Economic Development

What The Mayor Thinks:

For too long, the approach to economic development in Kansas City has been narrowly focused on offering enormous tax breaks and incentives to large corporations and out-of-town developers. The city has subsidized – to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in forgone tax revenue – bars, restaurants, hotels and retail establishments, often taking on substantial debt to do so.
This type of government meddling in the market has not worked. Kansas City has 50,000 fewer jobs because it has not kept pace with the national average in job growth since 1995.
Government investments should be in neighborhoods, infrastructure, education and in supporting local small businesses – the businesses that become the Hallmarks of the future.

What The Mayor Has Done:

During my administration, we have stopped the out-of-control use of tax incentives to draw businesses that stay for short periods of time, or for speculative projects built on the promises of well-paid consultants. We don’t need more avoidable failures costing Kansas City taxpayers millions. Especially when those millions take away money that can be used for basic city services like snow removal and more police on the street.
Through initiatives like Schools First, New Tools and similar strategies, we are beginning to move city government toward investments in neighborhoods that will bring real job growth.

What The Mayor Plans to Do:

I’m not done.
I want City Hall to be the place an entrepreneur or business owner feels he or she can come to for support, to get questions answered, for information.
In my next term, I will push Kansas City to capitalize on its many economic strengths. By leveraging our central location, and by taking advantage of the river, rail lines, and highways that converge in the Heart of America, Kansas City can become a global center for the exchanging of goods and services. This is a visionary idea, but it’s the wave of the future.
And by doing so, we will generate jobs and make this a city that truly works for regular folks.