Sedgwick County, with a population of 550,000, is home to the largest city in Kansas — Wichita.

It’s here in Wichita where a majority of the world’s aircraft are built — earning it the moniker “the air capital of the world.” It should therefore be of no surprise that this is a community that knows how to make things take off.

It’s here where you’ll find a dynamic community with a soaring entrepreneurial spirit.

Which is why it’s home to many small businesses and start-ups. Home to a people who’ve always valued independence. And home to those who’ve always had an interest in building new innovative ideas and who share an entrepreneurial philosophy that has served their community well. A philosophy embraced even by its government.

A philosophy that can take an idea like Project Access and make it fly.

A big part of the success that this community enjoys is, of course, relationship building. But that’s only a part of it. It’s also about taking advantage of the opportunities available to a particular community at a particular moment in history. It’s about thinking creatively with regard to what’s happening in your community. It’s about taking a situation unique to your environment and turning it around to your advantage.

And the people of Wichita and Sedgwick County did just that: by taking a program that was started in another community — and then taking it to a new level. They embraced it — and they saw what worked. They adapted it to their own needs — in their own time, and in their own way.

It was a community that knew it had the right people, at the right time. Strong leaders who inspired, pressed the case forward, and kept it focused. Staff who worked tirelessly to coordinate all the disparate elements. And, through it all, there was a recognition by everyone that this was the right thing to do — for everyone.

In the end, everyone was asked to be, and was, involved — the doctors, the hospitals, the funders, city and county governments, the pharmacists, the health clinics, and businesses. It’s a real testament to what the commitment to community can bring to fruition. A testament to the people of Wichita and Sedgwick County.

Is it any wonder, then, why Wichita has three times had the honor of being named an All- American City?