Jul 30, 2022

How Barton CC could benefit from job growth in Kansas City

Posted Jul 30, 2022 4:19 PM

By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post

GREAT BEND — Barton Community College Institutional Research Coordinator Jose Palacios presented information to the college’s board of trustees this week of the potential population and job increases coming to Kansas.

Pandemic restrictions led Americans to move to rural states due to the increase of remote work. Inflation is also creating a housing issue. Construction has slowed down, causing Americans to move further into the Midwest because of lower home prices. Palacios presented data showing Kansas ranked third in the United States in low cost of living.

Palacios also highlighted Panasonic, Mythical Games and Garmin will be adding thousands of jobs over the next few years to the Kansas City area that will need trained employees.

"This presents Barton with a unique opportunity because these jobs are highly-skilled and technical jobs, like cyber security, IT and software engineers," said Palacios. "Businesses are coming. Usually when businesses come, families come and it opens an opportunity for education and training for those new jobs."

Barton Board of Trustees Chair Mike Johnson said the boom in jobs, even hours away, could benefit Barton.

"It's a different perspective, being three hours away, but with the idea of the number of jobs going to be needed and our online capabilities...Barton could be in position to capture some student head count," said Johnson.

Kansas City will be a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Opportunities from hosting the World Cup could bring Fortune 500 companies to open new locations in Kansas City anticipating potential revenue growth from the World Cup.