KC Rising is focusing on initiatives in three work groups as part of its vision to elevate Kansas City regional economic growth to its full potential. Trade, ideas and people are at the forefront of KC Rising’s economic plans.
KC Rising’s launch in 2014 focused on creating a sustainable 20-year vision to accelerate the performance of the regional economy and to expand economic opportunity for every individual, said Scott Smith, KC Rising co-chair and retired president and CEO of HNTB Infrastructure.
“We found the best way to create this type of change was to grow the Kansas City region’s gross domestic product, grow the number of quality jobs and increase the median household income,” Smith said.
KC Rising is a regional business-led effort to spur economic growth in the region. The group reviewed its progress and plans at its annual year-end meeting on Feb. 28.
Co-chair Doug Girod, vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center, said KC Rising followed its vision plan. “We honed in on what it was actually going to take to produce long-term change and decided on our initial implementation through our three work groups,” he said.
Each of the groups has developed initiatives to help attain KC Rising’s goals. In the Trade group, the Life Sciences Nexus is focused on creating collaborative forums between human and animal health researchers and companies. The Go Global KC initiative is being led by Kansas City’s World Trade Center, and serves as an export concierge. Among other services, it provides advice, direction and date to companies. The KC Global Design initiative is charged with positioning Kansas City as a global center of excellence and as a destination for talent in architecture, engineering and technology.
The Ideas group has made progress in KCInvestED in partnership with KC SourceLink. It provides connections and opportunities for early-stage investment. About $14 million has been raised through the KC Rise Fund initiative. Work is also in progress to research accelerator best practices to apply in the region.
The People group includes a Life Sciences TIE (Talent-to-Industry Exchange) program to identify gaps and opportunities to fill jobs in the life sciences sector. The Talent Tool Kit is designed to sell Kansas City to job candidates and new hires. The People group also includes GradForce KC, Gateways KC and KC Scholars, aimed at helping people obtain advanced degrees.
At the annual event, three new co-chairs were named. They are Bill Gautreaux, CMO and president of Crestwood MSL; John Murphy, partner and immediate past chairman of Shook Hardy & Bacon; and Sandy Price, board member with Great Plains Energy and retired senior human resources executive for Sprint.
