About Barton County

Located in central Kansas, Barton County is a community with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a deep commitment to its future. From the revitalization of its historic drag strip to the opening of a new Innovation Center in its county seat Great Bend, Barton County is investing in the people, places, and ideas that will shape its next chapter.

The community has built a strong foundation for supporting entrepreneurs through CO.STARTERS cohorts, business bootcamps, paired mentorship, technical assistance grants, and a three-tiered $95,000 pitch competition. Together, these programs help residents develop ideas, strengthen financial plans, and grow local companies while connecting entrepreneurial energy to new technologies and scalable industries.

Rather than replacing the industries and businesses that have long sustained the region, Barton County is building on its existing strengths by helping local companies adopt new tools, expanding opportunities to develop in-demand skills, and creating an environment where the next generation of entrepreneurs can build technology-enabled businesses from central Kansas.

Community Partners

Great Bend Economic Development

Great Bend Economic Development works to improve quality of life by creating jobs, strengthening the workforce, increasing the number of living-wage jobs, and expanding the local tax base. Opening this year, the new Innovation Center will house Great Bend Economic Development and the Chamber of Commerce while providing makerspaces, fabrication equipment, virtual reality technology, a commercial kitchen, and flexible spaces for training, experimentation, product development, and industry partnerships.

Barton Community College is expanding access to education in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship. New programs, including a middle-school coding and cybersecurity bootcamp, are helping introduce young people to technology as a career and business pathway while strengthening the region’s future workforce.

What Being a Member of the Network Means to Barton County

Through the Rural Innovation Network, Barton County will connect with communities pursuing similar goals, including programming innovation spaces, strengthening K–12 talent pipelines, supporting remote workers, and expanding traditional small business support into technology-driven entrepreneurship. As both a contributor and a learner, the community looks forward to exchanging ideas, building relationships, and advancing new opportunities for entrepreneurs across rural America.

Explore our Network

Today, these local leaders are focused on educating and training local residents in digital skills (especially those traditionally excluded from the tech industry), employing them in new economy jobs, and empowering them to launch startups that will drive a prosperous 21st-century economy. Diverse in geography, economic origin, and demographics, these communities represent the full spectrum of rural America.

Explore the communities