I think the simplest method would be to compare commercial office space rents, taxes, state and local economic incentives, and cost of living in the aforementioned cities, and see how competitive Kansas City would be.
Looking at it from a business point of view, one considers moving to another city because office space, taxes, and operating costs, are cheaper there. Then cost of living for employees may also be a big factor. For example, if keeping up with salaries and compensation is becoming an issue for a business, and you can't afford to lay staff off without losing effectiveness in your business, then one way to give employees a better standard of living is not raise their salaries, but to move to a city with a lower cost of living. An $80,000 salary is easier to live on in Kansas City than it might be in Denver, Chicago, or even New York City.
When I lived in Phoenix back in the 80s, Phoenix poached a lot of businesses from Chicago--and without using any incentives. The pitch was cheaper cost of living and operating, and the weather was nicer. At that time, one could hardly turn around without bumping into someone from Chicago. However, the cost of living in Phoenix was much cheaper then than it is now.
If cost of living and office rents are similar in Kansas City, Omaha, and Des Moines, then you probably aren't going to lure a lot of businesses into moving However, if office rents, operating and cost of living is significantly less in Kansas City than Austin, Minneapolis, Dallas, and Denver, then you probably can lure companies away from those cities--especially if you throw in some incentives. Of course it depends on the business. Some businesses tend to stay in cities where their economic fortunes are based. It would be harder to lure an oil company from Houston, Dallas, Tulsa, or Denver since those cities have a large presence of energy-related companies. Big media companies aren't going to leave New York or Los Angeles.
Despite our metro size, Kansas City offers many of the same amenities of larger cities. We have universities, sports teams, stadiums, a convention center, a new arena, a performing arts center with opera, ballet, and symphony, repertory theatre, art museums, amusement parks, a zoo, an aquarium, NASCAR racing, and a convenient airport with short flights to most parts of the country. Missouri and Kansas are fairly tax friendly states. Kansas City has a stable and varied economy with a high number of educated workers. Our energy prices are more stable and cheaper than a lot of places. We don't have water shortages.
While it's not really that significant yet, Kansas City is probably less prone to be affected by extreme disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, coastal flooding, forest and brush fires). Even terrorist attacks are less likely here.