My dad has worked for the State of Iowa since 1960 (although he retired in 2001, he still contracts part time). Can you imagine 52 years with the same employer? His first job was as a child welfare worker. As he worked his way up he managed case workers, and eventually was promoted to lead the Child Welfare Division of the Iowa Department of Human Services. *Side bar: they had to send a case worker to our house when he was the CPS chief because of my shenanigans - great dinner party story.
But I digress - by the time he retired he was the #2 guy over the largest state organization in Iowa, serving the last decade as the public sector version of a COO in an organization with a 3-4 Billion (with a B) dollar budget. He worked hard, sacrificed, and was rewarded with a fulfilling career spanning five decades. My how the world has changed. Today your employer (even if its the government) will not carry your career cradle to grave. Your career stability will come from you, not your employer.
I'm not saying you won't have to work hard & sacrifice. You will. I'm not saying you won't have a fulfilling career. Because you can. What I am saying is you should always be looking for potential opportunities. The average Gen X / Y / Millennial will likely have a new employer every 4-5 years over the course of a career.
Expanding your network has never been easier. Rather than turn this into a '"How To" on networking and developing relationships the take away is this - if you are not networking you are stunting your career growth. Fortunately in the IT world there are dozens of places to start connecting. There are dozens of organizations where you can connect to IT Professionals in Kansas City. An aggregate list can be found here along with a calendar of events.
Who you know will have a big impact on what kind of opportunities will present themselves in the future. That means you need to network now. Don't wait until your company has a bad quarter and you become the latest RIF casualty.
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