The annual event takes place in Sedgwick County Park in October and includes a twomile fun run, one-mile mutt strut, live music and much more.

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ong before the Wichita Wingnuts took the field before 6,000 cheering fans at Lawrence Dumont Stadium, the team already had scored big with crowds in middle Kansas. The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball team became Wichita’s newest pro sports league in 2008, joining the Wichita Wild Indoor Professional Football team and hockey club Wichita Thunder, also operated by Wingnuts owner Wichita Pro Sports. “We’ve had an outstanding start,” says Wingnuts field manager Kash Beauchamp. “The support of the community has been overwhelming.” Beauchamp says the team felt at home in Wichita early on, when the Wingnuts name was selected through The Wichita Eagle’s name-the-team contest. Wichitan Hank Haneberg submitted the Wingnuts name, which later was selected from among 200 submissions. “The Wingnuts name ties in with

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Wichita’s airline industry and is just a great choice,” Beauchamp says. The logo, designed by the local firm Associated Advertising, features a sinister baseball hiding behind the team name and wearing a wingnut for a baseball cap. It immediately took second place in the CNBC.com Minor League Logo Awards. The Wingnuts arrived in Kansas following the 2007 departure of the Wichita Wranglers, but more than jerseys have changed in Lawrence Dumont Stadium. Games now include fan promotions and family-friendly events, from balloon relays and mascot races to inflatable jump toys. “We do a lot of wild and crazy things,” Beauchamp says. “It’s just more fun for the fans.” He also credits the team’s success to an active local ownership group and the players’ eagerness to embrace the city as their own.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SLAP SHOT PHOTOGRAPHY

It’s a Whole New Ball Game

Sports fans have welcomed a new team to town, the Wichita Wingnuts, part of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.

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he Kansas Leadership Center is building the state – one leader at a time. The nonprofit organization opened in 2007, thanks to a $30 million grant from the Kansas Health Foundation. “The health foundation came to believe that civic leadership was in and of itself a social determinant of health,” says Ed O’Malley, president of the Kansas Leadership Center. “It makes sense to take some of those resources and create a stand-alone center that can focus on cul-

tivating civic leadership across the state.” The center has established partnerships with dozens of local leadership programs, aiming to use those relationships to increase the capacity of people currently engaged in civic life as well as encourage those participating for the first time. Still in its pilot stage, the program also requires intensive strategic assessment of how to utilize the foundation’s generous gift. “We think of the grant as a gift – not

to us who have the privilege to work for the center, but to the people of Kansas,” says O’Malley, a former Kansas state legislator. “Our job is to steward that gift and discover the most useful way to utilize it.” Training sessions will be offered statewide through a combination of open enrollment programs and recruitment. Participants will represent a diverse group of individuals with leadership potential, from elected officials to grassroots advocates. O’Malley hopes that the program will welcome more than 1,000 Kansans annually by 2010. “Our greatest aspiration is that Kansans – in part because of their engagement with the Kansas Leadership Center – will be able to make significant progress in the most daunting issues facing their communities,” O’Malley says.

Kansas Leadership Center President Ed O’Malley, left, talks with Ascension Rojas at the center.

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PHOTOS BY TODD BENNETT

Soaring Into Cyberspace

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isioneering Wichita, an initiative sponsored by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, began in 2004 when a group of 16,000 citizens shared their hopes, dreams and thoughts for the city’s future. A long-range strategic plan emerged, and alliances were developed to strengthen key areas targeted for diversified growth. While sectors such as government and economic development remain at the forefront, the group’s new Cyber Alliance is bringing attention to this tech-savvy city. “Wichita is known primarily as an aviation and manufacturing town, but I felt we needed information technology jobs to employ our guardsmen,” says Cyber Alliance founder Col. Randy Roebuck, commander of the Great Plains Joint Regional Training Center in Salina, Kan., and former commander of the Kansas Air National Guard’s 184th Cyber and Intelligence Wing at McConnell Air Force Base. The base is one of four U.S. sites able to process intelligence data by satellite and unmanned air vehicles in real time, requiring the skills of cyber-warriors trained in identifying and heading off threats posed by computer and satellite networkbased attacks. The group has established trade alliances with local information technology businesses and is working with the community to increase awareness of Wichita’s unique position in the IT field. Besides being home to one of the military’s most elite government intelligence units, Wichita also is home to one of three Cisco Systems service centers worldwide. A final part of the alliance’s mission includes a career pipeline designed to identify and test high school students interested in IT and connect them with colleges and potential employers. “The alliance itself is a community effort to prepare Kansas for the information age,” Roebuck says. – Stories by Melanie Hill G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

McConnell Air Force Base is one of only four U.S. sites able to process intelligence data by satellite and unmanned air vehicles in real time.

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Business

Affirming an

Aviation

Legacy $54 MILLION TRAINING CENTER ENSURES PIPELINE OF HIGHLY SKILLED WORKERS STORY BY GARY PERILLOUX PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

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ome 97 years after Clyde Cessna crafted his first Kansas plane, the manufacturing company that bears his name riveted the aviation world with news it would build its boldest business jet ever in Wichita. It’s a day the founder of Cessna Aviation Co. could only dream of: $780 million invested to develop Citation Columbus jets, with another $74 million in annual payroll and 1,000 new jobs to drive Cessna’s Wichita work force past 11,000. Yet even before the April 2008 announcement made headlines, a critical piece of Cessna’s plans to build the jets began coming out of the ground. At Jabara Airport – a general aviation facility in northeast Wichita – construction started a month earlier on the National Center for Aviation Training.

At $54 million, the 220,000-square-foot center will steep students in avionics, robotics, composites manufacturing and other 21st-century aviation disciplines. Cessna will lean heavily upon the new center to build its $27 million jet. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Hawker Beechcraft Corp., The Boeing Co., Bombardier Aerospace Learjet, Airbus North America Engineering Inc. and other Wichita mainstays will also tap the facility when they look to fill 15,000 new aerospace jobs projected for the area over the next decade. That growth will push Wichita’s aviation employment beyond 50,000 and into a new frontier. “You take Spirit, for example,” says Pete Gustaf, president of Wichita Area Technical College, which will manage the training center. “The workers there have lab coats on and work on the

forward composite section of a 787 in a 100-yard clean room. It’s a little different than pounding rivets in a 100-degree warehouse.” That difference is why John Tomblin’s 300-member National Institute for Aviation Research staff will launch its resources as the center opens in 2010 to help prepare 1,500 students at a time. “We have a research and training role,” says Tomblin, the institute’s executive director and Sam Bloomfield Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Wichita State University. “If you think of research as a continuum, you’re always going to start out with a research project. And the last piece of that continuum is always going to be training.” That continuum – as with friction stir welding techniques for aircraft – typically takes 10 years or more. Tomblin

Composite material research is just one area of study at the National Institute for Aviation Research.

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believes the hand-in-glove work of his research institute and the aviation training center in the same spot, using state-of-the-art equipment supplied by local industry, can cut the implementation time to one to three years. In some cases, the transfer of research to training could be almost instantaneous, Bloomfield says. One initiative will lead to diagnostic tools, such as CT scans, that can inspect aircraft for problems without the need to take them apart. Gustaf said the Sedgwick County Technical Education & Training Authority, which oversees his college and all area technical education, played the galvanizing role in conceiving the project, designing the aviation center with industry input and issuing bonds for construction. The investment will be a wise one, says Vicki Pratt Gerbino, president of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition. “If any place in the world should have an NCAT-type facility, it’s Wichita,” she says. “We need to ensure a steady pipeline of new, trained personnel for our local aircraft industry. It’s simply a smart investment in our economic future.”

“If any place in the world should have an NCAT-type facility, it’s Wichita.” VICKI PRATT GERBINO PRESIDENT, GREATER WICHITA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COALITION

John S. Tomblin, executive director of the National Institute for Aviation Research, says that NIAR officials look forward to a research and training role with the newly created National Center for Aviation Training.

Connecting to Cutting-Edge Jobs

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ndy Solter witnessed the wonder of it in Wichita: When students from low-income families saw their coursework converge with concrete jobs, lightbulbs blazed on and performance soared. Now, Solter and his Kansas Career Pipeline staff witness lightbulb moments statewide – 30,000 career assessments the first school year – as the Internet-based learning community creates training profiles to take Kansans from their first what-I-wantto-be-when-I-grow-up moment to retirement. The pipeline and its resources are accessible by logging onto www.kansascareerpipeline.org. Businesses are boarding the pipeline, too. In June 2008, they began pre-qualifying job applicants, posting videos and creating scholarship and internship opportunities on the Web site. “No. 1, it gives them an immediate recruiting tool

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to start posting their jobs,” says Karen Cox, marketing director for the private, not-for-profit pipeline. “Secondly, and this is the part that’s extremely exciting, we’re connecting them with their future workforce.” Interaction begins as early as fifth grade, when students begin probing careers online. They take assessments of their career leanings in seventh grade. Solter formed the pipeline after a federally funded career program for students in lower-income families ended at Wichita Public Schools. He huddled with the Kansas Department of Education, the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Department of Commerce to see if an online model could connect the business community with future employees. After initial state funding, the pipeline’s $1.5 million 2008-09 budget will increasingly rely on annual business sponsorships from $50 to $30,000. “There may be other states who are beginning to do this,” Solter says. “If so, I salute them, because it really is a critical part of helping kids find things they’re interested in.” – Gary Perilloux

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Business | Biz Briefs

Sheplers began in 1899 in Wichita and today has 19 stores, as well as booming catalog-based sales.

FROM TOM MIX TO TIM MCGRAW For more than a century, Sheplers has been serving the western wear needs of Wichitans. But in the early 2000s, the company decided it was time to give its customers a few more modern options. A major renovation of the flagship Wichita store was completed in 2007. While the store retained its selection of traditional western wear, it also “expanded offerings to consumers who are more interested in casual, contemporary, country style,” says Keith Harbrand, Sheplers vice president of marketing. The company, which has 19 stores across the country, also revamped the store’s layout, separating the store into departments and grouping popular brands. The intent was to improve the store’s flow and make it easier for customers to find specific items. That’s particularly true for customers in the market for boots. “We have more than 100,000 boots in stock, for any foot size, any style prefer34

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ence and any wallet size,” Harbrand says. The 50,000-square-foot store at 6501 W. Kellogg is open seven days a week. RISK-FREE PROPOSITIONS IMA is working to take the risk out of risk management. The company, based in Wichita, provides more than insurance services for its business clients. It provides ways to reduce the chances that insurance will be required. IMA’s latest groundbreaking program, Life IQ, is an example of the steps the company is taking to assist its customers. The Life IQ system, a health risk management program, helps guide companies and their employees toward healthier lifestyles and lower health-care costs. Overseeing the Life IQ program is IMA’s medical director, just one of dozens of specialists on staff. This kind of detail is routine, says Anita Bourke, president of IMA of Kansas. “We invest twice as much in enhanced services as any of our competitors,” Bourke says.

The company employs 200 at its corporate office in Wichita, but also has offices in Denver, Kansas City, Topeka and Dallas. It ranks as one of the 20 largest privately held insurance brokers in the United States. YINGLING PREPARES FOR TAKEOFF Yingling Aviation and the Cessna Aircraft Company have enjoyed a long relationship, with the Wichita company first affiliating with Cessna as a sales and service dealer upon its founding in 1942. With the announcement by the aircraft manufacturer that Yingling would become the reassembly site for Cessna’s new SkyCatcher aircraft, the partnership has grown again. The personal aircraft will be manufactured in China, taken apart and shipped here. Yingling Aviation, located at MidContinent Airport, will reassemble the aircraft, run checks and test-fly them before delivery to Cessna dealers. The first aircraft is set to arrive in early 2009, G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


with the facility ultimately handling up to 700 annually. “It’s a ramp-up,” says Lynn Nichols, president of Yingling Aviation, who notes the company will add to its 100-person staff throughout the process. “The first few we receive will take longer as we get our efficiencies in place.” The new division is just the latest addition to the Yingling Aviation menu, which includes maintenance, avionics, parts, sales and flight training among its existing departments. DOMES HOME TO HEALTHY LIVING A glimpse at the outside of the Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning International suggests something unusual is happening there. The center resides inside eight geodesic domes and a pyramid on 90 acres of land at 3100 N. Hillside Ave. Inside those unconventional structures, some of the nation’s leading holistic medicine is practiced. Founded in 1975 by Dr. Hugh Riordan, the center was designed to eschew some of the quick fixes found in modern medicine with an approach that studied the entire patient, including “mind, body and spirit.” The center “seeks to find and correct the underlying reasons for an illness by evaluating patients biochemically,” says Susan Glecier, health advocate director. More than 46 full-time staff members, including medical doctors and nurses plus part-time staff, treat patients who arrive from all over the world. A key aspect of their work involves analyzing the nutritional needs of each patient, which can be met at the center’s public Taste of Health restaurant, open daily from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For customers who can’t wait to get home to sample the fare, The Bistro provides exquisitely prepared meals from the store’s in-house chef. Additionally, Dillons Marketplace offers sections devoted to home fashions, bed and bath items, furniture, kitchenware and beauty products. “It gives customers everything they want in a one-stop shopping setting,” says Sheila Lowrie, a Dillons spokesperson. “It’s unlike anything else in the Wichita market.” A second Dillons Marketplace opened at 21st and Maize in July 2008, while two other versions are in the works. – Dan Markham

Kansas’ first Dillons Marketplace

MARKETPLACE METAMORPHOSIS Dillons Food Stores have long been a fixture in Wichita. But customers at the company’s operation at Central and Rock Road have been introduced to the future of Dillons. In 2007, the company completed the renovation of an existing facility to create the first Dillons Marketplace in Kansas. The new store features an exhaustive selection of fresh produce, organic products, gourmet cheeses and 1,400 international, specialty and kosher foods. G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A

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Business | Chamber Report

Creating a Winning Strategy KEY RELATIONSHIPS HELP ORGANIZATION SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT BUSINESS PLAN

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board chair for 2009. “We’ve been very successful with that, and it allows us to take the long view,” Shank says. “There are things to accomplish, such as more funding for educating our workforce and something that was dear to my heart – support for graduate medical education, which we were able to get. And this political involvement also lets us lay down relationships and commitments so that we’re not trying to do something at the last minute.” Building relationships within the chamber is key to its success, as well, and Shank says that following Sorensen will be difficult only in terms of living

up to the job that he and his predecessors have done. “We have so many issues: workforce development, improving the curb appeal of our community to attract and retain younger workers, building and strengthening our relationships with legislators. These are all ongoing, and all done at the same time,” Shank says. “We make progress every year, because the chamber has had a lot of foresight in identifying critical issues and creating a plan to address them. We’re able to take that longer view and stay committed to these things. I’ll just be picking up the baton and continuing to run.” – Joe Morris

TODD BENNETT

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s the Greater Wichita area continues to expand its business base, keeping tabs on the various players that make the growth happen is vital. At the same time, ensuring that the needs of existing businesses are met is just as important. It’s quite a juggling act, but one that the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce continues to do with success. “We have a business plan that’s adopted at the beginning of the year, and implementation of that plan is very important,” says Harvey R. Sorensen, a partner with Foulston Siefkin LLP and chair of the chamber’s board of directors through 2008. “Every year there’s a couple of components to the plan that we focus on, and this year I’ve focused on workforce development.” That multifaceted topic includes job training as well as recruitment – getting and keeping qualified personnel to serve the area’s varied industry base. And it’s something that requires input and assistance from both the public and private sector, not to mention highereducation institutions. “We are always working on relationships, which is a big part of our visioneering process,” Sorensen says. “What we hear is that workforce issues are the biggest problems facing our organizations. That outranks everything else by a lot. And we’ve had a lot of successes, because the chamber has taken an active leadership role in the community, addressing workforce issues and other business problems.” The chamber has also fared well with its governmental efforts, from the local council chambers all the way to the Statehouse. Its “unified legislative agenda,” which is composed of initiatives that benefit the entire community, has seen a 100-percent success rate in the last three years, enabling the organization to help both businesses and the city at large on several fronts. And it also gives the chamber an ongoing voice as political leaders and priorities change, according to both Sorensen and Kim Shank, chief executive officer of the Wichita Clinic, who is the chamber’s

Wichita Clinic Chief Executive Officer Kim Shank is the 2009 Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce board chair, succeeding Harvey R. Sorensen.

I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

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Business | Economic Profile

THE GREATER WICHITA AREA BUSINESS CLIMATE Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, is the economic hub of the region. The city has a strong manufacturing base, most of which is related to the aircraft industry.

TRANSPORTATION Airports Colonel James Jabara Airport (corporate) (316) 636-9700 Wichita Mid-Continent Airport (316) 946-4790

Specialty Trade Contractors 9,385

Terminal Railroad

Professional and Technical Services 8,817

Wichita Terminal Association (316) 262-5081

FACTS/STATISTICS

Nursing and Residential Care Facilities 7,402

Population 592,126 (MSA) Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2006)

General Merchandise Stores 7,145

Civilian Labor Force, 319,176

COST OF LIVING

Merchant Wholesalers, Social Assistance, 6,330

Highways Wichita is conveniently situated on Interstate 35, which connects to nearby Interstates 70 and 40. The area is also served by Interstate 135, U.S. 54 and other state highways.

Unemployed, 14,868

Average annual pay (all sectors), $35,760

Des Moines, Iowa, 91.7%

Ports Port of Kansas City (200 miles northeast) Access to the Mississippi River via the Missouri River

Source: Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2006)

Indianapolis, 94.2%

Commute – The Wichita metro area average one-way travel time to work is about 18 minutes – 28 percent shorter than the national average of 25 minutes.

National average, 100%

Tulsa Port of Catoosa (170 miles southeast) Access to the Mississippi River via the Arkansas River Rail Passenger Amtrak (Newton, Kan. – 30 miles north) (316) 283-7533 or (800) 872-7245 Freight (Class 1) Burlington Northern Santa Fe (800) 795-2673 Kansas City Southern (816) 983-1303 Union Pacific (316) 268-9400 Shortline Kansas South Western (316) 263-3240 Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (316) 261-6144

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Southern Kansas & Oklahoma (316) 231-2230

I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

Unemployment rate, 4.7% Source: Kansas Department of Human Resources, fourcounty MSA (June 2007)

MAJOR INDUSTRIES Wichita MSA Private Industries (www.gwedc.org) Industry, Average 2005 Employment Manufacturing – Transportation Equipment (Primarily Aircraft), 34,937 Food Services and Drinking Places, 21,137 Administrative and Support Services 15,578 Ambulatory Health Care Services, 12,336 Hospitals, 9,551

Oklahoma City, 86.4% Omaha, Neb., 87.3% Wichita, 89.8% St. Louis, 90% Dallas, 91.9% Kansas City, Mo./Kan., 96.1% Denver, 105.1% Source: ACCRA Cost-of-Living Survey, 1st quarter 2008

FOR MORE INFORMATION Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 350 W. Douglas Ave. Wichita, KS 67202 Phone: (316) 265-7771 www.wichitachamber.org Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition GWEDC is a regional public/ private partnership that is housed at the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce. Phone: (316) 268-1133 www.gwedc.org

Sources: www.gwedc.org, www.wichitachamber.org

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


Wichita… Excellence

Engineered for

THE SK Y’S THE LIMIT FOR AVIATION PROFESSIONALS RICH CULTURE, REWARDING CAREERS

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Wichita:

Engineered for Excellence

The Sky’s the Limit WICHITA FULFILLS REPUTATION AS “AIR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD”

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hen Clyde Cessna built Wichita’s first plane in 1917, maybe he knew it was the start of something big. Yet even Cessna might not have envisioned today’s Wichita, known as the “Air Capital of the World” and home to burgeoning a ircra f t compa nies employ i ng thousands of the most talented engineers on the planet. According to a Milken Institute study, Wichita has the highest concentration of aerospace employment and skills in the nation. About 61 percent of the Wichita area’s manufacturing jobs – or more than 40,000 people – are in the aerospace industry. Wichita giants Cessna Aircraft Co., Hawker Beechcraft Corp. and Bombardier Aerospace Learjet deliver more than half the nation’s generalaviation planes. Also at home in Wichita are Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, an

Airbus engineering center, a network of tier one suppliers and scores of precision machine shops. “The specialization in the workforce just doesn’t exist anywhere else. It’s only in Wichita,” says Tom Aldag, director of research and development at the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. NIAR’s cutting-edge research and Wichita State’s renowned engineering programs will soon join with the Wichita Area Technical College at the new, $54 million National Center for Aviation Training, a facility that will open for classes in 2010 at Jabara Airport in northeast Wichita. In the meantime, the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce has several initiatives in place to nurture the aviation industry and lure top-notch professionals here. Once people visit Wichita, it’s an easy sell, thanks to an enviable quality

of life that includes a vibrant downtown and an easy commute. “Getting around Wichita is so easy. It’s 15 to 20 minutes to get anywhere, no matter where you live. Because of that, you can really get out and enjoy all of the entertainment that’s offered in what we call ‘hot spots’ all over the city,” says Olivia Simmons, vice president of the Greater Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau. The city boasts a wealth of cultural, natural and entertainment options, from the burgeoning Tallgrass Film Festival to the Kansas Flint Hills located nearby. “Literally, you can immerse yourself in the sights and the sounds of the outdoors,” Simmons says. “Not too many cities can brag about what’s so close to them and what they have within their city at the same time.” The result? Wichita is flying high.

The Walter H. Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel at NIAR was originally built in 1948 and underwent a $6 million renovation in 2005.

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Red Carpet Welcome

TODD BENNETT

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Jessica Rajtar, left, and Heather Arreguin are part of Young Professionals of Wichita, which has grown to include nearly 2,000 members since it began in 2005.

Fountain of Youth YPW GROUP BUILDS ROBUST NETWORK

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simple Irish proverb says, “Praise youth and it will prosper.” That sentiment is certainly one tenet of the Young Professionals of Wichita, founded to nurture, connect and, yes, praise Wichita’s under-40 go-getters. “Our mission is to attract and retain young, diverse talent through professional and social immersion, so we want to connect our members with each other and then also connect them with the community and provide them with the skills they need to take that next step in their careers and their civic lives,” explains Jessica Rajtar, YPW director. Part of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, YPW began in June 2005. The first event had a huge turnout. “It was just amazing to see 400 of my peers there to support such a cool organization,” Rajtar recalls. Today, YPW’s membership is nearly 2,000 strong. The organization’s six action teams tackle initiatives such as leadership training, increasing diversity and professional networking. An “intern return” program is designed to enrich the experience of college students interning at local corporations and to encourage them to launch their careers in Wichita after graduation. The YP Ambassadors action team is the organization’s welcome mat, while Pulse plans YPW’s numerous social events, including a New Year’s Eve bash. Monthly Mingles are open to members and nonmembers, making the events “a great place for people who want to find out a little more about YPW to come and meet some people, ask some questions and find out how they might plug in,” Rajtar says. YPW also boasts an impressive list of corporate members, including Wichita’s aircraft companies. For more information, visit www.ypwichita.org. www.aviationjobswichita.com

ichita is home to a large and invaluable cadre of talented professionals. We know we have the exciting careers and the quality of life assets to attract more. The Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Red Carpet Program is specifically designed to welcome and inform professionals considering a move to Wichita or – for those having made that decision – arm them with all the information they need to comfortably settle here. “Basically, we serve as a go-to for professionals who are considering or planning a move to Wichita, as well as for recruiters, by providing all types of community facts and resources that will help their transition happen as smoothly as possible,” says Jim Schwarzenberger, Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Development for the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce. The red-carpet treatment includes a Spouse Career Network that helps connect the spouses of relocated professionals with the opportunities within the local job market. It also includes community information, and a relocation-friendly web site, www.wichitachamber.org/ community that makes it

easy to navigate all that Wichita has to offer.


Wichita:

Engineered for Excellence

Engineers at NIAR discuss a flow visualization water tunnel test in the institute’s aerodynamics laboratory.

TESTING:

One, Two, Three

NIAR BOLSTERS AREA’S STATUS AS GLOBAL LEADER IN AVIATION

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ith five centers of research excellence, the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University is a globally recognized powerhouse that bolsters the area’s lofty status as the aviation industry’s leader. “NIAR is quite unique because it’s a university-based center, but it doesn’t act like any other university-based center that I’m aware of. We’re collaborating with industry for a product that industry can use,” explains NIAR Executive Director John S. Tomblin. “Most of the research that universities do is considered basic research, which sometimes takes years to integrate into industry use. NIAR does just the opposite of that. We’re conducting research that’s applicable to products out today or out in the very near future.” NIAR draws upon its advisory board of aviation business experts to ensure that its activities meet the industry’s needs. One example of answering that call is NIAR’s recently added DO-160

certification capabilities. While adhering to DO-160 guidelines, developed by the Radio Technical Commission on Aeronautics, isn’t an FAA requirement, it is recommended. NIAR’s combination of 22 environmental laboratories allows manufacturers to perform DO-160 testing in one location for “air readiness assurance,” Tomblin says. Aircraft and parts are subjected to a variety of extremes, including temperatures, altitude, shocks and vibration, explosions, fluids, sand and dust, fungus, salt, voltage spikes, electrostatic discharge, fire, lightning and more. That’s probably why Tomblin dubs these testing facilities the “shake and bake laboratories.” NIAR labs are also at the nation’s forefront in the study and application of composites and advanced materials used in aircraft manufacturing. “This change of primary materials is directly related to an extreme push to get more and more efficiency out of aircraft. That’s particularly related with what we see now regarding fuel costs,” Tomblin

says, adding that Wichita is one of only seven places in the world identified as a “composite cluster.” That means the business environment includes original equipment manufacturers and suppliers at all levels. NIAR is also taking its compositematerials research in an unexpected – and potentially life-altering – direction. Because composites are strong, flexible and lightweight, they just may be well suited for internal and external orthopaedic devices. “We’re proposing to create a center here, which we call the Center of Innovation for Biomaterials and Orthopaedic Research,” Tomblin says. “The beauty about this is that the composite manufacturing base already exists in Wichita, so all we have to do is turn their attention to another industry other than focusing solely on the aerospace industry.” Now that’s an economically healthy turn of events. For more information, visit www.niar.wichita.edu.

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Growing

Global Reach SPIRIT AEROSYSTEMS EXPANDS ITS WORLDWIDE OPERATIONS

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pirit AeroSystems is thinking – and acting – globally. Established in 2005 when Onex Corporation carved it from Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Spirit AeroSystems is the world’s largest supplier of commercial aircraft assemblies and parts. In addition to its Wichita headquarters, the company has facilities in Oklahoma, Scotland and England. Spirit has announced plans to open two new manufacturing facilities – one in North Carolina and one in Malaysia. The company also recently partnered in an aftermarket joint venture, which will serve customers in the Asia-Pacific region. “We have to be global to be successful,” says David Walker, Spirit senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Spirit is not in business to just be a neighborhood parts maker. Our customers are global. In order to compete for new programs, we have to have a manufacturing and aftermarket footprint in other countries. It helps us compete for new programs and gives us critical resources and a definite cost advantage.” In three short years since Spirit’s divestiture from Boeing, the company has landed several significant contracts,

including various components for the Gulfstream G650 business jet and the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter. Spirit will build the fuselage for Cessna’s new Citation Columbus, that company’s largest business jet ever. One of Spirit’s latest successes came in May 2008, when it signed a contract with Airbus to design and produce the center fuselage section for the A350 XWB [Xtra Wide-Body] aircraft. The composite structure will be about 65 feet long, 20 feet wide and weigh nearly 9,000 pounds. “This is a huge win for us,” Walker says. Walker notes that diversification is a key to Spirit’s long-term success, thus it’s critical for the company to expand its customer list beyond the large commercial aircraft manufacturing community. He predicts Spirit accomplishments in segments such as smaller-scale business and regional jets, aftermarket support and military products. “It all goes back to our reputation in delivering great quality, delivering on schedule and at a competitive cost,” he says. “We should credit our employees for this reputation.” For more information, visit www.spiritaero.com.

Spirit AeroSystems is the world’s largest independent supplier of commercial airplane assemblies and components.

www.aviationjobswichita.com


Wichita:

Engineered for Excellence

Cessna’s Citation Columbus is a large-cabin, intercontinental aircraft that is the largest jet ever developed by the company.

The

Large and

Small of Cessna AIRCRAFT GIANT PREMIERES ITS SMALLEST SPORT PLANE, PLANS ITS LARGEST BUSINESS JET EVER

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arch 8, 2008, was a surprisingly chilly morning at the Cessna Aircraft East Field Airport, when the prototype for Cessna’s new single-engine SkyCatcher quickly took to the air and climbed away for its one-hour tour of the Wichita sky. “The first flight is always a combination of excitement and just a little anxiousness and nervousness. It is a test flight, and you want everything to go well. It’s always a fun day, too, kind of like the birth of a new kid. It’s memorable, especially when it ends well, which this one did,” recalls Neal Willford, SkyCatcher project engineer. SkyCatcher is the newest in a long and impressive line of Cessna aircraft. A sporty two-seater priced at an affordable $111,500, it’s also the smallest Cessna. SkyCatcher’s first customers are scheduled to receive their planes in the second half of 2009. “One of the goals of the project is to have an airplane not only for new-pilot

flight instruction, but also to have an airplane that people just want to fly for fun,” Willford says. With a decreasing number of new student pilots and general-aviation pilots, the SkyCatcher should “spur on new-pilot starts and bring more people into the aviation family,” adds Willford, who joined Cessna in January 1990. “It’s been a great experience to work for the leader in general aviation,” he says, “and work on a variety of projects over the years.” Willford has also been involved at the other end of the Cessna spectrum on the Citation X, the company’s biggest business jet – until now. In early 2008, Cessna announced the Citation Columbus, a large-cabin, intercontinental aircraft and the largest jet ever developed by the company. The Columbus is expected to be the only aircraft in its class capable of 4,000 nautical miles nonstop at Mach .80 with a fuel payload of 1,950 pounds.

“A lot of our customers have been loyal over the years. They start with singleengine airplanes and progress up through our small jet product line all the way up to the Citation X or Sovereign. Then, when they want a bigger airplane with a little bit longer range and bigger cabin size, they have to go to the competition. The Columbus represents Cessna’s product line expansion to fill this vital customer need,” says Andy Kasowski, Columbus program vice president. Cessna is building a new stand-alone facility in Wichita for Columbus construction. The project represents a $780 million investment and creates 1,010 new direct jobs. Based on unit sales, Cessna is the world’s largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes and is Kansas’ No. 1 employer. In 2007, Cessna delivered 1,272 aircraft, including 387 Citations, and reported revenues of approximately $5 billion. For more information, visit www.cessna.com.

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GrowAgain Here We

HAWKER BEECHCRAFT LEADS THE INDUSTRY IN COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

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hen it comes to the use of advanced composite materials in aircraft construction, nobody beats Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, and its new flagship Hawker 4000 business jet is the proof. “We call it the world’s most advanced business jet, period. It is only the second-ever certified, all-composite-fuselage business jet, and the first one was our Premier 1A,” says Andrew Broom, HBC director of media relations and public affairs. HBC delivered its first Hawker 4000, which comfortably seats eight to 10 passengers, to its proud owners in June 2008, and the goal is production of 30 of the jets annually. The plane is ideal for long, over-water flights. HBC employs more than 9,000 workers worldwide and just over 7,000 in Wichita, where the company is headquartered. In 2007, the company delivered 430 business and generalaviation aircraft. Its Hawker line requires a crew of at least two pilots, while Beechcraft are single-piloted airplanes. Because quality service after an aircraft sale is a distinguishing HBC trait, the company operates 10 factoryowned service facilities. In May 2008, HBC announced its 11th maintenance and service location, this one in Mesa, Ariz. “There’s a lot of excitement at this company right now. Now that Hawker Beechcraft is the largest privately held aircraft manufacturer in the world, there are a lot of great

things going on,” Broom says, adding that HBC boasts “the broadest product line in the industry.” That includes the Beechcraft single-engine Bonanza, continuously in production for more than 60 years. The Bonanza’s rich history means owners have a singular bond that prompts fly-ins and “Beech parties” across the country. In fact, the American Bonanza Society is based in Wichita. Since the 1930s, HBC has delivered military training aircraft for U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots, as well as aircraft to military operations in other countries. “In Britain, for example, we just delivered the Royal Air Force King Airs for twin-engine pilot training,” Broom says. Broom is a pilot himself and was lured to HBC from Eclipse Aviation in Albuquerque, N.M., in January 2008. “We are hiring at an astounding rate,” he says. “We have 700 open requisitions, anything from operations, which are manufacturing positions, to engineering. Just in Wichita alone, we hired 1,200 people last year. So we’re growing in Wichita, and we’re investing in facility improvements and new facilities here on our square mile.” He adds that HBC is “committed to bringing talented individuals here. Our success is based on the talented people working here.” For more information, visit Hawker Beechcraft Corporation online at www.hawkerbeechcraft.com.

Hawker Beechcraft Corporation’s new Hawker 4000 is the second-ever certified, all-composite-fuselage business jet.

www.aviationjobswichita.com


Wichita:

Engineered for Excellence

Lure The Learjet

TRADITION & INNOVATION ATTRACT ENGINEERS

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large amount of inspiration” is what lured Mark Wood from Phoenix to Wichita in March 2008, when he joined Bombardier Learjet as an engineering specialist in the propulsion systems group. “The work here fit really well with what my skills are and the motivations I have,” Wood says. “Being a pilot and engineer, to come and work for an airplane company is very high on my motivation list.” He says he grew up marveling at Wichita-produced Learjet aircraft, and thus jumped at the chance to join the design team for the venerable company’s newest business model, the Learjet 85 aircraft. “The big guys were asking me to come for work them,” says Wood, whose resumé includes work with McDonnell Douglas, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell. Launched on Oct. 30, 2007, the new Learjet 85 aircraft will be the first Bombardier Aerospace jet to feature an all-composite structure and will be the first all-composite-structure business jet designed for type certification under U.S. Federal Aviation Administration FAR Part 25. The clean-sheet Learjet aircraft targets a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.82 and a transcontinental range of up to 3,000 nautical miles (5,556 km)*. The Learjet 85 aircraft will feature a stand-up cabin built to ensure superior productivity and comfort for eight passengers. The Learjet 85 jet will join an impressive array of Bombardier Business Aircraft products. The company features three families of business jets: the Learjet aircraft, the world’s first business jet; the Challenger aircraft, which is the backbone of many corporate fleets; and the Global aircraft, the largest jets in its product range. Learjet Inc. was founded in 1962 in Wichita and purchased by

Canada-based Bombardier in 1990. Since that time, Learjet has launched eight high-performance and fuelefficient aircraft. That high-flying tradition continues to lure engineers like Wood, who holds a bachelor’s degree in physics with a minor in aerospace engineering from Arizona State University. The Wichita community is also a strong draw. Wood’s 5-year-old Australian shepherd, Buster, is particularly fond of

Wichita’s parks, which offer plenty of room for Frisbee chasing and for his owner to fly model airplanes. Another advantage to living in Wichita is effortless commuting. Wood notes, “In Phoenix, my commute was twice as long. “Learjet is like Wichita. It’s kind of a big place, but not really,” Wood says. “It’s a very exciting environment to work in. I’d rate the environment for working here the best of any company I’ve been in.” For more information, visit www.learjet.com.

* Long-range cruise speed of M.78 with two crew, four passengers [200 pounds each] and 100 NM NBAA IFR reserves. Assumes standard BOW, sea level departure and landing, unrestricted climb, cruise and descent with zero wind and standard [ISA] conditions en route. Statements about performance and design as stated in this document are solely based on projections and forecasts, and are subject to change without notice.

The Learjet 85 is the first Bombardier Aerospace jet with an all-composite structure.

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Developing an

Impressive Span AIRBUS NORTH AMERICA WICHITA ENGINEERS SPECIALIZE IN WING DESIGN

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ach year, Airbus produces more than 50 percent of the world’s large commercial airliners and assembles wings in the United Kingdom for all its product lines. In March 2002, Airbus UK opened an engineering center in Wichita to support development programs including the A380, the world’s largest airliner. When the new Wichita center opened, it was the first Airbus design-and-engineering facility outside of Europe. Why was Wichita chosen? To provide Airbus UK with a talent pool of highly experienced aircraft engineers to supplement the staff in the United Kingdom. The office opened with 23 engineers and quickly grew to more 200. While the initial assignments were on the A380, the office now supports the entire Airbus product line in close collaboration with the engineering teams in Filton in the United Kingdom and Toulouse, France. Wichita engineers specialize in aerostructures design, analysis and systems installations including fully integrated project planning and management from conceptual design through certification. In 2007, Airbus North America Engineering was assigned as the worldwide program integrator for the A380 wing. Wichita engineers coordinate the efforts of the engineering teams in Airbus facilities across Europe, as well as major subcontractors across the globe on engineering changes to the A380 wing. The office also supports the ongoing development of Airbus legacy aircraft products, developing – among other things – updates to the A330, including a freighter version. Airbus Wichita has been designated as an Airbus Proximity Center, used as a hub for supporting

Airbus North America’s Wichita office is involved with the design of the wings for the company’s A380, seen above at Airbus facilities in Toulouse, France.

North American suppliers. The Airbus North America Engineering office is located within Wichita’s Old Town district, in distinctive space designed for maximum collaboration and teamwork with large, open areas. Special features include high ceilings with natural light and hardwood floors. Airbus engineers have access to the latest analysis tools and 3-D design technology, including full wing digital mock-ups. Based on Wichita’s success, an associated engineering office opened in 2007 in Mobile, Ala., in a new twostory building overlooking Mobile Bay. Following Wichita’s lead, the office is designed with the same open collaborative space, large windows

for natural lighting and hardwood flooring. The Mobile center is assigned programs from Airbus Germany on various aircraft interior elements and cargo systems. The Mobile engineers are responsible for design and engineering work on the cabin, lavatories, galleys and many other interior components. In June 2008, the Mobile facility had 90 employees with growth projected to 150 by January 2010. The Airbus North America Engineering offices in Wichita and Mobile are managed as one company headquartered in Wichita. For more information, visit www.airbus.com/en/worldwide/ americas.

www.aviationjobswichita.com

– Stories by Sharon H. Fitzgerald


Wichita:

Engineered for Excellence

Wichita has it all, from diverse retail options to world-class entertainment attractions.

Wichita Metro Area FACTS AT A GLANCE POPULATION

CONTINUOUS LEARNING Wichita has a continuous learning culture and a multitude of higher education venues. This area is home to 17 universities, colleges and community colleges, with many opportunities to pursue two-year and undergraduate degrees or graduate degrees. In addition, opening in 2010 is the $54 million National Center for Aviation Training, a facility combining the latest aviation technologies and instruction with research in advanced manufacturing. This world class facility demonstrates Wichita’s commitment to the aviation industry.

596,452 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, four-county MSA (July 2007)

MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT Manufacturing employment is 66,500 or 22 percent – more than double the national manufacturing percentage of 10 percent. According to Industry Week magazine (April 2001), Wichita ranks No. 1 in manufacturing among metro areas with populations under one million and 13th overall among the top manufacturing cities in the United States. Much of the workforce is accustomed to shift work due to the industrial history of the area. Source: Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, four-county MSA (June 2008)

TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT AVERAGE RENT:

$657

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

$140 or 18 percent lower than the national average of $797 (Unfurnished 950 square feet, 1-1⁄2 or 2 bath, stove, refrigerator, water/sewer in rent) Source: American Chamber of Commerce Research Association Cost of Living Survey (Q1-2008)

More than 87 percent of residents age 25 and older are high school graduates. About 7 percent hold associate degrees, 17 percent hold bachelor’s degrees and 9 percent have advanced degrees. Another 25 percent have some college credit.

OVERALL COST OF LIVING INDEX

OVERALL COST OF LIVING

ACCRA Cost of Living Survey (Q1-2008)

Even with its many amenities, Wichita’s overall cost-of-living index is a very moderate 89.8, more than 10 percent below the national urban area average of 100. Source: American Chamber of Commerce Research Association Cost of Living Survey (Q1-2008)

Oklahoma City, OK

86.4

Omaha, NE

87.3

Wichita, KS

89.8

St. Louis, MO/IL

90.0

Des Moines, IA

91.7

Dallas, TX

91.9

Indianapolis, IN

94.2

Kansas City, MO/KS

96.1

National

100.0

Denver, CO

105.1

Tacoma, WA

109.8

0

20

40

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80

100

120


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NEWLY BUILT “MODEL” SINGLE-FAMILY HOME AVERAGE SALE PRICE:

EXISTING SINGLE-FAMILY HOME MEDIAN SALE PRICE:

$223,222

$112,700

Source: American Chamber of Commerce Research Association Cost of Living Survey (Q1-2008)

$83,600 or 43 percent below the national median price of $196,300 Source: National Association of Realtors (Q1-2008)

SPECIFICATIONS • 2,400 sq. ft. • 8,000 sq. ft. lot in managerial/professional neighborhood • 4 bedrooms; 2 full baths • unfinished basement (up to 2,400 sq. ft. additional space) • kitchen with built in cabinets and cooking island • special interior/exterior detailing included • fireplace

NEWLY BUILT SINGLE-FAMILY HOME MEDIAN SALE PRICE:

$191,770 $41,930 or 18 percent below the national median price of $233,700 Source: National Association of Realtors (Q1-2008)

“MODEL” HOME COMPARISON

AVERAGE ONE-WAY COMMUTE TIME:

215,990

Dallas, TX Omaha, NE

222,965

Wichita, KS

223,222

St. Louis, MO/IL

226,506

Oklahoma City, OK

229,316

18.5 MINUTES

Indianapolis, IN

268,969

Kansas City, MO/KS

273,532

This commute time is approximately 26 percent shorter than the national average of 25 minutes. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2006)

280,841

Des Moines, IA

305,968

National

347,275

Denver, CO

372,924

Tacoma, WA

$0

$100,000

$200,000

$300,000

$400,000

LOW VIOLENT CRIME RATE Wichita’s violent crime rate is about half the average for cities of comparable population. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report (Prelim. 2007)

Wichita’s National Accolades Keep Rolling In

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ngineers who live and work in Wichita already know it’s an amazing place, with a progressive atmosphere conducive to professional growth, rich cultural diversity and endless entertainment options away from the office. But you don’t have to just take our word for it. With accolades from national magazines rolling in regularly, it’s just a fact that the area’s affordable cost of living, fast commutes and sunny skies make Wichita one of the best metro areas in America to live, work and play. Wichita ranked second among the 100 largest metros in Forbes’ 2008 Best Cities for Jobs study. Forbes ranked cities using statistics on job growth, income growth, median household income, unemployment rate and cost of living. The 2008 report from Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation ranked Wichita as the sixthbest city for relocating families among the nation’s 50 smaller metro areas – emphasizing home prices, appreciation rates, property taxes and other real estate concerns, along with economic, educational,

quality-of-life and climate factors. Best Life’s 2008 Best Places to Raise a Family study ranked Wichita No. 11 among metro areas deemed the 100 best places for families. Best Life examined public safety, public school quality and numerous other quality-of-life factors. MSN Real Estate’s 2008 Most Livable Bargain Markets list ranked Wichita No. 1 among vibrant and livable cities where you can afford to buy a home. The median purchase price for an existing single-family home in the Wichita metro area was only $112,700 for the first quarter of 2008 – 43 percent below the national median price, according to the National Association of Realtors. For commuters, Wichita has one of the shortest work drives in the country, averaging 18 minutes. Did we mention good schools, excellent healthcare providers and a strong pro-business climate? Of course, having a bright outlook in Wichita is easy – Kansas is among the Top 10 sunniest states in the country.

www.aviationjobswichita.com


Wichita:

Engineered for Excellence

Flying In Formation, an initiative of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, is a unique collaborative enterprise involving the major aviation manufacturers in Wichita, Kansas. These partners collectively employ more than 32,000 talented people, including thousands of aerospace engineers working on some of the most exciting projects in the world. Flying In Formation’s priority is the attraction of new and experienced engineers to Wichita, where the diversity of opportunities for aerospace professionals is unequalled.

Airbus North America Engineering Inc. 213 N. Mead St., Wichita, KS 67202 (316) 299-0100 or (316) 264-0552 www.airbusnorthamerica.com

Cessna Aircraft Co. P.O. Box 7706, Wichita, KS 67277 (316) 517-2772 or (800) 4-CESSNA www.cessna.com

Spirit AeroSystems P.O. Box 780008, Wichita, KS 67278 (316) 526-9000 www.spiritaero.com

Bombardier Aerospace Learjet Inc. One Learjet Way, Wichita, KS 67209 (316) 946-2000 www.learjet.com

Hawker Beechcraft Corp. 9709 E. Central Wichita, KS 67206 (316) 676-7111 www.hawkerbeechcraft.com

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 350 W. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS 67202 (316) 265-7771 www.wichitachamber.org

This special section is published for Flying In Formation by Journal Communications Inc.

CU S TO M M AG A Z INE M ED I A

For more information, contact: Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 350 W. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS 67202 Phone: (316) 265-7771 • Fax: (316) 265-7502 www.wichitachamber.org

Special Advertising Section

©Copyright 2008 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: An airplane mobile at the National Institute for Aviation Research. Photo by Todd Bennett


Education

Laws of Attraction MAGNET SCHOOLS DRAW FAMILIES SEEKING FREEDOM TO CUSTOMIZE EDUCATION TO SUIT INTEREST, NEEDS

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in the early spring, shortly before the deadline for magnet school applications. “We like to think we offer lots of choices – including the neighborhood schools,” Arensman says. “We encourage parents to visit the schools and talk with the teachers and other parents to get a feel for what is right for them.” Roughly half of each magnet’s enrollment comes from its neighborhood; the rest is selected through the application process. Total enrollment for Wichita’s magnet programs was about 9,300 in 2007-2008. The newest addition to the magnet roster, Gordon Parks Academy, opened in fall 2008. The K-8 school, located at 2201 E. 25th N. near the Boys and Girls Club, is pursuing International Baccalaureate status [a process that can take up to three years], which means it has rigorous curriculum and high performance standards. An on-site clinic, GraceMed, provides medical and dental care for area children and adults.

TODD BENNETT

ne of the biggest draws of Wichita’s public education system is the range of school choices available here. Regardless of their neighborhood, students living within the district can apply to any of its 26 magnet schools, each of which is geared toward a particular area of student interest or need. “We firmly believe that education doesn’t come in ‘one size fits all,’” says Susan Arensman, communications specialist for Wichita Public Schools. “We have some in technology, some in performing arts, some very traditional with a strong emphasis on academics, some science-and-math focused,” she notes, referring to the system’s plethora of magnet choices. To make evaluating those options a little easier, the district holds the Choices Fair – an annual one-stop “shopping” event where parents can meet representatives from all the schools and get information about each. It takes place

Gordon Parks joins Horace Mann Dual Language Magnet – an English/ Spanish immersion program – as the district’s second K-8 academy. Wichita Public Schools has 19 elementary [K-5], two K-8, four middle schools and one high school that are magnets. Specialized curricula include health and wellness, international studies, multimedia, computer technology, literacy, performing arts, cultural and fine arts, visual art, science, law and traditional studies. Whatever the focus, “the emphasis is on the kids thriving,” Arensman says. She further notes that, except for Gordon Parks Academy – which the school district initiated, all the magnet schools have been sparked by parents’ desire. Typically, the process involved parents identifying a need, conducting research, establishing partnerships with and seeking support from members of the business community, and finally, making a formal proposal to the board of education. With parents so closely involved in the development of their children’s schools, freedom of choice and highquality public education on par with expensive private schools has been the result. – Carol Cowan

Northeast Magnet High School is among 19 total magnet institutions within Wichita Public Schools.

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Caring in a better way day by day 24-hour licensed nursing care Physical, occupational and speech therapy in a newly renovated facility A Trailblazer in the Advancing Excellence national campaign Advanced therapy and nursing services Competitive wages with extensive benefit programs Highest standards of rehabilitative and long-term care

Come join the area’s leading provider of rehab and long-term care services! 215 N. Lamar • Haysville, KS 67060 • (316) 524-3211 • Fax: (316) 524-7470 • www.haysvillehealthcare.com

Meeting all of your family’s healthcare needs. Dr. Jason Rundell Dr. Lindsay Landers Preventive Health • School physicals • General health screening/counseling • Diagnosis/management of chronic disease Women’s Health/Obstetrics • Well-woman exams • Family planning • Low-risk obstetrics

Ron C. Brown, MD Chris N. Brunner, MD Doris C. Butler, MD Connie A. Davis, MD Steve W. Davis, MD

Rolland K. Enoch, MD Tari M. Ernst, MD Denis D. Knight, DO Drew E. Schultz, DO Diane M. Steere, MD

Pediatrics • Well-child exams • Vaccinations • Sick visits Geriatrics • Welcome to Medicare exams • Diagnosis/management of chronic disease • Disease screening/prevention

Board-certified family physicians • Same day appointments available We accept all major insurances, including Medicare and Medicaid New patients welcome • Friendly, experienced staff

Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Accepting New Patients • We Accept All Insurances 800 N. Carriage Pkwy. • Wichita, KS 67208 (316) 858-5800 • Fax (316) 858-5850

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105 S. Andover Rd., Ste. D • Andover, KS 67002 (316) 733-5120 • www.andoverfamilymed.com

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Health & Wellness

TODD BENNETT

Alex Chong works with an artificial hip joint constructed with a lightweight composite material.

Promising Joint Venture VIA CHRISTI AND WSU TEAM UP TO TRANSFORM ORTHOPAEDICS WITH COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGY

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ichita’s Via Christi Health System is proving to be the hippest joint in town. The state’s largest provider of health-care services is revolutionizing the orthopaedic industry through the creation of bioengineered implants. Unlike their solid, metal predecessors known to weaken bone mass, the new implants encourage bone-cell growth and are made

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of the strong, lightweight composites used in the aviation industry. “Our goal is to create devices that will last longer and, when implanted, function much like patients’ original hips and knees,” says Dr. Paul Wooley, director of research at Via Christi’s Orthopaedic Research Institute and research professor at Wichita State University. “While it takes some time

to get started, in the long term we expect our work to result in vastly improved implantable hips and knees made from composite materials.” As the former director of research for orthopaedic surgery and professor of orthopaedic surgery, immunology and microbiology, and biomedical engineering at Detroit’s Wayne State University Medical School, Wooley was recruited by Via Christi in 2007 after academics at WSU and Via Christi teamed up to discuss the possibilities. In March 2008, Via Christi’s Orthopaedic Research Institute opened a biocompatibility lab at WSU, which also is home to the National Institute of Aviation Research. “This is a great location, because we have everything here that we need: WSU’s National Institute of Aviation Research and ORI, along with composite manufacturers, WSU’s biologists, engineers and chemists, and close connections with implant manufacturers,” Wooley says. “We’re trying to involve everything and everyone in the project, so we can address questions and fix any problems rapidly, as we go along.” Their work is projected to attract at least $5 million in new external research to Kansas over the next five years. The project comes with a lofty price tag, with much of its funding from the Kansas Bioscience Authority, an independent state entity. In April 2008, the KBA awarded $912,000 to Via Christi’s ORI and WSU to support the creation of their orthopedic immunogenetic laboratory. Via Christi also was granted part of a KBA planning grant of $200,000 to prepare a $50 million, 10-year design and development plan. “Given the level of excitement about the project within the industry and community, I feel confident that, one way or another, this project will move forward,” Wooley says. “This plan was well under way long before my arrival in Wichita, so the whole project has been of great importance to the surgeons, scientists and Via Christi administrators for a number of years.” – Melanie Hill I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

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Sharing Christ’s Love with Others …

Join us Sunday! Bible Classes – 9:30 a.m. Worship – 10:50 a.m. Watch us Saturdays on Cable Channel 22 at 4 p.m. 1415 S. Topeka • Wichita, KS 67211 (316) 262-1452 • www.ibcwichita.com

In the heart of it all. With 303 spectacular guest rooms that include the Hyatt Grand Bed, 32" flat-screen TVs, wireless high-speed Internet and contemporary decor, the Hyatt Regency Wichita offers all of the luxuries of home. The hotel is connected to Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center and located in the heart of the city. Feel the Hyatt Touch®. For reservations, call (316) 293-1234 or visit www.hyattregencywichita.com.

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400 West Waterman Wichita, Kansas

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PHOTO COURTESY OF NETAPPZ CREATIVE SOLUTIONS

Arts & Culture

Music Theatre of Wichita is considered to be among the top 10 summer theaters in the entire nation.

Never-Ending Summer Romance MUSIC THEATRE OF WICHITA’S TOP-NOTCH TALENT DEVELOPS A LOYAL FOLLOWING

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acking five full-scale musicals into a 10-week run is more of a challenge than most theater companies would dare tackle. At the Music Theatre of Wichita, it’s just the annual season. The theatre, which was established in 1972 to provide summertime entertainment in the then-new Century II complex, has grown to an annual event that has provided many a Broadway star with his or her start, built sets that have toured the globe and created a subscriber base that’s the envy of the performing world, says Wayne Bryan, artistic director. “Everything we do is done to a full, Broadway scale,” says Bryan, who came to the theatre in 1988 “for one summer” and has never left. “We have up to 30 musicians in the orchestra pit and a full

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stage. Our scenery and costumes have gone all over; our Beauty and the Beast has been from Florida to Canada.” The complement of performers, musicians and other professionals who mount the season every summer is culled from an annual stack of resumes that usually numbers 4,000. Bryan culls that down to around 1,000, and then sets up auditions in Wichita, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, New York and Ann Arbor, Mich., during the off season. “We take students, and we also take Broadway people who are looking to take a break,” Bryan says, “We usually hire a permanent company of around 30, plus the guest stars that will come in and do a particular show.” The quality of cast, crew and production hasn’t gone unnoticed: Music

Theatre of Wichita has about 80 percent of its patrons renewing season tickets annually. “When our box-office people go to national seminars, there are classes on how to get your renewal rates up to 50 percent,” Bryan says with a laugh. “When they tell everybody what ours are, they’re all astounded. But our patrons believe in what we do, and they know they’re going to see high-quality shows. And when you compare our ticket prices to the same shows when they’re on Broadway, it’s a bargain.” That value is part of the reason why in 2007, the Music Theatre of Wichita season had an attendance of 81,212, setting a record for the organization and making it the state’s third-largest public event. – Joe Morris I M AG E S W I C H I TA . C O M

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Home away from home, the best amenities for business travelers. Location Value Amenities Hawthorn Suites Wichita East 411 South Webb • Wichita, KS 67207 (316) 686-7331 • Fax: (316) 686-2345 (800) 527-1133 • www.hawthorn.com

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Sports & Recreation

A Tradition of Good Sports WSU’S ATHLETIC DIRECTOR STRESSES SUCCESS ON AND OFF THE FIELD

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ichita State University has long provided Kansans with an opportunity to both play and watch topquality NCAA Division I athletics. Over the decades, many premier athletes have spent their college years as WSU Shockers, including legendary football coach Bill Parcells, World Series hero Joe Carter and NBA all-star Xavier McDaniel, the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in both scoring and rebounding. Today, sports loom as large as ever at WSU. In 2006-07, the men’s basketball team sold out every game at the Charles Koch Arena, which underwent a $25 million renovation in 2003. From 2003 to 2007, the school won four straight Missouri Valley Conference All Sports trophies. And in 2008, Shocker teams picked up conference championships in men’s golf, men’s baseball, women’s volleyball and women’s cross country. The national pastime has a particularly strong tradition at WSU, and the 2008 title was the baseball team’s 16th. Under legendary coach Gene Stephenson, the last 30 years have seen Shocker teams rack up one national championship and more wins than any other Division I program. WSU alumni who have gone on to the big leagues include Doug Mirabelli, Braden Looper and Casey Blake. But if baseball has a long and storied history at WSU, a more under-the-radar sport is making an impressive bid for Shocker hearts and minds. A perennial powerhouse, the men’s bowling team won its eighth national title in 2008. Since the first national tournament in 1975, men and women WSU bowlers have picked up 15 championships. Athletic Director Eric Sexton oversees WSU sports. Sexton’s roots run deep at Wichita State and in the surrounding community. Growing up just outside Wichita, he’s the son of Linwood Sexton, WSU’s career football rushing leader. At WSU, the younger Sexton was a member of the golf team. After obtaining a master’s degree in public administration and a doctorate in political science, he went to work for WSU. Before taking on the A.D. role, Sexton served as the university’s executive director for government relations and board of trustees. “We had a good, strong year,” Sexton says of WSU athletics. “Our goal is to increase the school’s exposure at the NCAA level and to provide an environment allowing student athletes to flourish on and off the field.” Bearing out this philosophy, 50 Shockers were named to the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference first and honorable mention scholar-athlete teams. Other off-field achievements include the involvement of the women’s basketball team in

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Think Pink Week, a series of breast cancer awareness events. “Athletics is a window to the university – a way to see what Wichita State does, what it means to our community and the opportunities it affords the people of South Central Kansas,” Sexton says. – Jon Brooks

Wichita State University Athletic Director Eric Sexton has deep roots at the institution. PHOTO BY TODD BENNETT

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Net-savvy professionals on your side. When you list with Prudential Real Estate, you’ll receive daily reports of Web activity on your listings, and on recent sales activity in your neighborhood. Tap the strength of The Rock® in real estate. Call today to put a Prudential Real Estate sales professional to work for you. Visit us at www.WichitaListings.com.

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and Prudential are registered service marks of The Prudential Insurance

Company of America and are used herein under license. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Your single source solution for custom electronics – home or office. Design, prewire, installation, setup, sales & service since 1997. Home Theater Systems Audio & Video Systems Systems Integration • Lighting Control Communications • Security & CCTV

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8955 W. Monroe Cir., Ste. 400 Wichita, KS 67209

(316) 722-HOME (4663) www.hometechnologysys.com Please Call Us for a Showroom Demo!

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Banking Made Better

G R E AT E R W I C H I TA A R E A


COURTESY OF SCHAEFER JOHNSON COX FREY ARCHITECTURE

Sports & Recreation

Andover residents will celebrate the opening of a 115,000-square-foot YMCA slated to open in spring 2009. It will be the area’s largest YMCA facility.

Having Fun at the YMCA ANDOVER FACILITY WILL BE AREA’S BIGGEST

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hough the 1978 Village People disco anthem “YMCA” sounds kitschier by the decade, it also speaks a plain truth about one of the best-branded organizations in the world: The YMCA is indeed “a place you can go … when you’re short on your dough … and find many ways to have a good time.” A new, 115,000-square-foot YMCA under construction in Andover will only reinforce that fact. The vision for the Andover Y, set to open in March 2009, is nothing short of grand. Plans call for a climbing wall, eight-lane pool, outdoor water park, indoor track, three gymnasiums, two racquetball courts, five locker rooms, and five studios for dance, gymnastics, martial arts, Pilates and yoga. In addition, the facility will include a full-service child development and early learning center. “This will target lower-income families who might not be able to afford daycare otherwise,” says Greater Wichita YMCA Communications Director Shelly Conrady. A family membership will cost $49.90 per month; a single adult membership is $37.70. Senior discounts will be offered, and households can qualify for up to 90 percent financial assistance. Members will also have access to the seven other area YMCAs. Behind the $23 million project is a time-honored philosophy: “The mission of the YMCA,” says Conrady, “is to enrich through building strong kids, strong families and strong communities, fostering a healthy mind, body and spirit.” To that end, the project has set a goal of serving 20,000 members and program participants. – Jon Brooks

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Community Profile

THE GREATER WICHITA AREA SNAPSHOT Wichita, Pro Bodylocated in south-central Kansas, has been named an All-America City three times. It is recognized as one of the major mid-size cities in the United States and boasts 225 sunny days a year.

WICHITA SUPERLATIVES Wichita ranked No. 1 on MSN Real Estate’s 2008 Most Livable Bargain Markets list, which ranked vibrant livable cities with affordable homes. Wichita is one of the best big cities in the nation.

Bizjournals.com analyzed the educational levels of adults in nearly 16,000 cities, towns, villages, boroughs and unincorporated areas. Communities were ranked in three population categories, based on a formula that rewards places with heavy concentrations of college graduates. The rankings reflect each community’s collective brainpower, which is tied to its residents’ abilities to innovate, create, compete – and make money.

According to Money magazine, Wichita is No. 9 (just above New York City) in the list of the Top 10 Best Big Cities

Bizjournals.com also ranked Wichita No. 2 among its top 10 most affordable markets in which to own a home.

for 2006. America’s Smartest Cities, Bizjournals.com How does Wichita rank in

In 2008, Forbes, listed Wichita second among the 100 largest metros in its list of Best Cities for Jobs.

brainpower with some of America’s biggest cities? According to a recent study

QUALITY OF LIFE

ranked No. 23 on America’s

Wichita offers many amenities, including: Low cost of living

brainiest big city list.

Low crime rate

by Bizjournals.com, Wichita

Excellent education Dozens of cultural, recreational and entertainment possibilities 40 museums and galleries 10 performing arts theaters 14 musical organizations Two professional dance companies Annual events such as the Wichita Jazz Festival, Wichita River Festival and Wichita Aviation Festival Collegiate and semipro sports teams in soccer, golf, hockey, basketball, volleyball, baseball, tennis and football 18 golf courses for public play and nine private courses 90 denominations/ 500 places of worship Thriving downtown, Old Town (premier entertainment district) and upscale shopping Outdoor recreation For a full listing of cultural,

I spy something green.

DELANO MEDICAL, INC.

Everyday moments can be learning moments with your kids. For more tips, visit bornlearning.org.

(in the historical Delano district – one block west of Seneca)

Respiratory and Home Medical Equipment

1119 W. Douglas Ave. Wichita, KS 67213-4017

(316) 260-9314 Fax: (316) 260-9614 “We cater to the traveling patient” www.delanomedical.com

The area code for Wichita is 316.

The original “Oxygen Guy”

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EXPLORE. Hall of Space Museum One of the top two space museums in the world Dr. Goddard’s Lab An explosively fun rocketry demonstration Justice Planetarium View space up close and personal Carey IMAX Dome Theater A virtual movie experience

Voted one of the eight wonders of Kansas!

recreation and entertainment opportunities, contact: Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau 100 S. Main St. Suite 100 Wichita, KS 67202 265-2800 or (800) 288-9424 www.visitwichita.com

Source: National Association of Realtors (1st quarter 2008) Two-Bedroom Apartment Average Rent $657 $140 or 18% lower than the national average of $797 (Unfurnished 950 sq ft, 1 1/2 or 2 baths, stove, refrigerator,

HOUSING COSTS

water/sewer in rent)

Existing Single-Family Home Median Sale Price $112,700

Source: ACCRA Cost of Living

$83,600 or 43% below the national median price of $196,300 Source: National Association of Realtors (1st quarter 2008) Newly Built SingleFamily Home Median Sale Price $191,700 $41,930 or 18% below the national median price of $233,700

The area code for Wichita is 316.

Survey (1st quarter 2008)

FOR MORE INFORMATION Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 350 W. Douglas Ave. Wichita, KS 67202 Phone: 265-7771 www.wichitachamber.org

Sources: www.wichitachamber.org

Cosmosphere 1100 N. Plum • Hutchinson, KS (800) 397-0330 • www.cosmo.org

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TM

Visit Our Advertisers AAA Andover Family Medicine www.andoverfamilymed.com

Immanuel Baptist Church www.ibcwichita.com INTRUST Bank www.intrustbank.com

Baker University Best Western Airport Inn & Conference Center BlueCross BlueShield of Kansas www.bcbsks.com Botanica, The Wichita Gardens www.botanica.org Butler Community College www.butlercc.edu City of Derby www.derbyweb.com City of Rose Hill www.cityofrosehill.com Clear Speech Specialists Inc. www.behappyspeakonce.com

Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center www.cosmo.org Medical Community Credit Union www.medicalcomcu.org Newman University www.newmanu.edu Parkstone at College Hill www.parkstoneliving.com Plaza Real Estate Inc. www.plazare.com Preferred Health Systems www.phsystems.com Prudential DinningBeard, Realtors www.wichitalistings.com

Coldwell Banker Stucky & Associates www.stuckyandassociates.com

Sedgwick County Zoo www.scz.org

Delano Medical Inc. www.delanomedical.com

The Cleaning Authority www.thecleaningauthority.com

Delta Dental of Kansas www.deltadentalks.com

The Coleman Company Inc. www.colemancareers.com

Friends University www.friends.edu

Via Christi Wichita Health Network www.getgreatcare.com

Greater Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau www.visitwichita.com Hawthorn Suites www.hawthorn.com Haysville Health Care Center www.haysvillehealthcare.com Heartspring www.heartspring.org Hilton Wichita Airport www.wichitaairport.hilton.com

OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA SENIOR EDITOR LISA BATTLES COPY EDITOR JOYCE CARUTHERS ASSOCIATE EDITOR SARAH B. GILLIAM ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER MATT BIGELOW EDITORIAL ASSISTANT JESSY YANCEY STAFF WRITERS CAROL COWAN, KEVIN LITWIN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DANNY BONVISSUTO, JON BROOKS, SHARON H. FITZGERALD, ANNE GILLEM, MELANIE HILL, DAN MARKHAM, JOE MORRIS, GARY PERILLOUX DATABASE PROJECT MANAGER YANCEY TURTURICE DATA MANAGER RANETTA SMITH SENIOR INTEGRATED MEDIA MANAGER JOE THOMAS SALES SUPPORT MANAGER SARA SARTIN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER BRIAN M CCORD STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS JEFF ADKINS, TODD BENNETT, ANTONY BOSHIER, IAN CURCIO, J. KYLE KEENER, JESSE KNISH PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT ANNE WHITLOW CREATIVE DIRECTOR KEITH HARRIS PRODUCTION DIRECTOR NATASHA LORENS ASST. PRODUCTION DIRECTOR CHRISTINA CARDEN PRE-PRESS COORDINATOR HAZEL RISNER PRODUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS MELISSA HOOVER, KATIE MIDDENDORF, JILL WYATT SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS LAURA GALLAGHER, KRIS SEXTON, VIKKI WILLIAMS LEAD DESIGNER JESSICA BRAGONIER GRAPHIC DESIGN ERICA HINES, ALISON HUNTER, JANINE MARYLAND, AMY NELSON, MARCUS SNYDER, CANDICE SWEET WEB PROJECT MANAGERS ANDY HARTLEY, YAMEL RUIZ WEB DESIGN RYAN DUNLAP, CARL SCHULZ COLOR IMAGING TECHNICIAN TWILA ALLEN AD TRAFFIC MARCIA BANASIK, SARAH MILLER, PATRICIA MOISAN, RAVEN PETTY CHAIRMAN GREG THURMAN PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BOB SCHWARTZMAN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT RAY LANGEN SR. V.P./CLIENT DEVELOPMENT JEFF HEEFNER SR. V.P./SALES CARLA H. THURMAN SR. V.P./OPERATIONS CASEY E. HESTER V.P./SALES HERB HARPER V.P./SALES TODD POTTER V.P./VISUAL CONTENT MARK FORESTER V.P./TRAVEL PUBLISHING SYBIL STEWART V.P./EDITORIAL DIRECTOR TEREE CARUTHERS MANAGING EDITORS/BUSINESS MAURICE FLIESS, BILL McMEEKIN MANAGING EDITOR/COMMUNITY KIM MADLOM MANAGING EDITOR/CUSTOM KIM NEWSOM MANAGING EDITOR/TRAVEL SUSAN CHAPPELL PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR JEFFREY S. OTTO CONTROLLER CHRIS DUDLEY ACCOUNTING MORIAH DOMBY, RICHIE FITZPATRICK, DIANA GUZMAN, MARIA McFARLAND, LISA OWENS RECRUITING/TRAINING DIRECTOR SUZY WALDRIP COMMUNITY PROMOTION DIRECTOR CINDY COMPERRY DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR GARY SMITH IT SYSTEMS DIRECTOR MATT LOCKE IT SERVICE TECHNICIAN RYAN SWEENEY HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER PEGGY BLAKE CUSTOM/TRAVEL SALES SUPPORT RACHAEL GOLDSBERRY SALES/MARKETING COORDINATOR RACHEL MATHEIS SALES COORDINATOR JENNIFER ALEXANDER EXECUTIVE SECRETARY/SALES SUPPORT KRISTY DUNCAN

Warren Theatres www.warrentheatres.com Wesley Medical Center www.wesleymc.com Wichita Collegiate School www.wcsks.com Wichita Family Medicine Specialists www.wichitafms.com

Home Technology Systems www.hometechnologysys.com

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce www.wichitachamber.org/fif

Hyatt Regency Wichita www.hyattregencywichita.com

Wichita Public Schools www.usd259.com

OFFICE MANAGER SHELLY GRISSOM RECEPTIONIST LINDA BISHOP

CU S TO M M AG A Z INE M ED I A

Images of the Greater Wichita Area is published annually by Journal Communications Inc. and is distributed through the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and its member businesses. 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: Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce 350 W. Douglas Ave. • Wichita, KS 67202 Phone: (316) 265-7771 • Fax: (316) 265-7502 E-mail: info@wichitachamber.org www.wichitachamber.org VISIT IMAGES OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA ONLINE AT IMAGESWICHITA.COM ©Copyright 2008 Journal Communications Inc., 725 Cool Springs Blvd., Suite 400, Franklin, TN 37067, (615) 771-0080. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent. Member

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