The headline above is the mantra of Tim Pett, director of Wichita State’s Center for Entrepreneurship. And now, this article by Financial Express substantiates that.
In fact, Pett thinks now is the time for entrepreneurs to begin chasing their dream, much as Bill Gates used a recession to kick-start Microsoft.
Your thoughts?
You know, maybe it’s a mark of my rural upbringing, but I don’t have any trouble staying busy in Wichita. It seems that country music artist Mark Chesnutt doesn’t agree, though, as the song “Things To Do In Wichita” indicates. This link includes a link to the song.
In the spirit of full disclosure, this is precisely the kind of country music that makes me want to give my brain a lead enema – that tried and true lovelorn theme that’s been used in about 790 billion country songs over time.
Plus, the equally tired – oops, tried – cheap shot at Kansas. I won’t say a word about the two-fingers-in-the-nose twangy style, because I’m a business writer, not a music critic.
I think Mark and his songwriters need a little face time with John Rolfe and the good people at the Greater Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Allen Bell, the city of Wichita’s economic development director, volunteered some information during Tuesday’s council meeting that really didn’t register at first.
Bell said that the city, in sending out fliers to sell 2.3 acres at First and Waco – no RFP, just fliers – asked interested parties to offer up their last, best offer for the land.
But a closer look at the offers submitted by the Greater Wichita YMCA and InSite Real Estate Group raises a question: How do you define the best offer?
The InSite offer was for $700,000 for the land, on which 60,000 feet of office space would be built within the next five years.
The Y package provided by city officials didn’t include a cash price, but included a laundry list of programs similar to what the Y offers at its other Wichita locations. It’s an impressive collection of community programming, to be sure. But there’s no offer of money.
So how did city staff arrive at the Y offer as the best?
A vice president at Quintiles, the world’s largest clinical research organization, has a pretty positive view of Kansas’ spot in the world of economic development in a story in Site Selection magazine.
Quintiles, which employs 22,000 people in 50 countries, has about 900 people working at its 236,000-square-foot complex in Overland Park. It moved to OP from KCMO in 2006.
The article also talks about the Economic Revitalization and Reinvestment Act the governor signed this year to land Cessna’s new Columbus plant and mentions Kansas’ favorable position in several business climate rankings.
From the article:
“Kansas is a very progressive state. It works hard to put together an environment and financial incentives that make this a very good place to be –- a place where you can be prosperous and grow,” McDermott says.