From Jason Kuilan
Executive Director
Great Bend Economic Development
To the community of Great Bend & Barton County, our local businesses, and everyone who is a part of this incredible community...
I would like to start with the two words I keep coming back to since the day my wife and I landed in Great Bend: Thank you.
When we moved to Great Bend, we were newcomers. We didn't grow up here. We hadn't spent decades building relationships in this community. And yet, from our very first days, you welcomed us. You embraced us. You made us feel like we belonged. That kind of generosity cannot be manufactured; it is simply who you are.
I also want to thank you for the trust you have placed in me in this role. Leading Great Bend Economic Development is not just a job; it is a responsibility I take seriously. Your willingness to support this work, to ask hard questions, and to show up as partners in building something real for this community means more than I can express.
Now, I am proud to share some great news: We’re moving forward! Because of this community, the Innovation Center has secured the funding commitments needed to continue and complete construction.
I have seen the question asked online, sometimes cynically, sometimes genuinely, "What can one person really do?"
Here is one answer: one person can move to Great Bend, Kansas, take on a new job in a new industry, and within six months raise the funds needed to see a multi-million-dollar community project through. One person can do a lot when the community around them is the kind of community we are. Imagine what we can continue to accomplish together.
This project has never been about one person. Investments follow vision and energy. The energy in this community, your energy, is what made this project possible. If you want to see change in Barton County, create the vision, be the energy that vision needs, and investments will follow. I have watched it happen firsthand.
Securing the construction funding was the first summit. The work to fully outfit the Innovation Center, the tools, equipment, maker space resources, incubator kitchen, technology infrastructure, and the programming, workforce development, education, and community initiatives that will make this center truly transformational, that work continues. We are continuing to raise the capital needed to ensure that when the doors of the Innovation Center open, they open to something that maximizes every square foot of potential for this community.
Community investments in the Innovation Center remain open, starting at just $100.
COMMUNITY INVESTMENT TIERS — GREAT BEND INNOVATION CENTER
Sponsorship Levels
$100+ $500+ $1,000+ $2,500+ $5,000+ $10,000+ $25,000+ $50,000+ $100,000+ $250,000+ $500,000+ $1,000,000+
Every single donation, at every level, will earn a permanent place on the Innovation Center's donor wall. And this will be no ordinary wall.
The donor wall will be an interactive art installation. Every contributor will have the opportunity to come to the Innovation Center, use the equipment, and help create something together, a community-built piece that belongs to everyone who helped build this incredible Innovation Center. Your name, your hands, your contribution will create a permanent part of something Central Kansas can be proud of for generations.
If you would like to invest in this project:
• Check: Made out to Great Bend Alive Inc. (3111 10th Street Great Bend, KS 67530)
• Reach out to Director@gbedinc.com for link
See specific needs for the Innovation here
This is just the beginning for Barton County. The Innovation Center will become a cornerstone of entrepreneurship, workforce development, and innovation in Central Kansas. It will be a place where ideas become businesses, skills become careers, where the next generation finds the tools and the community to build something extraordinary.
We move forward together. One step at a time.
If you have questions, ideas, want to get involved, or are ready to make your investment in the Innovation Center, we want to hear from you. This project belongs to this community, and so do we.