Techies Reject Coasts for 'Silicon Prairie' (Wichita, Haven: quality of life, living, restaurants)

[Blue Earth]

Link: Techies reject coasts for 'Silicon Prairie' - CNN.com

Snippets:

Wichita, Kansas (CNN) -- At a table in Caffe Moderne, a coffee bar in downtown Wichita, sat a couple of young Kansans sipping coffee and working away on Macbook Pros. Terms like "content management systems" and "web integration" floated in the air as Clint Brauer taught a local about his business.

Thirteen years ago, Brauer couldn't wait to get out of the Sunflower State. "I just didn't see the opportunities in Kansas," he said. "I grew up in a small town outside of Wichita, went to Kansas State ... and so I moved to the West Coast to get into high tech."

Brauer traveled from the prairie to the Hollywood Hills and spent his 20s living the kind of life he'd fantasized about while growing up in the small town of Haven.

"I started realizing that while I loved what I did, I wanted more balance. My goal wasn't to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company anymore but to have a better quality of life." A change was coming for Brauer, and fortunately the Web would provide.

"I'm OK that I don't have three different Cuban restaurants to choose from," he jokes. "Some folks couldn't deal with it, but I like going out to the country, going out to the lake, and enjoying the open skies."

In Silicon Valley, longtime human resources executive Aryae Coopersmith of HR Forums has noticed a change in the past year.

"Now that the economy is waking up a little bit and there's more hiring, our members have shifted from few concerns about retaining employees to new concerns about retaining employees," said Coopersmith. The work-life balance in middle America could be more appealing, and there are benefits to being a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

A lot of the growth is spurred on by people like Brauer, who returned to Kansas with a decade of experience and a phone full of business contacts.

"I'd been sourcing people from all over the world for the last decade, so working for them didn't necessitate being in L.A."

The nature of the new economy and the technological advances of the past ten years meant that he could be based anywhere and work for clients worldwide.

"I remember one day sitting on a tractor at my parents' and needing to be on a conference call -- with clients in India. I turned down the motor, and since I had good cell service, I did it right there."

"Business is going fine, it can be done. It's a little bit more difficult to grow your business but your costs are so low [in Kansas], your personal burn rate is much lower," said Brauer. "I'm at peace out here."

[Amyzodd]

Yup

[GraniteStater]

Agreed on some points, but those individual case studies could be applicable in many areas across the board these days. With Silicon Valley, Megalopolis, Texas Corridor, etc you have a very high conglomeration of tech companies, ancillary businesses, and other related networks that act as an incubator of innovation, venture capital, and new ideas. Kansas is still mostly a brain drain state as it has a very high out-migration rate compared to many other places. Of course JOCO will have some continued growth, but JOBS are quite a bit harder to come by compared to decades past. Starting a small business sure isn't easy either but it can be done.