Here’s Looking at You, 2022: the Region’s Top 10 Stories

The Kansas economy has had a big year. Winning its second consecutive Golden Shovel Award, the state is truly seeing the fruits of its labor after passing the Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion Act and cementing its reputation as a centrally located, ...

Manhattan Semiconductor Manufacturer Announces Expansion

In yet another in a long and growing list of advanced manufacturing and workforce wins for the Greater Manhattan region, Radiation Detection Technologies Inc. has announced a $4 million investment in a Pottawatomie County foundry facility and the creation...

Greater Manhattan Business Leaders Seek New Ideas and Inspiration in Wichita, Oklahoma City

Why would more than 40 regional business leaders spend two days of their busy lives on a bus learning about how other cities and chambers operate?

“Visiting other communities to learn about their strengths is vitally important to our own communit...

Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab Is Serving Up High-Tech Resources for Greater Manhattan Area

The Sunderland Foundation Innovation Lab at Kansas State University’s Hale Library is creating amazing opportunities for K-Staters and community members alike. The state-of-the-art technology-focused facility is located on the first and second fl...

K-State Graduates Attract Attention Across Many High-Demand Industries

There’s a steady stream of high-quality talent coming from Kansas State University, destined for careers in some of the nation’s most vital (and growing) industries.  

In May 2021, the university awarded 5,356 bachelor&rsqu...

New Scorpion Biological Services Facility to Bolster Public Health Assets in US

As the biomanufacturing industry experiences unprecedented growth, Scorpion Biological Services Inc. is preparing to break ground on a state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility in Manhattan this fall. The domestic need for a commercial-scale facility suc...

Funds and Faith Help Minority Entrepreneurs Succeed in Pottawatomie County

To foster growth in the region, the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation has worked with numerous minority-owned businesses to help them gain access to funds and other resources. By connecting entrepreneurs with the Small Business Developm...

Kansas Is on a Roll! Economic Development Announcements Abound for The Wheat State

“This is an amazing time to be an economic developer in Kansas.”

So says Manhattan (Kansas) Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jason Smith, who’s spent his career doing economic development and chamber work in Kansas, ...

Opportunities Abound for Transitioning Military Workforce and Local Employers

Military members and their families are no strangers to transitions. Whether undergoing multiple moves or overseas deployments, this highly resilient population is used to adapting. But one transition — from military to civilian life —...

Made for Manhattan Helps Companies Recruit Top Talent to Top Spot

What’s it like to live in Manhattan, Kansas? There’s a lot to love about this small town with big-city amenities. Not to be confused with its larger namesake in New York, Manhattan, Kansas, has been recognized as a top college town, to...

MATC Ranks No. 4 Out of 650 for Best Community Colleges in the U.S.

The Great Manhattan region’s very own Manhattan Area Technical College (MATC) hit it out of the park with an impressive No. 4 spot on WalletHub’s 2022 Best & Worst Community Colleges list. 

“One of the main reason...

Over $1 Billion Planned Investment Announced in Manhattan Region

One billion dollars in capital investment is a lot for a community to land in a single year. But it is even more extraordinary when it is a community with under 100,000 residents.

But that’s exactly what has happened in 2022 already for Manhattan...

Scorpion Biological Services Inc. to Gear Up Hiring Effort in Fall

As Scorpion Biological Services Inc. prepares to break ground on a 500,000-square-foot facility near Manhattan, Kansas, in October, efforts are underway to begin staffing the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant. 

“Even though constructi...

Local Businesses Collaborate to Develop $50+ Million Mixed-Use Building in Aggieville

What has long been a City of Manhattan public parking lot south of Kite’s in Aggieville will soon be transformed into an ambitious five-story mixed-use property in the heart of the Aggieville Business District near the Kansas State University ca...

Podcast Offers Closer Look at Regional Economic Topics

Amid unprecedented economic growth in the Greater Manhattan region, curiosity and questions abound. The Think MHK podcast created by the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce offers listeners an in-depth look at topics surrounding past, present and future de...

Kansas Wheat Innovation Center Is a Global Hub for Collaboration

Kansas comes by its moniker the “Wheat State” for good reason. It’s the largest wheat-producing state in the country. With deep roots in crop production and as a growing hub of crop science, grain science and milling entities...

Advice and Advocacy: Group Seeks to Engage Greater Manhattan Area Leaders

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce has launched a new organization for local executives and business owners — including retirees — who are interested in promoting career development and economic prosperity in the region. 

Members of the Establ...

Canadian company uses technology developed at Kansas State University to create jobs in Manhattan

MANHATTAN, Kan.— HydroGraph Clean Power Inc. has announced it will open a new commercial scale manufacturing plant in Manhattan, Kansas. The facility will produce graphene — nanomaterial used by a wide range of industries — and hydrogen for alternative-en...

K-State’s Technology Development Institute Provides Manufacturing & Innovation Development Services

The Technology Development Institute, or TDI, at Kansas State University serves as an economic growth driver in the state by providing access to and expertise in innovative technologies to private industry and academic researchers to fuel manufacturing gr...

Incentive Package for Scorpion Largest in Manhattan History

Manhattan, Kansas, has been a diligent supporter of economic development projects since enacting an economic development sales tax in the 1990s.

Since then, Manhattan citizens have voted for multiple economic development initiatives and the Manhattan City ...

Gov. Laura Kelly Announces Partnership to Build Large Biomanufacturing Facility Near Manhattan

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and a panel of federal, state, local and Kansas State University officials today announced a planned development partnership with Scorpion Biological Services Inc. to support the construction of a new bi...

Why Greater Manhattan Is a Great Place for Advanced Manufacturing

Advanced manufacturing, which leverages cutting-edge technologies and processes to enhance quality and capacity, has proved invaluable in medical, aerospace, pharmaceutical, robotics and electric vehicle industries. That list is expanding, as is the need ...

Local Color Spotted in HBO’s Somebody Somewhere, Season One

Story by Kristin BrightonPhoto courtesy of HBO

A lot of us around the area are captivated by HBO’s Somebody Somewhere starring Manhattan native and New York comedy diva Bridget Everett. It’s a bit surreal to experience our town as the s...

Manhattan Businesses Pleased to Be in Bridget Everett’s HBO Series Somebody Somewhere

MANHATTAN, KANSAS — In spring 2021, several Manhattan businesses and organizations were startled to be contacted for merchandise and permission to be featured in the then upcoming HBO comedy series Somebody Somewhere, featuring Manhattan native ...

NBAF Staff Anticipates Facility Completion and Commissioning This Year

MANHATTAN, KANSAS — For more than 15 years, the federal government has been planning and then building a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) and 4 (BSL-4) facility within the continental United States to research foreign animal diseases in livestock and z...

Kansas Continues to Make Headlines for Economic Development Success

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced recently that Kansas has won Site Selection magazine’s 2021 Governor’s Cup. The Governor’s Cup award goes to the state with the most capital investment and the most economic development proje...

Cimarron Trailers Acquires Assets of Manhattan's TravAlum, Locating in Green Valley Business Park

(Feb. 15, 2022 / Manhattan, Kan.) – Cimarron Trailers, an employee-owned horse and livestock trailer manufacturer, announced today that it has acquired the assets of TravAlum, a local aluminum trailer manufacturer based in Manhattan. The company will conv...

27 New “Shovel-Ready” Acres Available for Development in Pottawatomie County

The Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation recently opened a 27-acre lot to new development in the Wamego Industrial Park. The site is currently zoned for heavy industrial use. 

Now that the road has been extended and water, sewer an...

Hype Organization Promotes Engagement, Connection Among Region’s Young Professionals

It’s a great time to start a career in the Greater Manhattan region. The area is home to a growing group of young professionals who are passionate about their careers and community, and they’re more connected and engaged than ever than...

Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills Works to Support and Retain Black-Owned Business in Region

An organization in the Greater Manhattan region is addressing the disparities in resources that make it difficult for Black-owned businesses to thrive. The group, Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills, was formally founded in 2020 and has experienced tre...

Kansas Legislation Supports Companies and Fosters Growth

With more than $7 billion of new business investment coming into the state since January 2019, Kansas isn’t only poised for growth, it’s actively growing — a rare feat when many economies are still finding their way after the...

St. Marys Family Launches Natural Choice Company, A Line of Health and Cleaning Products

Natural Choice Company of St. Marys was recently named the Kansas minority manufacturing business of 2021. Governor Laura Kelly, Lt. Governor David Toland and the state’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Development recognized Natural...

Investing in Animal Health: Companies Partner with K-State College of Veterinary Medicine

Manhattan, Kansas is the westernmost point of the region referred to as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, an established innovation sector with the highest concentration of animal health companies in the world, extending east to Columbia, Missouri. ...

NBAF’s Biologics Development Module to Connect Animal Disease Researchers and Industry

The USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) being constructed in Manhattan will be dedicated to studying foreign, emerging and zoonotic diseases in livestock. This new facility will continue and expand on USDA’s research currently bei...

Nationally Recognized K-State-Developed Software Lays Foundation for Tech Startup in Manhattan

A Kansas State University software development team that created the nationally used PEARS software program is now launching its own company. The team has opened Canopy, a public benefit limited liability company that will serve clients with community-foc...

K-State Innovation Partners Helps Private Industry Access Technology Commercialization and Research

Kansas State University Innovation Partners is committed to connecting industry and community partners with expertise and talent at the university.

As the K-State hub for corporate engagement, technology commercialization and economic development, Innovati...

Beef Alliance Startup Challenge Attracts International Ag Innovators to Kansas

Innovation in agriculture is key to safely and effectively feeding the world. That innovation happens on many levels — from individual farms embracing new technologies to distributors incorporating next-generation logistics.

The Manhattan-based B...

GMEP Receives Economic Development Award from the International Economic Development Council

The Greater Manhattan Economic Partnership won a Silver Rank for its Biosecurity Marketing Campaign, a project in the category of Regionalism and Cross-Border Collaboration of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).  The honor was ...

Zoom Executive Credits K-State Experience as Launchpad for Stellar Career

By Kat Braz

This story originally appeared in K-Stater magazine, a quarterly magazine for Alumni Association members. To read other stories like this join the Association by visiting k-state.com/join.

Arriving in Manhattan, Kansas, as a freshman, Nick Chong...

Manhattan is Abuzz About Six New Murals and its First-ever Air Guitar Competition

Incite MHK has done it again. This group of volunteers coordinated a two-week event to add six new murals to The Little Apple in September, including one that’s 90-feet long on the west side of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce’s office downtown.

Insp...

Manhattan Pursuing Private Developers for Speculative Industrial Building

Manhattan, Kansas, may soon break ground on a new speculative building.

The Manhattan City Commission approved moving forward on a new program to encourage private sector speculative building for new industrial and warehousing space. The program is the ult...

U.S. CattleTrace: Protecting Our Livestock, Protecting Our Food Supply

Cattle move around the country for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes ranchers will introduce new cattle to their herds to improve the herd’s overall genetics. Sometimes cattle are sent to different facilities — ranches, auction markets, feedyards and even p...

USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility: A Game-Changer for Animal Health and Disease Research

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Given all the attention to zoonotic and foreign animal diseases this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it may come as a surprise that the United States doesn’t have a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory where the most dangerous zoonoti...

Healthy Weight Clinic Partnership at K-State Contributes to Better Understanding of Pet Nutrition

The Healthy Weight Clinic at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Health Center is the perfect example of how partnerships between animal health companies and the talented veterinarians, researchers and students at K-State have a lasting impact on the fut...

Local Ecosystem Supports Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses

We all love a good success story. From one-car garage to technology giant — go-getters who rise to the top are the stuff of modern-day legends. But a great idea and a strong work ethic don’t guarantee success. A supportive community network is one factor ...

Kansas Is Back in Business: State Sets Record for Private Investment

The State of Kansas is achieving monumental and historic heights.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced that the State of Kansas set a record for private investment in 2020 with $2.5 billion. However, that was just the beginning. At a recent Manhattan ribbon c...

Scientist Training Program Advances Research Initiatives, Student Careers

As the federal government completes the construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas, it is prioritizing training for the next generation of scientists to work in the region.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspec...

Pottawatomie County to Expand Wamego Industrial Park

The Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC) will soon be going out to bid to extend utilities and build a new road — Shanote Lane — in the current Wamego Industrial Park. These expansions will make the 27 acres owned by PCEDC immediat...

Economic Development Staff Still Supporting Local Business Recovery Efforts a Year into the Pandemic

More than a year after Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s stay-at-home order expired, many businesses in the Greater Manhattan region still have a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels of operation. That’s why the Greater Manhattan Economic Partnersh...

Collaboration Brings Corteva Agriscience to Greater Manhattan Region

Regionalism is easy to preach and hard to practice.

The Manhattan, Kansas, area recently saw regionalism at its best with the opening of the new Corteva Agriscience research and development center in Wamego, a city of 5,000 just east of Manhattan.

The Great...

Tyson Supports Animal Disease ID System Developed at Kansas State University

Story provided courtesy of Kansas State University

A national cattle identification system that was first developed at Kansas State University has received a big boost of support from one of the country's largest food companies.

Tyson Fresh Meats, ...

Kansas State University Expands Human Health Programs to Address Healthcare Worker Shortages

To address state and national shortages of healthcare workers, Kansas State University is launching a series of new healthcare-related academic programs to help students prepare for medical and public health careers.

These programs will allow K-State to di...

HitchPin: A Kansas Tech Company That Aims to Change Global Food Production

A hitch pin is a simple steel rod that connects a tractor to other equipment. With a hitch pin, a farmer can use a tractor to plant, spray, haul — you name it. Without this unassuming device, work would stop. So, how does a hitch pin relate to some of the...

Major Army Post Makes Manhattan Unique University City

There’s one significant difference between Manhattan, Kansas, and other Midwestern college towns with major research universities: Fort Riley. This historic U.S. Army installation had an economic impact in FY 2020 (with multipliers) close to $4 billion.

“W...

Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory leads Manhattan’s fight against COVID-19

Story by Piper Brandt, Kansas State University

Despite challenges, the team at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has worked tirelessly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to offer testing to the Manhattan community and to discover inno...

Bev-Hub Opens New Facility in Manhattan

Manhattan, Kansas, is home to one of the newest co-packing beverage companies in the U.S.

Kansas-based co-packing company Bev-Hub is nearing full operations at their recently purchased Manhattan facility. The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce and the City...

Small-Town Living Within a Large Community: The Best of Both Worlds

Story and Photos by Cherlyn White-Conklin

“You live where?”

That’s the response I usually get when I tell people I live just outside Wamego, Kansas. (Pronounced wah-ME-go.)

It’s a small town — population less than 5,000 — with four stoplights and a Main Stre...

Temporary Stay to Permanent Home: Why So Many Who Land Here for a Short While Stay for the Long Haul

The Greater Manhattan, Kansas, region draws people from all over the country and the world to live, study and work. Some residents assume their stay will be a short one, that greener pastures will beckon, that hometowns or new opportunities will lure them...

Aggieville Redevelopment Focuses on Walkable Entertainment District

Manhattan, Kansas, is revitalizing its oldest business district.

The City of Manhattan broke ground in 2020 on a new $14 million, 450-stall parking garage that kicks off a complete revitalization of the Aggieville Business District, a mid-town, m...

Manhattan Renews ED Tax to 2033

Manhattan, Kansas, continues to invest in economic development, maintaining its reputation as a leading community in the Midwest for job creation and community enhancements.

The City of Manhattan first passed an economic development sales tax in 1994 and h...

2020 Manhattan Economic Development Annual Report

CONSENSUS

Through the work in recent years by the Greater Manhattan Project, the City of Manhattan, Region Reimagined, and the Knowledge Based Economic Development (KBED) partnership, consensus has emerged relative to building a more dynamic community and ...

Artistic Appeal: New Initiatives Expand Community Art in Manhattan

When potential residents explore a new community, they often focus their attention on the practicalities of life: housing, cost of living, schools, health care, and job opportunities. However, the leaders of the Greater Manhattan region also recognize the...

Relocating to Manhattan, Kansas? Consider the Advantages of Rural Living

If you’re contemplating a new job opportunity in the Greater Manhattan region, consider how living in a rural Kansas community could be — as one east-coast transplant puts it — “a breath of fresh air” for you and your family.

Whether you’re relocating to t...

How Your Company Can Partner with the Biosecurity Research Institute

Established in 2008, the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, houses biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) and biosafety level-3 Agriculture (BSL-3Ag) laboratories. The BRI supports all aspects of work with high-conseq...

Keeping Manhattan Safe: Experts Discuss NBAF Safety Protocols

Since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security named Manhattan, Kansas, the site for the construction of the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in December 2008, those who live in this mid-sized university community have had many questions ...

Kansas State University Improving Global Ag with USAID Feed the Future Innovation Labs

Kansas State University is a hub for research and expertise in agriculture and is dedicated to making strides against hunger worldwide, in an effort to feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050 through its Feed the Future Innovation Labs. 

The U.S. Ag...

Contemplating a Move to Manhattan, Kansas? Five Reasons This Local Encourages You to Take the Plunge

Story and Photos by Kristin Brighton

As someone who was born in Manhattan, Kansas, graduated from Manhattan High, and then spent six years as a college student here before finally graduating (twice!) from Kansas State University, after I finished my school...

The Edge Collaboration District at Kansas State University Connects Industry to World-Class Talent

MANHATTAN, KANSAS — If your company does business in agriculture, biosecurity/biodefense, or animal/public health, consider how establishing a location in the Edge Collaboration District at Kansas State University could boost your future bottom line.&...

NBAF Scientist Training Program Offers Opportunity for Students in Biological Sciences

If you’re a student scientist who’s interested in furthering your education so you can work with the worst of the worst (pathogens, that is), USDA and Kansas State University are looking for you.

When the USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) ...

GMEP Co-Founding Member Wins Three International Excellence in Economic Development Awards

WASHINGTON, DC — Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC) was recognized with three awards during the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Annual Conference, October 12-16, 2020. 

PCEDC facilitates economic develop...

NBAF to Hire More Than 60 Facility, Animal Care Positions in FY2021; Scientist Jobs to Follow

MANHATTAN, Kan. — If you are interested in a career supporting the mission of the USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) nearing completion in Manhattan, Kansas, it’s time to start pulling your resumé together.  

NBAF will fill about ...

Explore Kansas State University Programs for a Career in Biosecurity

What is biosecurity? This field encompasses all aspects of protecting people, plants and animals from diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and other organisms.

There are lots of job opportunities and many career paths in the field of bios...

Kansas State University Home to Experts in Infectious Disease, Animal Health and Biosecurity

MANHATTAN, KANSAS — Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, is the hub for animal health and biosecurity research in the United States. Many researchers at the university specialize in areas such as infections and zoonotic diseases, livestock and pl...

K-State Disease Researchers Making Strides in the Fight Against COVID-19 and African Swine Fever

Kansas State University researchers at the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD) are making great strides in the fight against two diseases having significant impact on global health and economies: COVID-19 and African Sw...

Businesses, Organizations Prepare For and Prevent Threats to U.S. Food Supply

“We’re the group that takes ag and biosecurity research out of the laboratory and makes it actionable. We apply it to the real world.”

National Agricultural Biosecurity Center Director Marty Vanier, DVM, and her team collaborate with entities all over the ...

Explore Kansas State University Programs to Launch a Career in Zoonotic Disease Research

The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused many people to become more aware of infectious diseases and the threat they pose to public health. As people are looking to researchers for answers, career fields in infectious disease research are gaining a lot of ...

Why Your Biosecurity Business Should Have a Presence in Manhattan, Kansas

In 2008, after an extensive national search, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, would be built in Manhattan, Kansas. This research facility is the only one...