Skeleton of the Missouri Innovation Campus is now complete
October 14, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Editor’s note: In response to readers’ desire for quick-hitting stories, Startland News is launching a new segment, “News Flash,” to enable more coverage. Let us know what you think!
A huge facility that’s dedicated to filling an area employment gap by educating area high school students with technology courses is beginning to take shape.
With the aim to connect tech and engineering firms with a locally-trained workforce, the Missouri Innovation Campus in Lee’s Summit was topped off Thursday with the final steel beam on its frame, the Kansas City Star reports.
The $40 million project — led by the Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, Metropolitan Community College and the University of Central Missouri — employs an accelerated model allowing high school grads to complete a bachelor’s degree in two years instead of four. It also will offer paid internships and mentorship program with more than 200 business partners.
Programs offered through the campus include courses in systems engineering tech, engineering tech, software development, computer science and design and drafting. McCownGordon Construction is serving as the general contractor for the 140,000-square-foot facility, which was designed by architects with DLR Group and Gould Evans.
The Star reports that when the facility located at 1101 N.W. Innovation Parkway opens in 2017 August, it’s expected to enroll more than 500 area students. For more on the campus, check out the gallery and video below.

2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Missouri receives $95M from federal initiative to boost startup, small business growth
A newly announced $27 million in federal funds earmarked to support small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs is headed to Missouri, representing the first of three awards approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury — totaling $95 million — to be deployed through the Missouri Technology Corporation. The funding comes via the State Small Business Credit Initiative,…
Startup: Stop wasting brain power on work that doesn’t matter; founders strike their own work-life balance in rural MO
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. MOBERLY,…
Build Trybe outgrows incubator mode, taking over Maker Village KC to train at-risk youth in trades
When Nick Ward-Bopp launched Maker Village KC more than five years ago near Martini Corner, he never dreamed the maker space would incubate a program for at-risk youth that ultimately would build beyond it. Set up in a once-vacant Midtown building he rehabbed with co-founder and longtime friend Sam Green, the space started as a…
Fund Me, KC: Tangible launching ‘magical pillow’ that shares physical touch with far-away loved ones
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like Akshay Dinakar and the launch of his Tangible “magical pillow” — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially gain…






