Luis Rodriguez believes Wichita has all the makings of a technology startup hub, and he’s taking that message national.
Rodriguez, president of fast-growing software company Keycentrix, has penned an article for Forbes in which he lays out why innovation hubs no longer have to be in locations like Silicon Valley.
A member of Forbes Technology Council, Rodriguez says his invite-only placement with that group gave him an opportunity to possibly use the publication’s platform to talk about what matters to him in the world of technology.
“I took the initiative to write about Wichita and submit it for their approval,” he says. “We still don’t know how to talk about technology in Wichita. I wanted an article for fellow CTOs and startups to think about how they look at that.”
While he focuses the article on Wichita, Rodriguez, long a highly involved member of the local technology scene, also points out that the recipe for success is working in other communities as well.
“Good tech can come from anywhere in the world,” he writes in the article. “It isn’t an issue of replicating what the Valley has done so well but finding the city, state or region that can make — or is already making — commitments to support growth.”
In Wichita, he says, all the ingredients are there to do exactly that.
From a massive cluster of engineering talent and innovation heavyweights like Koch Industries Inc. and Cargill Inc., to supportive local officials and a cost of living that adds to a high quality of life, Rodriguez says Wichita has been the perfect place for his company to grow.
“We have dramatically grown the company here in Wichita,” he says. “But I’m not doing anything so game-changing that it can’t be a recipe for others.”
And, he believes, once other companies and startups around the country see what Wichita has to offer that they’ll be eager to go into business here.
“The only reason you would look past Wichita is because you never looked at it in the first place,” Rodriguez says.
