Report on tech jobs leaves Kansas in dead last

BYLINE: Jason Shaad

Kansas' technology scene looks drab, judging by a new industry report.

Although the national technology economy continued to grow, Kansas lost 2,000 technology jobs in 2005, according to an American Electronics Association (AeA) report released April 24. That's the largest loss of tech jobs among all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the report said.

The majority of the job losses came in the telecommunications sector, where Kansas lost 2,400 of the state's 51,991 technology positions in 2005, the most recent data available.

"Sprint is obviously a significant player" in the local downturn, said Tracy Taylor, CEO of Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp.

The former Sprint Corp. eliminated 5,850 jobs between 2003 and 2005.

Kansas lost an additional 1,100 jobs in the computer systems design sector.

One bright spot was engineering services, where employment increased from 7,300 in 2004 to 7,800 in 2005.

Taylor saw a few other positive glimmers in the report. Kansas had 3,144 tech businesses in 2005, up 3.3 percent from the prior year. The tech industry also accounted for about 4.9 percent of private-sector jobs in the state, ranking Kansas 20th in that category.

Overall, Kansas ranked 27th in high-tech employment, dropping one spot from last year's rankings.

Taylor said recent initiatives will help improve the tech economy, including KTEC's Pipeline program to mentor budding technology entrepreneurs and the Kansas Bioscience Authority.

Missouri fared better in the AeA's report, adding 1,800 tech jobs in 2005 and ranking 19th in high-tech employment.

Despite losing 2,000 jobs in the telecom sector, Missouri added 1,700 jobs in computer systems design and an additional 700 in Internet services. The state had 88,326 technology employees in 5,452 tech companies in 2005.

"Missouri did really well in 2005," AeA's Midwest executive director Ed Longanecker said.

Nationally, the technology industry in saw a net job gain in 2006 for the first time since the tech bubble in 2001. Industry employment totaled 5.7 million in 2006, up 146,600 from 5.63 million in 2005, according to the report.

Longanecker said greater access to financing -- either through venture capital funds or economic development programs -- will help several Midwest states raise their technology profiles.

"I think that Kansas is probably on the cusp of turning the corner with some of its initiatives," he said.