Ingram's March 2023

No, the correct answer isn’t “Why Not?” The value proposition for doing business in the state rings loud and clear from every corner and every sector. Here are some thoughts from executives around the state about the conditions that make Kansas an ideal place to live and work: WHY KANSAS?

David Toland SECRETARY OF COMMERCE AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF KANSAS Disruptions in global sup ply chains have led com panies to seek a stronger U.S. footprint, to ensure on-time and on-budget manufacture and delivery of their products. Kansas’

Tom Devlin CHAIRMAN/CEO, DEVLIN ENTERPRISES With the people in Wichita, and Kansas as a whole, most have a good work ethic; a handshake is still a handshake. You can trust people. There’s no such thing as the other side of

the tracks, or saying that you can’t make it here if you’re not a Harvard MBA grad. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit, and if you have a good idea and are a hard worker, you can start a business and be successful. In Kansas, every body has an opportunity.

central location and outstanding infrastructure has propelled us to the top of the list for com panies looking to make these types of invest ments. Our team has been laser-focused on embracing the new opportunities we’re seeing in this industry.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Kansas was admitted to the Union on Jan. 29, 1861, as the 34th state.

• Even though agriculture is a big industry in Kansas, but far from the biggest: At $6.2 billion in GDP, it’s No. 9 on the list, well down from finance/insurance/ real estate at No. 1 ($29.17 billion), manufacturing ($26.39 billion) at No. 2 and professional services at No. 3 ($18.66 billion). • Kansas has seven public state universities overseen by a Board of Regents and 19 public community colleges. • Tourism is a robust sector in Kansas, yielding more than $7 billion in spending from more than 35 million visitors a year. • Among the attractions that give Kansas its quirky appeal is the World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City. It now weighs in at more than 10 tons. • The first African American actor to win an Oscar was Wichita native Hattie McDaniel for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939).

• The biggest city in Kansas is Wichita, with a 2022 population estimated at 395,700. The most populous county in the state is Johnson County, in the Kansas City suburbs, with 613,219. Together, they are home to more than one-third of the state’s residents.

• The state was named after the Kanza Indians.

• Kansas is dead-center among the 48 contiguous states, and in the middle of that sits Smith County.

• The windiest city in America is Dodge City, in southwest Kansas.

• The state’s GDP is $162.2 billion.

• Most of the 82,000 square miles of the state— 88 percent of its land—is devoted to agriculture.

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