Kansas City selected for international business network

Courtesy Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Those celebrating Kansas City’s acceptance into a global trading network included: Ivry Karamitros, World Trade Center, Kansas City; Dr. Doug Girod, University of Kansas Medical Center; Terry Dunn, D.D. Ranch Leawood; KC Chamber Chair, Jim Heeter, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; Clint Robinson, Black & Veatch; and
Patsy O’Connor, World Trade Center Kansas City. Courtesy Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Kansas City is now part of a national network aimed at helping cities grow by strengthening their international connections and competitiveness. The Global Cities Initiative, a five-year joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase, selected Kansas City as part of its 28-metro area network for 2015.

Kansas City will start by developing a metropolitan export plan this year. Its membership in the Global Cities Initiative’s Exchange will include working with other cities on plans to achieve sustainable growth, first addressing exports and then foreign direct investment.

The initiatives’ activities include producing data and research to guide decisions, fostering practice and policy innovations, and facilitating a peer learning network. This network assists metropolitan areas as they develop plans to achieve sustainable growth, first addressing exports and then foreign direct investment.

“Being selected for the Global Cities Initiative is a big deal,” says Jim Heeter, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. “Consider this: about 95 percent of the world customer base is outside of the United States, yet less than one percent of America’s 30 million businesses export. That’s huge and represents untapped potential for Kansas City area businesses. This initiative will help us realize that potential.”

Kansas City will be represented in the exchange by a team of local leaders including World Trade Center Kansas City in partnership with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and its partner agencies, Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, Kansas City Area Development Council, KC SmartPort, and Mid-America Regional Council.

More information on the Global Cities Initiative

 

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