It will be up to the people who live in Wichita — not government or corporate leaders — whether the city is to shake off decades of stagnation and achieve meaningful growth and prosperity, a Wichita-raised and Harvard-trained economic analyst says.
Wichita has been “stuck in neutral for about three decades, with basically no growth, amidst the landscape of a growing U.S. economy,” said James Chung, who graduated from Wichita Collegiate and now runs Reach Advisors, a New York-based strategy and research firm.
Chung’s firm was hired three years ago to analyze Wichita’s strengths, problems and potential. His initial report was sobering, saying Wichita had lost its mojo. It identified four key challenges where the community can make changes and influence its future: its business cycle, human capital, entrepreneurship and perception.
He is returning to Wichita to offer an update on how the city is responding to those challenges. His presentation, which is open to the public, will be at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Advanced Learning Library, 711 W. Second St. N.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)