Our Purpose
The Kansas City Industrial Council believes networking is the catalyst for making connections and building relationships that lead to growth through:
NETWORKING
• We build relationships between members and establish connections to key groups, city leaders, stakeholders and influencers through a variety of events.
• We share opportunities for individual and industry growth within our community, including the green sector, emerging business areas, grants and funding.
ADVOCATING
• We provide our membership a voice, and make sure it is heard at the city, state and federal levels.
• We influence and shape policy for the industrial community to bring needed dollars to our districts.
LEARNING
• We educate our membership as to what each member business offers, so that we can expand the KCIC family and share opportunities.
• We inform our membership about infrastructure and transportation issues, economic growth priorities, regulatory guidelines and changing requirements.
• We discover firsthand who our member businesses are and what they do through site visits and operation-specific presentations.
Our History
In 1988, Kansas City’s City Council and its Committee on Economic Development formed a task force to examine what was, at the time, a deteriorating industrial base. The Kansas City Industrial Council began that same year, led by a volunteer board comprising industrial sector leaders. Dedicated to building cooperation among the area’s various industrial associations, the KCIC immediately began working together to address the problems common to industrial districts across Kansas City. With assistance from the Economic Development Corporation, the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council, and several city departments, KCIC created a comprehensive report that proposed creating a more favorable industrial climate by repairing the aging industrial infrastructure, modernizing for competitiveness, encouraging excellence in education and job training, cleaning up environmental hazards and reducing blight in our industrial districts. These remain the cornerstone issues of focus for KCIC today.
