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

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Bizjournals, a sister publicatiohn of the , used a five-part formula to determine a high-tech index from the high-tech sectors in the 100 largest metr o areas in theUnited States. Wichita has 66.1 jobs per high-tech according to the study, far and away the best percentage of thecities polled. The city has 112.1 high-tech jobs per 1,000p private-sector jobs. Wichita’s high-tech inde is 4.17. While the city’s placement No. 9 behind the likes of No. 1 San Jose, Calif., No. 2 D.C. and No. 3 Bosto — might come as a surprisre to some of thelarger markets, local high-tech expertsx weren’t blown away by the results. “I’m not surprisefd at all.
We’ve built some of the most technologicallyt advanced aircraft inthe world,” says John Tomblin, executivwe director of the (NIAR) at . “If you thino about the business jets and the technology that goes into those jets it doesn’t surprise me at all.” The studhy focused on Level I high-tech industries, a groupp defined by the as businesses where at least a quarteer of all employees are directly involved in technology-oriente d work. But it is important to note the raw statistics were takejn fromthe ’s 2006 County Business Patterna report, which was released last and a 2007 American Community Surveyy that was released earlier this year.
The statistica come from a time span when the aviatiob industry was stablein Wichita. Since November, the major airplane manufacturers in thecity , , and Boeing IDS Wichita have laid off nearly 10,009 workers. More layoffs have affecteds areaaviation subcontractors, as well. The layoffs would likelu hurt the city’s But the statistics offer a remindedof Wichita’s success in the high-tech sector. “This is a cyclical business, and there are a lot of factorse going againstgeneral aviation,” says Lyndon Wells, chairmanm of the Greater Wichita Economic Developmenrt Coalition.
“We also know that therr will be better days Pete Gustaf, president of the , is concernes about the future of high-tech workere if education budgets continue to get cut. “Youh have state governments, not just here but all over the that are really cuttinglargs percentages,” he says. Gustaf says when education is trimmed, futur skilled workers are left behind. In the end, it’s the locapl high-tech businesses that get hurt. Kansas City ranked No. 44 in the rankings with a -0.21 index. Oklahoma City came in No. 71 at -2.06 and Omahza was No. 66 at -1.92.