The following is an excerpt from a column in the Feb. 9 issue of The Wichita Eagle by Wichita State University President John Bardo. (Subscription may be required to view full story.)
If you want to see visible signs of economic progress in Wichita, here are three places to look:
- At 238 N. Mead at 9 a.m. every Wednesday, when 1 Million Cups features conversations with entrepreneurs. The location is in the first of three buildings that WSU Old Town will occupy along Mead Street.
- Along 17th Street, west of Oliver, where the first two buildings are rising for WSU’s 120-acre Innovation Campus. As the Experiential Engineering Building and the Airbus North American Engineering Center are being completed this year, you’ll also see new interior roads being built to provide access to the Innovation Campus. Within a few years you’ll see a hotel and restaurants, improving the quality of campus and neighborhood life.
- On the former Boeing site in south Wichita, where WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research has established the Environmental and Electromagnetic Effects Lab. We expect it to become the national leader in testing the effects of lightning on aircraft. The ultimate goal in strengthening these NIAR labs is to attract additional businesses to Wichita.
A tremendous number of efforts are underway at Wichita State and in south-central Kansas to rebuild our entrepreneurial ecosystem and increase the region’s capacity for economic growth.