Greater Wichita Partnership > About > Priorities > Jobs
Growing Jobs & Industry
Aggressively competing for jobs, facilitating investment in the region and collaborating to drive economic growth is at the center of what we do. The Economic Development Team of the Greater Wichita Partnership works in collaboration with partners to accelerate the creation of jobs and increase capital investment through expansion and retention, attraction and entrepreneurship. The economic development strategies of the Greater Wichita Partnership are driven by the Regional Growth Plan, an economic strategy designed to grow our regional economy.
Discover how our team plans to accelerate job growth in 2021 by watching a video featuring executive vice president of economic development, Andrew Nave.
New Business Attraction
Our Economic Development Team actively promotes our region’s competitive advantages to business decision makers around the world in order to recruit new companies to the region.
Business Retention and Expansion Program
We are in consistent communication with local companies to identify needs and opportunities for growth and expansions to increase job offerings and grow existing industries.
Globally Marketing the Region
Through proactive marketing and attraction efforts, we put the Greater Wichita region on the global map. We attend domestic and international tradeshows and supplier events to promote regional investment opportunities to generate business attraction leads. These events also provide a critical platform for regional private businesses and organizations to market resources and services to grow portfolios of work.
The Economic Development Team works with prospects to position the Greater Wichita region as a prime location for business.
Entrepreneurship
To encourage a culture of assisting business startups and entrepreneurs, the Greater Wichita Partnership provides funding and staff support to Accelerate Wichita (formerly the Entrepreneurship Task Force), which is focused on identifying, activating and mentoring the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Accelerate Wichita has a vision to build and support an inclusive, globally competitive and impactful entrepreneurial ecosystem creating sustainable long-term growth for the region through job and wealth creation.
Accelerate Wichita Report
In 2020, the Partnership engaged with Chapman and Co., a pre-eminent expert in entrepreneurial ecosystem evaluation and development, to analyze and develop strategic next steps for our regional ecosystem. The process examined current advantages, existing assets and potential areas for acceleration and growth. Local entrepreneurs, service providers and business leaders were engaged in the development of this report, titled the Accelerate Wichita Report, which provides a collective vision for ecosystem growth. Launched in 2021, the report highlights the Greater Wichita region's comparative advantages, the importance of an entrepreneur-centered ecosystem and the framework for a thriving ecosystem.
Reporting and Tracking Outcomes
Real progress is being made toward overall identified job and industry growth. Below are several highlights, and we invite you to review the Partnership's 2021 Year-End Jobs Update for a complete analysis.
- Since 2015, the Greater Wichita Partnership has assisted companies in creating 12,178 jobs, $2.6B in capital investment and $584M in total annual payroll.
- In April 2022, the Air Capital of the World was showcased at the MRO Americas tradeshow in Dallas. With several thousand participants from over 800 companies, the event provided an avenue for Wichita to promote the region’s strengths in this growing aviation segment.
- Key initiatives from the Regional Growth Plan accomplished to date:
- Launch of the talent-focused Choose Wichita brand and website
- Creation of the technology council, FlagshipKansas.Tech
- Cybersecurity industry promotion through the Regional National Security Coalition
- Strategic national site selector engagement
- National lead generation firms engaged
- New business attraction website launched
- National digital marketing campaign initiated
- Launched the Accelerate Wichita report, an entrepreneurial ecosystem strategy
Insight
A key accomplishment of the Entrepreneurship Task Force (ETF) was the launch of the first entrepreneurial accelerator in Kansas – e2e, now named NXTUS. In 2015, ETF launched a planning committee that took the necessary steps to open the independent entity. NXTUS works closely with Accelerate Wichita to cultivate the entrepreneurial ecosystem by activating, accelerating, and mentoring entrepreneurs in the heartland.
Executive Vice President of Economic Development
Andrew Nave
