KCNext Takes on New Brand: KC Tech Council

KCnext–The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City, announced this morning that it was rebranding itself as the KC Tech Council, an advocate for Kansas City’s technology sector and its role as a Midwestern hub for tech companies. As part of that move, the council is ending its affiliation with the Kansas City Area Development Council, it said in a news release, and had moved from from Union Station to  the Sprint Accelerator in the Crossroads Arts District. Ryan Weber will continue to serve as president.

The KC Tech Council’s new independence will give it more autonomy on work-force development issues, the release said, and allow it to promote public policies that will advance a sector that includes more than 68,000 employees at 3,500 companies.

“Kansas City must step up our efforts to attract, develop and retain the highly skilled workers necessary to drive the technology industry and compete against other cities in our region and across the country,” said Weber. “Right now, we have hundreds of regional employers trying to fill thousands of open tech jobs. We simply cannot grow the local economy if we do not make Kansas City the number one regional destination for skilled technology workers.”