Economy
Kansas City’s economy is the anchor of the economy of the whole of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The 27th largest metropolitan area in the United States and the second largest in the state of Missouri, Kansas City is also the largest city in Missouri and the 40th largest in the United States.
One of the largest and most important economies in its region, Kansas City, historically, has been the third largest beef capital in the United States next to Chicago and Cincinnati. Kansas City is also where you will find the second largest rail network. The economy is Kansas City is dependent on many aspects, many factories can be found there as well as manufacturing plants and an official international trade zone.
Kansas City’s economic standing is evident by it being the home of six of the Fortune 1000 companies. These companies are: H&R Block, specializing in tax preparation and personal finance, it is also the only Fortune 500 Company found in Kansas City. There is also Interstate Bakeries Corporation, an international distributor of wholesale baked goods, Great Plains Energy, which specializes in public utilities, Aquila, Inc. also in the public utilities business, AMC Entertainment, a national movie theatre chain and DST Systems Inc., a software developer that specializes in information processing and management. These Companies help contribute to Kansas City’s economy by providing jobs for the masses.
Though the economy of Kansas is by no means the richest, its ranking in the list of states that is home to Fortune 1000 companies is 9th just behind Indianapolis, Indiana and is tied with Omaha, Nebraska. But though the city has but 6 Fortune 1000 companies in its care, Kansas City’s economy is complemented by the presence of other large national and international companies. Some of the these large companies are American Century Investments, Burns and McDonnell Engineering, Commerce Bancshares, Hallmark Cards (which is the largest greeting card manufacturer in the world, and although its sales will definitely merit it a place in the Fortune 500 and 1000, the Fortune list only applies to public companies. Hallmark is a private company that is held by the Hall family.), Kansas City Southern Industries, Kansas City Life Insurance, Russell Stover Candies and wish-Bone salad dressing just to name a few.
Kansas City is a city that has a very good and stable economy, as shown by the many prominent, large, international and national companies; the state of Kansas’ economy is further proven by its many business publications. Some of these publications are the Kansas City Business Journal, Ingram’s magazine, The Independent and KC Business Magazine.
Kansas City is also a place that is ideal for doing business, particularly electronic business since it is one of the leading areas in the world in that field. Kansas City is ranked as one of the 10 top supporters of small businesses and is one of the top 50 in rank in the world for global business. These are no mean feats and strongly uphold Kansas reputation as one of the leading economies not just in the United States but in the world.