By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
When the rendering and location were revealed earlier this month of a $7 million innovation center to be built in Great Bend, many reactions were how extravagant the facility was and curiosity on its actual purpose in the community.
“One of the things that makes me cringe the most is when I hear ‘we can’t have that because we’re in Barton County,’” said Great Bend Economic Development Director Sara Arnberger. “I really wanted this center to be a beacon to show we can do whatever we want right here in central Kansas. We want opportunities so when people come and look at us they say ‘I can upscale, I can learn something new.’ It does look extravagant and it’s supposed to.”
The Great Bend Innovation Center will be located at the 10th Street and K-96 Highway intersection, in front of the recently opened Bright Beginnings childcare center. With a $7 million price tag, the community center is all grant and donation funded. Earlier this month, Arnberger mentioned in a social media post that the project is approximately 75% funded.
“We have a little over $5.5 million raised for the project,” said Arnberger. “We have some other grants that we are seeking to finish this project. It’s not coming from the city or county. It’s coming from grant dollars.”
The Innovation Center received a $4.38 million state grant that will help create the space for healthcare, education, childcare and entrepreneurship.
So what is in the Innovation Center and how will it be used?
The center will contain a Fab Lab, or digital fabrication laboratory, to provide users access to materials and technology to learn new skills and create almost anything.
“It’s a maker’s space,” Arnberger added. “Just an example of some of the things we have in this space…we have 3D printers and flight simulators. People can learn how to be a pilot. That’s one of the shortages we have right now. We have drones so you can do drone training.”
The center will also include plasma cutters, welders, wood working equipment and commercial sewing machines.
“This will help you learn something new, add something to your business or upscale to give yourself a new skill or training that you can take into the job market. This does directly relate to entrepreneurship, workforce and just opportunity in general.”
Further down the hall of the Innovation Center will be a commercial kitchen space with multiple purposes. The kitchen will serve as a central kitchen for existing childcare providers, the existing Bright Beginning childcare center and future Advancing Barton County Childcare centers.
“This is not forced upon childcare providers,” Arnberger said. “It’s for any of them that should need this service. We are working with a third-party company that would run that central kitchen piece.”
The kitchen will also be available as an incubator space for start-up restaurant businesses to use. A schedule will be provided to cooks to sign up to use the kitchen for their services. Great Bend Economic Development has partnered with several local entities, such as Kansas State Research and Extension, The University of Kansas Health System and Barton Community College to make use of these spaces, including cooking classes for the public.
Along with a kitchen, the Innovation Center will create an addition from Leafy Green Farms, based out of Pittsburg, Kansas.
“Stats are showing many Kansas farmers where their next generation have decided they don’t want to continue the family farm or ranch,” said Arnberger. “We have new people coming and saying ‘How do I farm?’ or ‘What does this look like?’ Leafy Green Farms is a farm in a pod. You can grow a myriad of things in this container. Users can pick what they’re going to grow, grow it, harvest it and use it in the commercial kitchen or sell it at a farmer’s market.”
Arnberger wanted to emphasize that youth will be a strong focus throughout the Innovation Center, showcasing the possibilities for them.
“As the youth continue to grow and learn, we want them to know if they go away and become an engineer or whatever they will become, there is a place for you back in Barton County. We want to foster that learning spirit from the beginning.”
To help foster that learning spirit, Economic Development has partnered with area school districts to create learning curriculum carried out at the center.
For remote workers or students, there will be a computer lab available at the center. The lab will be equipped with Apple Mac computers for anyone interested in design software.
“The computers will consist of Adobe software so people have the ability to grow and learn with that,” said Arnberger. “We will also be doing some language learning on the computers and in-person classes…English to Spanish and Spanish to English.”
With several medical and manufacturing shift workers in the Barton County area, the need for after-hours and even overnight childcare services has surfaced. The Innovation Center will include two childcare rooms.
“Having these childcare rooms across the street from the Bright Beginnings childcare center makes sharing resources easier. There will also be a lot of parents wanting to take advantage of the classes going on at Innovation Center after work, this will give them a safe space for their children while they do that.”
Learning spaces, or conference rooms, will be available for meetings, Zoom meetings or trainings. Other technology available will be a broadcast and podcast studio.
“Marketing is a huge component to business these days, Arnberger said. “Video marketing is huge. We want to have the tools and equipment available for the community and business sector to produce those videos.”
The Economic Development employees will help staff the Innovation Center along with the possibility of contributing partners assisting. The center will be available after hours for entrepreneurs, business professionals and community members to access.
“I hope everyone understands that this center is a stab at giving people of Barton County the ability to innovate, create, learn something new, push their business to new heights or to create a new business. We want to inspire the youth of Barton County to come back. We do have exciting things. We want them to know they’re supported.”
Arnberger hopes to have the Innovation Center constructed by the end of 2025.