With 130,000 residents, 47,000 employees and 30,000 higher-ed students in the Greater Manhattan region, your organization will find the labor force, work ethic and expertise you need.
In Riley County, 52% of residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, with 25% having a master’s. In Pottawatomie County, 33.5% have their bachelor’s or higher.
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K-State attracts highly educated faculty and graduate students from all over the world. With them come their spouses and families, giving our region — and your talent pool — a regular influx of highly experienced and diverse talent every year.
And don’t forget the thousands of undergrads, 64% of whom would stay in Manhattan for the right opportunity, according to a recent survey. From hundreds of disciplines, your business’s next generation of hard-working talent is ready and eager to get started.
Our diverse region is also host to Fort Riley, home of the U.S. Army’s storied 1st Infantry Division, which contributes more than $3.8 billion to our regional economy. With 15,000 soldiers, 18,000 family members and 31,000 retirees and veterans in our region, Fort Riley is a rich source of experienced, disciplined team members for your business. About 40% of military members exiting the military from a posting in Kansas choose to make their permanent home in our state.
Forbes
Our regional workforce is rapidly expanding to include a critical mass of scientists and others from around the globe who help to prevent animal, plant and zoonotic diseases. Thanks to the opening of NBAF coming soon, along with the Biosecurity Research Institute, these world-class scientists — working in both the public and private sectors — now call Manhattan home as they fight daily to prevent the next global pandemic, as well as protect our food supply.
Our region has a rich array of technical and professional educational opportunities in addition to Kansas State University. With three community college campuses, Manhattan Area Technical College, and Manhattan Christian College, our region makes professional development easy and affordable.
In addition, our region features a growing number of current, transitional and emerging workers who have earned National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRC), proving themselves qualified in essential skills such as applied math, graphic literacy and workplace documents. All high school juniors in the state of Kansas may take the WorkKeys Assessment.