Economy of Kansas City
The economy of Kansas City Metropolitan Area is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri, which is the largest city in Missouri and 37th largest city in the United States. The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is the 27th largest in the United States based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 population estimates. The Kansas City area is a large, influential, and important economy in its region. Historically, Kansas City, Missouri has been the third largest beef capital in the United States (behind Chicago and Cincinnati) and home to the second largest rail network. The Kansas City Metropolitan Area houses many factories, manufacturing plants, an official international trade zone, and more foreign trade zone space than anywhere else in the nation KC SmartPort.
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Other major companies and employers
Kansas City is also home to a number of other very large, national and international companies, some of which are:
- American Century Investments (mutual fund manager and broker)
- Barts Electric (Electrical Contractor specializing in commercial and government installations)
- Bernstein-Rein (nationally recognized advertising firm)
- Black & Veatch Corporation
- Burns & McDonnell Engineering
- Bushnell Corporation (Manufacturer of outdoor products specializing in optics and imaging)
- Cerner Corporation
- Commerce Bancshares (large bank operating in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois)
- Crayola (a division of Hallmark)
- Dairy Farmers of America
- Embarq Corporation (Large telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. It was spun off from Sprint in 2006.)
- Garmin (develops consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for the Global Positioning System)
- Hallmark Cards (largest greeting card manufacturer in the world) (NOTE: although Hallmark's gross revenues would generally be more than sufficient for inclusion in the Fortune 500 and 1000, those lists only apply to public companies. Hallmark is privately held by the Hall family and is thus ineligible for the Fortune 500 or 1000.)
- HNTB (global infrastructure planning, engineering, and consulting firm).
- Interstate Bakeries (maker of Wonder Bread, Twinkies, and other assorted products)
- Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
- Kansas City Southern Industries (railway management)
- Kansas City Life Insurance (major national insurer)
- Russell Stover Candies (currently under purchase by Swiss-based company, Lindt)
- Sprint Nextel (One of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. Its world headquarters is located in Overland Park, Kansas.)
- Wish-Bone salad dressing
- YRC Worldwide (One of the largest transportation and logistics companies in the world. Based in Overland Park, Kansas.)
Other major regional and national non-corporate employers headquartered and/or located in Kansas City include:
- Shook, Hardy & Bacon (major national and international law firm)
- University of Missouri - Kansas City (full branch of the University of Missouri)
Well-known products manufactured in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
- Ford trucks, including the F-150 and Escape, are manufactured at the Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri
- Bon Ami cleaning powder, produced by Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Company of Kansas City, Missouri
- The Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse are manufactured at the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant in Fairfax, Kansas City, Kansas
- Dawn dish washing detergent is manufactured by Procter & Gamble in Kansas City.
Federal Government
The Federal Government is the largest employer in Kansas City. In the wider metropolitan area, the federal government, either directly or through contracts, employs 41,500 people. The combined annual payroll of these jobs is more than $3 billion.[1]
The largest federal agencies in the Kansas City area by number of permanent employees:
- Department of Defense - 15,294
- Department of Veterans Affairs - 2,740
- Department of Treasury (primarily the IRS) - 2,707
- Social Security Administration - 1,708
- Department of Agriculture - 1,451
- Department of Homeland Security - 1,230
- Department of Justice - 1,210
- Department of Transportation - 1,048
- General Services Administration - 883
- Environmental Protection Agency - 540
In addition, the U.S. Postal Service employees more than 6,000 in the Kansas City area. Postal Service jobs are often counted separately from other federal jobs, because these potions are generally in the excepted service. Employees in these positions cannot earn competitive status or reinstatement rights for traditional federal employment.
Business publications
Kansas City has many business publications. Two of the most prominent are the Kansas City Business Journal (published weekly), and Ingram's Magazine (published monthly). Many of Kansas City's business scions also frequently appear in the Independent, the local society magazine (published weekly). "KC Business Magazine" (published monthly)Their respective websites can be found at:
- Kansas City Business Journal
- Thinking Bigger Business
- Ingram's Magazine
- The Independent
- "KC Business Magazine"
