Cottonwood Connections February 2024

February 2024

District Director Notes - Jay Harris

You may have seen or heard some information coming out of Kansas State University that mentions K-State 105. This made you think, “What is K-State 105?” On January 17, 2023, K-State 105 was launched at the State Capitol by Kansas State University President Richard Linton, Vice President for Research David Rosowsky, and several leaders from partnering organizations like Network Kansas, Go Topeka, and the Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center.

K-State 105 pledges to bring great entrepreneurism, new economic activity, business development and more jobs to our state. It also takes strong communities to attract and support new and expanding businesses, and K-State 105 aims to develop stronger communities in such areas as childcare, community health and wellness, workforce development, housing, and leadership development, among others.

The following are some things that could be considered K-State 105 projects:

-              Helping to connect an entrepreneur with extension, campus or other resources to develop

their new business.

-              Working with a coalition to open a rural grocery store or farmers’ market.

-              Providing technical assistance to a farm, food, flour, feed or meat processor to expand their

business.

-              Helping a community to address their childcare issues.

-              Helping a community to address their housing needs.

-              Facilitating a county meeting to develop a better health and wellness plan for its

communities.

-              Providing formal and informal community leaders with the training needed to enhance their

leadership ability.

As you can see, K-State Research and Extension is already doing these activities. What K-State 105 does for the people in our counties is to offer more ways to address local needs by making available non-extension resources.

For example, perhaps your community is interested in addressing an affordable housing issue. We do not have housing specialists, but we do have expertise in housing in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design and the College of Engineering. That is just one example. There are many more. Think about all the expertise that Kansas State University and its partnering organizations have to offer.

K-State 105 has helped with numerous projects in its first year of existence and is looking to expand in to more projects in 2024. If you have an idea that seems like a K-State 105 project, contact your local extension office.