Wichita enjoys a strong heritage of nurturing and cultivating entrepreneurship, a legacy that has created a thriving and dynamic environment for new business innovation across a range of industries.

Home to such entrepreneurial success stories such as Pizza Hut and Residence Inn, the region supports small business, family enterprises and entrepreneurship with a range of programs, technical assistance and services, from business development to marketing to leadership training.

“For startups, this is absolutely a great place. There are a lot of resources and initiatives here,” says Tim Pett, director at the Center for Entrepreneurship at Wichita State University.

One of the primary resources for small business owners in the Wichita area, the Center for Entrepreneurship provides academic guidance for students interested in becoming entrepreneurs, as well as outreach for small businesses in the community.

“From the community involvement standpoint, we offer a number of programs that try to encourage, support and foster entrepreneurial thinking,” Pett says.

Educational Programs
One of those programs is the entrepreneurship film series, a free annual event that includes national speakers and discussions about entrepreneurship with local small business owners. In fall 2010, the program will bring in the CEO of Build-A-Bear to share key components of growing a successful company with business owners in the community.

“That’s just one of our educational initiatives,” Pett says. “We have another program we offer for a small fee called Practical Entrepreneurship Trading Tools. These are classes we offer in conjunction with our community partners, which encompass different themes; they include anything from selecting an advisory board to hiring an employee. The entrepreneurship trading tools are geared towards start-up businesses and businesses that are poised for growth.”

Besides reaching out to Wichita small businesses, the Center for Entrepreneurship cultivates an interest in entrepreneurship in students at the university. Offering an incubator that can house up to six start-ups on campus, students have a place to work while they earn a degree and make plans to start their own business after graduation. The Princeton Review ranked the Center for Entrepreneurship the 11th best program in the country in 2007 for students seeking an undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship.

“We offer something beyond what you can get in a textbook,” Pett says.

Ready Workforce

In addition to resources that keep Wichita small businesses ahead of the curve, the community’s location in the American heartland makes it a prime spot for start-ups, says John Rolph, executive vice president of SASNAK Management, which operates 41 restaurants across the country, including four in Wichita that employ approximately 350 people.

“You consistently find quality people here who are good and decent,” Rolph says. “Your workforce, the people you interact with every day, even your vendors, are hardworking people. I think that is a fair generalization for people of this region."

“As I talk to other people in business in the city, that’s something that is at the top of the list as to why people love this place. It’s just a great place to be. We love Wichita, and we really love the people here.”

HONORABLE BUSINESSES
Each year, the Wichita Chamber of Commerce selects some of the community's finest businesses and citizens to be celebrated at the annual Honors Night. The 2010 recipients were as follows:
Uncommon Citizen: Shirley and Don Beggs
Over The Years: Rusty Eck Ford, SASNAK Management and The Salvation Army
Spirit of Wichita: Star Lumber & Supply Co. Inc.
Keeper of the Plains: Poet Ethanol Products