FOR WICHITA’S YOUNG, DIVERSE AND TALENTED
URBAN MAGNATE
VOL. 3 ISSUE 1 | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 www.ictup.org
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DIVERSECITY - DIVERSITY SHOWCASE Monday, Oct. 3 to Saturday, Oct. 7, 2016 The President’s Diversity Council is proud to announce the first-ever Diversity Showcase, DiverseCity. This week-long event gives Shocker Nation a peek at individual, department and campus organization successes made possible through diversity. Opening Reception 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 Rhatigan Student Center Share your social media pictures and posts with us by using the #DiversityInWu hashtag! www.wichita.edu/DiverseCity
Connecting women around a shared vision of our role in a prosperous Kansas FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 7:30 A.M.-3 P.M. KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER 325 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67202 Featured presenters:
Interactive workshops on knowing your worth in the workplace, in the community and within yourself Register Now: www.knowyourworthks.com
Photo by David D. Wallace, Jr.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
F
or about fifty years, there truly was no love for the heart of the city. Not just in Wichita but, nationally, many downtown areas were declining as citizens fled the urban core for the greener suburb pastures. However, over the last decade and a half, Wichita has seen a resurgence in its downtown. A new arena, a plethora of new businesses and growing residential units has spurred most of the ooh’s and ah’s. Yet, it wasn’t the buildings, alone, that changed the mentality towards the area. It was the stakeholders who decided that a fullyfunctioning city is just like a human – in order for it to grow, it has to have a healthy heart. There are great lessons in how citizens have been able to regrow the downtown areas in many major cities. Luckily, it’s a strategy that many groups can utilize to start to create changes in their own individual areas. When you look at the established parts of our city, each has a section within that you can pinpoint as the main area of activity. The west side has New Market Square. College Hill has Clifton Square. What about northeast Wichita or south Wichita? Sure, both of those areas have official and unofficial landmarks, but what part would we consider their hearts, hubs or “downtowns”? Your downtown isn’t just a location. Your downtown should be an area that represents the community. It represents what residents and city officials want people to know about the area. When I look at College Hill, Clifton Square is a perfect embodiment of what the area feels like. Same with New Market Square. What do we want northeast Wichita or South Wichita to embody? What story do we want these areas to tell? We’re seeing a lot of movement happening in Wichita around trying to help change the perception of our city. A lot of this is happening because residents are taking it upon themselves to start projects that will help their area be more representative of how they want it to feel. Some people are coming together to host different events. Others are participating in temporary beautification projects. The point is, these things are helping to gain attention for these areas and others from outside those areas are joining them. What would a pop-up park in Northeast Wichita look like? How about getting a group of people together to temporarily decorate the parking lots of businesses in South Wichita? These are ideas that have happened downtown and really excited a lot of individuals. We don’t have to copy those idea. Maybe it should be something different? But those who live within the areas should begin to also take initiative to come up with ideas that generate excitement and a sense of togetherness. As we sit back and watch our downtown and west side get major facelifts it’s time to address the heart of our other areas. The more we can invest into them, the better the chance we will have of growing them.
Jonathan Long, President Wichita Urban Professionals
Photo credit: J. Sky Photography
IN THIS ISSUE// PG. 5 10
6
ON THE SCENE
DREAMCHASERS• 6-7
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT PROGRESSIVE YOUTH SPORTS• 8
8 29
24
20
ICT-UPDATE
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES • 10
COVER STORY & PHOTO SPREAD DEVELOPING DOWNTOWN• 12-16
5 MINUTES WITH...
JACOB WAYMAN • 18-19
ICT-UP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT RAQUEL CLARK • 20-21
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT • 24
10
18
12 26
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PARTNER FEATURES
Kansas Leadership Center • 26 Urban League of Kansas • 29
URBAN MAGNATE Wichita Urban Professionals (ICT-UP) exists to develop a network of rising leaders to improve the quality of life in the urban communities of Wichita. Urban Magnate is the premier publication of Wichita Urban Professionals covering events and issues of interest to the city’s young, diverse and talented. This bi-monthly publication is available in electronic and hardcopy formats. Hardcopy editions are strategically distributed to ICT-UP members and city, civic and business organizations. Subscriptions are available for $30 annually. Checks may be made payable to the Urban League of Kansas c/o Wichita Urban Professionals’ Urban Magnate, 2418 E. Ninth Street, Wichita, KS 67214. Limited ad space is available for purchase. Contact cmlcollective@gmail.com or call 316-371-8145 for ad inquiries.
Urban Magnate Contributors
Christina M. Long of CML Collective, LLC oversees the majority of reporting, writing, editing, layout and design of this publication in partnership with ICT-UP.
Jonathan Long, Contributing Writer/Reporter Michael E. Woods, Contributing Photographer David D. Wallace, Jr., Contributing Photographer
On the front cover: The Opulent Keeper of Kaleidoscopic Design, Sean Christopher Ward On the back cover: Jonathan Long, winning the Distinguished Professional of the Year Award from Young Professionals of Wichita. Photos by Christina M. Long
PG. 6// ON THE SCENE WICHITA URBAN PROFESSIONALS’ SECOND ANNUAL DREAMCHASERS RAISES THE BAR FOR CELEBRATING SUCCESS Photos Courtesy of J. Sky Photography and Dan Swenson
Wichita Urban Professionals honored the city’s young, diverse and talented at its second annual Dreamchasers, which was presented in partnership with Spirit AeroSystems among other sponsors. The event drew nearly 200 people and featured a keynote presentation by Christal Watson of the Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce. Winners for the 2016 Dreamchasers were: Civic Leadership category - Djuan Wash and Laura Bernstorf; Mentor category: Dr. Marche’ Fleming-Randle; College Impact category - Job Arredondo and Rheanna Pierce; Corporate category: QuickTrip - Wichita Division; Entrepreneur category - Angelo Rodriguez and Sheona Sleiman; Prestige Award winners - Troy Franklin, Shaun Rojas, The Hon. Gwynne Birzer and Gary Oborny. The surprise winners of the night included: Lanna J. Allen, who received recognition as a President’s Choice winner; Shaun Rojas, winner of the Wichita Urban Professional Man of the Year and Christina Long winner of the Wichita Urban Professional Woman of the Year. For complete coverage of Dreamchasers, please see the August 2016 edition (Urban Magnate, volume 2 issue 6).
ON THE SCENE// PG. 7
PG. 8 // COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
PROGRESSIVE YOUTH SPORTS
LIFE
T
he lessons that Cody Walker and Cameron Brandon are teaching their players through Progressive Youth Sports transcend the football field. These lessons include: the importance of belonging to a team, how to band together as brothers and how to offer support. They encourage their players to play hard but also stand tall for the next player; their brother. Life, just like football, isn’t always easy but it’s what you bring on and off the fields that matter. Both Walker and Brandon have been with the Gators since its formation and the two have forged a friendship that has lasted. Now, with the baton passing to them as coaches, they’re stressing ongoing unity among players and the coaching staff across grade levels. “I was taught in life that you get what you work for,” said Walker, 22, who is the President and Founder of Progressive Youth Sports. “If you work hard to achieve those goals you have set for yourself, then you can be anything you want but if you slack on that then you get what you deserve. Our boys work hard on and off the field, and I want those kids who don’t have that dad for a coach that I did to look up to, to look up to us because they deserve that. Every kid deserves that.” The club is a winning group, but the coaches easily point to the culture of the organization as to what they’re most proud of about the group they’ve assembled. Both Walker and Brandon emphasize coaching on the fundamentals of football and being good team players rather than being motivated about grooming the next crop of NFL-hopefuls. The organization’s mission further reflects this fundamental approach by stating: “Progressive Youth Sports is an organization designed to inspire youth to compete in a sportsmanlike and competitive environment while being mentored in real life applications on and off the field.”
PG. 9
COACHES Story and photos by Christina M. Long
“To be humble, we may be a winning team but we’re all human,” Walker said. “We’ve gotten this far and have a lot farther to go but were working on it. We’re working very hard to get to where we need to be.” With a 49-player roster across their teams, Walker and Brandon spend most weekday evenings and Saturdays with their teams practicing and playing. Their dedication to building a quality playing environment even led the two to form their organization as a nonprofit. They’re currently going through the filing process to receive tax-exempt status for the organization they founded in June 2016. “I love working with youth because I see what working hard and focusing on grades can do for you,” said Brandon, 24, who also has coaching experience at South High school. “I have a lot of friends who have passed away because of the choices they made and they didn’t have the coaches and the father figures I had growing up. Football and other sports can help save these kids’ lives and that’s what keeps me and Cody coaching because we know we can change these kids’ lives for the better.” Walker and Brandon’s vision for Progressive Youth Sports also includes having a training, practice and mentoring facility in south Wichita. “We have nothing like that over on this side of town,” Brandon said. Walker added: “We want to have a place where young athletes can come to work out, do homework or, if they need a safe place to go for whatever the reason, we want to be able to provide that.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Progressive Youth Sports seeks donations, sponsors and mentors. For more information, please email: progressiveyouthsports@gmail.com or call, 316-518-6682 or 316-587-7844.
PG. 10// ICT UPdate
YOUNG DIVERSE & TALENTED IN WICHITA?
Wichita Urban Professionals (ICT-UP) empowers Wichita’s young, diverse and talented through compelling professional development, relevant leadership training and coaching and dynamic social media networking. Additional priority initiative areas for ICT-UP include: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEAD: Ted Kriwiel
Wichita Urban Professionals has been instrumental in creating and supporting business development efforts for minority and other underrepresented groups. Planning is underway for an Urban Business Expo in 2017. ICT-UP is also gearing up to help recruit new members to the Wichita Urban E-Community, an extension of NetWork Kansas, that helps to identify businesses located within distressed areas of Wichita that qualify for loan funding.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEAD: Danielle Johnson Wichita Urban Professionals has taken its professional development to the next level with Urban Empower Hours and through the leadership development training, LEAD ICT-UP. Planning is underway for 2017 sessions.
TALENT RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT TEAM LEAD: Jonathan Long
The city of Wichita, across multiple agencies and organizations, are prioritizing ways to attract and retain talent. The city’s continued “brain drain” has been identified as a major weakness that thought leaders are working to identify solutions around. ICT-UP has several networking events to connect members with students or incoming professionals to help encourage them to strongly consider a move to Wichita.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT Wichita Urban Professionals ictup.org
PG. 12// COVER STORY
DEVELOPING DOWNTOWN
Package by Christina M. Long, Urban Magnate Editor
Downtown Wichita is flourishing. The city’s urban core received $95 million in private investment and another $24 million in public sector investments and saw more than 600,000 people attending tradeshows and conventions in 2015, per the 2016 State of Downtown Wichita report. The Pop-Up Urban Park consistently features festive activities meant to bring Wichitans together. And new shopping options for Wichitans continue to sprout up in the Old Town area. Numerous studies cite the economic impact a vibrant downtown can make upon an area. As the 2016 report states: “Cultivating Wichita’s urban core further positions the region to attract and retain talent and businesses, fostering economic vitality and an enhanced position in a national market.” Seeing such momentum continuing to drive Downtown Wichita’s development prompted Urban Magnate to reach out to City Hall to see what lessons other areas of town can learn about rapid development based on the experience downtown. City council members Pete Meitzner, who represents District II, and Jeff Blubaugh, who represents District IV, responded. Here’s their perspective on the progress they’re seeing.
PG.13 13 COVER STORY////PG.
URBAN MAGNATE: Please briefly offer your opinion about the development that is occurring in downtown Wichita and how that development is impacting the city, overall.
COUNCILMAN MEITZNER • In my opinion, the development occurring in downtown Wichita confirms the positive impact it has on the city overall. With over $1 billion invested in the last 10 years, mostly with private investment, it proves that downtown Wichita is an attractive investment, and supports the growth that other major cities are experiencing.
COUNCILMAN BLUBAUGH • Downtown Wichita is growing at a great pace and we look for even more growth in the next several years. I believe it is now time for the City to concentrate on other areas of growth throughout the city.
PG. 14// URBAN MAGNATE: What strategies do you feel are working to move development forward rapidly?
COUNCILMAN MEITZNER • The efforts of the Downtown Development Corporation (“DDC”), under the direction of their President and a very impressive Board has been the key. The DDC supported by the SSMID tax has provided stability to the organization. And, the efforts to focus on Douglass street as the “postcard” street of our city, has resulted in many newly-constructed buildings along with Union Station.
COUNCILMAN BLUBAUGH • Wichita Downtown Development has been a great strategy in focusing on each individual block and growing one area at a time.
Photo credit: Photogray by Michael E. Woods, LLC
URBAN MAGNATE: Please describe one major development occurring in your city council district that carryover some of the strategies that are also working in downtown Wichita development.
COUNCILMAN MEITZNER • The development of K-96/Greenwich Road has greatly
benefited from being designated as a STAR bond district. The opening of many shops and restaurants along with the opening of The Sports Forum has resulted in rapid growth, job creation, and tourism attraction.
COUNCILMAN BLUBAUGH • The Ironhorse development at MacArthur and Seneca is similar to what has been done downtown focusing on one area at a time and growing and paralleling complementary development around that area.
Photo courtesy of Commercial Mechanical, Inc.
// PG. 15
URBAN MAGNATE: Describe whether or not you are pleased with the rate of development that is occurring in your district.
COUNCILMAN MEITZNER • I am very pleased with the rate of development
occurring in District 2. It can always be better, but we are in a pretty good place and growing.
COUNCILMAN BLUBAUGH • It has been slow going but I believe we are now
at a time everyone can be pleased with the revitalization ...
PG. 16//
URBAN MAGNATE: . Finally, please share what Wichitans can do, as a whole, to help their individual neighborhoods or council district progress with the same intentionality that we’re seeing with downtown Wichita development.
Courtesy Photo
COUNCILMAN MEITZNER • Wichitans, especially the youth, should be willing and
comfortable taking an active role in their own neighborhood, as well as their district. They should keep in mind the best things for Wichita overall, will improve all our lives and their ability to succeed. They should feel free to ask their City Council or the Mayor about any questions they may have regarding our city. They should recognize that Wichita is the largest city in Kansas and the 48th largest in the USA. We are a big deal, and we should act like it as we contribute to the value and growth of our whole state.
COUNCILMAN BLUBAUGH • Neighborhoods need to unite and work together so everyone is able to benefit with combined resources.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
View the State of Downtown 2016 report here: http://www.downtownwichita.org/2016StateofDowntown/?page=1 Courtesy Photo
Dr. J. Michelle Vann for Senate Kansas Senate District 31
CAMPAIGN FOCUSES INCLUDE: • Attract business and great jobs back to Kansas. • Fair taxes for all. Eliminate the sales tax on food, return to lower sales taxes, and end the income tax exemption for business owners. • Fully fund public schools and higher education. And more! See full platform at Vann4Senate.com
Vann4Senate.com @Vann4Senate
Paid for by Dr. J. Michelle Vann for Senate - Treasurer, Jolanda Hamilton
PG. 18//
5 minutes with
JACOB WAYMAN Director, e2e Accelerator
Photo by Christina M. Long
// PG. 19 Please describe the spirit you’re feeling in downtown Wichita related to the city’s progress. WAYMAN: Anticipation, energy, excitement and a spirit of taking risks. How is e2e contributing to the forward momentum being felt by Wichita currently? WAYMAN: Here at the e2e, our goal is to activate, accelerate and mentor entrepreneurs right here in our hometown. What is a major lesson you’ve learned about what strategies are most useful to create progress in Wichita based on your experience with e2e and 1 Million Cups? WAYMAN: If you have an idea, tell someone and don’t be afraid to ask for help. What advice would you offer to individuals, particularly young and urban professionals, who wish to activate even more changes in other parts of the city? WAYMAN: Show up, follow up and, above all else, don’t be afraid to have a conversation. Any other information you’d like to share? WAYMAN: As a community, we must rally together. Regardless of age, gender or race, we have to come together to continue to move our community forward. The success of Wichita is on our shoulders and it’s up to each of us to rise to the challenge.
PG. 20// member spotlight
Courtesy Photo
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
// PG. 21
RAQUEL’S on the RISE
Raquel Clark is building her brand and fulfilling life dreams while doing so.
The 34-year-old, a familiar face in local music videos, holds down the front of the house at Rachel’s Kitchen and leads a music ministry at New Zion church all while closing in on a deal for a televised talk show. “I want to give this to Wichita for Wichita,” said Clark, who has her sights set on a late October/ early November release date. “This is an opportunity for everybody to be recognized for their gifts and talents.” Clark has assembled a team that includes Moore Strategy Group, which has helped with the concept for “RocTalks.” The format will include instudio and on-the-scene interviews in 30-minute episodes. She’s currently securing sponsors, advertisers, on-screen subjects and behind-the-scene producers. “We already have enough controversy going on so why not just have a show focusing on what good people are doing,” Clark said. “It’s about building for each other and providing information along with places to go eat, relax, hear good music, where to buy the latest fashions; things like that.”
Clark is no stranger to the camera having taken numerous modeling courses, worked for a local modeling agency and also took courses at the Bailey Agency in Atlanta. Still, she yearns to do more than professional modeling. She envisions the show as an outlet for her creative energy. “Time waits for no one when it’s your time to move,” Clark said. “When God is ready to take you there, move!” Clark says the show also serves as a testimony for her sons to show them that, despite difficult times, dreams can still be fulfilled. Clark, who is a widow, said she’s managed her fair share of tragedy. Her late husband, Mark Clark, passed after a battle with cancer leaving her a single mother of two sons. Despite the loss, Clark said she is pressing forward and the show is evidence of that. Fueling her motivation: her family and noticing the impact that other Wichita millennials are making upon the city. “It seems like everybody ages 27 to 40 have things that are going on that are booming,” she said. “I’m just going to grind until I can’t.” For more information about the show as it prepares to launch and Clark’s various endeavors, visit: www.raquelthemodel.com.
PG. 24// SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
N I L A C O L P O SH Photos by Christina M. Long
// PG. 25
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PG. 26// PARTNER FEATURE
Illustration courtesy of the Kansas Leadership Center
AMPLIFYING THE PUBLIC’S VOICE By Chris Green, Managing Editor, The Kansas Leadership Center Journal
G
iving people a voice in the outcome has been an important part of renewing downtown over the years. But in certain parts of the city, getting people engaged can be difficult. The most recent issue of The Journal, a quarterly magazine published by the Kansas Leadership Center, explores the importance of listening to residents and not just informing them but giving them the opportunity to make meaningful decisions. Read the story at http:// klcjournal.com/amplifying-the-publics-voice/ and explore stories about civic participation at klcjournal.com. The Journal writes that giving the public a more direct pipeline to addressing the most
pressing issues of the day could be one way of combating the growing levels of disenchantment with our governments – which are measured in everything from low voting rates to a lack of trust in government and elected officials. If more people felt like they have a role in shaping what happens, then those policies might have more legitimacy. Allowing more public input also would give people the opportunity to demonstrate that their voices have real power to effect change, which is supposed to be at the heart of democracy. Voting rights might not be enough anymore. We have to provide people with more ways to shape the civic environment in between elections.
WE'RE HERE; NOW IT'S TIME TO BE PRESENT www.ictup.org