By Mike Stromberg, Opus Kansas City made the list of emerging industrial markets back in 2016, and over the last nine years has more than proven itself to be a viable, profitable and competitive environment for development. Many rightly attribute the market’s continued growth to its central location within the U.S. as well as its transportation infrastructure, which includes the city’s location on the largest navigable inland waterway, at the cross-section of three interstate highways and in the middle of cross-country rail corridors running from Canada to Mexico and from coast to coast. These are unquestionably appealing features for businesses that want and need to quickly distribute products and access customers. Other qualities often lauded include a strong skilled labor pool with an estimated 2.4 million people — nearly 23 percent between the ages of 18 to 34 — living within a 50-mile radius of the city; a cost of living up to 14 percent lower than the national average; a historically low unemployment rate; and increasing wages above the national average. What really puts Kansas City on the map for developers, though, is how the state of Missouri has created a pro-business environment that leverages and advances these strengths. …
