Kansas City Announces 10 New Projects as Economic Development Border War Continues

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Kansas City has announced 10 new projects in various stages of development, and officials hope that they will increase the optimism about the local economy. The Kansas City Business Journal reports that the leadership of the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City lauded the combined investment, valued at over $37 million, as the highest number of simultaneous projects in the agency’s 25-year history.

Mayor Sly James said that these are exciting times for Kansas City; he highlighted that the impact of the 10 projects will be quantifiable not only in dollars but also in jobs created and retained.

It is expected that 1,125 new jobs will be created and 160 retained in the city. The projects announced at an EDC meeting include a $1.5 million investment by Applebee’s Services Inc., who will relocate their headquarters from Lenexa, thus creating 378 new jobs, and a $17 million investment by Blount International. The latter will bring a 350,000-square-foot distribution center to Kansas City that will create 89 jobs.

The ongoing economic development border war is making headlines in the Kansas City Star as well. Bruce Thielen, senior vice president of North American Savings, announces the return of the mortgage lending operation of North American Savings Bank to Kansas City after having spent six years in Johnson County. Apart from the 204 jobs that will be moved from its current quarters, the firm plans to add another 58 jobs in the next five years. North American will receive $5.8 million in incentives from Missouri, as well as $111,000 from Kansas City.