Each of the four sessions began with a welcome by Harvey Sorensen, Tom Winters or Tim Norton and self introductions. Henry Luke then described the Vision Process, the contents of the Vision Task Force notebook and a description of the scenarios.

Members of the four Vision Tasks then suggested items to be considered for Key Benchmarks. A Combination of the results is shown below. In addition many strategies or action steps were suggested. Those suggestions follow the tentative Key Benchmarks. Strategies will be developed for the six foundations with Education & Quality of Life – week 2, Infrastructure & Economic Development – week 3 and Government & Private Sector Leadership – week 4.

The Key Benchmarks shown below are a work in progress and subject to change in the next 3 weeks, at the Task Force editing session on October 11 and in December 2004 as a result of public input.

The Key Benchmarks will be the driving force during the 10 to 20 year process and will be used to measure Visioneering Wichita’s progress each year. There will be Strategy Benchmarks developed by Vision Partners that will also be measured on an annual basis. Achieving the Benchmarks will require our working together in an unprecedented way on the strategies in the six interdependent Foundations: Education, Quality of Life, Economic Development, Infrastructure, Government and Private Sector Leadership. Visioneering Wichita will identify the future we want. The Benchmarks will tell us each year a.) when we are successful and can celebrate; or b.) when we fall short of the Benchmarks and the Vision Partners need to review, revise and refocus their action steps to accomplish the strategies.

There will be an annual increment of change developed for each Key Benchmark during implementation beginning January 2005.

All the data below refers to the Wichita MSA including Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey and Sumner counties.

Tentative Key Benchmarks

1. Job Growth

Benchmark: Exceed the higher of the cumulative annual growth rate of the U.S., Omaha, Tulsa, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. Between 1990 and 2002 this would have been an annual rate above 1.8% as compared to Wichita’s actual rate of 1.2%.

Wichita has been diversifying its economy since 1981 as shown in the job table on the next page. From 1981 – 2002 all the net growth occurred in non-manufacturing jobs. Wichita must make every effort possible to regain recently lost manufacturing jobs and to replace manufacturing jobs lost in the normal turnover of jobs. However, it is clear that the above net job growth Key Benchmark can only be met through growth in non-manufacturing jobs.

There are eight job sectors other than manufacturing that had earnings per job at over $40,000 in 2002. These eight plus manufacturing made up 33.7% of Wichita’s jobs.

2. Per Capita Income

Benchmark: Stop the 21 year decline of Wichita per capita income as a percentage of U.S. per capita income before 2010, 2012 or 2015. This 14% decline occurred as Wichita began diversifying its economy as shown in the chart for job growth. This decline will continue until the private sector non-manufacturing earnings per job gap and total earnings per job gap with the US begin to be reduced. (See Job Table above for the gaps between Wichita and the U.S. in earnings per job and scenario #2)

3. Education

Benchmarks: Technical Education: Provide technical education to ensure a skilled workforce and competitive skills training for companies adding or relocating jobs. This will include replacements for the large number of highly skilled and high pay workers starting to retire in the next five years. This measurement will be in alignment with the Key Benchmarks for job growth and per capita income.

Higher Education: Increase the number of WSU students 3% per year with an emphasis on undergraduates. Increase percentage of higher education research dollars by at least 20% per year from 2005 - 2008, 15% per year 2009 - 2012 and 10% per year thereafter.

K-12: All schools and districts meet the Kansas Adequate Yearly Progress Plan (AYP) each year. To meet this plan requires improvement in academic achievement, racial and ethnic equity and improved graduation rates. (See scenario #5)

4. Family Stability

Benchmark: The four counties in the Wichita MSA will be below the Kansas average by 2024 in percentage of marriage dissolutions (annulments & divorces) and percentage of live births born out of wedlock. (See scenario #6)

5. Downtown Development

Benchmark: Increase total private and public investment by $100 million, $150 million or $200 million per year. (See scenario #10)

6. Arts/Cultural/Recreation

Benchmark: Wichita will be in the upper ¼ of Places Rated Almanac’s Arts/Culture and Recreation score by 2009, 2014 or 2024. Wichita in the last edition had a score of 52.13 out of 100 in Arts and Culture and 54.10 in Recreation. Our 5 peer cities had over 75 in both ratings except Tulsa in Arts & Culture at 63.18.

7. Racial Harmony, Opportunity & Diversity

Benchmark: In all of the six foundations and strategies of Visioneering Wichita, we will be committed to racial harmony, diversity and opportunity for everyone. We will ensure the change in attitudes resulting from the implementation of these many strategies by having a regular scientific attitude survey that will be the measurement for changes in racial harmony, diversity and opportunity. The survey will establish indexes that measures harmony, diversity and opportunity in social interaction, jobs, education and healthcare (after the initial survey in 2005, expected annual increments of improvement in the index’s will be established.)

8. Leadership

Benchmark: Public and Private Sector leadership will be measured by success in meeting the other Key Benchmarks.

Strategies and/or Action Steps Discussed at Vision Task Force Meetings
September 7 - 10

• Diversification of economy and jobs
• Need jobs that attract and retain young people
• Retain and increase entrepreneurism
• Need to replace older workers
• Flexible jobs
• Need more careers in creative arts
• Need to attract new people
• Diversity of jobs
• Retain our youth
• Population growth
• In-migration
• Think and act regionally
• Need more per capita income growth modified by cost of living
• Need higher paying jobs; diversify recruitment
• Need to include other counties and support regionalism
• Seem to have lost our innovation spirit
• Retaining of laid off workers and older workers
• Need to start a intergenerational think tank to discuss new jobs

• Need Early Childhood Education
• Quality daycare
• Support technical education and funding for technical education
• What kinds of degrees?
• University (WSU) strength
• Need to replace those who leave the job market
• Need state training infrastructure and increased capacity
• WSU development
• Educational level of minorities
• Graduation rates
• Higher college graduation rates
• Availability of tech education
• Provide a skilled workforce
• Develop more mentoring programs
• How can kids connect with jobs?
• Career counseling
• Emphasize technical education
• More collaboration between colleges and training
• Embrace cultural diversity
• Need more people to participate and support visioning process, both short term and long term
• Need higher standards for leaders
• Need more opportunities to lead, particularly for young people
• Equal safety/security for all
• Government: more effective; public dissatisfied, business overtaxed, need regional approach
• Minority opportunities
• Private sector most important
• Safety

• Improve first impression of community
• Need new image
• Appreciate ourselves and community
• Get local population to believe in and talk about good image
• Need to brand our image
• Focus on core values
• People move because of image to community not necessarily because of job
• Recreation: culture impact on jobs and image
• Maintain neighborhoods
• Land use
• Building development/drainage infrastructure
• Affordable housing
• Quality of life
• River development
• Water supply
• Outdoor recreational area
• Recycling
• Activities for singles or young adults
• Maintenance of farms
• Utilize natural assets
• We have a beach – right in southwest Wichita!

• Preserve central city
• Decrease downtown vacancy rates
• Number of entertainment activities downtown
• Number of people who live/work downtown

• Incarceration of young people, particularly African American youth
• Marriage dissolution

• Quality of healthcare

Core Value Survey #1