photo by: Nick Krug

The Burge Union pictured on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, in the Central District of the University of Kansas.

Economic leaders from across the state will gather at the University of Kansas next week as part of a conference examining the COVID recovery in the state.

The 2021 Kansas Economic Policy Conference is slated from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Burge Union on the KU campus. The conference will bring together several panelists to discuss how various government entities are working to promote a pandemic recovery in their economies.

“The federal government has provided billions of dollars to state and local governments in Kansas,” Donna Ginther, director of KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research and an organizer of the conference, said. “We hope that this year’s conference provides a lively discussion of how we can spend federal money in the state to create a resilient Kansas economy.”

Topics scheduled for discussion include availability of child care, access to high-quality broadband services, housing issues, economic development policy and several others.

There is no fee to attend the conference, but registration is required. Details on the full program and information on how to register can be found at the conference’s website at ipsr.ku.edu/conferen/kepc2021/. Details on how to watch the conference remotely also are available online.