LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- The role of state policy in the Kansas economy and its future growth is the topic of a six-hour public conference at the University of Kansas later this month.

The annual Kansas Economy Policy Conference takes place Oct. 18 in Lawrence. Residents of western Kansas will be able to take part through a satellite hookup to a site in the town of Ulysses.

Keynote speakers will include Joseph Aistrup, a political science professor at Kansas State University; policy analyst Erin Sparks of the National Governors Association; and former Kansas House member Kenny Wilk, now a member of the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Bioscience Authority board of directors.

Economic development officials from western Kansas and elsewhere will also take part, along with legislators and KU faculty members.