Economy and Industry
The main industries in Kansas City are Transportation, Government, Communications and Healthcare. It is home to several Fortune 1000 companies including Sprint Nextel, YRC Worldwide, Hallmark, Harmon Industries, Great Plains Energy and AMC Theatres. In addition, other local employers with over 5,000 employees include Federal Express, Ford, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Wausau Supply and H&R Block, Interstate Bakeries Corporation, Garmin International, DST Systems, Cerner Corporation and Russell Stover Candies.
In spite of a sluggish national economy, US Bank will be creating 1,000 new jobs for a new service center in Overland Park (KC suburb) and Holland, a subsidiary YRC Worldwide, www.yrcw.com is hiring 1,000 new drivers this year. Last but not least, Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant (they build the Ford F-150’s and the Ford Escape) and General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant (Suburb of Kansas City)) have both started to re-hire the people they let go when the recession began, so there are signs of economic recovery in Kansas City.
Kansas City Revitalization
Kansas City has recently invested $9 billion into re-development, with $4.5 billion going to create a new entertainment district downtown known as The Power and Light District. This amazing development is a state of the art nine-block entertainment district comprising of numerous restaurants, bars, and retail shops. It is anchored by the Sprint Center, a 19,000 seat complex that is currently hosting the NCAA college basketball tournament. The Sprint Center is one of the Midwest’s premier venue’s for sports and musical entertainment.
Just a year after unveiling a new rainforest, the 200-acre Kansas City Zoo has done it again, this time introducing the largest polar bear exhibit between Chicago and the west coast. The Polar Bear Passage is the Arctic playground of KC’s newest resident, Nikita: a 4-year-old, 750-pound polar bear. The $11 million project is the latest in a long line of improvements at the zoo, the 10th largest in America. New in 2011 is the African Sky Safari. Crossing the park’s largest exhibit, the aerial tram ride will provide a breathtaking view of everything inside the zoo’s sweeping, 17-acre savanna.
Arts, Culture and Entertainment
The brand new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a gorgeous new $413 million development set to open in downtown Kansas City in September of 2011. In addition to hosting a wide spectrum of entertainers and performers from around the world, the Kauffman Center will also be home to the Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. International Opera Star Placido Domingo and famed violinist Itzhak Perlman will be performing during the Opening Gala Celebration September 16-18, 2011.
While New Orleans was the birthplace of Jazz, America’s music grew up in Kansas City. During the 1920’s and 30’s more world-class Jazz musicians such as Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald made Kansas City there home than anywhere else. The American Jazz Museum is located in Kansas City and it’s a great showcase for these amazing musicians and a very popular tourist attraction.
One of America's most comprehensive general art museums, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art features 30,000 items dating from 3000 B.C. to the present. Completed in 1933, this magnificent stone neoclassical structure is considered the most distinguished art museum in the Midwest. The museum has completed a major renovation and expansion with the new Bloch Building-the equivalent of a 67-story building lying on its side, Travel and Leisure named it one of “The World’s Most Beautiful Buildings”.
Sports and Recreation
The Kansas City metropolitan area is home to 3 professional sports franchises, the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, the MLB Kansas City Royals and the MLS Kansas City Wizards.
Created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, The College Basketball Experience features interactive exhibits and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Step behind the ESPNU desk and call the play-by-play. Or see how your jump shot stacks up against college greats like Wilt Chamberlin or Oscar Robertson.
There is also a wide range of indoor and outdoor public sports facilities throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. There are more than 125 public and private golf courses, 213 parks and within Jackson County there is more than 22,000 acres of parkland. Within 10 minutes of downtown there are also two huge amusement parks called Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun.
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