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Manufacturing

KC’s Industrial Vacancy Stays Low

The industrial commercial real estate sector was still on track during the first quarter, according to a recent CBRE report.  Vacancy rates were at 4.6 percent, the same as they were during the previous quarter, says the commercial real estate… more

Singer Owner Partners With KC Sewing Non-Profit

SVP Worldwide, the owner of Singer, Viking and other sewing-machine brands, has partnered with Rightfully Sewn, a Kansas City-based non-profit that provides seamstress training. SVP donated 30 sewing machines to the organization, which has made a switch from fashion apparel… more

Unemployment Filings Top 6.6 Million

Unemployment claims were in excess of six million for the second week in a row, due to COVID-19, bringing the numbers to nearly 17 million over the last few weeks. For the week ended April 4, claims were 6.06 million,… more

CDC Issues Worker Guidance for COVID-19 Exposure

The CDC has issued guidance for critical infrastructure employees who might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 to return to work. Critical-infrastructure employees are considered those who work in 16 different sectors, including those in law enforcement, janitorial staff,… more

Port KC Pushing E-Commerce, Manufacturing Projects

Port KC has adopted a policy to fast-track e-commerce and manufacturing projects in distressed census tracts in an effort to bring more jobs to those areas The hope is that these quickly approved industrial projects could bring jobs with strong… more

Spirit Aerosystems Announces Major Furloughs

Now that Boeing is no longer taking orders from its plants in Washington State and South Carolina, it is reducing pay by 20 percent for its executives and implemented workforce reductions for 2,800 employees in Wichita, which will undoubtedly have… more

Commerce Bancshares Delays Quarterly Filings

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares has delayed its quarterly financial filings from April 14 to April 28, due to problems posed by COVID-19. It follows another large area public company, Seaboard Corporation, which has changed its annual meeting location on April… more

Unemployment Claims Unfortunately Break More Records

The unemployment picture in the United States has gotten a lot more grim, due to COVID-19 shock waves. For the week ended March 28, unemployment claims hit 6.448 million, a new record since the numbers have been tracked by the… more

$2B Acquisition of Kissner Group Closes

Holding company Stone Canyon Industries Holdings (SCIH), based in Los Angeles, has closed on the the $2 billion acquisition of Overland Park-based Kissner Group Holdings, a commercial evaporated-salt producer. "We look forward to applying our long-term growth-oriented business model to… more

Manufacturers Called to War on COVID-19

Beyond the now-familiar concepts of stay-at-home directives, social distancing and more deliberate personal care, the war on COVID-19 continues to expand on another front: manufacturing. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has called on manufacturers to help produce personal protective equipment to… more