Creating an Austin, Texas-type buzz in the Kansas City area means establishing the 21st century workforce that can succeed in the 21st century workplace, said Sheri Gonzales Warren, an economic development official with the Mid-America Regional Council. 

“If we do a good job of this,” Gonzales Warren said, “ this would be one of those hotbed places where people come. Where young people, in particular, go, ‘I am going to go there, because I know I won’t have any problem finding work.’ We want to be that place.” 

To spur that along, the business community in 2014 launched KC Rising. This road map to long-term prosperity, the group says, “is regional in focus, but global in perspective, targeting high growth in trade, people and ideas.” 

This data-heavy effort benchmarks our region against 30 other peer metros, and the people part is where workforce development fits in. 

Watch the video above to see where the Kansas City region is losing the race and to discover what people are doing to build up its human capital.