Kansas City, Missouri
Preparing the City of Fountains for Once-in-a-Generation Funding
Kansas City is a thriving architecture, engineering, technology, and product development center. And, it’s one of the nation’s top ten markets for software developers. But, the city has trouble retaining talent, and struggles with disparate efforts and services overlap.
Challenge
In 2021, the Keystone Innovation District asked Waymaker Group to rally regional partners around a tech-centric workforce development grant that would prepare next-gen talent in the construction, engineering and design trades.
Ask
Waymaker Group helped define and quantify Kansas City’s workforce development problem, identified regional assets and leaders, and developed strategic pathways for sustainable growth. From here, the team analyzed the city's capacity and readiness to obtain the funding necessary to support cluster development and submitted an application for a $500 Million Good Jobs Challenge grant.
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Innovation Ecosystem Study
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Strategic Framework
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Stakeholder Interviews
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Narrative & Vision Development
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Integration
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Funding Identification & Pursuit
Approach
& Findings
"You need the very best talent to bring an innovation district to life. You get that with Julie Huls and the Waymaker Group. They get how to do it, and they’ve got the energy and dedication to help get it done in half the time."— Troy Vosseller, Co-founder, Gener8tor