
Does Wichita need some swagger?
Thursday, October 30, 2014
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Brad Segal, the speaker in last night's Fuel the Fire series, thinks Wichita needs a bit of an attitude adjustment. And he thinks that stopping to celebrate some of our accomplishments may help kick start our confidence in our ourselves and our City.
Several hundred people gathered on Wednesday evening to hear Brad Segal, the speaker for the final event in the 2014 Fuel the Fire series.
Segal has worked in 35 states and with 150 different cities during his career as a real estate economist and planner. He's spent time in Wichita on both a personal and professional level and believes the city would benefit from displaying a little more swagger. Why? It’s been his experience that successful cities believe in themselves, embrace their strengths and always celebrate their victories.
Previous Fuel the Fire speakers have stressed that Wichita needs to understand its differential advantages and then promote them. Segal echoed that theme and suggested that promoting the community's affordable housing might be one of the keys to retaining, attracting, and bringing back the young professionals that local companies need to fill their skills gap.
Segal sees jobs moving to those cities that strengthen their millennial talent pool. By the year 2020, 50% of the American workforce will be made up of millennials.
Segal said, "It's up to cities and regions to invest in their future." Investment in infrastructure, education and innovation will need to be made at the local level as federal investment continues to decline.
For photos from the event, see the Chamber's Facebook album. The video of Segal's presentation will be posted in early November at fuelthefirespeakerseries.com. Photos and observations from participants are also available on Twitter at #FueltheFireICT.
The Fuel the Fire Speaker Series was underwritten by the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation Fund at the Wichita Community Foundation, the Leadership Council of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and other generous community donors. It was organized and presented by the Wichita Community Foundation, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, and the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce.

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