NBAF Future in Kansas

The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is slated to come to Manhattan soon and it could change the landscape in our state and our communities. Kansas State University President, Kirk Schulz was the keynote speaker at the Beloit Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on January 9th, 2010. He biefly discussed what NBAF could mean to our area.

Of course the greatest impact of the the NBAF development will be seen in the Manhattan and Junction City, Kansas area. The NBAF facilities are being built at Kansas State University in Manhattan. But as Dr. Schulz pointed out there will be many related businesses that will need to local near Manhattan. Some of those will need offices for 2 or 3 people. Some will need small production or manufacturing buildings and some will need land to build.....new, large manufacturing facilities.

Some of these new businesses will need to be close to NBAF. Some will be able to operate within a few miles of the new facility and some will want to locate within a 100 to 150 mile radius of the facility.

Of course the latter of the locations mentioned is where our community could come into consideration. We may be able to offer available buildings and land for development of new facilities related to NBAF.

But the key element is to make sure these prospective new businesses know we are even here. At this time there is no "single" point of contact for these prospects. It is up to us to be sure that we make ourselves known.

It will be important for us to be in direct communication with economic development leaders in Manhattan and with Kansas State University.

We are studying our options and what opportunities could be ahead for our community in relation to NBAF. Like everyone else we are interested to see how this facility could change the landscape for business in north central Kansas and possibly the entire state.