Earlier this week, the Nex-Tech team engaged the Kansas State Governor, Laura Kelly, and several state legislators at the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, KS. The team was part of the annual capitol delegation of rural broadband providers across Kansas under the Communications Coalition of Kansas (CCK) umbrella.
While the cold January breeze blew across western Kansas, the dazzling sunshine gave verve to the day as I drove along I-70 from Hays to WaKeeney, KS. Today, this stretch of land seemed more enchanting than usual, especially while covered with snow. After a week of constant sub-zero temperatures, things were looking up. The weather had let up and it was the big day. The day we close with a new Nex-Tech Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) recipient.
It was late on Monday, 18th December 2023, when our team got an invitation to meet with the congressman representing all the Nex-Tech towns and counties in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Tracey Mann.
Last week, we invested two days in Hugoton, Kansas, with dozens of economic development organizations and institutions from across western Kansas.
The occasion was the quarterly conference of the Western Kansas Rural Economic Development Alliance (WKREDA).
Recently, our team supported the business ideas of students at the Norton County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC). Students from High Schools and Junior High Schools across the county developed over 40 different businesses.
Recently, the Nex-Tech economic development team was in Salina to engage with stakeholders during the December chamber luncheon.
The Nex-Tech Economic Development team recently invested 3 days networking, sharing ideas, and learning industry best practices in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
For two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, October 10th and 11th, 2023, the Nex-Tech Economic Development Team was in Manhattan, Kansas. We were involved in the Fall Conference of the Communications Coalition of Kansas (CCK). The CCK enables rural broadband providers, like Nex-Tech, to discuss our collective concerns, develop a concrete agenda of action, and increase the positive impact we have on our individual communities.
On Wednesday, 4th October 2023, the Nex-Tech Economic Development team visited the drone program of Logan High School, Kansas, where we heard the story of Sydney Rider and Jerrod Hofaker. Sydney is a senior who lives on a farm dozens of miles away but got trained in drone aviation by her high school teacher, Jerrod Hofaker. Today, she is a licensed Federal Aviation Administration drone pilot and can fly drones for agricultural and commercial purposes. Jerrod has also trained several students and helped them get their FAA licenses.
On Friday, 6th October 2023, the Nex-Tech Economic Development Team was at Fort Hays State University, Hays KS, where we joined the Senator representing the state of Kansas, Jerry Moran. The senator had discussions with the team at the FHSU Cybersecurity Institute and Technology Incubator, as well as stakeholders like Nex-Tech on how western #Kansas can become a destination for cybersecurity jobs and industry.