The study was conducted by the Advanced Manufacturing Institute for North Central Regional Planning Commission (NCRPC). Project funding support provided through Rural Business Tax Credits from the Kansas Department
of Commerce through NCKCN an affiliate of North Central Regional Planning Commission.
The purpose of the project is to identify key industry clusters in North Central Kansas and understand regional innovation networking for those clusters in the region. In this study, attempt is made to understand the innovation readiness of the region and relationships that exist between businesses in the region. The aim of this study is to map those relations and to maximize the network strength so that the region of North Central Kansas can be turned into more innovative and growing community.
The study area for the project includes a total of 19 counties in the state of Kansas. The counties included in the study are – Chase, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Geary, Jewell, Lincoln, Lyon, Marshall, Mitchell, Morris, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Republic, Riley, Saline, Wabaunsee and Washington.
For this purpose, study will be conducted in two phases. Business establishments will be contacted and information will be collected from their business owners or representatives. Businesses will be sent a letter briefly explaining the project and will be asked if they are willing to participate. In case they agree to participate, they will have the option to participate in Phase I (survey) and Phase II (interview) or they can opt out after Phase I only.
Phase I of the study is a survey based data collection that is being conducted to collect information about various variables related to the regional innovation readiness of the region. Phase II of the project is a detailed face to face interview session, where business owners/representatives are asked to share their experiences and views about various components of the local economy.
At no stage the information will be made public except for aggregated version in the final report. Names and Location of the businesses or their representative will not be revealed.
If you are a business owner and have business in one of the listed 19 counties of this project, we would request you to take a few moments to fill out this survey and share your opinions with us.
Link to Regional Innovation Assessment Survey for Business Owners
If you are working in the field of Economic and/or community development in one of the listed counties of this project, you could be a part of the project by filling out this survey and sharing your opinions with us.
Link to Regional Innovation Assessment Survey for Community Leaders
UPDATE 01/07/10: The survey is now closed, but keep checking the conclusions page for survey results. They will be posted soon.