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Kansas has responded to the needs
of a changing world with a bold set of strategies to
attract new and expanding business now and in the future.
The roster of Kansas companies includes a powerful combination
of cutting-edge and traditional industries. The state’s
business and economic success is fueled by one of the
nation’s best-educated workforces.
Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, recently signed
the 2004 Kansas Economic Growth Act, which includes
a $500m initiative to further develop biotechnology
and life sciences in the state. The Act also modernises
Workforce Development with a once-in-a-generation restructuring
of the state’s training programmes, establishes
a Kansas Centre for Entrepreneurship, an Angel Investor
Tax Credit Programme, and a Rural Business Development
Programme. State initiatives in bioscience and research
have attracted progressive industry leaders such as
Bayer, Lab One, PRA International, Abbott Laboratories
and Serologicals Corporation. Kansas is also a world
leader in aviation manufacturing. Established aerospace
firms like Boeing, Cessna, Raytheon, Bombardier Learjet
and
Airbus operate facilities in Kansas.
If you have not seriously considered Kansas as a viable
site for your business, perhaps it’s time to schedule
a visit. Kansas is becoming an economic powerhouse and
the reasons include:
- High quality, well-educated labour
force. Our workforce ranks 16th nationwide for attainment
of high school and 12th for college degrees;
- Low cost of doing business, averaging
5% below the national average;
- Unit labour costs (earnings
per dollar of output) well below the national average;
- Ideal transportation and marketing
advantages due to central location and outstanding
infrastructure.
Whether by highway, rail
or air, Kansas offers excellent transportation and marketing
advantages for your business. Because the state is centrally
located and focused on building and maintaining an outstanding
infrastructure, it’s easier and cheaper to ship
in and out of Kansas. The state is home to numerous
production facilities, warehouses and distribution centres
that have found shipping raw materials and finished
goods to be more profitable when located in the nation’s
heartland. In fact, transportation infrastructure was
a major reason why FedEx Ground
decided to expand its operations in Shawnee and Wichita,
building new distribution and delivery facilities.
Kansas’ technological excellence is driven by
the state’s superior education system at all levels,
from elementary schools to universities. This emphasis
on education produces workers who are both competent
and hard working; valuable traits for any employer.
The pupil-teacher ratio in Kansas public schools ranks
17th in the country and there is a computer for every
2.4 students in each Kansas school, the third-best mark
in the nation. At the adult level, Kansas again ranks
high for educational achievement. Over 29% of Kansans
over the age of 25 have at least a bachelor’s
degree, and 88% have earned a high school diploma. Six
universities anchor the education system and technical
colleges provide specific training in a number of areas.
A variety of incentives are available to international
businesses in Kansas:
- Up to a 100%, 10-year exemption
on real and personal property taxes;
- Corporate income tax credits
that can eliminate up to 100% of annual tax liability;
- Sales tax exemptions on facility
construction and equipment purchases;
- No inventory tax;
- Workforce training grants;
- Right-to-Work Law.
Our workforce training programmes, ranked 11th in the
nation by site location consultants, benefit companies
substantially on their training costs. The state of
Kansas is dedicated to the training and retraining of
its workforce to obtain the skills needed
by employers. New or existing Kansas companies may qualify
for assistance under one of our flexible and customised
workforce training programmes served by 19 community
colleges, 16 vo-tech schools, one municipally funded
university, and a variety of private, liberal arts colleges.
In addition to the outstanding business climate, Kansas
is also a great place to live. Morgan Quitno, a nationally
recognised publication, recently ranked Kansas as the
11th most livable state in the United States, based
on 43 factors, including median household income, crime
rate, sunny days and job growth. If rural living interests
you, there are plenty of open spaces, including several
small towns, which currently offer free building land
to qualified applicants. If city life is more your style,
there are a number of metropolitan areas and attractions
to meet those needs.
With everything that Kansas has to offer, it’s
easy to understand why companies continue to start,
grow, relocate to, and flourish in the state. If bottom-line
costs are the most important factor in your site decision,
Kansas is a great place to be. The organisation
that helps tie everything together in the state is the
Kansas Department of Commerce.
For more information, contact the
Kansas Europe office
in the UK:
Tel:
+44 (0) 1372 363386
E-mail:
reception@prowse.co.uk
Website:
www.kansascommerce.com
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