Alex Ram

Wichita's principal industrial sector is manufacturing, which accounted for 21.6 percent of area employment in 2003. Aircraft has long since dominated the industry, and plays such an important role that it has the ability to influence the economic health of the entire region. In the early 2000s a national and international recession combined with the after effects of the terrorist attacks on September 11 to depress the aviation sub-sector in and around Wichita. Orders for new aircraft plummeted, prompting Wichita's five largest aircraft manufacturers—Boeing Co., Cessna Aircraft Co., Bombardier Learjet Inc., Hawker Beechcraft and Raytheon Aircraft Co.—to slash a combined 15,000 jobs between 2001 and 2004. In response, these companies began developing small- and mid-sized airplanes to appeal to business and corporate users.

Healthcare is Wichita's second-largest industry, employing approximately 28,000 people in the local area. Since health-care needs remain fairly consistent regardless of the economy, this field was not subject to the same pressures that affected other industries in the early 2000s. The Kansas Spine Hospital opened in 2004, as did a critical care tower at Wesley Medical Center. In July 2010, Via Christi Health, which is the largest provider of health care services in Kansas, is ready to open a hospital that will serve the northwest area of Wichita. Via Christi Hospital on St. Teresa will be the system's fifth hospital to serve the Wichita community.

The following manufactures like Bombardier Learjet, Cessna, and Hawker Beechcraft are based in Wichita, along with Spirit AeroSystems, and both Airbus and Boeing maintain a large work force in Wichita.

The Coleman Company, a company that produces camping supplies, is based in Wichita.

Wichita is home to the headquarters of Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the United States.

Renewable energy company Alternative Energy Solutions is based in Wichita.

Chance Morgan, a manufacturer of roller coasters, is based in Wichita.

Prior to its dissolution Air Midwest, a regional airline, was headquartered in Wichita.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Wichita metropolitan area labor force, 2004 annual average:

Size of nonagricultural labor force: 282,800

Number of workers employed in . . .

construction and mining: 16,100

manufacturing: 58,400

trade, transportation and utilities: 49,500

information: 6,100

financial activities: 12,200

professional and business services: 26,300

educational and health services: 38,400

leisure and hospitality: 25,200

other services: 12,100

government: 38,500

Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $19.45 (2004)

Unemployment rate: 6.3% (February 2005)


Adapted from the Wikipedia article Wichita, Kansas, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki