It’s been a little over two years since theKansas City Chamber of Commerce announced itsBig 5 goals – their plans for, as they said, “making Kansas City one of the greatest communities in America.”
Recently, the Chamber checked off one of those goals after Kansas City hosted a global symposium on innovation in animal health. "We realized that there was a tremendous amount of capacity in the Kansas City area centered around animal health, " says Bob Marcusse, President and CEO of the KCADC and one of the leaders in accomplishing the goal. He says it's not just about animal health, but vaccines, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals.
What is the animal health corridor?
The corridor ranges from Columbia, MO to Manhattan, KS and St Joseph, MO to Emporia, KS. In this corridor resides two of the nation's best vet schools, 300 companies focused on the animal health industry, and many of the headquarters of animal health companies, as well as suppliers.
Jim Heeter, President and CEO of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, affirms that the animal health corridor brings a lot of resources and jobs to the Kansas City area.
In the global symposium on animal health there were 235 companies in attendance. Of those 235 companies, there were 182 animal health companies which came from 37 different states and several countries, such as China, Japan, England, and Canada.
What's next for the Big 5?
The Chamber of Commerce has not yet decided on what will fill the new spot on the Big 5. They will be going back to many of the organizations who were involved in the first process of creating the Big 5 and meet with them. The Chamber is open to feedback, and direct the public to their website if they want to share their ideas for the new 5th goal.
Guests:
- Jim Heeter, President and CEO, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
- Bob Marcusse, President and CEO, Kansas City Area Development Council
