Work Force Development

Kansas Wins Battle for Panasonic Plant

Gov. Laura Kelly confirmed that Kansas has landed the Big One: Panasonic's $4 billion manufacturing plant that will produce batteries for electric vehicles. Her office confirmed a report in Nikkei Asia that Kansas had edged out Oklahoma in the fierce… more

Meta Goes Mega With KC Data Center

Meta Platforms, the company most everyone on the planet still knows as Facebook, announced today that it would spend $800 million to occupy nearly 1 million square feet of space in a Northland data-center complex. Company officials, along with state… more

Big Wheels and Big Deals: The region’s power plays of 2021

In a year of major moves, these pillars of business in the Kansas City area orchestrated some of the most profound change.   David Feinberg and Cerner Well, that didn’t take long: A scant 80 days passed between David Feinberg’s… more

State-employed Kansans to make office return in June

State of Kansas offices will return to normal operations beginning June 13. Gov. Laura Kelly made the announcement on Wednesday. The decision to return to normal was made due to the volume of vaccinations, availability of COVID-19 testing and a… more

April job growth dips lower

Hiring was a huge letdown in April, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by a much less than expected 266,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 6.1% amid an escalating shortage of available workers. Dow Jones estimates had been for 1 million… more

State incentives will fuel hiring at Torch.AI

An artificial intelligence company based in the Kansas City suburb of Leawood, Kansas, plans to add nearly 500 new high-paying jobs to the region over the next five years. Torch.AI’s expansion was announced Friday. The company provides high-speed processing of large… more

State-employed Missourians to return to work by mid-May

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has directed all state employees to return to in-person work in the office by May 17, after many spent most of the past 14 months working remotely. Parson's order, announced Wednesday, also requires that all state… more

Jobless claims sink once again

In the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 547,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it… more

Job gap remains despite rebound in Kansas City area

The Kansas City metro as far north as St. Joseph gained 19,600 jobs from February to March 2021, according to report from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. However, recent improvement still shows a lag as the region remains… more

Missouri bill moves to ban workplace vaccine mandates

The Missouri House on Monday advanced a bill that would ban private businesses from requiring proof of vaccination from either employees or customers. The GOP-led House voted 88-56 to tack the provision on another bill. The action comes amid backlash… more