Overland Park is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 197,238.
Author Archives: Laura Phillips
Shawnee
Shawnee is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the seventh-most populous municipality in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 67,311.
River Market
Busy River Market centers on City Market, dating to 1857, where casual global eateries, gourmet grocery stores and indie boutiques surround pavilions hosting a weekend farmers’ market. Nearby, the Arabia Steamboat Museum displays paraphernalia salvaged from a ship that sunk in the Missouri River in the mid-19th century. Broad paths for strolling and biking trace the shoreline in Berkley Riverfront Park.
Grain Valley
Grain Valley is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. Grain Valley is located in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area and is a suburb of Kansas City. The population was 15,627 at the 2020 census. It is 23 miles east of downtown Kansas City.
Change Your Talent Game | 2025 TeamKC Training Camp Recap
The 2025 TeamKC Training Camp gathered nearly 400 all-star recruiters, HR leaders and community partners to build connections, share actionable insights and stay ahead of the latest talent trends.
TeamKC leaders shared the 2025 game plan — with intention to make the network even stronger through collaboration, thought leadership and expertly-crafted tools that attract the best and brightest to the KC region.
The 2025 TeamKC MVP, KC Current, was announced and Dani Welniak, VP of Communications, shared an exciting look at the momentum the team continues to build in women’s sports.
Our speakers brought the energy!
- Jackie Nguyen, CEO of Cafe Cà Phê, shared her KC story and outstanding practices as an employer.
- Leaders from Leva, Garmin, SEPOW and Digital Health KC shared insights on the Tech + Human Connection panel.
- Our keynote speaker, Erin Hatzikostas, brought it home with a message on how employers can use authenticity as a strategy in the workplace.
Check out all the photos from 2025 TeamKC Training Camp.
Your Next Steps:
- Download the 2025 TeamKC Scouting Report to stay ahead of the talent game.
- Join the network and access more tools that advance your talent attraction efforts.
- Replay the video – We Are TeamKC – as a reminder of what we can accomplish together.
5 Ways KC is the MVP of Sports Architecture
Kansas City’s is the unparalleled capital of the world for sports architecture, with some of the biggest names in the industry.
- Nearly half of sports architecture around the world originates in the KC region.
- KC firms were key to the design of 27 of the 30 NFL Stadiums.
- Nearly every Super Bowl stadium still in use by the NFL was designed, engineered or renovated by KC firms – including those used in 19 of the last 21 Super Bowls.
- Kansas City created the gold standard for Olympic stadiums.
- KC firms have been key to the design of 13 of the 16 FIFA World Cup 26™ stadiums, including 10 of 11 across the U.S., with capacity for more than 850,000 fans combined.
But KC’s design story is even bigger than sports. Check out 14 Reasons Kansas City is a Top Design City.
Engineering His Own Future
How one KC transplant has found his groove.
By Randy Mason
Like many of us, Godfrey Echekwu is a big fan of tacos and barbecue. Like some of us, he hits the gym early before heading to his job in the city. Unlike many of us, he faced and overcame the challenges of coming to a new country just eight years ago.
Godfrey was 18 when his family moved from Nigeria to Jefferson City, Missouri. He enrolled at Lincoln University and turned his sights to engineering.
“I had a teacher who told us a civil engineer could get a job anywhere,” he recalls.
That led him to the University of Missouri Science & Technology in Rolla, Missouri. After an internship with Kansas City’s Turner Construction, Godfrey joined the company full-time as a civil engineer.
“People are surprised that I’m only 26, but I’m good at learning from other’s mistakes. I just don’t like to fail.”
And his time isn’t spent in just an office — he endures freezing temperatures and heat waves to be in the middle of the action throughout the process.
“You need to know how a building is built,” he says. “That means not just sitting in a trailer or inside the office. You’ve got to learn how to keep learning.”
Godfrey lives on the Kansas side of the state line with friends from college. The drive to his office takes 20 to 30 minutes — that is, once he’s finished his 4 a.m. workout at Lifetime Fitness.
It’s a routine that Godfrey picked up at school, and it includes trying to eat well, too. “I never get tired of plantains,” he says while admitting that a good taco is hard to resist. As for his favorite… Carniceria y Tortilleria in Kansas City, Kansas, gets the nod.
“As soon as I tasted it,” he grins, “I said, ‘that’s the one.’”
14 Reasons Kansas City is a Top Design City
KC is among the leading cities in the world for architecture, engineering and construction, with a legacy of designing and building a better world — from right here in the Heartland.
- More than 1,200 architectural and engineering firms call KC home
- KC has more than 5,700 construction firms
- 81,000 workers in KC are employed in the A/E/C sector
- A/E/C is a $16 billion industry in KC
- KC led the Green Revolution in architecture
- Nearly half of sports architecture around the world originates in the KC region
- KC firms were key to the design of 27 of the 30 NFL Stadiums
- Kansas City created the gold standard for Olympic stadiums
- 20% of the world’s power systems are designed by KC companies
- 13% of global telecommunication systems are designed by KC companies
- 8% of the world’s transportation infrastructure and systems are KC-designed
- 21 of the top 25 U.S. design firms have a presence in KC — more than any other city
- KC has 7th-largest concentration in the U.S. for architecture and engineering jobs; 70% more concentrated than the national average
- Colleges and universities in the KC region award 1,400+ architecture and engineering degrees annually
Discover more: Explore why Kansas City is known as the sports architecture capital of the world.