After a very competitive search process, Wichita has been selected for a new Starwood customer contact center if the City Council and County Commission vote in favor of an incentive package next week. For the first year, Starwood intends to hire 180 associates in Wichita. The plan is to significantly expand this facility over the next five years, therefore, the incentive package is designed to incrementally reward up to another 750 positions for a total of more than 900 jobs. 

The Kansas Department of Commerce worked very closely with the local team to secure this investment and these jobs, and we want to thank the Governor, Secretary of Commerce Pat George as well as Commerce staff.

GWEDC representatives will be attending the City Council and County Commission meetings along with a Starwood representative. We are thrilled about this anticipated new investment and jobs in the Wichita community.

Company Release:
STAMFORD, Conn.—May 16, 2013 – Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced it will open a new Customer Contact Center (CCC) in Wichita, Kan. in late 2013. The new CCC’s associates will help Starwood guests book reservations and provide Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) member services. Starwood is adding jobs in North America to support innovative customer programs, including the Ambassador Program, and to support industry-leading work to personalize guest experiences.

“Taking care of our guests starts before our guests walk through our property doors, while they are with us and extends after they’ve departed,” said Mark Vondrasek, senior vice president - distribution, loyalty and partnership marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “With our guests’ needs in mind, we look for associates who are dedicated and customer-service oriented with a desire to contribute to their communities; after reviewing a number of options, Wichita was chosen as the best place to expand our North American customer service operations.”

“Starwood Hotels & Resorts is an industry leader with an innovative approach to hospitality, and I’m excited that they have chosen to expand in Kansas,” said Kansas Commerce Secretary Pat George. “It’s great for our business environment when companies such as Starwood create jobs, invest in Kansas and contribute to our state’s economic growth.”
The center’s inaugural class will include approximately 30 new positions with 150 additional associates anticipated this year to supplement Starwood’s current needs. Beginning in June, interested applicants can visit www.starwoodhotels.jobs to learn more about the roles and apply.

“Starwood is a great company and will be a great addition to our community,” said Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer. “We are excited to welcome them and their sought-after jobs to Wichita.”

Sedgwick County Chairman Jim Skelton said, “This is great news for Sedgwick County and our residents because a well-known and well-respected company has chosen to invest and locate its newest center here. Starwood’s choice and investment here means more opportunities for jobs.”

The project is dependent upon a package of incentives from the State of Kansas and the Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission. The local governing bodies are expected to vote on the project May 21 and 22.

The Associated Press
Published Monday, April 15, 2013

WICHITA, Kan. — Airbus Americas Engineering says it is planning to expand into a third space in downtown Wichita.

The company announced Monday it has already hired more people than had been expected after its last expansion. The firm's vice president of engineering, John O'Leary, says it has hired 150 people, more than the 100 it had planned to hire when it expanded in 2012.

The company now employs about 400 people in Wichita.

The new building is adjacent to the company's current facility. It will give the company 10,000 square feet to provide more space for current operations and allow for future growth.

WICHITA STATE IS FINAL FOUR BOUND
By Paul Suellentrop
The Wichita Eagle - 4/1/2013

Los ANGELES — Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall stood on the ladder and counted down to the crowd of fans in Staples Center.

“Four,” he yelled, holding up four fingers. “Two. One.”
“Four. Two. One.”
“Four. Two. One.”

Wichita State can play angry all the way to Atlanta for the Final Four after Saturday’s 70-66 win over second-seeded Ohio State. The Shockers believe they can play angry all the way to the NCAA title.

The ninth-seeded Shockers (30-8) finished their march through the regional with a tour de force of aggression, determination and spirit properly channeled. They cut down nets, posed for pictures with the West Regional trophy and quickly talked about finishing in the Georgia Dome, where they expect to cut down more nets.

“Happiness throughout my whole body,” WSU freshman Ron Baker said. “It’s my (20th) birthday and we’re going to the Final Four.”

The Shockers are in the Final Four. Next up is two and then one.

“It feels good, but we’re not done yet,” senior Carl Hall said. “It’s on to the next game. We’re just ready to go and make a run for this thing."

WSU knocked off the top two seeds in the region on its way to its first Final Four since 1965. It will play the winner of Sunday’s Duke-Louisville game on Saturday.

Coach Gregg Marshall hugged Lynn, his wife, before cutting down the nets. It took him 15 seconds to control his emotions before summing it up.
 

“Awesome,” he said. “It’s great. So many people were positive that first year (2007-08). I remember getting a standing ovation … after we lost a game at home. Because we were playing our butts off. We’ve got some of the most loyal fans. They deserve this more than you know.”

The Shockers won a school-record 30th game with 35 minutes of superb play and five holding on for dear life to earn the biggest road trip of their careers.

Ohio State (29-8) made a late push, pressing and tiring out the Shockers. It got within three points before WSU pushed back. Tekele Cotton’s three gave WSU a 65-59 lead. Then his offensive rebound — beating bigger players to the ball — gave the Shockers possession. That ended with Fred VanVleet’s shot in the lane bouncing on the rim once, twice, three times before settling in for a 67-61 lead. After an Aaron Craft miss, Ron Baker made two free throws for a 69-61 lead with 51.3 seconds to play.
 

“We needed a bucket,” VanVleet said. “Probably not the most pretty shot, but it went for me.”

Malcolm Armstead led WSU with 14 points. Early and VanVleet each added 12. Baker scored nine points, all from the foul line.

La Quinton Ross led Ohio State with 19 points. Ohio State shot 31.1 percent for the game. It fell behind in the first half with a miserable shooting performance, 8 of 33 and 2 of 10 from three-point range.

“Man, they D’d us up,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “You can’t go 8 for 31 in the first half of a great team.”

WSU made strong starts a trademark this tournament. It took the fight to Pittsburgh in its opener. It led top-seeded Gonzaga by 13 in the first half. It blitzed La Salle with a 17-3 start.
 

“We had energy from the get-go,” Cotton said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement that we weren’t going to bow down to nobody.”

WSU weathered — or didn’t need to weather — the Buckeyes’ surge early in the second half. While the Shockers prepared for it, it never happened. They scored the first six points of the second half to build a 41-25 lead. Armstead’s three made it 44-27 within inside 15 minutes remaining.

Ohio State made it push midway the half. Ross scored 10 of Ohio State’s 12 points in a burst that got it within 56-43.
WSU’s offense stalled and Early went to the locker room for X-rays after landing awkwardly on his left ankle. He returned minutes later, with WSU holding a 56-45 lead.

His return paid off quickly with his steal of pass by Ross. That led to a three-point play for VanVleet and a 60-45 lead with 7:03 remaining.

Ohio State responded with a 7-0 run that cut tiring WSU’s lead to 60-52. It kept coming, getting within 62-57 before Tekele Cotton’s three revived WSU momentarily.

Wichita State’s offensive resurgence continued in the first half. The Shockers made 5 of 12 three-pointers and led 35-22 at halftime.

“Our first half was probably the worst I have seen us play in a very long time,” Ohio State’s Lenzelle Smith Jr. said. “They came out and fought from the jump ball.”

Its defense maintained its season-long status. Ohio State, denied driving lanes and post shots, shot contested jumpers and missed. It finished the half 8 of 33 from the field and 2 of 10 from behind the arc. Thomas made 4 of 13 shots and missed all five of his threes.

Posted on Thu, Dec. 13, 2012
The Wichita Eagle By Molly McMillin

If it wasn’t for business aviation, the Berry Companies wouldn’t be the company it is today.

“We wouldn’t be nearly as far flung,” Walter Berry, president, said of the Wichita-based company’s eight divisions and 29 locations in six states – Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas.

We wouldn’t have looked at opportunities as far away. ... We’d be a lot smaller.”

Walter and his father, company chairman Fred Berry, both pilots, have used a variety of airplanes over the years to fly themselves and staff members to their growing number of sites.

Last year, the company moved up from a Socata TBM 700 turboprop to a faster, higher-flying Cessna Citation Mustang light business jet.

Company officials say they make about 75 business trips a year.

The plane can leave Jabara Airport early in the morning, for example, fly to Garden City for meetings, over mountains for meetings in Grand Junction, Colo., back across the Continental Divide to Cheyenne, Wyo., and then to Denver— all in a day. They then hold meetings again the next day.

Commercially, you couldn’t do that,” Walter Berry said.

Berry is one of a multitude of Wichita-area and Kansas businesses – car dealers, bankers, manufacturers, oil companies, health professionals and others — who rely on business aviation.

Last month, a study of U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 companies by NEXA Advisors concluded that companies that used business aviation during the economic downturn — from 2007 to 2011 — outperformed competitors that did not.
The companies had better profits, created more jobs and were among the best managed companies in the U.S., according to the research, which was sponsored by the aviation industry.

The findings also indicated that companies using business aviation recovered from revenue setbacks more quickly and were more likely to grow their workforce.

Past studies looking at smaller companies showed similar results, said Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association, which sponsored the study along with Bombardier Aerospace and Embraer.
“In Wichita, everybody knows that business airplanes represent good manufacturing jobs,” Bolen said. “But they’re also critical to companies all over the United States.”

Business aviation provides a valuable tool and a competitive edge, he said.

“Companies that use business airplanes are outperforming their competitors in the same industry that do not use the airplanes,” Bolen said. “That’s the bottom line.”

The number of Fortune 500 companies relying on business aviation has risen in the past four years, Bolen said.

“At times of economic pressure, companies need to be efficient and proactive,” Bolen said.

At Berry Companies, the use of an airplane “allows us to get out with our people, and we think that’s important,” Walter Berry said. The Wichita office is the administrative group for the various divisions and provides the accounting, processing, payroll, insurance, advertising and financial services.

The ability to visit multiple locations in a day and get employees home at night has value, Berry said.

And “If a meeting runs over, I have the keys in my pocket,” he said.

Walter Berry, with more than 2,700 flight hours, does most of the flying. Fred Berry no longer flies.

The company also uses backup pilots from Aviation Dynamix.

The Mustang is an investment, said Fred Berry. “But it’s a long-term investment.”

The jet will serve the company for 20 years.

Still, the trips must make sense.

Operating costs for the Mustang run about $700 per flight hour, Walter Berry said. That cost will rise once the plane is out of warranty.

A trip in the Mustang with its seats full beats the cost of airline tickets.

Flying with the plane half full is a convenience.

And if you fly alone?

“You pay a premium,” Walter Berry said.

“We do go through that equation,” he said. “If I’m flying alone or one of our people is flying alone, we would tend to use the airlines.”

A jet such as the Mustang might be more difficult to justify if there weren’t multiple people needing to travel, Berry said.
“Or you might justify a single-engine piston plane as opposed to a jet,” he said. “It (the plane) does need to be geared toward how you’re going to use it.”

Local companies use a variety of single-engine and twin-engine airplanes to do business.

Chuck Pierson, a dentist with Wichita Family Dental, uses a twin-engine Cessna 421 in his practice, which employs30 people, including three other dentists.

Two-thirds of the time, Pierson does the flying.

He flies staff members and dentists to continuing education classes to learn the latest in clinical procedures, techniques in making crowns or performing root canals or on updating computer software.

The ability to get to training and home in the same day is a convenience, he said. And it saves money on hotels and meals and additional pay for more time on the road.

Recently Pierson and another dentist jumped in the airplane on a Wednesday to look at dental equipment in Colby, a trip that would have taken four to five hours of drive time.

“There’s no way we would have driven out there on a Wednesday night,” Pierson said.

Andy Smith, president and owner of Alltite, a distributor of industrial maintenance equipment, began using a plane in his business after he flew to Grand Junction, Colo., with a friend, who then let him borrow both the airplane and pilot for the week.

Smith did business in seven cities in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and was back in Wichita on Thursday in time to watch his son’s baseball game.

Without the plane, visiting that many customers would have taken three separate trips over three weeks.
He was sold.

Smith decided then that he wanted to learn to fly and turned to the pilot, Steve Hinkle, for advice.
Hinkle became his flight instructor. Smith earned his private pilot’s license in March 2011. He earned a multi-engine rating in August and is working on an instrument rating.

At the same time, Smith sought advice from Sabris Corp. for help in buying the right plane for his business needs.
“We went through many different models and picked it out based our mission and what we were going to be doing,” Smith said.

He bought a 1978 twin-engine Piper Aztec.

For now, Smith typically flies with another pilot on board, unless he’s sure the weather will let him fly under visual flight rules.

His customers are in rural communities without commercial airline service.

“I go to where there’s wind farms and refineries and oil fields, and they’re never in big cities,” Smith said.

Getting from Grand Junction, Colo., to Vernal, Utah, would take him hours.

It would take three hours just to drive over Douglas Pass, a mountain pass in Colorado located between the two cities, because of switchbacks, winding roads and slow traffic.

“In an airplane, it takes 30 minutes to get over the pass,” Smith said.

He often takes along sales staff and the pilot drops everyone off in various cities to see customers, and then picks them back up.

The plane has allowed the business to grow quickly.

“I can close deals that I otherwise probably wouldn’t be able to do,” Smith said.

He’s been able to add sales staff and plans to add more.

When a customer is in a bind and needs a part, Smith can send the part out right away.

“When you do that, you’ve got a customer for life,” he said.

His small company competes with much bigger businesses.

“But the president and CEO of that company doesn’t go to the middle of Nowhere, Texas,” he said.
Smith does.

“When someone says the president of our company is going to fly down there and see you, that’s a huge benefit,’ he said. “They don’t know I’m not flying in a $12 million Learjet, but I still get there.”

There’s nothing inexpensive about owning an airplane, Smith said.

The cost of fuel, maintenance, oil, hangar rental, insurance and other costs average about $320 a flight hour.

But, “it makes complete sense,” he said. “I’m using the plane to make money. ... It allows me to be more places and do what I’m good at.”

He doesn’t use the airplane, however, on trips that take two hours or less to drive.

“I’m not a millionaire,” Smith said. “I’m a regular guy with a little airplane. But it works out for what we do.”
 

Wichita, Kan. (1/24/2013) – The Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Greater WichitaEconomic Development Coalition (GWEDC) announced the selection of Tim Chase as GWEDC President and Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce which manages GWEDC.

Chase has been with the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce in Texas since 1998, when he was named Vice President, Economic Development. He has served as the Wichita Falls Chamber President and CEO since 2001. Throughout his career he has been very active in the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), currently serving on the board of directors, regularly speaking and teaching classes. In addition, Chase has been an instructor at the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute for more than 20 years and served as Dean of the Institute in 2008 and 2009.

“I’m looking forward to focusing all my attention on the economic development programs in Wichita,” Chase said. “My first passion is helping a community improve itself by building wealth for all its citizens. I had the opportunity to speak to GWEDC investors at their Mid-Year reporting meeting in July of 2009. At that time the community was struggling through the brutal impacts of the national recession. I was intrigued when I revisited Wichita this month to learn that leadership has truly coalesced around being more competitive and how the Leadership Council is ready to create change and momentum in building wealth throughout the community.”

During his 24 years in economic development Chase has worked with hundreds of companies to keep them strong, add net-new employment, and attract companies to backfill jobs lost through attrition from normal business cycles.

“Economic development is a way of thinking long-term and of deploying community resources in such a way as to recognize the realities of the current environment and facilitate positive change in a community,” Chase said.

Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Gary Plummer said, “We have a real opportunity as a community to fully capitalize on our strengths and address our barriers, and Tim is just the person to sell the community while helping us develop and shape our future. We have a very experienced and dedicated staff who with Tim’s leadership and experience, will ensure we reach our goal.”

Chase is one of 1,200 Certified Economic Developers as designated by the IEDC. IEDC named him one of only 300 Fellow Members nationally in 2001, when he was also elected to the IEDC’s Board of Directors. In Texas, he has served on numerous statewide committees, including in 2008 and 2009 as Chairman of “Team Texas,” an association of 55 communities that market themselves for new investment. He was appointed to the Governor’s Regional Commercialization and Innovation Council to identify and finance entrepreneurial projects in the Dallas Metroplex in 2009.

“We have continued to build upon our abilities to keep and attract companies and investment,” said GWEDC Chairman Steve Sharp, Vice President, Corporate Controller for Spirit AeroSystems. “We have a great staff and a great story, and now we need to have the continued conversation of what the community wants and how we work together to move in the same direction. Given Tim’s leadership and experience in economic development, Tim will add a new dimension to that conversation.”

Chase applauds the strong partnership that already exists with the city, county, and state plus private business leaders to recruit, retain and expand jobs and investment in Sedgwick County. GWEDC also works with counties in south-central Kansas to market the region.

Chase will be on hand for the GWEDC’s Annual Meeting scheduled for February 21st.

Suzie Ahlstrand has been serving as the interim GWEDC president since February, 2011. This fall she was named Senior Vice President of Community Advancement and will continue to work with the Leadership Council and Visioneering Wichita, among other Chamber initiatives.

“We thank Suzie for her leadership during this past year at GWEDC and in her other efforts,” Plummer said. “Her ability to juggle many important projects and priorities was an important component of the success of the economic development effort and other Chamber efforts.”

GWEDC is the regional public-private partnership formed by the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County and private business. It is managed by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and charged with creating and executing the community’s business recruitment, retention and expansion plans and marketing the region.

(November 14, 2011, Wichita, KS) The economic development coalition of private business, Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, City of Wichita and Sedgwick County that forms the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition (GWEDC) is working to secure a total $52.7 million expansion of Bombardier Learjet’s presence in Wichita. The expansion would include several new buildings, expanded facilities and create hundreds of new, high-paying jobs.

If the new project is secured, Bombardier Learjet would make $48.7 million in capital investment at its Wichita Mid-Continent Airport campus. Potential plans include:

• Expanded Bombardier Flight Test Center – Bombardier would expand its Flight Test Center that performs flight testing on all models of Bombardier aircraft plus conducts aircraft development and certification. The expansion would also provide for additional machining and fabrication.

• Engineering and IT Centers of Excellence – Plans include establishing an even larger presence of engineering expertise in Wichita that would serve as a hub to provide specialized engineering design services for a variety of Bombardier aircraft programs. Plus it would expand Bombardier’s Information Technology Center of Excellence where IT professionals from Learjet’s campus support Bombardier operations throughout the United States.

Potential new buildings would include:
• Aircraft Delivery Center to be built at Learjet’s entrance on Tyler Road
• Paint Facility for the new Learjet 85
• Production Flight Facility for aircraft testing prior to delivery

The planned expansions would initially create 400 new jobs at Learjet with a high of 625 jobs expected by the second year, ending with a cumulative total of 450 net new jobs at the end of 2017. Projected new payroll would be more than $47 million in the first year, reaching a high of $77.5 million by 2014.

“We are working closely together to make sure we can do our part on this project because it represents hundreds of new jobs and great new facilities,” said Mayor Carl Brewer. “But just as important it represents a more diversified Bombardier Learjet operations here. With the increased engineering, IT and test flight jobs, it helps us gain more Bombardier work that is spread across more areas in aviation which positions us well to earn even more work in the future.”

Working with GWEDC staff, City and County staff will propose to the City Council and Board of County Commissioners that each provide $1 million to construct two new parking lots on Learjet’s campus to allow for the new buildings. The new parking lots would be owned by the Wichita Airport Authority and leased to Learjet for employee and public use. The three new facilities – Learjet 85 Paint, Aircraft Delivery and Production Flight facilities would then be built on the current parking lots.

The Wichita Airport Authority has prepared a grant application for an Economic Development Administration (EDA) public works grant that would help defray the cost of the parking lot and fund an additional $2 million if the City Council and Board of County Commissioners vote to construct the lots. The $4 million new parking lots would join the $48.7 million investment from Bombardier Learjet for a total $52.7 million expansion. The South Central Kansas Economic Development District is assisting with the grant.

Based on the potential capital investment from Bombardier Learjet and the new job creation, the company would also be eligible locally for property tax abatement on the new and expanded facilities for up to ten years.

“We know that Bombardier has existing operations all over the United States and globe where they can choose to invest and create jobs,” said Sedgwick County Chairman Dave Unruh. “Plus we’re competing with very aggressive states and communities that want projects and jobs like these because the wages are high and the investment deep.

“It’s important that our team approach helps us secure this for our community and for Kansas. We thank everyone involved for their ongoing hard work on this project,” Chairman Unruh said.

The City Council will vote on the proposed incentives at its Tuesday November 15 meeting, and the County Commission plans to have the project on its agenda on Wednesday, November 23.

“We applaud the entire team of city, county and state which is working so hard to make sure this project and many others locate here in the Air Capital of the World,” said Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce Chairman Lynn Nichols. “What’s even better is that because of our great work force and our legacy in aviation, we can often out-play with smarter and fewer incentives the stiff competition and large amounts of cash that other states are willing to pay. We just can’t ever take it for granted.”

According to an analysis of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, given the company’s investment of dollars locally, the new construction, plus the new payroll compared to the cost of public services delivered, the project would return $1.26 to the City and $1.23 to the County for every dollar invested, providing the original $2 million investment back plus an additional $1.5 million total to the City general fund and to the County over the 10 years.

“Learjet is one of our premier companies with a world-renowned brand, and we congratulate them on this exciting plan for future growth,” said GWEDC Chairman Paul Allen. “Our business community understands that securing these kinds of investments and jobs from Bombardier is critical to securing and growing our community’s economic future. It’s especially great to have this kind of announcement in this economic environment.”

As is typical, the grant agreement includes provisions for the company repaying the funds if it does not make the capital improvements outlined or falls short of the new job creation.

“We know it’s been a hard few years in the aviation industry, and in our community, and we’re more than ready to celebrate some great news that positions us well for a great tomorrow,” Mayor Brewer said. 

 

Wichita, KS (Sept, 2011) - To commemerate a century of flight, the Wichita AeroClub gave a new face to the Air Capital of the World title cherished by the Greater Wichita community since 1928.  Designed by Wichita's Greteman Group, a new Air Capital of the World logo was unveiled at an AeroClub event premiering the second season of "The Aviators". 

This new logo will be introduced to the international general aviation audience by the Greater Wichita partners at the 2011 NBAA in October.  In the meantime, the new logo has been offered to all of Wichita's OEMs & the 300-company aviation supply chain along with the business community at-large to utlize in electronic, print, packaging and any other avenue where they want to display their Air Capital pride.