Fort Hays highlights workforce partnerships and Moody's upgrade in budget committee briefing

Fort Hays State University told the Committee on Higher Education Budget that the university's outward-facing workforce strategy is producing local hiring pipelines and helping retain employers while maintaining fiscal discipline.

Vice President Ben Shears described a role that operates across the university's 67-county service area, giving concrete examples of partnerships that produced near-term hiring and retained employers. He said faculty, technical colleges and university staff worked with High Plains Mental Health on a Scribe Intervention Center and identified an initial need for about 30 hires. He also described work to keep a hospital-bed manufacturer in the region; that company now employs about 90 people in Ellis County and plans to grow toward 150 employees over five years.

"We wanna be able to provide out of my office a concierge service to business and industry," Shears said, describing short-term certificates, apprenticeship alignment and regional entrepreneurship initiatives as tools to strengthen local talent pipelines.

President Tisa Mason underscored external validation of Fort Hays' approach: "We recently upgraded to an A1 stable rating from Moody's Investors Service," she said, adding the move signals diversified revenues and fiscal stewardship.

Committee members asked how Fort Hays measures impact. Mason and Shears said success is measured in local hires, business retention and verifiable outcomes and emphasized stronger data collection across institutions and partners.

Why it matters: Fort Hays is positioning regional workforce services as central to institutional strategy and to rural economic stability. The Moody's rating upgrade provides a credit-market signal that state investments and institutional efficiencies are being managed to preserve access while containing costs.

No formal votes were taken during the briefing.