The Kansas Chamber of Commerce has announced the 2013 class for Leadership Kansas. Nobody from Hays or Salina was included this year.

John Federico, Executive Director of the program told Hays Post, “It was not a great year for applications from Western Kansas and there was only one applicant from Hays. We can only deal with the applications we receive. However, it does say a lot about the 35 year old program, still receiving almost 700 nominations and over 100 applications a year.”

Forty applicants are chosen to participate in each class. This year’s class includes two area residents, Dave Engel, CEO of Phillips County Hospital, and Mark Lowry, owner of Heritage Insurance Group in Stockton.

Throughout the six-month program, the members of the class are exposed to a variety of experts and educational 3-day training sessions in six different Kansas communities. The discussion topics include: business; education; agriculture; public policy; societal health and development; economics; and government.