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Western Kansas thriving despite national slump

downtowngc.com

There’s work in western Kansas.  The region hasn’t seen a decline like the rest of the country said a recent article in RFD-TV Magazine

Lona Duvall is the president of the Finney County Economic Development Corp in Garden City.  She says, "We never really had a recession. We stayed pretty strong. So, we don't really have problems with unemployment. In fact, we're always looking for people to move to Garden City."

Cassie Gonzalez is the coffee house manager.  She agrees with Duvall.  She says, “Garden City has a lot of jobs to offer. I mean, it's growing, constantly growing.”

Packing plants, drilling companies, schools, and healthcare facilities are some of the largest employers in the area.  The growth burst began with the arrival of Tyson Meats and Sunflower Electric in the 1980s.

The unemployment rate for Finney County is 3.8 percent.  Greeley County has the lowest rate of 2.2 percent.  The unemployment rate for the state is down this year to 4.8 percent from 5.6 the previous year.

The link to USDA Unemployment in Rural America can be found here.