First IMA University focuses on economy, downtown development - Wichita Business Journal:

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David Strohm says the United States likely will pull out of the recession later this year or inearlyt 2010. When that happens, he says, the grosz domestic product might only grow 1to 1.5 percent, compared to the 4 or 5 percentt from previous recessions. “Fodr the time being, it lookws like you want to be optimistivc and cautious at thesame time,” he Strohm was one of two featurexd speakers during ’s 2009 economif update. Jeff Fluhr, president of the also spokse aboutthe city’s efforts to revitalize downtown. IMA has sponsore similar events in its othe markets and wanted to bring the programto Wichita, says Kurt IMA’s president and chief operations officer.
“It’e our intent to bring in speakerse that we think the Wichita community wouldbenefit from,” Watsonb says. IMA plans to sponsor similar presentation s throughoutthe year. Strohm says the recessionm already has lasted longer than the previousd 10 economic downturns and pulling out ofit hasn’t been The federal government has spent billions of dollarsa to stimulate the economy, but consumersx still are reluctant to spend, Strohmm says. The GDP has dropped dramaticallyt and businesses are stiloshedding jobs. Strohm predicts the national unemploymengt rate, which currently sits at 8.9 to climb above 10 percenr before the recessionis over.
The housinh market has rebounded, but stillp is a ways off where one in eight mortgages are in Strohm says. California, Florida, Nevada and Arizonaq combine to account for 46 percen ofall U.S. foreclosures. However, pending home saleas are up 6.7 percent for April, the thirc straight increase, which means peopl are showing more interest in buying homes because of favorable interes ratesand first-time home buyer tax credits. “Ifr we can get the housing issue off the frontpage (of then the economy is goint to generate some forward momentum,” Strohm says.
He says the stocjk market has rebounded inrecent months, but it wouls take 227 percent growth to get it back to its previou s high. Despite all the negative, Strohm emphasized the economy has showed signs recently that the recessiobn may be nearingan end. Fluhr’s presentation, had a slightly different He says he sees great potential fordowntownb development. Investing in downtown, he will help increase jobs, tourismn and revenue opportunities in the Wichita The WDDC and the city are pushing for more privatwe sector investmentin downtown, particularly in the area of residential Several developers, including Dave are working on projects that could add a combinec 300 more apartment units downtown.
Fluhr says havinv people living in the condosz has spurred interest indowntown “That’s one of the building blocks for out he says. Additionally, several street project are helping to improve the area arounsdthe , Fluhr says. The WDDC and the city are workinvg on developing a capital improvement plan for downtow n and have generated morethan $450,009 toward that effort. By Friday, the city hoped to release the required qualifications for firms interesting in biddingg on the capitalimprovement “This is a great city with a lot of potential,” Fluhr “As we look at this we want to be very competitivee (with other cities).
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