Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Kansas City Recognized as Innovation and Technology Hub

It's no secret that Kansas City is experiencing a tech boom.  With the announcement of the Google Fiber implementation as well as many other startup and technological initiatives, there is something special going on in Kansas City.  It's something...well...big.
How big?  Why don't we take a look at some of the recognition that Kansas City has received in the past year alone:

-  Kansas City was declared "where the action" is by the Wall Street Journal back in August.  The WSJ announced KC as a city that lures entrepreneurs and trumps other cities in the information technology industry.  In fact, the number of KC tech companies rose by 5% in 2009, outnumbering the growth rates of hubs like Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin.

-  Back in May, Kansas City was also announced as a top market for IT talent by site-selection advisory form KLG Advisors.  The city ranked "very strong" for concentration of IT talent and growth of the IT labor force.

-  Shortly after the KLG recognition, Kansas City was named an information technology hub by Wired Magazine and was recognized for adding thousands of jobs in the infotech industry between 2003 and 2008. 

-  Entrepreneurs Unpluggd then named Kansas City, Missouri one of the four entrepreneurial cities to keep your eye on, mentioning startup initiatives such as Think Big Kansas City, Zaarly, KCSourceLink and Kansas City IT Professionals. 

-  Kansas City was named one of the highest Android App Producing Cities (per square mile) in the U.S. by AppsGeyser in August of 2011.

TechAmerica ranked Kansas City the 8th city in the U.S. for telecommunications employment and proclaimed KC to have a higher growth rate for infotech businesses than Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin. 

-  Kansas City ranks among the top 10 "clean-tech" metro areas according to the USA Today. 

-  Even back in December of 2010, Kansas City was named one of the fastest growing startup cities in the world by Startup Digest. 

The recent spur of innovation and technology in KC is allowing the city to become the place for entrepreneurs and startups.  As a business incubator and startup accelerator in the Kansas City region, we see KC as a booming place not just for technology and entrepreneurship, but for job growth and opportunity.  It all starts with Thinking Big (and now, with a gig!).

Written by Allison Way
@AllisonThinkBig

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