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Northwest Kansas Job Website Links Area Employers to Workers

Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center
Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center

The challenge of linking employers and job seekers has gotten much easier thanks to the Connect NWK Job Board.

Since Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, Inc. launched the initiative earlier this spring as part of its Connect NWK project, officials have been pleased with the number of jobs listed on the site – and the resulting employment.

Lucas Goddard of EICI said employers appreciate the ease, functionality and regional reach of the job board.

"ConnectNWK.org is doing just what we were hoping: connecting job seekers to the jobs that are available in Northwest Kansas," Goddard said. "In rural areas, it can be challenging for small communities to find the right tool to communicate job opportunities to potential employees looking for work in the region. Connect NWK Job Board puts everything on one site for a more efficient, effective job search."

Stacie Schmidt, Ellsworth County Economic Development Executive Director, said the job board offered technology her organization had been unable to feature through its own platform.

"We had an intern develop a job board for us last summer and he did a great job," Schmidt explained. "The only problem was we didn't have a customized website to feature it on, so it didn’t function in a user-friendly manner. We were trying to make it fit into a box that it couldn’t fit into."

When EICI launched ConnectNWK.org, Schmidt immediately recognized an opportunity.

"I liked the ease and functionality for job seekers and the fact that it was region wide," she said. "In economic development, if someone in the state wins, we all win. We all want to push Northwest Kansas and get people and businesses here."

The NWK Connect job board is linked through Ellsworth County's Economic Development website and Schmidt offers to list any jobs for employers in her county. The reason is two-fold.

"It's a service we like to offer to them and it's also beneficial for me to see what's available in our county," she said. "If I have a job seeker, I have first hand information where I can send them."

Employers and Economic Development directors throughout the 26-county region of the EICI are able to post employment opportunities in their communities directly onto ConnectNWK.org. Benefits of the platform for employers and economic development directors include getting connected to an even bigger pool of potential employers through the remote tag of job postings. This feature feeds into the EICI's Rural and Remote program, which cultivates working professionals looking for remote opportunities, to grow the remote network throughout the region.

The Jobs Board is a part of Connect NWK – a program launched by Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, Inc. to support economic and population growth of Northwest Kansas by providing connections between employers and prospective employees, and individuals and communities. 

The Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, Inc. provides economic and entrepreneurial assistance to businesses in rural Northwest Kansas. The private operating foundation serves 26 counties in the region with a variety of programs. By working with existing businesses or entrepreneurs throughout the coverage area with targeted programs, NWKEICI strives to reverse the outflow of people and businesses from Northwest Kansas. Through its current and future initiatives that extend resources to these businesses and entrepreneurs, NWKEICI hopes to increase population and to foster economic innovation in Northwest Kansas.

(Information courtesy NWKEICI.)