Month: March 2018

High school juniors to learn about college life at K-State

High school juniors from the Kansas City metro area will have a chance to learn firsthand about college life at the K-State Alumni Association’s Just For Juniors event March 26 in Overland Park, Kansas, at the Overland Park Marriott, 10800 Metcalf Ave.

Registration and the career mingling session will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 7 p.m.

At the event, high school juniors can learn about the more than 250 degree programs offered at K-State, visit with members of the Alumni Association’s Student Alumni Board and learn how to build college schedules and have an opportunity to ask questions about going to college. Juniors in attendance also will be eligible to win one of three $100 K-State scholarships.

Walk-ins are welcome and there is no cost to attend, but advanced registration is encouraged. Registration is available online at www.K-State.com/JustForJuniors.

BPU recognized for financial reporting

The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been once again awarded to the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its comprehensive annual financial report.

The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by the utility and its management.

The award was presented to Lori Austin, manager of accounting and finance and chief financial officer of BPU, and her entire department.

Judged by an impartial panel of experts, the utility’s CAFR demonstrated a “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and met the highest standards of this program. This is the 36th year in a row BPU has received this distinguished recognition.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C.

Politicians worry a trade war could damage Kansas industries

by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service

Kansas politicians are closely watching developing trade policies with an eye to whether they could start a trade war that might hurt industries in the state that rely on exports.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been in talks with Canada and Mexico to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

“NAFTA is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere,” Trump said while campaigning for office, “but certainly ever signed in this country,”

Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer said he supports the negotiations. Yet Colyer and industry trade groups asked Trump in a letter last week not to scrap the deal because that could hurt major Kansas export industries such as agriculture and aviation.

“We want to make sure that Kansas industries continue to thrive and grow,” the governor said. “We’re a very competitive state.”

Canada and Mexico are key destinations for Kansas farm commodities, said Josh Roe, the deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

“There have certainly been years where Mexico and Canada are number one and number two,” Roe said last year.

Roe said that in 2016, agriculture and aviation accounted for more than half the dollar value of the state’s exports.

Trump also announced tariffs on steel and aluminum last week — critical supplies for Kansas manufacturing.

“A strong steel and aluminum industry are vital to our national security, absolutely vital,” Trump said at a ceremony announcing the tariffs.

State Rep. Jim Ward, the top Democrat in the Kansas House, said he’s concerned Trump’s actions could spark retaliatory tariffs, which could impact industries beyond manufacturing.
“Agriculture would be devastated by tariffs or a trade war,” Ward said.

The south central part of Kansas is highly focused on manufacturing, specifically aviation.
At a recent stop at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran pointed to an airplane fuselage as an item that could be impacted by aluminum tariffs.

“The fuselage that we’re celebrating here at Spirit is 100 percent aluminum,” Moran said. “(A tariff) has a consequence in the price.”

Aerospace Industries Association CEO Eric Fanning said commercial aviation relies on imported aluminum and steel.

President Trump’s tariff on the metals was softened, though, by excluding Canada and Mexico.
Canada has been the top source of imported aluminum in the U.S. in recent years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/politicians-worry-trade-war-could-damage-kansas-industries.