Kansas City Region – November 9, 2022 – The Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) announced today a record-breaking year for the region, attracting companies that will invest more than $5.6 billion in capital investment, resulting in $354 million in payroll and nearly 6,000 jobs.
The standout year is six times more than KCADC’s historical annual investment success, and over the last decade, the organization’s business attraction efforts are an equal split across the two-state, 18-county region.
Themed “Level Up,” the event is the region’s largest business luncheon and brought together nearly 2,000 top corporate and civic partners to celebrate KC’s many recent successes that are transforming the market.
“It takes all of us to make the KC region better, and KCADC does its part to lead and contribute to its share of regional successes,” said Brian Roberts, Co-Chair of the KCADC Board of Directors and EVP, Chief Operating Officer – Midwest Series at Lockton Companies. “The strategic investments KCADC has made for decades to elevate our region’s business and lifestyle strengths benefit not only companies considering our region, but provide support and return to companies that are already here.”
In 2022, KCADC, with its partners from across the region, attracted 13 companies, expanding KC’s strengths in manufacturing and distribution, animal health, technology, data centers and more.
“What’s happening in KC isn’t just about any one individual, company or community. It’s about all of us working together to create the best KC possible,” said Tim Cowden, president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council. “We are in a tremendous position to take advantage of the opportunities right before us. Making incremental progress each and every day leads to major success, and that’s happening in KC right now.”
This year’s record-breaking business attraction included two megaprojects: Meta’s $800 million hyperscale data center, and Panasonic Energy of North America’s $4 billion EV battery plant. Executives from both Meta and Panasonic spoke at the event, discussing the benefits of the Kansas City region that resulted in the attraction of these megaprojects.
“Congratulations to Kansas City on a year of significant growth. Meta is proud to be part of it,” said Katie Comer, head of data center community development at Meta. “We’re committed to playing a positive role in Kansas City and investing in its long-term vitality, and we look forward to continuing to build strong relationships with KCADC and our other community partners for years to come.”
“In addition to its skilled talent and central location, Kansas values many of the same principles in which Panasonic was founded on, including cooperation, gratitude and contributing to society,” said Allan Swan, president of Panasonic Energy of North America. “We could not be more excited to work together and invest in this community as we strive to advance EV battery manufacturing capacity and innovation in America.”
To further the momentum across KC Heartland, KCADC announced a $10,000 contribution to Parade of Hearts which recently announced its plans to continue in 2023. The community art initiative displayed 150+ KC heart sculptures across the metro this year, raising more than $2.5 million to support aspects of the region most impacted by the pandemic.
To get involved in KCADC, learn more about the region’s business and talent attraction strategies at onekc.org.
About KCADC
The Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) serves the 18-county, two-state Kansas City area by marketing the region’s business and lifestyle assets to companies around the world. Working closely with its two states, and 50-plus county and community partners, the region has attracted more than 64,000 new jobs over its 45-plus-year history. Leading the efforts behind the KC Animal Health Corridor, KC SmartPort, TeamKC, KC Heartland and KC Global Design, KCADC’s clients consistently rank the organization as the No. 1 regional economic development group in the nation. | onekc.org