Kansas’ recession hangover drives quest for economic development remedies

Brookings Institution policy director Marek Gootman moderated a panel discussion on economic development with a congressman, commerce secretary and chamber of commerce president.

Gootman, who works to bridge gaps between think-tank perspective and real-world action, ended up stealing his guests’ thunder with a buffet of statistics and theories about how technology, population, education and innovation factored into a region’s ability to match talent to opportunities for growth. And, he said, the metrics in Kansas add up to profound problems of economic competitiveness.

“Kansas and its economies have not recovered from the recession,” said Gootman, who considered conditions best in the Wichita and Kansas City markets. “The rest of the state? Brutal. More than twice as many people who are in that high-skill category than there are jobs to occupy them.”