Jblanco wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:44 pm
GRID wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:21 pm
Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:40 am
The region as a whole needs to come together and create a comprehensive plan to maintain, and increase corporate presence in the region. This is getting ridiculous
A little too late now. There is hardly anything left in KC as far as big HQs. KCMO spent that last three decades competing with Kansas to even begin to compete with other national cities and Kansas only stopped and agreed to a truce once the companies started going back the other way. But by then the damage was done. Once companies move to the KS side, they tend to lose any civic pride or attachment, especially in the center city.
This ^^^
KCMO Companies that move from KCMO to the Kansas side have already proven that they have no civic pride or loyalty at all. That's why they moved for a few bucks in the first place. It seems that many of those major employers that move out of KCMO to jocoville always end up getting bought out and eventually moved. Waddell and Reed was the exception and then they were bought and moved. KCMO can't catch a break.
The problem is all of KC's homegrown companies have aged out of KC. You are correct. The blame is mostly on the companies for moving, but it seemed like even those that did move lost that connection to the city when they left. A lot of that has to do with CEO's etc being bought out or passing. KC is seriously lacking people like Ewing Kuaffman and Stan Durwood now. People that truly cared about the city and had the means to make a difference. Sherwood is trying to if the city will let him.
Now KC no longer has a foundation of civic minded companies that truly care about the city. The few companies it has left are out in JoCo.
Hallmark is all KCMO has left. Maybe American Century. I don't think either one of them are nearly as strong as they once were, but I think they still try.
Places like Nashville, Charlotte, Austin etc have a very established and still growing base of big HQs that are imbedded in those communities and they collectively attract move of the same. How does KC seriously compete with these other cities when it has fallen to a third or fourth tier city in so many ways?
I really think the ONLY way is to reverse some of what caused it. KC needs to see some of what's left of its big companies to come into the city and make a statement. That has not happened. And actually, I firmly believe that the Cerner culture of building undesirable 1980's style suburban office parks in crappy locations is why Oracle has basically said no thanks to KC and is basically pulling out of KC. I think Oracle will be gone from KC within 5-7 years.
But think about it. Cerner set KC up to fail. Had Cerner built something down on the riverfront more in line with what Oracle has in Nashville and Austin, they would likely have kept a major presence in KC. And even if they didn't, it would have been much easier to re-lease the space in a more trendy development closer to the center city. Not to mention it would have been less harmful to the center city. Now KC will have millions of feet of suburban office space to sublease which means that chances of a new office building going up downtown in the next 20 years is pretty much zero. It's the sprint campus all over again only worse this time around.
Where would people want to relocate to:
And during that 20 years think of what KC will miss out on had things been done differently. Imagine if Sprint and Cerner had built half of their office space in the city. KC would be more like Denver or Minneapolis today.
Gotta try and get a Garmin or Black & Veatch or somebody to come downtown. KC is not going to land something like that from out of town. There is just too much higher level competition out there.
