About KC SmartPort

KC SmartPort is the authority on logistics opportunities in the 18-county, bi-state Kansas City region.  A non-profit economic development organization, KC SmartPort promotes and enhances the Kansas City region's status as a leading North American logistics hub.

KC SmartPort has two main focuses in its mission: 1. To grow the Kansas City area’s transportation industry by attracting businesses with significant transportation and logistics elements; 2. To make the industry and the region more competitive in the movement of goods into, out of and through the Kansas City area.

Origins of KC SmartPort

The Kansas City area has a historic link to the development and evolution of the transportation and distribution sectors, resulting from its early days as a trading post and site of the first permanent rail crossing over the Missouri River.

Today, international trade is emerging as an important inter-jurisdictional issue in the Midwest region. The 1998 Mid-Continent TradeWay Study reinforced this reality. This study found that a significant amount of international cargo is already processed in or passes through the Kansas City region. In addition, NAFTA trade in Kansas and Missouri is growing, and opportunities exist to provide value-added services for NAFTA goods process more freight in the Greater Kansas City Area. The study also showed that the area needed a single organization with a sole focus of growing the transportation industry; enter Kansas City SmartPort.

The Kansas City Advantage

Kansas City has several key components that make it an excellent hub for all transportation and logistics operations:

  • The largest rail center in the United States by tonnage

  • More Foreign Trade Zone space than any other U.S. city (over 10,000 acres)

  • Located at the intersection of four of the nation’s major interstate highways (I-35, I-70, I-29, I-49)

  • The Kansas City International Airport, which moves more air cargo each year than any air center in a six-state region

  • Located on the largest navigable inland waterway (MO/MS River system)

  • The heart of a rail corridor spanning coast to coast across the U.S. and extending from Canada to Mexico (NAFTA Railway)

KC SmartPort Initiatives

In working to carry out the objectives stated in the mission, KC SmartPort plays an active role in three crucial areas:

  • Economic Development. KC SmartPort is focusing on attracting investments from companies with significant transportation and logistics elements such as distribution centers, warehouses, third-party logistic providers, and manufacturers.

  • Trade Data Exchange (TDE).  With the help of public and private funds, KC SmartPort is working to improve the supply chain visibility in the Kansas City area as well as on a global level.  The TDE will provide real time visibility and cargo security as it increases efficiency in the supply chain. 

  • Business Services. KC SmartPort is working to bring additional services, such as foreign customs offices, to the Kansas City area to aide business of all size in moving their goods both domestically and internationally.