Organizers of the Blueprint for Regional Economic Growth (BREG), a 10-county economic development effort, held a town hall meeting Thursday, April 2, in Newton, Kan., to present initial findings and develop a plan for future action.

BREG was launched in the belief that a concerted effort by private and public leaders in the region can do more to accelerate near- and long-term growth.

Leaders of the initiative – including WSU President John Bardo; Charlie Chandler, chairman and CEO of INTRUST Bank; and Brad Dillon, founder of Gilliland & Hayes LLC – led the town hall with assistance from consultants Paul Masson and Jim Gollub of StarNet LLC.

"We all have roles to play. We all need to contribute to ensure we generate jobs and wealth,” Bardo said. “Effective regions have groups of people (clusters) that come together periodically to solve issues together. They collaborate and cooperate to solve big problems." 

Among the findings of preliminary work by the group are: 

Regional performance 

• The South Central Kansas region’s economic and job growth rate is similar to that of other regions that have been heavily dependent on a single industry and are now moving to diversity.
• The region’s economic and job growth rate lags that of competitor regions that have instituted industry cluster initiatives.
• The South Central Kansas economy is driven by eight industry clusters that are at different stages of growth. For example, aerospace is in transformation while smaller clusters such as data services and advanced materials are emerging with solid growth rates.
• The industry clusters that bring wealth into the region typically represent no more than about 25 percent of total employment.
• The region is generating new companies, but those firms have a low job formation rate.
• The region's strongest clusters pay well, but do not match aerospace in numbers of employees.

Regional clusters

• The aerospace industry is highly specialized and faces growing competition.
• The oil and gas industry has a solid growth rate but is facing tough domestic competition.
• The region’s machinery sector is a major employer and strong sector.
• The region’s metal working sector is growing and competing well with peer communities.
• The region’s agriculture sector has maintained a strong position in the meat sector.
• The region’s grain and oilseed sector account for approximately 75 percent of the state’s employment in this area, but the industry’s growth rate lags that of major competitors.
• The region has a unique combination of transportation and logistics assets, with solid growth in both trucking and warehousing.
• The region’s data services and electronic components industry is growing at a rapid rate – must faster than many larger markets.
• The region’s advanced materials industry is emerging as a distinct sector from its existing focus as a supplier to aerospace and machinery manufacturing.
• The region’s health care sector is primarily local-serving, with some areas of important growth, such as clinical trials, and related services, such as labs.

Economic inputs

• The region’s innovation capabilities are steadily growing but lag that of competitors.
• The local sources to capital for new enterprises and expansion is limited but growing in recent years.
• The transportation and logistics position is strong for access to Midwest markets.
• There is a stable supply of power, water and waste treatment, but need for investments to ensure future water supply.
• The region’s housing is affordable, while access to recreation is good and reasonably priced.
• The health care coverage is good, with above national average patterns of health problems in selected areas such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. 

Sponsoring organizations for BREG are the City of Wichita; Wichita Downtown Development Corp.; Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition; Regional Economic Area Partnership of South Central Kansas; Sedgwick County; Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce; and Wichita State University.

Learn more about BREG at http://www.bregsck.com.