Wichita was named an All-America City (AAC) winner on Friday, claiming the national recognition for the fourth time and first time in a decade.

Wichita competed against 28 other finalist cities in the National Civic League (NCL) competition, which was held Thursday and Friday in Tampa, Fla. Ten cities were named AAC winners including Phoenix; Inglewood (Calif.);Fort Wayne, Indiana; Somerville, Mass; Albany, New York; Kinston, N.C.; Statesville, N.C.; Caroline County, Va. and Richmond, Indiana. The 10 winning cities were announced during an evening awards banquet. Competing cities were judged on the merits of 1) three local projects that reflected outstanding collaboration, 2) a 10-minute, on-site presentation that showcased the projects and 3) a 10-minute, on-site question-and-answer segment.

"This national honor exemplifies our city's best partnership efforts,” said Mayor Carl Brewer who led a contingent of 30 Wichitans who were representatives of the local projects and participated in the 10-minute presentation. “It's motivation for us to continue working together in ways that continued to improve our great city.”

Wichita’s on-site performance, titled “City or No City,” was a parody of the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal.” Mayor Brewer played the lead character, “Mayor How We Do It,” a spoof of the game show’s star host Howie Mandel. The Wichita skit highlighted collaboration efforts that produced Visioneering Wichita, Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services and Opportunity Drive.

Opportunity Drive is a learning and recreation campus, which includes the Boys & Girls Club of South Central Kansas, a preschool program known as The Opportunity Project (TOP) and the Gordon Parks Academy, a kindergarten through eighth grade public school. Visioneering Wichita is a multipurpose community engagement and regional planning initiative. Mennonite Housing is a nonprofit that builds affordable homes for low-income families.

Wichita previously claimed the AAC honor in 1961, 1993 and 1999. The AAC is the nation’s oldest civic award. It was founded in 1949 by the NCL, which raises awareness about cities that exceed at community collaboration, community pride and economic development. AAC recognition can boost a community’s sense of civic pride and generate national attention, which helps in the recruitment of industry, jobs and investment to an area. AAC honorees serve as models for communities throughout the nation who are facing difficult challenges and seeking innovative and collaborative ways to overcome them.

During the stay in Tampa, Mayor Brewer made his debut on Twitter via the Visioneering group known as Young Professionals of Wichita (YPW) in an effort to provide regular updates from Tampa. The Mayor’s YPW Twitter profile can be found at www.twitter.com/ypw.

"Young people and groups like YPW are inspiration for us to work together and improve our progressive city,” Brewer said.

The AAC trip will be funded through the generosity of following local donors:

• Barry Downing
• Spirit AeroSystems
• Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce
• AT&T
• MKEC Engineering
• Professional Engineering Consultants
• The Coleman Company
• Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services
• Intrust Bank
• Schaefer, Johnson, Cox & Frey Architecture
• Slawson Real Estate
• Cessna Aircraft Company
  

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