The doors of the new Junction City High School will swing wide-open for students on August 25, 2021. The 437,000 square-foot state-of-the-art high school is located on the west side of Junction City, Kansas, along the north side of K-18 Highway, and is the culmination of years of planning and perseverance.
“The old high school was at the end of its functional life,” said David Wild, Geary County Schools Unified School District 475 Chief Operations Officer. “The Board of Education commissioned a needs assessment to determine the feasibility of renovating that school. Plumbing, electrical, space, flooring, ceilings, heating and cooling, plu...
The crack of the bat, the cheer of the crowd, the aroma of fresh popcorn on a clear summer evening . . . these tell a tale of baseball familiar to many. Junction City Brigade Baseball at Rathert Field delivers all of this, but the story goes even deeper. The baseball dreams, success, and camaraderie launch from a foundation of rich history, community spirit, tenacity, and quality of life.
Rathert Field — built from limestone quarried right in Junction City — is an architectural landmark and one of the most historic baseball stadiums in the Midwest. Opening its doors in 1937...
Agile work is increasing due to the pandemic. Having experienced some of the benefits of working from home — such as reduced commutes, increased ability to balance work and life, preferred space to execute individualized focus work, etc. — more office workers are going to expect flexibility in where they work.
Recognizing this coming shift is the easy part. Understanding how portfolio and workplace strategies need to adjust — and then executing on those adjustments — is the challenge.
In order to explore and better understand how organizations are thinking about these changes, Cushman & Wakefield partnered with CoreNet Global to surve...
If the recent pandemic has taught business leaders anything, it’s that solid readiness planning through diversification and data analysis can reduce the impact when a crisis hits. Nearly half of operations leaders surveyed in the recent PwC US Pulse Survey indicated that reducing supply chain disruptions is “very important.” But few companies are ready to make the costly move of reshoring or nearshoring, even though a recent executive order put an emphasis on the potential upsides of moving supply chains to — or closer to — the United States or allied countries. Recent changes to multinational trade agreements also further complicate supply chain...
High unemployment, the magnifying power of the web and fresh fintech financing are fueling an eruption of startups not seen in decades. And America will never go back to business as usual.
In the gritty, gray concrete lobby of Firebrand Collective—a women’s coworking space in Kansas City’s industrial West Bottoms district—Jackie Nguyen makes lattes laced with cardamom and lychee from her colorful mobile coffee shop. A colossal dragon head covers the shop, Cafe Cà Phê, painted the bold yellow and red of the South Vietnamese flag, with dashes of bright blue in a nod to the French influence on the country’s food. “An...
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every facet of our economy, increasing a cultural reliance on e-commerce that is here to stay. Retailers have responded by minimizing square footage of brick-and-mortar store fronts, keeping less inventory on site, and focusing more on entertainment and experiential retail to keep shoppers engaged. As a result, the need for warehousing and industrial space has exploded, driving the desire for large-scale, innovative facilities that maximize efficiency and logistical operations.
The literal driving force behind the industrial surge is the expansion of transportation capabilities worldwide, with international trade becoming the engine of the global economy. Goods ar...
Filing business-related taxes can often be a time-consuming and complicated process, especially for new entrepreneurs. Small business owners need a good understanding of the federal, state, and local taxes required to file. The types of taxes can range from income, employment, excise, and sales.
It is critical that business owners are set up for success well before tax season. Here are three steps for managing your small business’s taxes.
1. Find the Right Accountant
Most small business owners hire an accountant to ensure that all tax filing and payments are made correctly. Accountants help reduce the amount of time business owners spend o...
It’s been incredibly interesting to watch just how the world has responded to the Covid-19 crisis. Some businesses and individuals didn’t seem to respond or pivot at all, but a select group of companies figured out how to not only stay afloat, but also thrive in the midst of this pandemic.
These companies, the successful amidst the chaos, act as a compelling case study for many economists around the globe (since this is truly all unprecedented), and for myself. I’ve been looking at the companies that have actually grown during Covid-19, and I dug into just how they’ve been able to do it. Hopefully, this insight wil...
The pandemic wreaked havoc across every industry, and companies in the manufacturing and mobility/transportation sectors were not spared. The result? Companies are re-evaluating their supply chains and operations in a post-COVID environment.
Realigning the Supply Chain
For the past 20 years, manufacturing moved operations from the U.S. to East Asia to take advantage of cheap labor. This approach dominated manufacturers’ strategy, paving the way for a status quo where low-skilled and large-scale manufacturing was done in China. But COVID-19 — coupled with rising wages in East Asia, trade tensions, and a tariff war between the U.S. and China — undermined the busines...
Access to education, health care, public safety and government services increasingly depends on access to affordable, high-speed internet service. It provides small-business owners with access to resources and markets around the world, allows students the opportunity to participate in remote education and connects patients in medically underserved areas to critical health services. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the importance of that internet access.
Available data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggest that Kansas residents, especially in rural communities, lack access to stable, high-speed internet service at home. At the same time, current FCC regulations on broadband measurement and reporting limi...
Junction City/Geary County Kansas is now benefiting from reliable, high-performance fiber broadband thanks to Twin Valley Communications, a 4th-generation family-owned provider of gigabit broadband, fixed wireless, and IT managed services. This innovation was made possible by SPARK funding from CARES Act grants, matching investments from Twin Valley, and proactive thinking by Junction City leadership.
The project is being conducted in two phases. Due to requirements of the SPARK funding received September 2020, Phase 1 had to be completed by December 31, 2020. Had the city not voted in November 2019 to install a conduit system and fiber-optic network to connect th...
Geary Community Hospital (GCH) has been providing quality healthcare and promoting the well-being of the community it serves since it opened in 1913 in a large old home on the southwest corner of Second and Adams Streets.
Since opening, GCH has relocated, transformed, and expanded several times, but has always remained focused on its vision to be the trusted choice for the community’s healthcare and wellness. In 1966, the current facility was completed, funded in part by $1.1 million federal matching grants that hinged on the promise to provide charity care to the indigent for the next 20 years. Although th...
The following excerpt is from Caroline Stokes’s book Elephants Before Unicorns. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | IndieBound or click here to buy it directly from us and SAVE 60% on this book when you use code CAREER2021 through 4/17/21.
I’d like to introduce you to three technologies that will help people leaders discover talent and fuel your teams’ evolution to avoid dinosaur syndrome (falling behind in terms of the skill and functionality of your teams). Let’s walk briefly through each of them.
Bias Avoidance Talent Matching
The first tool is SquarePeg, a matching service for job seekers and employers that uses online assessments to measure a candidate’s aptitude, preferences and character traits, and determine whic...
The following excerpt is from Dr. Nadine Greiner’s book Stress-Less Leadership. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | IndieBound or click here to buy it directly from us and SAVE 60% on this book when you use code LEAD2021 through 4/10/21.
It can be hard to concentrate. Even on your best days, you're surrounded by distractions. When you struggle to concentrate, you can’t focus on what needs to be done, you waste time and you stress yourself out. It’s time to review some solutions.
Lay out the work and stick to it
When you embark on a task without a plan, it’s like going on a road trip without a map. You need to know where you’re headed. A ke...
Two years ago, Nick Poels decided he wanted K-12 students in his rural Kansas community of 2,500 to learn to code. Kids in Phillipsburg soon had a brand-new computer lab, and Poels hoped 20 or 30 children might use it.
"Within two weeks of school starting, we had 351 students involved," he said.
Poels quickly realized he had touched on something.
At the time he was the economic development director for Phillips County, in north-central Kansas. Now he's working with nonprofit NetWork Kansas on a new project to bring computer science education to K-12 schools across the state, with support from the Kansa...
Will the 2020 Corporate Survey provide us with insight into the needs and priorities of companies and developers, or will the effects of the pandemic and global trade tensions have created a focus on location factors relevant to a temporary business climate that most of us hope will return to a more familiar environment?
My crystal ball is as good as the next pundit’s, but in speaking with clients, in reviewing responses in the 2020 Corporate Survey, and in interpreting current events and investment trends, my view is that those organizations that have adapted to new ways of working, solving problems...
When she was elected, Governor Kelly promised to be “the education Governor.” Since the start of her administration, she’s made good on that commitment by increasing funding for public schools and working to align education with business needs.
On January 24, 2019, Governor Kelly issued Executive Order 19-03 creating the Governor’s Council on Education. The Council’s overall charge is to increase prosperity and well-being for Kansans by providing quality education from early learning through post-secondary attainment.
Late last year, the Council presented a set of policy recommendations focused on greater collaboration between businesses, workforce training programs and educators, along with enhanced access to a high-quality education fo...
The Corporate Survey results reflect the current situation. The pandemic has not changed the corporate real estate strategy of many companies (confirmed by 76 percent) to go forward with domestic and international investments, but it has slowed it down. For example, travel restrictions still limit the possibility of foreign companies to visit possible sites in the U.S. Nevertheless, several new projects have started including FDI ones. As the survey shows, reshoring, near-shoring, and offshoring seem not to be happening. Companies are also tending to do more geographical diversification of their plants and expanding existing facilities. We are already seeing larg...
Communities are the heart of Kansas. So, when it comes to growing the economy, community development is central to our approach.
One of the first priorities companies consider when deciding where to locate is whether their employees will be able to live happily and comfortably. When it comes to Kansas, we know they can and will.
See the original source here.
MANHATTAN — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, has funded a new Nuclear Engineering Fellowship Program to provide financial support and mentoring to at least three Kansas State University nuclear engineering doctoral students.
Students selected for the four-year, $400,000 program — under the direction of Amir Bahadori, associate professor and Steve Hsu Keystone research scholar in the Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering — will perform research in areas of interest to the NRC.
Collaborators on the project — all K-State associate professors of mechanical and nuclear engineering and Steve Hsu Keystone research scholars — include Walter McNeil, Jeremy Roberts an...
The following excerpt is from Kanika Tolver’s book Career Rehab. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes or click here to buy it directly from us and SAVE 60% on this book when you use code CAREER2021 through 4/17/21.
One of the most important phases of your career rehab journey is creating your Rehab YOU career blueprint. Become the architect of your career by considering your desired career path, location, salary, scope, organization type, benefits and perks and mentors. You’ll start to feel more confident in your career renovations as you craft your vision of your dream career. Here’s how to get started:
1. Be a brand, not an employee
Most employees don’t see themselve...
Being inquisitive about data is essential for any web-based business. How are you going to operate a website without knowing how people are actually using it? That's why Google Analytics is so crucial for any business running a website. It will give you the insights you need to make better decisions about your content, web optimization, SEO, and more. This free tool is preferred by millions worldwide as a simple way to understand their web traffic and make improvements to their websites. If you're ready to learn GA, The Google Analytics Master Class Bundle is a great place to start.
This five-course bundle comprises 12 hour...
You might think that creativity requires the antithesis of rules and regulation. Even the thought of being creative conjures up images of disorder. Messy rooms, paint everywhere, scraps of paper with ideas scrawled across them. The frantic creative genius works away, oblivious to the world around them. Chaos. Method in madness. Flashes of brilliance among a cluttered existence.
The best entrepreneurs are creative. They need to find ways of solving old and new problems. They picture a world that doesn’t yet exist, they bring products to life using only their imagination. They think of ways to move forward, grow bigger an...
As we were ringing in 2020, it’s safe to say that almost no one could have imagined the novel year that was virtually at our doorsteps. Like a monsoon, Covid-19 arrived, and with it a plethora of changes to not only how we live and work, but how business is conducted.
Quarantines and lockdowns became a way of life, forcing companies to transform how they operate. Office staff, sales reps, and others who were considered non-essential workers began working from home. In-person meetings and sales calls became a thing of the past, replaced by collaboration tools to boost the efficiency o...
The coronavirus pandemic plunged the world into a deep health and economic crisis. The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine points to a “light at the end of the tunnel” for the country’s physical health, but as we collectively take stock for ways to rebuild our economy stronger and more resilient than before, we need to remember what works. Entrepreneurism has been, and will continue to be, a driver of long-term economic growth.
The economic free fall brought about by the coronavirus was unexpected and unprecedented. Experts are still attempting to fully understand, quantify, and predict the full extent of the fallout...
AD: How has COVID-19 changed the employee experience in manufacturing, and what facets of this should organizations retain going forward?
Zenk: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees have been experiencing a drastically different work environment. Thousands of manufacturers across the U.S. and around the world were deemed essential during the pandemic, and their production lines haven’t stopped. They’ve continued to produce essential goods that the global community relies on — from the food we eat to the clothes we wear and cleaning supplies we use in our homes. As some manufacturers increased output and others reconfigured operations to satisfy urgent demands...
Back in the 1980s, the term “offshoring” became a business buzzword as more and more U.S. companies moved manufacturing to foreign countries, typically to save on labor costs. In recent years, “reshoring” has been added to the lexicon as companies decide to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., for various reasons.
In 2020, reshoring created more U.S. jobs than foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first time in seven years, according to data collected by the Reshoring Initiative. In 2020, U.S. companies reshored nearly 69,000 manufacturing positions, while greenfield investment in the same industries created fewer than 42,000 jobs, according to the Initiative...
The stratospheric rise of the cloud over the past few years caught many off guard and created an arms race among the cloud providers, with data center development underpinning the effort.
These cloud providers were anticipating ever-increasing demand for the cloud by globally creating a robust and redundant network of massive data centers tethered together through a network of smaller data centers and fiber connection locations. Data centers that service other segments of the market (wholesale colocation, “edge,” and retail) were also riding the wave of increased demand. Little did we know a global pandemic would make data centers and th...
Judging by the number of e-commerce and health-related facility investments all around us in this pandemic year, you’d expect those categories to vault to the top of any global ranking by industry sector.
They didn’t quite reach the summit, but logistics (+19.3%) and life sciences (+12%) show the biggest — and only — growth rates among the Top Industries of 2020, as judged by the number of projects tracked by NAICS code in the Conway Data Analytics Database. The database since the 1980s has tracked facility investments by corporate end users across all world geographies and all industry sectors.
Life sciences rise...
As entrepreneurs we tend to spend many hours at work, however, this may not be the most beneficial for your health or even for your cognitive development.
According to a study published by the Melbourne Institute Worker Paper , spending only 25 hours at work a week, that is, three days, could be the healthiest, especially if you are over 40 years old.
According to Australian researchers , who analyzed 3,000 men and 3,000 women, working more than 55 hours a week produces fatigue, stress, affects neural processes and atrophy cognitive functions. That is, reducing work time to 25 hours for every seven days improves memory, abstract reasonin...
Because of its support of Fort Riley, Junction City, Kansas was named a Great American Defense Community in 2020. This award celebrates communities with an exceptional commitment to improving the lives of service members, veterans, and their families.
“Only five communities are selected annually to receive the Great American Defense Community Award amongst all military installations in the U.S., not just the Army, so it is very select company,” said Craig Bender, Military Affairs Council Director.
Defense communities are the towns, cities, counties, regions, and states that serve as home to the nation’s military installations and industrial partners. In some cases, ther...
Core technology jobs are weathering the pandemic better than many other occupations as demand stays strong for tech services and products that support social distancing and basic business and societal functions. This bodes well for tech hotspots across North America.
The tech industry already is a pillar of the U.S. economy. In the past five years, one of every four new office-space-using jobs created were in the technology industry. That influence extends to commercial real estate: Tech companies in this year’s second quarter accounted for 20.5% of office leasing activity in the U.S., more than any other industry.
The pandemic has pause...
Of course, the big factor impacting office and industrial parks going into 2021 is COVID-19. The pandemic has reduced business production and workforce (through illness, social distancing, and remote working), disrupted the supply chain and cash flow, and brought about significant investments in technology.
Across the nation, the demand for suburban office parks is rising as more skilled workers move back to suburbs, due to concerns about housing costs and quality of education — they also feel safer from COVID-19 and the civil unrest that is happening in some larger cities.
“The most notable shift is toward lower-intensity spaces, where getting int...
An exceptional state public school system, ranked 15th in the country.
Higher Education
Kansas State University, a world-class research institution, is 20 minutes away.
2020 Great American Defense Community
This is a national level award that is only given to five communities per year across the entire United States after a tough competition between applicants. This award demonstrates the continuous dedication that Junction City shows in its support of Fort Riley and the 1st Infantry Division.
Technical Training
Twenty minutes from one of the top tech colleges in the nation: Manhattan Area Technical College.
Natural Beauty
Home to the largest lake in Kansas with 163 miles of shoreline.
Connected
An unbeatable drive-time radius with multiple major markets within 600 miles.
Connected
Five exits off I-70 and an abundance of affordable sites for development.
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