An integral part of training the work force is retention, said Steve Higgs. “There’s nothing that motivates somebody to be trained more than an opportunity to be safe, secure and doing something exciting.”

Joe Heppert is enthused about the incubator spaces that are starting to spring up across the metropolitan area and in Lawrence. Some of them, in fact, are so full that they are running out of space. Heppert worries that if we do not provide for the talented undergrads and PhDs that the region is producing, “We’ll continue to be a great feeder for the coasts.”

Some of the better secondary schools are also contributing to the creation of a viable work force. John Norton gave kudos in particular to the Blue Valley’s Center for Advanced Professional Studies, an extraordinary consortium of five high schools. “They’ve got little tiny kids that are patenting biotechnology and aero-space stuff,” said Norton. His hope is to keep those students in the area, ideally at UMKC. “We need to get them integrated into this process,” Norton added.

“Our greatest impact is reaching to the middle school and high school systems to bring that talent up,” agreed Robert Casillas. “The more we can be involved as mentors, as tutors, allowing our various staff to be involved and engaged daily is where were going to see that greatest impact.”

Law firms are in the recruiting business as well. Polsinelli Shughart already has 11 PhDs. As Patrick Woolley observed, they need more—more chemists, more doctors of pharmacy, more people with technical training who
are prepared to spend three additional years in law school.

Henry Randall wants not only to nurture young talent here but to recruit from outside the area as well. One of the quickest ways to do that is to identify mentors and create programs that are attractive to outsiders.

Incentives

One part of a comprehensive plan to attract and retain talent is a program of government-sponsored incentives. Kevin Sweeney asked his colleagues which of the available development tools has proven most effective.

Dan Getman lobbied for the Angel Tax Credit Program, which has been very successful in Kansas. He also likes the state’s Eminent Scholars Program. Jeff Reene believes that the Eminent Scholars program has been integral to the success of the Cancer Center.

Said Jeff Boily of the Center for Animal Health Innovation, “There’s no doubt that the tax credit issue has been very successfully used across the board.” Jeff Reene spoke highly of the 1/8 cent sales tax in Johnson County that funds the Johnson County Education and Research Triangle, providing funding for K-State’s Olathe campus, the Edwards Campus of KU, and the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Surprises

As a closing question, those participants relatively new to the area—and there were many—were asked what surprised them most when they got here.

The area’s work ethic impressed Peter Dorhout, also the affection people have for where they live, especially Kansans.

“What I saw here was a clean slate,” said Henry Randall, “the opportunities for building a clinical program, to also add on a research component to it, and knowing that Kansas City did have this developing biotech industry, and
I wanted to be a part of that.”

Said Dan Getman, “I was stunned by people in the region who didn’t have an appreciation for the progress that had been made over the last decade in the life sciences.”

Dan Casillas was impressed by the area’s “partnering environment.” John Garretson agreed. The spirit of collaboration here he found to be “light years beyond” what he had seen in New York.

For John Norton, it was the em-brace—by the region in general and the Bloch School in particular—of the entrepreneurial spirit. “Were going to change the economy of this region,” he enthused. “We’re going to change people’s lives.”

 

Return to Ingram's February 2012