Friday, January 9, 2015
Grand Ballroom, Kansas City Convention Center
More than 1000 business and community leaders came out to support our downtown district at the 2015 Downtown Council’s Annual Luncheon last week. One of the main focus areas of the lunch was the explosive growth and popularity of the Crossroads Arts district, which continues to attract high opportunity technology companies from all over the country.
Keynote speaker Leigh Gallagher, a managing editor of Fortune Magazine, shared some interesting statistics about urban growth in downtown areas across the country and it was encouraging to see that we are on the right track! Our plans for continued development in the downtown district (new apartments, grocery stores, tech accelerators, Streetcar line, etc) are all things that will attract the types of companies we need for future economic growth. Mayor Sly James also spoke at the lunch and stated that the Streetcar will be the backbone which all things are connected and evolve in Kansas City.
Many of the things that are happening downtown would not be possible without the generous support of private companies and citizens who are willing to invest time and resources to grow the downtown area. One of those volunteers honored at the lunch was long time EDC board member, Tom Trabon, who received a standing ovation when he stepped on stage to receive the Kirk Award in recognition of his commitment to the downtown district.
“It is very well deserved for all Tom has done for downtown and the entire Kansas City Community,” said fellow EDC board member Spencer Fields. “I first met Tom when I represented the Northland Chamber of Commerce on the Broadway extension beautification project. I learned a great deal from him and he has always been a great example for us all.”
Perhaps the most exciting part of the lunch was a birdseye view of what’s in store for downtown KC in 2015 in terms of technology. A Cisco executive said on a video that was aired during the lunch that Cisco aims to transform Downtown into a lab of connectivity through Wi-Fi and telecom sensors, transmitting data on everything from traffic and pedestrian flow to the city’s infrastructure and public safety.
Cisco plans to work with Think Big Partners at their new accelerator in the Crossroads district to manage the “living lab” for entrepreneurial development. Think Big’s Managing Partner and EDC board member Herb Sih said the plan will create a “living lab,” where innovators can build and test technologies. The lab will allow the startup community to develop new technology to address public safety, infrastructure maintenance, urban sustainability and community engagement.
Sih added that the Cisco smart city effort in Downtown will be a substantial benefit to Kansas City as whole. “If you look at the bigger vision of what it means to Kansas City, it’s the promise of the ability to attract some of the most important companies, most powerful emerging technologies and some of the best minds in innovation around the ‘Internet of Things’ space, and giving them the opportunity to come to Kansas City to test, deploy and innovate their technologies.”
The highlight announcement of the lunch was when Iain Shovlin, Executive Director of Techweek, took the stage to let everyone know that Techweek has chosen Kansas City to host their week long technology conference, making KC only the sixth city nationally to attract the event.
They have partnered with the City of Kansas City, the EDC and the Downtown Council, to bring a $50K grant competition to Kansas City through the Launch KC initiative. Launch KC seeks to attract technology startups and plans to select up to 10 companies for their first class during the Techweek event. If selected, companies receive $50,000 in grant funding, free workspace for a year and access to industry expertise and mentors.
Techweek is a seven-day technology conference/festival that will be held in Kansas City September 14-20. The idea behind the event is that it will bring together and showcase the best of the best in Kansas City’s emergent tech world, as well as attract companies from outside of the area to take a look at what KC has to offer. “It legitimizes us,” said Blake Miller of Think Big Partners, who was one of the first in the area to push Techweek to come here. “It puts the spotlight on Kansas City. We’re now in the same conversation as New York, Miami, LA, Chicago and Detroit.”
Herb Sih and Blake Miller from Think Big Partners with keynote speaker Leigh Gallager
“The eco system around technology startups in Downtown is ‘emotional electricity’ and investment opportunities are all around us,’ says Drew Soloman, Coordinator of Entrepreneurship and Industry Initiatives at the EDC. “The more we help them grow, the more jobs they create, and the more our Kansas City economy grows!”
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Sources:
Cisco Newsroom
KC Business Journal
Think Big Partners
Upstart Business Journal
Techweek
LaunchKC.org