KCADC Challenges Kansas City to Build Strong, Build Fast

The KCADC Annual Meeting 2011.

The past two and a half hours were quite a whirlwind.  Not only did I find myself in the middle of some of Kansas City's most influential people, but I got the chance to hear three big announcements from the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC), tune into Bill Taylor's keynote speech and have lunch in the energetic atmosphere of the Kansas City Convention Center's Grand Ballroom.

The KCADC Annual Meeting known as FastKC brought together some of Kansas City's most influential movers-and-shakers; from the team at McCownGordon Construction, to both Mayor Sly James and Mayor Joe Reardon, to Bob Marcusse, President and CEO of the KCADC.  Over 1,000 attendees sat in on the KCADC Annual Meeting, and for good reason.  There were a lot of announcements to make about Kansas City...and Kansas City's new fiber speed.

Bob Marcusse of KCADC discussed the three new implementations that Kansas City is developing:

1. Australian animal health firm SmartVet has chosen Kansas City's Animal Health Corridor and more specifically, Olathe, for its U.S. headquarters.  This will be one of the nation's largest concentrations of animal health research and manufacturing companies.
2. Netsmart Technologies, a growing New York-based healthcare information technology firm, is relocating its headquarters to Kansas City, creating 130 jobs to start with the goal of hiring 520 people locally within five years.
3. KCNext will become the Technology Council of Greater Kansas City with the Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas (SITAKS).

The KCADC Annual Meeting concluded with a keynote speech from Bill Taylor (co-founder of Fast Company), where he discussed the importance of keeping up with the fast pace of Kansas City.  He stated that "the most successful organizations in our fast-paced global economy encourage employees to develop radical ideas."  

Congratulations to KCADC and all of the sponsors of the Annual Meeting.  We are excited to see what exciting changes Kansas City will experience this year.  

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