business images metro wichita, ks: 2009

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LET US HELP YOU WITH ALL YOUR RELOCATION NEEDS

Make the SMART MOVE with Coldwell Banker Stucky & Associates, REALTORS

Wichita East7309 E. 21st St., Ste. 200(316) 686-9700

Wichita West10300 W. Maple(316) 729-9700

El Dorado127 W. Central(316) 321-2481

Newton400 S. Main(316) 283-1330

Each office is independently owned and operated

Whether you’re moving across town or

across the country, our Relocation Department

has the knowledge and expertise to make your

relocation as stress-free as possible. Call us today at

(316) 686-9700 ext. 125 or (866) 696-7653 ext. 125.

Coldwell Banker Stucky and Associates is a principal broker for the Cartus Broker Network. Cartus is the premier provider of global mobility management and workforce development solutions serving the corporate, military, government and affinity markets.

Visit us on the Web at www.cbstucky.com

Stucky & Associates, Realtors

690 TOC.indd 1 9/16/08 12:32:44 PM

Bigin Wichita

Bird watching is

… but these birds have aluminum, titanium and advanced composite tail feathers!

www.aviationjobswichita.com

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.

690 TOC.indd 2 9/16/08 12:32:47 PM

OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA, KANSAS

2009 EDITION | VOLUME 4TM

CONTENTS

FEATURES

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

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

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

43 NEVER-ENDING SUMMER ROMANCEMusic Theatre of Wichita’s top-notch talent has developed a loyal following.

ON THE COVER Photo by Todd Bennett1929 Travel Air D-4000 at Col. James Jabara Airport

GREATER WICHITA AREA IMAGESWICHITA .COM 3

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690 TOC.indd 4 9/16/08 12:32:51 PM

OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA

TM

DEPARTMENTS

8 Almanac: a colorful sampling of the Greater Wichita Area culture

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

39 Education

41 Health & Wellness

45 Sports & Recreation

49 Community Profi le: facts, stats and important numbers to know

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

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

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE

Inside: WICHITA AVIATION ENGINEERINGSPECIAL SECTION


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SEARCH OUR ARCHIVES Browse past content by section or search for specifi c articles by subject.

INSTANT LINKS Read the entire magazine online using our ActiveMagazine™ technology and link instantly to community businesses and services.

EVEN MORE Read full-length versions of the magazine’s articles; fi nd related stories; or read new content exclusive to the Web. Look for the See More Online reference in this issue.

LIVE LINKSHot links allow users to quickly link to other sites

for additional information, and an ad index allows you to easily locate local advertisers in the magazine.

SEARCH AND YOU SHALL FINDAn easy-to-use search function allows you to fi nd specifi c articles or browse content by subject.

A VIRTUAL TOOLBELTTools allow you to customize the look and function of the magazine on your desktop as well as print individual pages or save the magazine for offl ine reading.

MORE OF THE SAMEAnd that’s a good thing. Inside, you’ll fi nd the same award-winning photography and compelling content as in the printed magazine.

SHARE WITH A FRIENDE-mail individual stories using the pop-up text window.

LIVE LINKSHot links allow use

uickly link to otheor additional informati

and an ad index allows easily locate local adven the magazine.

LHq

Virtual Magazine

GET OUT!Fill your datebook with this downtown go-to guide

TRULY A GLASS ACT Delicate art form clearly becomes popular

Love at First FlightAviation careers, culture draw talent to region

SPONSORED BY THE WICHITA METRO CHAMBER OF COM

OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA, KANSAS

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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 ring-

tailed lemurs, pictured at right.

There are also caracals,

mouse birds and springboks.

By the way, a springbok is a

small antelope.

Fast Facts Wichita has many

cultural events each year, such as Multi-Cultural Celebration Week, the Cinco de Mayo Celebration, the Wichita Black Arts Festival, the Wichita Asian Festival and the Mid-America All-Indian Center Intertribal Powwow.

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.

The city is home to hundreds of places of worship representing every major religious denomination.

Jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker made his first complete recording at the Trocadero Ballroom here in 1940.

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.

Entrepreneurial EnvironmentWichita 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.


Almanac

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Greater Wichita Area | At A GlancePOPULATION (2006 ESTIMATE)Wichita: 360,410

Wichita MSA: 592,126

Sedgwick County: 474,500

LOCATIONWichita 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.

BEGINNINGSWichita 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 INFORMATIONWichita Metro

Chamber of Commerce

350 W. Douglas Ave.

Wichita, KS 67202

Phone: (316) 265-7771

Fax: (316) 265-7502

www.wichitachamber.org

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

Wichita

Star StudentsWichita 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.

Way To Go, DerbyCongratulations, 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.


Almanac

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

12 IMAGESWICHITA .COM GREATER WICHITA AREA

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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,

STORY BY ANNE GILLEM

GlassTruly a

ARTS MEDIUM RECURS THROUGH PUBLIC DISPLAYS, STUDIOS AND CLASSESAct

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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shaped, cooled, reheated, and more color or a pattern is often added.

Karg’s creations range from small objects, such as paper-weights, 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

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.T

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



City Earns Arts Honor

Hats 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 sur-roundings 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.

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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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 con-struction 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:

MONDAYMake 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.

WEDNESDAYLive 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.

THURSDAYRiver 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].

FRIDAYGet 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.]

SATURDAYPick 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.

SUNDAYCan’t get enough professional dinner theater? Perfect.

Crown Uptown puts on performances of campy classics year-round 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.

STORY BY DANNY BONVISSUTO

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MAKE A CONFECTION CONNECTION IN WICHITA’S MANY TREAT SHOPS

SuccessesSweet


690 F2 Sweet Successes v2.indd 18 9/16/08 12:30:37 PM

T 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 old-fashioned 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,

STORY BY DANNY BONVISSUTOPHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

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.


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F 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 beau-tiful 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 indus-trial 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

AVIATION CAREERS, CULTURE DRAW TALENTED PROFESSIONALS TO REGION

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

STORY BY DANNY BONVISSUTO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

Loveat

FlightFirst


690 F1 Love at First FlightV2.indd 20 9/16/08 12:30:29 PM

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.

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 atmos-phere 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 res-taurants 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.”


690 F1 Love at First FlightV2.indd 21 9/16/08 12:30:31 PM

Far-ReachingRetail NEW SHOPPING, DINING

DEVELOPMENTS EXTEND IN EVERY DIRECTION


690 F6 Far Reaching Retail.indd 22 9/16/08 12:31:07 PM

A 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 165-acre, 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 mixed-use 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 enter-tainment 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 enter-tainment 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.

STORY BY JOE MORRIS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT


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Twenty 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 f lat, 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 des-tination 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

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 arbore-tum’s gardens and made it available for business events and garden clubs. Fundraisers help support the arbore-tum, 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 pas-sionate 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 com-munity 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.”

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

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


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Four-Legged Friends Drive Fundraising

Wichita’s gone to the dogs, and that’s good news to the furry-

eared friends of the Kansas Humane Society and the Wichita Animal Shelter. Soon, resident pets and four-legged vis-itors 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 north-east 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 alli-ance 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 dona-tions. The campus will help lost pets reunite with their owners, ensure the pets are spayed or neutered prior to adop-tion, 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 fund-raisers like Woofstock, which raised more than $200,000 in 2007. The annual event takes place in Sedgwick County Park in October and includes a two-mile fun run, one-mile mutt strut, live music and much more.

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

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It’s a Whole New Ball Game

Long 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 com-munity 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

Wichita’s airline industry and is just a great choice,” Beauchamp says.

The logo, designed by the local firm Associated Advertising, features a sin-ister 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 pro-motions and family-friendly events, from balloon relays and mascot races to inf latable 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.

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



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

New Center Leads by Example

The 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 partner-

ships with dozens of local leadership programs, aiming to use those rela-tionships 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 grass-roots 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 signifi-cant progress in the most daunting issues facing their communities,” O’Malley says.


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Soaring Into Cyberspace

Visioneering 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 devel-oped to strengthen key areas targeted for diversified growth. While sectors such as government and economic devel-opment 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 unman-ned air vehicles in real time, requiring the skills of cyber-warriors trained in identifying and heading off threats posed by computer and satellite network-based attacks.

The group has established trade alliances with local information tech-nology 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 intelli gence 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 infor-mation age,” Roebuck says.

– Stories by Melanie Hill

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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$54 MILLION TRAINING CENTER ENSURES PIPELINE OF HIGHLY SKILLED WORKERS

S ome 97 years after Clyde Cessna crafted his first Kansas plane, the manufac-turing company that bears his

name riveted the avi ation 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 – con-struction 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 exec-utive 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

STORY BY GARY PERILLOUXPHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD BENNETT

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

LegacyAviationAffirming an


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Connecting to Cutting-Edge Jobs

Andy 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-want-

to-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

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

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 implemen-tation time to one to three years.

In some cases, the transfer of research to training could be almost instan taneous, Bloomfield says. One initiative will lead to diagnostic tools, such as CT scans, that can inspect air-craft 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 gal vanizing 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 Develop-ment 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.”

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.

“If any place in the world should have an NCAT-type

facility, it’s Wichita.”VICKI PRATT GERBINO

PRESIDENT, GREATER WICHITA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COALITION



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 inter ested in casual, contemporary, coun-try 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 f low 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 prefer-

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 PROPOSITIONSIMA is working to take the risk out of

risk management.The company, based in Wichita, pro-

vides 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 man-agement 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 Mid-Continent 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,

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Business | Biz Briefs


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 some-thing unusual is happening there.

The center resides inside eight geo-desic 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.

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 selec-tion of fresh produce, organic products, gourmet cheeses and 1,400 international, specialty and kosher foods.

Kansas’ first Dillons Marketplace

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, kitchen-ware and beauty products.

“It gives customers everything they want in a one-stop shopping setting,” says Sheila Lowrie, a Dillons spokes-person. “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



As the Greater Wichita area con-tinues to expand its business base, keeping tabs on the var-

ious 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 higher-education institutions.

“We are always working on rela-tionships, 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 organ-ization 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

Creating a Winning StrategyKEY RELATIONSHIPS HELP ORGANIZATION SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT BUSINESS PLAN

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

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 strength-ening 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


Business | Chamber Report


TRANSPORTATION

AirportsColonel James Jabara Airport

(corporate)

(316) 636-9700

Wichita Mid-Continent Airport

(316) 946-4790

HighwaysWichita 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.

PortsPort of Kansas City

(200 miles northeast)

Access to the Mississippi

River via the Missouri River

Tulsa Port of Catoosa

(170 miles southeast)

Access to the Mississippi

River via the Arkansas River

RailPassenger 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

Southern Kansas & Oklahoma

(316) 231-2230

Terminal Railroad

Wichita Terminal Association

(316) 262-5081

FACTS/STATISTICS

Population

592,126 (MSA)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

(2006)

Civilian Labor Force, 319,176

Unemployed, 14,868

Unemployment rate, 4.7%

Source: Kansas Department

of Human Resources, four-

county MSA (June 2007)

Average annual pay

(all sectors), $35,760

Source: Federal Bureau of

Labor Statistics (May 2006)

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.

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

Specialty Trade Contractors 9,385

Professional and Technical Services 8,817

Nursing and Residential Care Facilities7,402

General Merchandise Stores7,145

Merchant Wholesalers, Social Assistance, 6,330

COST OF LIVING

Oklahoma City, 86.4%

Omaha, Neb., 87.3%

Wichita, 89.8%

St. Louis, 90%

Des Moines, Iowa, 91.7%

Dallas, 91.9%

Indianapolis, 94.2%

Kansas City, Mo./Kan., 96.1%

National average, 100%

Denver, 105.1%

Source: ACCRA Cost-of-Living Survey, 1st quarter 2008

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce350 W. Douglas Ave.

Wichita, KS 67202

Phone: (316) 265-7771

www.wichitachamber.orgGreater 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

THE GREATER WICHITA AREA

BUSINESS CLIMATEWichita, 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.

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Wichita…THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

FOR AVIATION PROFESSIONALS

ExcellenceEngineered for

RICH CULTURE, REWARDING

CAREERS

S p e c i a l A d v e r t i s i n g S e c t i o n

W hen Clyde Cessna bui lt 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 i rcra f t compa n ies employ i ng thousands of the most ta lented 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 general-aviation 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 f lying high.

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

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

W i c h i t a : E n g i n e e r e d f o r E x c e l l e n c e


690 Wichita Chamber SS.indd A2 9/16/08 1:28:00 PM

Wichita 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 in-cludes 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.

Red Carpet Welcome

A 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 fi rst 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 fi nd out a little more about YPW to come and meet some people, ask some questions and fi nd 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.

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.

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Fountain of YouthYPW GROUP BUILDS ROBUST NETWORK

F l y i n g i n F o r m a t i o n

w w w . a v i a t i o n j o b s w i c h i t a . c o m


W ith five centers of research excellence, the National Inst itute for Aviat ion

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 composite-materials research in an unexpected – and potentially life-altering – direction. Because composites are strong, f lexible 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.

One, Two, ThreeNIAR BOLSTERS AREA’S STATUS AS GLOBAL LEADER IN AVIATION

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

TESTING:




Spirit 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 accom plishments 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.

Global ReachSPIRIT AEROSYSTEMS EXPANDS ITS WORLDWIDE OPERATIONS

Growing

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




March 8, 2008, was a surpris-ingly 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 f light is always a combi-nation of excitement and just a little anxiousness and nervousness. It is a test f light, 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

f light instruction, but also to have an airplane that people just want to f ly 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 single-engine 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.

Small of CessnaAIRCRAFT GIANT PREMIERES ITS SMALLEST SPORT PLANE,

PLANS ITS LARGEST BUSINESS JET EVER

Large andThe

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




When 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 f irst 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 f lights.

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 general-aviation 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 factory-owned 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 LEADS THE INDUSTRY IN COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION

GrowAgainHere We

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




A 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 fuel-efficient 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.

TRADITION & INNOVATION ATTRACT ENGINEERS

* 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.

LureThe Learjet

“




E 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 aero-structures 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

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 two-story 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 f looring. 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.

– Stories by Sharon H. Fitzgerald

AIRBUS NORTH AMERICA WICHITA ENGINEERS SPECIALIZE IN WING DESIGN

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.

Impressive SpanDeveloping an




POPULATION

596,452Source: 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)

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTMore 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.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

ACCRA Cost of Living Survey (Q1-2008)

OVERALL COST OF LIVING INDEX

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

Wichita Metro Area FACTS AT A GLANCE

OVERALL COST OF LIVING

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)

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.

TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT AVERAGE RENT:

$657$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)

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




Engineers 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 sixth-best 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 fi rst 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 health-care 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.

Wichita’s National Accolades Keep Rolling In

$0 $100,000 $200,000 $300,000 $400,000

Dallas, TX

Omaha, NE

Wichita, KS

St. Louis, MO/IL

Oklahoma City, OK

Indianapolis, IN

Kansas City, MO/KS

Des Moines, IA

National

Denver, CO

Tacoma, WA

215,990

222,965

223,222

226,506

229,316

268,969

273,532

280,841

305,968

347,275

372,924

“MODEL” HOME COMPARISON

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

$223,222Source: American Chamber of Commerce Research Association Cost of Living Survey (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

EXISTING SINGLE-FAMILY HOME MEDIAN SALE PRICE:

$112,700$83,600 or 43 percent below the national median price of $196,300Source: National Association of Realtors (Q1-2008)

NEWLY BUILT SINGLE-FAMILY HOME MEDIAN SALE PRICE:

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

AVERAGE ONE-WAY COMMUTE TIME:

18.5MINUTESThis commute time is approximately 26 percent shorter than the national average of 25 minutes.Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2006)

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




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) 264-0552www.airbusnorthamerica.com

Bombardier Aerospace Learjet Inc.

One Learjet Way, Wichita, KS 67209(316) 946-2000

www.learjet.com

Cessna Aircraft Co.P.O. Box 7706, Wichita, KS 67277

(316) 517-2772 or (800) 4-CESSNAwww.cessna.com

Hawker Beechcraft Corp.9709 E. Central

Wichita, KS 67206(316) 676-7111

www.hawkerbeechcraft.com

Spirit AeroSystemsP.O. Box 780008, Wichita, KS 67278

(316) 526-9000www.spiritaero.com

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce350 W. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS 67202

(316) 265-7771www.wichitachamber.org

This special section is published for Flying In Formation

by Journal Communications Inc.

C U S TO M M A G A Z I N E M E D I A

For more information, contact:Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce

350 W. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS 67202Phone: (316) 265-7771 • Fax: (316) 265-7502


©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



690 Wichita Chamber SS.indd A12 9/17/08 11:06:26 AM

One of the biggest draws of Wichita’s public education sys-tem 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 spe-cialist for Wichita Public Schools. “We have some in technology, some in per-forming 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 repre-sentatives from all the schools and get information about each. It takes place

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 enroll-ment 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 per-formance standards. An on-site clinic, GraceMed, provides medical and dental care for area children and adults.

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 ele-mentary [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, lit-eracy, 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 high- quality public education on par with expensive private schools has been the result. – Carol Cowan

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

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

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Education

690 Education.indd 39 9/16/08 12:30:24 PM

800 N. Carriage Pkwy. • Wichita, KS 67208(316) 858-5800 • Fax (316) 858-5850

Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.Accepting New Patients • We Accept All Insurances

Ron C. Brown, MDChris N. Brunner, MDDoris C. Butler, MD

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Come join the area’s leading provider of rehab and long-term care services!

Meeting all of your family’s healthcare needs.

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Dr. Jason RundellDr. 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

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Geriatrics• Welcome to Medicare exams• Diagnosis/management of chronic disease• Disease screening/prevention

Board-certified family physicians • Same day appointments availableWe accept all major insurances, including Medicare and Medicaid

New patients welcome • Friendly, experienced staff


690 Health.indd 40 9/16/08 12:31:15 PM

Wichita’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 ortho-paedic 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

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

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

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

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 biocom-patibility 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, engi-neers 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 com-munity, 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


Health & Wellness

690 Health.indd 41 9/16/08 12:31:16 PM

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.

400 West Waterman Wichita, Kansas

In the heart of it all.

1415 S. Topeka • Wichita, KS 67211(316) 262-1452 • www.ibcwichita.com

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Join us Sunday!Bible Classes – 9:30 a.m.Worship – 10:50 a.m.

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690 Arts.indd 42 9/16/08 12:29:39 PM

Packing 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 enter-tainment 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

stage. Our scenery and costumes have gone all over; our Beauty and the Beast has been from Florida to Canada.”

The complement of performers, musi-cians 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 audi-tions 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 pro-duction hasn’t gone unnoticed: Music

Theatre of Wichita has about 80 per-cent 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

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

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


Arts & Culture

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Hawthorn Suites Wichita East411 South Webb • Wichita, KS 67207(316) 686-7331 • Fax: (316) 686-2345(800) 527-1133 • www.hawthorn.com

LocationValueAmenities

Home away from home, the best amenities for business travelers.


690 Sports.indd 44 9/16/08 12:31:42 PM

Wichita State University has long provided Kansans with an opportunity to both play and watch top-quality 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 f lourish 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

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

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

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


Sports & Recreation

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Home Technology Systems, Inc.

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690 Sports.indd 46 9/16/08 12:31:46 PM

Having Fun at the YMCAANDOVER FACILITY WILL BE AREA’S BIGGEST

Though 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

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.

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Sports & Recreation

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690 Comm Profile.indd 48 9/16/08 12:30:12 PM

SNAPSHOTPro Body

THE GREATER WICHITA AREA

SNAPSHOTWichita, located 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.

According to Money magazine,

Wichita is No. 9 (just above

New York City) in the list of

the Top 10 Best Big Cities

for 2006.

America’s Smartest Cities,

Bizjournals.com

How does Wichita rank in

brainpower with some of

America’s biggest cities?

According to a recent study

by Bizjournals.com, Wichita

ranked No. 23 on America’s

brainiest big city list.

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.

Bizjournals.com also ranked

Wichita No. 2 among its top 10

most affordable markets in

which to own a home.

In 2008, Forbes, listed Wichita

second among the 100 largest

metros in its list of Best Cities

for Jobs.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Wichita offers many amenities, including:Low cost of living

Low crime rate

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,

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

I spysomethinggreen.

DELANO MEDICAL, INC.Respiratory and Home Medical Equipment

1119 W. Douglas Ave.Wichita, KS 67213-4017(in the historical Delano district –

one block west of Seneca)

The original “Oxygen Guy”

(316) 260-9314Fax: (316) 260-9614

www.delanomedical.com“We cater to the traveling patient”

The area code for Wichita is 3 16 . IMAGESWICHITA .COM 49

Community Profile


EXPLORE.Hall of Space Museum

One of the top two space museums in the world

Dr. Goddard’s LabAn explosively fun

rocketry demonstration

Justice PlanetariumView space up close and personal

Carey IMAX Dome TheaterA virtual movie experience

Voted one of the eight wonders of Kansas!

Cosmosphere1100 N. Plum • Hutchinson, KS

(800) 397-0330 • www.cosmo.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce350 W. Douglas Ave.

Wichita, KS 67202

Phone: 265-7771


Sources:www.wichitachamber.org

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

HOUSING COSTS

Existing Single-Family Home

Median Sale Price $112,700

$83,600 or 43% below the

national median price of

$196,300

Source: National Association

of Realtors (1st quarter 2008)

Newly Built Single-

Family Home

Median Sale Price $191,700

$41,930 or 18% below

the national median

price of $233,700

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,

water/sewer in rent)

Source: ACCRA Cost of Living

Survey (1st quarter 2008)

The area code for Wichita is 3 16 . IMAGESWICHITA .COM 51


AAA

Andover Family Medicine www.andoverfamilymed.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

Coldwell Banker Stucky & Associates www.stuckyandassociates.com

Delano Medical Inc. www.delanomedical.com

Delta Dental of Kansas www.deltadentalks.com

Friends University www.friends.edu

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

Home Technology Systems www.hometechnologysys.com

Hyatt Regency Wichita www.hyattregencywichita.com

Immanuel Baptist Church www.ibcwichita.com

INTRUST Bank www.intrustbank.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 Dinning-Beard, Realtors www.wichitalistings.com

Sedgwick County Zoo www.scz.org

The Cleaning Authority www.thecleaningauthority.com

The Coleman Company Inc. www.colemancareers.com

Via Christi Wichita Health Network www.getgreatcare.com

Warren Theatres www.warrentheatres.com

Wesley Medical Center www.wesleymc.com

Wichita Collegiate School www.wcsks.com

Wichita Family Medicine Specialists www.wichitafms.com

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce www.wichitachamber.org/fi f

Wichita Public Schools www.usd259.com

Visit Our Advertisers

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 MCCORD

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

OFFICE MANAGER SHELLY GRISSOM

RECEPTIONIST LINDA BISHOP

C U S TO M M A G A Z I N E M E D 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 [email protected].

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce

350 W. Douglas Ave. • Wichita, KS 67202Phone: (316) 265-7771 • Fax: (316) 265-7502

E-mail: [email protected]

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 Magazine Publishers of America

Member Custom Publishing Council

Member Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce

OF THE GREATER WICHITA AREA

TM



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