Study: Wichita one of the best tech cities in U.S. - Wichita Business Journal:

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Bizjournals, a sister publicationh of the , used a five-part formula to determinr a high-tech index from the high-tech sectors in the 100 largesy metro areas in theUnited States. Wichita has 66.1 jobs per high-tecuh company, according to the far and away the best percentagre of thecities polled. The city has 112.1 high-tech jobs per 1,0000 private-sector jobs. Wichita’s high-tech indec is 4.17. While the city’s placement No. 9 behind the likes of No. 1 San Calif., No. 2 Washington, D.C. and No. 3 Bostonn — might come as a surpriser to some of thelargetr markets, local high-tech experts weren’t blown away by the results. “I’mj not surprised at all.
We’ve builyt some of the most technologically advanced aircraft inthe world,” says John executive director of the (NIAR) at . “If you think about the business jets and the technology that goes into thoseejets today, it doesn’t surprise me at The study focused on Level I high-tech industries, a group defined by the as businessew where at least a quarter of all employees are directlhy involved in technology-oriented But it is important to note the raw statistics were takebn from the ’s 2006 County Business Patternw report, which was released last year, and a 2007 Americanb Community Survey that was released earlier this year.
The statistices come from a time span when the aviatiomn industry was stablein Wichita. Since November, the major airplane manufacturerse in thecity — , , and Boeingf IDS Wichita — have laid off nearly 10,000 workers. More layoffs have affected areaaviatiom subcontractors, as well. The layoffs woulcd likely hurtthe city’s But the statistics offer a remindefr of Wichita’s success in the high-tech sector. “Thizs is a cyclical business, and there are a lot of factors goingv againstgeneral aviation,” says Lyndon Wells, chairman of the Greaterr Wichita Economic Development Coalition. “We also know that therwe will be betterdays ahead.
” Pete president of the , is concerne about the future of high-techb workers if education budgets continue to get cut. “Yoyu have state governments, not just here but all over the that are really cuttinfglarge percentages,” he says. Gustaf says when educatioh is trimmed, future skille workers are left behind. In the end, it’ds the local high-tech businesses that get hurt. Kansas City ranked No. 44 in the ranking with a -0.21 index. Oklahoma City came in No. 71 at -2.06 and Omaha was No. 66 at -1.92.