Nobody knows exactly what the future holds—but some leading economists shared their educated predictions during the Greater Kansas City Chamber’s Economic Outlook 2015 event on Thursday.

First, the good news: Thanks to a growth rate of about 3 percent, the Kansas City region is expected to add 16,500 jobs this year, almost double from the previous year. This will put us close to the historical averages. Workers should see more in their paychecks over the next couple years, which could cement the strength of the recovery.

“However, the region still faces longer-term issues it must address,” said Frank Lenk, the director of research services for the Mid-America Regional Council.

“Kansas City area’s job creation is still forecast to lag the nation’s by a considerable amount for the foreseeable future. This implies regional leaders must continue to focus on the drivers of regional economic prosperity—clusters of firms that trade with the rest of the world, high-quality human capital and increased innovation and entrepreneurship—if Greater Kansas City hopes to remain a globally competitive region.”

The Need for Education

The community also needs to invest in education, said Chris Kuehl, the managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, who also spoke during the program.

“The number one focus for business leaders needs to be education for the modern era,” said Kuehl. “Every business needs to be hip deep in training the future workforce. We need to mix business with education. There should be integration in schools so that kids are well trained.”

Robert Litan, a former Kauffman Foundation vice president who now is a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, echoed those concerns.

“Growth matters to all of us because if only the top tier benefits, we’ll have class warfare and no solid middle class to purchase products,” Litan said. “We need to see coding taught to K-12 students. It will be as important as speaking English. We need more people with vo-tech skills, and humanities in addition to STEM.”

A full copy of the Economic Outlook report can be found at this website.