Nex-Tech Blog

For two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, October 10th and 11th, 2023, the Nex-Tech Economic Development Team was in Manhattan, Kansas. We were involved in the Fall Conference of the Communications Coalition of Kansas (CCK). The CCK enables rural broadband providers, like Nex-Tech, to discuss our collective concerns, develop a concrete agenda of action, and increase the positive impact we have on our individual communities.

On Wednesday, 4th October 2023, the Nex-Tech Economic Development team visited the drone program of Logan High School, Kansas, where we heard the story of Sydney Rider and Jerrod Hofaker. Sydney is a senior who lives on a farm dozens of miles away but got trained in drone aviation by her high school teacher, Jerrod Hofaker. Today, she is a licensed Federal Aviation Administration drone pilot and can fly drones for agricultural and commercial purposes. Jerrod has also trained several students and helped them get their FAA licenses.

On Friday, 6th October 2023, the Nex-Tech Economic Development Team was at Fort Hays State University, Hays KS, where we joined the Senator representing the state of Kansas, Jerry Moran. The senator had discussions with the team at the FHSU Cybersecurity Institute and Technology Incubator, as well as stakeholders like Nex-Tech on how western #Kansas can become a destination for cybersecurity jobs and industry.

A key part of what we do at the Nex-Tech community economic development desk is to represent the interests of the communities we serve before policymakers. We advocate on issues affecting northwest and central Kansas at the local, state, and federal levels. A few weeks ago, we raised questions with some state legislators in Harper, KS. Recently, we were in Washington D.C. where we spoke with representatives of Senator Jerry Moran, Senator Roger Marshall, and Rep. Tracey Mann. Just last week, we spoke with Kansas state Lt. Governor, David Toland.