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.