Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan for Metropolitan Kansas City Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation 600 Broadway, Suite 200 | Kansas City, MO 64105 816-474-4240 | www.marc.org April 2014 MID-AMERICA REGIONAL COUNCIL Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan 1 Mid-America Regional Council • 2014 Table of Contents Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................3 Analyzing Greater Kansas City’s Economy ...............................................................................................4 Population Trends ........................................................................................................................................4 Employment ...................................................................................................................................................5 Industry Specialization ...............................................................................................................................8 Exports .............................................................................................................................................................11 Innovation and Entrepreneurship ..........................................................................................................12 Education and Workforce ........................................................................................................................13 Transportation Access .............................................................................................................................. 14 Kansas City’s Geography and Environment........................................................................................... 20 Geography ................................................................................................................................................... 20 Waterways and Water Resources ....................................................................................................... 20 Air Quality .....................................................................................................................................................22 Disaster Preparedness and Resilience ......................................................................................................23 Hazard Mitigation .......................................................................................................................................23 Emergency Response ...............................................................................................................................23 Recovery ........................................................................................................................................................25 Analysis of Opportunities and Barriers ................................................................................................... 26 Capital Access and Business Support ................................................................................................27 Education and Workforce ...................................................................................................................... 28 Innovation and Entrepreneurship ........................................................................................................ 28 Job Access ................................................................................................................................................... 29 State Incentives ..........................................................................................................................................30 Economic Development Goals and Objectives ......................................................................................31 Economic Development Opportunities ..............................................................................................31 Effective Workforce Development ..................................................................................................... 33 Infrastructure Development and Transportation........................................................................... 34 Sustainable Future Development ........................................................................................................ 34 Action Plan ......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Performance Measures .................................................................................................................................. 38 Community and Private Sector Participation ....................................................................................... 39 Strategic Projects, Programs and Activities .......................................................................................... 43 Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................ 46 A. About MARC .......................................................................................................................................... 46 B. County Profiles .......................................................................................................................................52 C. Historic Places and Landmarks ........................................................................................................ 61 D. Endangered Species ............................................................................................................................72 E. Hazardous Waste Sites ........................................................................................................................74 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan 1 Mid-America Regional Council • 2014 The Greater Kansas City Region This publication was prepared by the Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation. The statements, findings, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan 2 Mid-America Regional Council • 2014 Introduction The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan (CEDS) for Metropolitan Kansas City provides an PLAN GOALS economic roadmap to help diversify and strengthen Economic Development Opportunities the regional economy. This plan is an update to the 2009 plan. It provides an analysis of the current Create a region that supports regional economy, integrates human and physical entrepreneurship and innovation. capital into economic planning, and offers useful benchmarks for evaluating progress. Create a region that provides strong The Mid-America Regional Council Community support to existing businesses. Services Corporation, a 501(c)3 subsidiary of the Mid-America Regional Council, prepared this CEDS Create a region that increases national plan on behalf of the 119 cities and nine counties visibility as a destination of choice for in the bistate Kansas City region. MARC serves companies and talent. as the association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the Create a region that provides quality Kansas City area. MARC provides a forum for local technology infrastructure. jurisdictions and diverse community interests to work Effective Workforce Development together to address the region’s problems and identify the opportunities for cooperative solutions. (For more Create a region that trains and develops about MARC, see Appendix A.) an educated workforce. The Kansas City metropolitan region, as defined for this Comprehensive Economic Development Create a region that is able to recruit Strategy, is composed of 119 municipalities in nine and attract talented individuals. counties spanning 4,400 square miles in two states. The nine counties — Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami Infrastructure and Transportation and Wyandotte in Kansas, and Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte and Ray in Missouri — comprise roughly 94 Create a region that provides mobility percent of the population of the 15-county Kansas for the workforce. City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The Kansas Create a region that supports a City MSA is the 30th largest metropolitan area in the developed infrastructure for targeted U.S., with approximately 2 million people, 1.2 million industries. jobs and 850,000 households. (For more details about each of the nine counties in the MARC region, see Sustainable Future Development Appendix B.) Create a region that supports development in key corridors and older built neighborhoods. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan 3 Mid-America Regional Council • 2014 Analyzing Greater Kansas City’s Economy Population Trends The population of the nine-county Kansas City region grew by 14 2000 percent from 2000 to 2013, from 1,724,123 to 1,965,796. Growth is expected to continue, reaching 2.5 million by 2040. Population growth rates vary widely by county. Jackson County is the region’s largest county in terms of population, followed by Johnson, Clay and Wyandotte counties. Johnson County has grown the most in recent years, though Platte County matches it in percentage terms