Job Creation

Workforce Survey aims to help Emporia businesses
Emporia Building Futures is conducting a Workforce Survey to identify the needs of Emporia businesses when it comes to hiring, attracting, developing and training new people for jobs in Emporia.

The survey’s aim is to find out what types of jobs are available in Emporia and to give businesses a baseline measurement. The survey also will identify any hindrances or weaknesses in the community when it comes to hiring for management or other positions and what barriers and selling points there are in Emporia.

After the survey is complete, Building Futures will be able to judge the quality of Emporia’s workforce by identifying the strengths and weaknesses and the number of unfulfilled positions. The results from the survey will be used for a new campaign to recruit former Emporia High School and Emporia State University students to come live and work in Emporia. The campaign will encourage people to visit EmporiaBuildingFutures.com where actual jobs available will be listed in conjunction with other local online job listings.

“The Workforce Survey will tell us what jobs and positions are out there and what we need to be doing to listen to Emporia’s business community needs,” Jeanine McKenna, Emporia Chamber president said.

Survey results will be listed on EmporiaBuildingFutures.com in September.

Emporia wins 2008 Silver Shovel Award from Area Development Online
Three states with populations under three million — Arkansas, Kansas & Utah — received Silver Shovel awards.
Read the full story at Area Development Online:
http://www.areadevelopment.com/annualReports/jun08/Silver-Shovel-Winners-2008-AR-KS-UT.shtml

Kansas named a top 10 state in Site Selection magazine’s Competitiveness Awards
State’s high ranking is second in four weeks by a major business publication

Site Selection magazine has named Kansas one of the nation’s 10 most competitive states for capital investment and new facility development.

The rankings were part of Site Selection’s annual Competitiveness Awards, which recognize the states that score the most points on the magazine’s 10-category index of new facility construction. Kansas was ranked No. 10, finishing just behind South Dakota and Nebraska and giving the state its first top-10 finish since the awards began in 2003.

Complete coverage of the Competitiveness Awards, along with Site Selection’s annual Top Groups and Top Deals coverage, appears in the magazine’s May issue and at www.siteselection.com.

“We are pleased to be recognized by one of the nation’s premier site location publications,” Governor Kathleen Sebelius said. “Kansas’ top-10 ranking by Site Selection magazine is a testament to our attractive business environment, and our target audience is taking note.”

The announcement from Site Selection comes just one month after Pollina Corporate Real Estate, one of the nation’s leading corporate site selection firms, named Kansas among the Top 10 pro-business states in the country. This was the second time in three years that Kansas has made the Pollina list.

“This has really been an exciting few weeks for Kansas business,” said Kansas Department of Commerce Secretary David Kerr. “Between the Pollina announcement April 2, the Governor’s signing of the Cessna Bill on April 23 and now this ranking by Site Selection, I’m feeling really good about the Kansas business climate and the state’s reputation among business and site location leaders around the nation.”

Fiscal Year 2007 saw the Department of Commerce involved in 43 location, expansion or retention projects in which Kansas was competing with out-of-state locations. These projects resulted in 6,800 jobs created or retained and $780 million in capital investment, an increase of $408 million from the previous year. Companies that built or expanded facilities included Pacific Sunwear, Prescription Solutions, Service Magic, Alorica and Capgemini, among others.

Kansas ranked in 2008 Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States Report

The Pollina Corporate Top Ten Pro-Business States 2008, in order are: North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, Utah and Kansas.

The study evaluates and ranks states based on 29 factors including taxes, human resources, right-to-work legislation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, workers compensation legislation and jobs lost or gained.

Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. is a full service brokerage and consulting firm, representing corporations in real estate matters on a national and international basis.

Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. has advised Fortune 500 clients and start-up ventures alike in commercial real estate matters since 1981 and has stayed at the forefront of the industry by hiring sophisticated individuals with rich and varied backgrounds, and by participating in corporate real estate think tanks and academia.

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