Kansas City ranks as top U.S. tech, entrepreneurship hub
June 9, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Kansas City’s emerging tech hub and entrepreneurial ecosystem continue to attract national attention.
On Thursday, Kansas City ranked among the top tech cities in the U.S., according to the Tech Cities 1.0 report by Cushman & Wakefield. The report showcased the nation’s top 25 cities, with Kansas City nabbing the No. 22 spot on the list. The cities were determined by factors such as access to talent, investment capital and growth opportunity.
Cushman & Wakefield Tech Cities 1.0 report
Although it’s no surprise that cities like San Jose and San Francisco outranked Kansas City, The City of Fountains’ performance is still noteworthy. Kansas City fared better than New York City and Los Angeles in metrics such as tech workers per capita, share of workers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher, entrepreneurial growth and share of “knowledge” workers, defined as those in occupations such as architecture, social science, health care and education.
In preparing the report, Cushman & Wakefield found six qualities as essential ingredients for a tech hub: Institutions of higher learning; capital; tech workers; knowledge workers; educated workers; and growth entrepreneurship.
Kansas City ranked No. 18 on percentage of tech workers and No. 16 for entrepreneurial growth. In both areas, the metro is rated above the national average.
To calculate entrepreneurial growth, Cushman & Wakefield tapped the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Index of Growth Entrepreneurship. The index is calculated by the rate of startup growth, share of scale-ups and high-growth company density.
Although these statistics are promising, Kansas City is nowhere close to Silicon Valley with venture capital and deal flow.
In 2016, the combination of venture capital capital activity from San Francisco, San Mateo and San Jose reached $35.2 billion. In Kansas City, that number is less than $2 billion.
Cushman & Wakefield Tech Cities 1.0 report
Ken McCarthy, principal economist at Cushman & Wakefield, said that “tech is everything.”
“Basically every company today is a tech company in one way or another. We’re all using it, we’re using various aspects of tech companies to do various things,” McCarthy said in a release. “Whether it’s Salesforce as customer relationship management, or Workday for HR, and various other database programs, the old way of doing business just doesn’t work anymore.”
Cushman & Wakefield is a global real estate services firm. 2017 marks the first year the firm has released a Tech Cities 1.0 report.
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KCultivator Q&A: John Coler champions making a quick impact, packs of dolphins
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today Startland takes a closer look at startup ecosystem champion John Coler. Check out our features on Made in KC’s Tyler Enders, Hispanic business builder Pedro Zamora, ‘fashionpreneur’ Jordan Williams, Plexpod founder Gerald Smith, innovation coach Diana…
Backed by $4M round, Hilary’s Eat Well expanding organic food line, hiring 10-15 workers
Hilary’s Eat Well is growing its plant-based food line, company leaders said. The move to diversify the company’s offerings — as well as to more efficiently produce larger quantities of its free-from (dairy- and gluten-free) products — comes as the Lawrence-based operation moves its storage to an off-site facility, freeing up manufacturing space, said Lydia…
City challenges startup leaders to swap social media for in-person dialogue on regulation
Editor’s note: Rick Usher is a member of the Kansas City Startup Foundation’s policy committee, and Sarah Shipley is a board member for KCSF, the parent organization of Startland News. This piece was independently produced. There’s a void of shared awareness between city government and the startup community, Rick Usher said. That’s why government officials and leaders…
8-year-old Raytown entrepreneur strings together jewelry business
Raelynn Heath’s bling is inspiring, her mother said. The 8-year-old entrepreneur has spent half her life developing a brand built on crafting original jewelry and repairing broken pieces, she said. “We take a little bit of the old and the new and the practical,” said Regina Lastiee-Heath. Young Raelynn markets her jewelry on Facebook and…