nkcbc nov dec 2014 newsletter

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GOING NORTH NEWSLETTER NOV-DEC 2014 ISSUE 137 320 ARMOUR RD, SUITE 220, NKC, MO 64116 816-472-7700 WWW.NKCBUSINESSCOUNCIL.COM NKC First Look Presidents Level Sponsors PUTTING NORTH KANSAS CITY ON THE MAP Rich Groves COMMENTS from the Executive Director, Rich Groves Have you been noticing how active the North Kansas City Business Council is as an advocate for businesses in North Kansas City? The Business Council gets involved where ever it can make a difference: 1) to create a stronger business climate, 2) to assist in cre- ating a better supply of qualified employ- ees, 3) to bring more businesses to North Kansas City 4) to provide current informa- tion to members about discussions and decisions by North Kansas City staff and City Council and 5) to be a “connector” to help businesses find solutions for problems they may encounter. The Business Council could be even more effective if more North Kansas City busi- nesses would make the investment to become members. If you understand the value of the Business Council’s actions but are not currently a member please apply online at http://www.nkcbusinesscouncil. com/become-a-member/ or fill out the application form that is enclosed with this newsletter and send it to 320 Armour Rd, Suite 220. The cost of membership is probably less than you might think. You get significant value even if you don’t have the time or in- terest for Business Council events. Member- ships that begin in November or December of this year will extend through December of 2015 with no additional cost for the remaining months of this year. Here are some of the things the Business Council does: • Attendance at every City Council meeting followed by a concise, informative e-news- letter within 24 hours to every Business Council member. • Frequent personal interactions with the Mayor, members of the City Council, the City Administrator and other members of the city staff. • Weekly economic development discus- sions to consider ways to strengthen North Kansas City (at the Business Council confer- ence room at 320 Armour, Suite 220 at 2 p.m. every Tuesday – all interested indi- viduals are welcome). • Active involvement with and support of the Northland CAPS program – an inno- vative program to help guide high school students to be more aware of careers in the Northland through hands-on problem solving and daily interaction with business mentors in high demand career strands. • Coordination of the weekly 1 Million Cups/Northland program at the Armour Loft Event Space (upstairs at 406 Armour) to give support to start-up businesses. • Active involvement with the Clay County Tourism Board to help keep North Kansas City in focus as a place for visitors to visit and spend money. • Monthly networking events (luncheons, open houses/ribbon-cuttings and First Friday Coffees) to give members the oppor- tunity to interact with other North Kansas City businesses, sometimes leading to more customers and other times giving insights for solutions about problems they may be encountering. • Active use of social media to draw more attention to member businesses and North Kansas City in general. • Coordination of the Farmer’s Market from May through October. • Coordination of the Christmas Tree Deco- rating program, adding a holiday feel to downtown North Kansas City. • Responsiveness to inquiries by mem- bers or prospective businesses interested in North Kansas City about how to get assistance with specific business-related problems. Two activities are being pursued by the City of North Kansas City to strengthen North Kansas City’s image and to guide it towards even greater success. The Implementation phase of the Branding project is now moving ahead aggressively, guided by Candid Market- ing, a Lee’s Summit marketing and communications company. You will increasingly see the City’s new logo and various communications and advertising to help make more people aware of what North Kansas City has to offer. Sara Freetly-Graber, CEO of Candid Mar- keting, will be giving an update of the implementation at the November 20 Monthly Membership Luncheon of the North Kansas City Business Council at Black on Burlington, 1327 Burlington. An update of the City’s Master Plan is also receiving a lot of attention. There is agreement that the master plan developed in 2003 and updated in 2009 and 2010 needs tweaking – and perhaps a total overhaul. City leaders have expressed a need for a document that includes a us- able set of priorities and timetable for action based on a thorough market analysis and an economic development policy. The City Council asked for more input from the business community about what it considers most impor- tant – both in the process and in elements to be included. Two meetings have been held to get this input. The City Council is expected to vote on the exact method and cost of the master plan update in the next few weeks.

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GOING NORTH NEWSLETTER NOV-DEC 2014 ISSuE 137 320 ARmOuR RD, SuITE 220, NKC, mO 64116 816-472-7700 WWW.NKCbuSINESSCOuNCIL.COm

NKC FirstLook

Presidents Level Sponsors

Putting north Kansas City on the MaP

Rich Groves

Comments from the executive Director, Rich GrovesHave you been noticing how active the North Kansas City Business Council is as an advocate for businesses in North Kansas City? The Business Council gets involved where ever it can

make a difference: 1) to create a stronger business climate, 2) to assist in cre-ating a better supply of qualified employ-ees, 3) to bring more businesses to North Kansas City 4) to provide current informa-tion to members about discussions and decisions by North Kansas City staff and City Council and 5) to be a “connector” to help businesses find solutions for problems they may encounter.The Business Council could be even more effective if more North Kansas City busi-nesses would make the investment to become members. If you understand the value of the Business Council’s actions but are not currently a member please apply online at http://www.nkcbusinesscouncil.com/become-a-member/ or fill out the application form that is enclosed with this newsletter and send it to 320 Armour Rd, Suite 220. The cost of membership is probably less

than you might think. You get significant value even if you don’t have the time or in-terest for Business Council events. Member-ships that begin in November or December of this year will extend through December of 2015 with no additional cost for the remaining months of this year.Here are some of the things the Business Council does:• Attendance at every City Council meeting followed by a concise, informative e-news-letter within 24 hours to every Business Council member.• Frequent personal interactions with the Mayor, members of the City Council, the City Administrator and other members of the city staff.• Weekly economic development discus-sions to consider ways to strengthen North Kansas City (at the Business Council confer-ence room at 320 Armour, Suite 220 at 2 p.m. every Tuesday – all interested indi-viduals are welcome).• Active involvement with and support of the Northland CAPS program – an inno-vative program to help guide high school students to be more aware of careers in the Northland through hands-on problem solving and daily interaction with business

mentors in high demand career strands.• Coordination of the weekly 1 Million Cups/Northland program at the Armour Loft Event Space (upstairs at 406 Armour) to give support to start-up businesses.• Active involvement with the Clay County Tourism Board to help keep North Kansas City in focus as a place for visitors to visit and spend money.• Monthly networking events (luncheons, open houses/ribbon-cuttings and First Friday Coffees) to give members the oppor-tunity to interact with other North Kansas City businesses, sometimes leading to more customers and other times giving insights for solutions about problems they may be encountering.• Active use of social media to draw more attention to member businesses and North Kansas City in general.• Coordination of the Farmer’s Market from May through October.• Coordination of the Christmas Tree Deco-rating program, adding a holiday feel to downtown North Kansas City.• Responsiveness to inquiries by mem-bers or prospective businesses interested in North Kansas City about how to get assistance with specific business-related problems.

Two activities are being pursued by the City of North Kansas City to strengthen North Kansas City’s

image and to guide it towards even greater success.

The Implementation phase of the Branding project is now moving ahead aggressively, guided by Candid Market-ing, a Lee’s Summit marketing and communications company. You will increasingly see the City’s new logo and various communications and advertising to help make more people aware of what North Kansas City has to offer. Sara Freetly-Graber, CEO of Candid Mar-keting, will be giving an update of the implementation at the November 20 Monthly Membership Luncheon of the North Kansas City Business Council at Black on

Burlington, 1327 Burlington.

An update of the City’s Master Plan is also receiving a lot of attention. There is agreement that the master plan developed in 2003 and updated in 2009 and 2010 needs tweaking – and perhaps a total overhaul. City leaders have expressed a need for a document that includes a us-able set of priorities and timetable for action based on a thorough market analysis and an economic development policy. The City Council asked for more input from the business community about what it considers most impor-tant – both in the process and in elements to be included. Two meetings have been held to get this input. The City Council is expected to vote on the exact method and cost of the master plan update in the next few weeks.

Social Media Working For You

In recent weeks you may have noticed some new activity on social media to bring helpful attention to your business. This is due to diligent and intentional effort by “Social Media Specialist” Rachael Brown, a part-time Business Council staff member.

Rachael has been particularly ac-tive “following” North Kansas City businesses on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google Plus, drawing attention to special promotions or events of businesses in North Kan-sas City. Since July when Rachael started, the number of businesses be-ing “followed” has skyrocketed. The

value of these connections can be magnified to your benefit when you reciprocate to be followers.

Here are handles you might recog-nize and want to reciprocate: Twit-ter @NKCBC; Twitter @1MCNKC (for 1 Million Cups/Northland); Instagram @NKCBC; Facebook @NKCBC; and Facebook @ 1 Million Cups Northland.

Rachael would welcome the op-portunity to help Business Council members become more adept at us-ing social media. Let her know your needs and questions by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

Possible AlliAnCe between YmCA AnD noRth KAnsAs CitY

The YMCA of Greater Kansas City and the City of North Kan-sas City are working on a part-nership agreement in which the Y would operate North Kansas City Community Center to better serve the community. North Kan-sas City Hospital has expressed support for the proposal and interest in collaborating to be the medical wellness partner on site.

The City Council of North Kan-sas City and the YMCA of Great-er Kansas City Board of Directors still need to approve the propos-al. Those votes could happen by the end of November.

If the proposal is approved, the 96,000-square-foot North Kansas City Community Center would become the largest YMCA in the region. The City of North Kansas City would continue to own the center.

“This proposal offers an opportu-nity to capitalize on the substan-tial expertise and resources of the YMCA to benefit our communi-ty,” said Eric Berlin, City Admin-istrator of North Kansas City.

North Kansas City Hospital has expressed interest in collaborat-ing with the Y and the City of North Kansas City to provide medically-focused wellness programs; health screenings and risk assessments; programs to address lifestyle health risks in-cluding obesity, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease; and clinically-supervised programs and exercise regimens to address health issues.

North Kansas City’s Community Development Department, led by Sara Copeland, recently held an open house to share informa-tion about support that department provides. Helpful brochures with step-by-step instructions were distributed and are available at City Hall. Brochures available at the workshop included:

• Starting a Business in North Kansas City—Useful Information to Help Get Your Business Going • Building Permits—A Guide to Obtaining a Permit• Certificate of Occupancy—A Guide to Obtaining a Temporary or Permanent CO• North Kansas City Zoning—A Guide to Understanding Zoning in North Kansas City

Other brochures on the following topics will be available soon:

• Inspections• Operational permits• Signage• Business licensing• Booklet that brings all of this information together in one place.

A full complement of these bro-chures will be available at the November 20 Business Council Monthly Membership Luncheon at Black on Burlington, 1327 Burling-ton, when the rollout of the City’s branding and marketing implemen-tation will be explained.

The common theme by the Commu-nity Development Department is, “We are here to help. Just call 274-6006.” All of the related application forms are available from the City’s website, www.nkc.org. Select “Com-munity Development Department”.

CommunitY DeveloPment DePARtment

linKCity now operated by DatashackNorth Kansas City-based data center Datashack responded to the City’s request

for proposals to buy the city-owned high speed fiber optic network with an alternative to operate and maintain the network, but leave ownership with the City. This offer was approved and the transfer of operation took effect in September.

Here are some of the important compo-nents of the contract:• Term of ten years with the City retain- ing ownership• Free Gigabit service to the City, library, churches and schools within

North Kansas City • Free 100mb internet service to existing residential customers as of January 1, 2015• Three options for free internet service beginning after January 1, 2015 after paying an installation fee ($300 for Gigabit service; $100 for 100mb service and $50 for 50mb service)• No changes in existing business cus- tomer rates but with improved service plans and bandwidth options forth- coming.• The City and Datashack will share profits and losses 50/50 with annual losses capped at $150 thousand for the city.• Transfer through promissory note all

of liNKCity’s equipment with an agreement to forgive the note if Datashack continues to operate the business effectively.• Current employees in good stand- ing will be offered jobs with the new company.

Datashack has an established presence in North Kansas City with a 60,000 s.f. data center at 201 E 16th Ave serving dozens of customers world-wide. Two of the co-owners are North Kansas City natives Brooks Brown and Todd Burnidge. The other co-owner and Man-aging Partner is Aaron Wendel, a data center professional who has been with Datashack since its inception.

Northland CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) is an innovative program for high school juniors and seniors from six Northland school districts. It benefits partner businesses as well as students. This fall, there are ten classes in four career strands at five locations serving nearly 300 high school students from 11 high schools in the Northland. Computer Technology is at Cerner; Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering is at Hol-land 1916; Healthcare and Medicine is at both North Kansas City Hospital and Liberty Hospital; Global Business and Entre-preneurship is at Bank Liberty’s North Prospect location. Next fall, a career strand in Logistics and Distribution will be added. Business partnerships are critical for the success of the North-land CAPS program. Businesses can be involved in a variety of ways:• By providing a class site, such as the five locations involved in the 2014-15 school year• By contributing real-life projects that students can be in-volved in• By offering internship opportunities• By providing experts who can provide insights for students either as a class speaker or as a mentor• By offering site visits to enable students (and teachers/coun-selors/principals/Board members) a better insight into real business demands, processes and cultures

• By providing “externships” and shadowing opportunities for educators to help them have a better understanding of real business demands, processes and cultures• By financial donations that enable the program to be stronger and to extend into additional strands Contact Allison Clemens at [email protected] if you have an interest in being a business partner in the Northland CAPS program. Beginning in January, business partners will have the oppor-tunity to host students in an unpaid internship for the Spring semester. Student interns are available in the AM from 7:30 am —10:00 am and in the PM from 12:00 pm—2:30 pm, two to four days a week. Specific business partner internship opportunities will be posted, business partners will interview candidates and select the student that meets the needs of their company. If you are interested in selecting an intern, please take a mo-ment to complete the form using this link: www.northlandcaps.org/internship.

As a resource for start-up businesses 1 Million Cups/Northland meets every Wednesday at the Armour Loft Event Space, upstairs at 406 Armour next to the Screenland Armour Theater. This weekly event, sponsored by the North Kansas City Business Council, is a blend of active networking from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. fol-

lowed by four presentations between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Two presentations are live streamed from the 1 Million Cups program at the Kauffman Foundation and two are local presentations – one from a start-up company and one from a resource organization that supports start-ups. First Watch donates coffee each week.

inteRnshiPs foR noRthlAnD CAPs stuDents

1 million CuPs in the noRthlAnD

NKC Business Council320 Armour Road, Suite 220North Kansas City, MO 64116

exeCutive levelsPonsoRs

RECENT HOSTSRecent hosts for North Kansas CityBusiness Council events include:

• Open Houses—Comet Industries and Harvest Productions• First Friday Coffees—Country Club Bank, First Federal Bank

and ProPrint Digital• Business After Hours—Morrill & Janes Bank

• Monthly Membership Luncheon—Harvest Productions

Contact Jennifer at [email protected] if you want to spon-sor a Christmas tree along Armour, Swift or Burlington and compete in the decorating contest. The deadline is November 7. Trees will be put in place the following week and judging on Friday, November 14. The trees will be on display throughout the holiday season.

uPCominG events• 1 Million Cups/Northland every Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.

Armour Loft Event Space, 406 Armour (upstairs)

• First Friday Coffee—Fri, Nov 7, 7:30 a.m. at Hallier Reed, 1229 Swift

• Business After Hours—Wed, Nov 19, 4:30 p.m. at First Missouri Bank, 1925 Burlington Bring food for Harvesters

• Monthly Membership Luncheon—Thu, Nov 20,11:30 a.m.—Black on Burlington, 1327 Burlington (parking in

the back) North Kansas City Branding Implementation

• The Big Event Holiday Reception & Auction—Thu, Dec 4, 5:30 p.m.—7:30 p.m.—Black on Burlington, 1327 Burlington

sPonsoR A ChRistmAs tRee—one moRe weeK

Member businesses, both big and small, have the opportunity to use the North Kansas City Business Council newsletter to advertise events, promotions, sales or special services. The printed news-letter is mailed to approximately 1,200 business ad-dresses in North Kansas City, to both Business Council members and non-members.

For $100 you can include your pre-printed, full color or black and white flyer in our mailed newsletter. You will need to provide 1,200 copies which must be delivered to Proprint Digital by the designated inclusion date or arrange for ProPrint to print them.

Or, for $50 each, we have 8 smaller spaces available on a front-and-back, black and white combined insert. These spaces will be a quarter section on one 8 ½ x11 sheet of paper. This is a perfect opportunity to publicize an event or offer a coupon to our members. All informa-tion must be mailed or emailed to Jennifer at [email protected] by the designated date along with payment. This page will only be printed if there are 4 or more ad spaces purchased. If there are less than 4, your money will be refunded.