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Wednesday , July 27 , 2016
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Birch Communications employees laid off

By Zach Hacker zhacker @ emporia . com
Emporia ’ s ninth-largest employer unexpectedly laid off part of its workforce Tuesday morning .
Birch Communications confirmed to The Gazette early Tuesday afternoon that there was a “ reduction in force ” at its Emporia Operations Center . As a privatelyheld company , Birch is not required to release the number of employees that have been laid off . However , Birch Communications Director of Marketing Communications Tim Phelps did confirm that it was less than 10 percent of the total workforce .
According to the Emporia Area Chamber and Visitors Bureau , Birch employed 246 full-time workers at the beginning of 2016 , making it the ninth-largest employer in town .
“ Like any company our size , Birch continues to grow and transition ,” Phelps said in an email to The Gazette . “ Today we made the difficult decision to make a change in staffing , which affected the Emporia office . Birch has been fortunate to call Emporia home for most of our 20-year history . The operations center is an important part of our business and will continue to be in Emporia for a long time to come .”
Birch Communications is a communications , network , cloud and IT solutions provider celebrating 20 years in business ( 1996- 2016 ). Based out of Georgia , Birch offers solutions that assist small , mid-sized , enterprise and wholesale businesses to increase their productivity . Its product portfolio is available across North America and includes Metro-Fiber , Metro- Ethernet , unified communications ( UC ), hosted phone systems , hosted data centers and hosted file storage services .
Employees at the Emporia Operations Center declined to comment .
Birch Communications , Emporia ’ s ninth-largest employer , laid off part of its full-time workforce Tuesday morning . The Georgia-based company employed 246 people at the beginning of 2016 .
Zach Hacker / Gazette
Photo courtesy Emporia State University
Students learn about computer technology applications at the TECHmaker Youth academy camp Tuesday at Emporia State University . The weeklong camp features sessions in a variety of fields and is a collaboration of ESU , Flint Hills Technical College , Emporia Public Library and Emporia Recreation Center .
Students become makers at TECHMaker Youth Academy
By Mary Ann Redeker maryann @ emporia . com
Students had the opportunity to learn about fun and engaging computer technology applications this week at the TECHMaker Youth Academy at Emporia State University .
Event organizer and director of learning technologies Rob Gibson said this was the first week-long camp of this type the university has offered .
The project was a collaboration of ESU , Flint Hills Technical College , Emporia Public Library and the Emporia Recreation Center .
“ This is the brainchild of some of us on campus ,” Gibson said . “ We got to thinking about how we could put on a maker camp where students could come in and learn about some of the things we are doing . We are doing things with 3D printing , computing and a variety of other things .”
Sessions were offered for the students from a variety of fields including multimedia production , programming , robotics , graphic design , manufacturing and art .
“ The goal of this camp is to expose kids to a variety of different things that will help them later on in their careers ,” Gibson said . “ It ’ s computing , it ’ s green screens , it ’ s 3D printing and learning how to use GoPro cameras . We have about 20 different topics or learning sessions .”
One such session was GarageBand , taught by Prof . Andrew Houchins , in which students developed the skills to allow them the opportunity to become makers .
Avery Gutierrez , 12 , said she enjoyed the experience .
“ We are learning how to record and put sound back into what we are recording ,” she said . “ It ’ s pretty cool and can help us with school projects and music projects .”
Taylor Cunningham , 10 , said she was enjoying the camp and getting to experience different technologies .
“ It is really fun and exciting ,” she said . “ I wanted to do the 3D printing
Please see Tech , Page 5

Meet the Primary Candidates

The Emporia Gazette
Editor ’ s Note : The Emporia Gazette sent a questionnaire to all candidates involved in a primary race runoff for both the national and state races in this area . These are the responses of Republicans Steve Pearson , Matthew Shepherd and Mark Schreiber , all of Emporia , who are running for the House Seat 60 being vacated by Don Hill . The winner of the primary Aug . 2 will face Democrat William Ballard of Burlington .
Responses from the candidates for House Seat 76 were published Tuesday . Responses from the candidates for the U . S . Senate will be published Thursday and for the U . S . House of Representatives , Friday . There is no primary for Kansas House Seat 51 or Senate District 17 .
Advance voting at county courthouses is open until noon Aug . 1 . The polls are open 7 a . m . to 7 p . m . Aug . 2 .
VOL . 125 , NO . 22

Matthew Shepherd

State House of Representatives , Seat 60

Q

When thinking about the future of the state , what concerns you the most ? I have two major

A concerns : First is the immediate crisis of the state budget and the ever-increasing deficit . The second is preparing Kansas for the inevitable collapse of its farming and ranching economic base , and the associated decline of small towns . I don ’ t have space here to describe completely , but the long-term implications for new existing technologies are clear . Driverless cars equals driverless tractors and combines . Huge agribusiness corporations equals whole counties in Kansas being farmed by a handful of people ( farmindustrynews . com / precisionguidance / new-driver-

less-tractor-grain-cart- systems-coming-year ). The ability to grow human organs equals ability to grow meat . Cultured Meat Manufacturing equals End of Cattle Ranching equals Loss of use for Flint Hill Gazing Lands ( en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Cultured _ meat ). These changes are inevitable . However , if we act in a positive and planned way now we can take advantage of these pending changes
Please see Shepherd , Page 5

Mark Schreiber

State House of Representatives , Seat 60

Q When thinking

about the future of the state , what con- you the most ? Acerns The state ’ s financial condition worries me . The legislature continues to borrow to pay its bills , continues to delay payments to KPERS and our school districts and continues to sweep fees paid by local businesses just to fill its budget holes . To top it off , reserves are practically non-existent as the state lives paycheck to paycheck , with no safety net to weather difficult times . We need a fair and balanced tax code , which can provide lower rates for everyone rather than just select groups . In my career , when programs aren ’ t working as expected , we stop and evaluate what is happening . More times than not , the common sense and back to basics

approach is the best remedy . I ’ ll bring that experience to Topeka , working with my colleagues to develop a better plan for all Kansas taxpayers — not just a select few .
Do you feel funding

Q for education is adequate and equitable ? the legisla-

A

With
tion passed during the special session , I believe funding for K-12 education is now equitable . The Kansas
Please see Schreiber , Page 5

Steve Pearson

State House of Representatives , Seat 60
When thinking

Q about the future of the state , what concerns you the most ? That people are

A getting depressed about our great state . We have problems but we will fix them and I will work tirelessly to make a brighter future and better Kansas than ever .

Do you feel funding

Q for education is adequate and equitable ? student

A Every

deserves a great education in Kansas and we can get it when we get the money down to the teachers in the trenches who love teaching but are hampered by lack of funds where it ’ s really needed .

Do you feel funding for the state ’ s Q economic plan is working ?

A

What do you think ? Our unemployment rate is a mere 3.9 percent and we are seeing new businesses that pay good wages every year . We need to help the home grown companies , like Fanestil .
Small companies employ 96.5 percent of all workers in the state and we need to continue to seek new companies that will bring more good jobs and people to Kansas .
Please see Pearson , Page 5