Group evolves from job club, sponsors business summit

During a thriving economy, the majority of the middle class have little need for assistance in buying food, paying bills or getting health care. But at the end of 2008, that all changed, with more middle class people losing their jobs, especially those nearing the end of their working careers.

“The baby boomers got hit really hard this time,” Vicky Watson, co-founder of New Landings Corp., said. “When the economy took the negative turn, it displaced literally thousands of people that are middle class, and there was nothing in place to help these people navigate this new landscape because this is a new terrain for all of us.”

Watson should know; she was one of the middle class caught up in the economic downturn and the first round of 2,500 layoffs by Sprint on March 27, 2009. She and some fellow laid-off employees decided to meet and draw strength from each other as they searched for jobs.

“We thought we were doing a job club,” Watson said. “We quickly realized this was bigger than a job club and we started doing our own job fairs. We also did a health and wellness fair as a way to tell the middle class where the services were that were low cost or no cost.

“Folks didn’t even know these services existed because they had never needed them before.”

That’s when the group decided to become an advocate for the middle class, she said.

“We have a lot of professionals out of work and we need to get them back to work so they can contribute to the tax base,” Watson said.

From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 17 at Johnson County Community College’s Yardley Hall, New Landings will sponsor a business summit with a panel of local business owners and economic development representatives. The event is free and open to the public.

Panelists will include: Andrew Nave, economic developer with the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce; David Longstreet, a local economist with Longstreet Consulting Inc.; Michael Rapken, CEO, Genesis10, one of the fastest growing, privately held business and technology firms in the country; Chuck Vanasse, CEO of Prio Inc.; and Brad Justice, owner of Team Office.

Topics to be discussed include encouraging business leaders and entrepreneurs to create new jobs; empowering people to more creatively engage and support employers who are at a transitional place in terms of job creation; exploring issues critical to the business community’s ability to create and sustain new job positions; and examining ways communities can better support local businesses and job seekers.

“This event is two-fold,” Watson said. “We’re kicking off New Landings as a nonprofit into the community, and secondly, we want to talk about what we can do in the private sector to help with job creation and moving the economy and navigating through this new landscape.

“We’re inviting some of the political community to sit with us; they won’t be speaking but they can listen to some of the solutions and some of the things that will come out of the forum.”

She said the audience also will be able to ask questions.

“And hopefully, some folks will even have some solutions and ideas of how to move the economy forward and to help one another through this time,” Watson said.

Watson said she expects to fill Yardley Hall. For that reason, pre-registration is required. People can RSVP at http://events.linkedin.com/New-Landings-Business-Summit/pub/323512 or send an RSVP to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

New Landings’ website is www.nljc.org.

New Landings, which has a zero budget and is run by volunteers, serves the greater Kansas City area, Watson said.

“Right now we have more than 1,600 members,” she said. “We have had folks from Topeka; we’ve had some from Wichita; we’ve had folks as far as Lake of the Ozarks.

“We would like to be further reaching but we need funding to do that and that’s why we are coming out as a nonprofit. This has been a big labor of love and a walk in faith for me personally.”

Since the group began, she said, 253 people have found jobs and 12 others have launched their own businesses.

The group meets from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. each Wednesday at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church, 9300 Nall Ave., Overland Park.

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