Kansas City SmartPort is an economic development group for the existing logistics industry in Kansas City and the attraction of logistics investments in the Kansas City Region. KC SmartPort is a nonprofit, investor based organization.
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History

KC SmartPort was born out of the Mid-Continent TradeWay Study; an analysis to 'determine the feasibility and national benefits of establishing the Kansas City region as a place where international trade processing activities can be carried out"*http://www.marc.org/transportation/pdf/ITPCexecsum.pdf. The study was jointly commissioned, in 1998, by the Mid-America Regional Council

Mid-America Regional Council

The Mid-America Regional Council serves as the Council of Governments and the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the bistate Kansas City region. MARC encourages cooperation and collaboration on issues that extend beyond the jurisdiction of a single city, county or state...

, The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council.

International Trade

The current proposal calls for officials from Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to inspect and tag cargo and before it is shipped via truck or train expedited through the international border to the Pacific deep water ports at Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán

Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán

Lázaro Cárdenas is a port city that with its surrounding municipality is located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was formerly known as Los Llanitos, but changed its name as a tribute to Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, a Michoacán-born politician who was president of Mexico from...

, and Manzanillo, Colima

Manzanillo, Colima

The name Manzanillo refers to the city as well as its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port. Manzanillo was the third port created by the Spanish in the Pacific during the New Spain period...

, where the exports would be sent to Asia. It is claimed the port would be 15% cheaper than shipping exports to the California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 ports at San Diego

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 and Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

Initiatives

Supply Chain Education Group
A coordinated effort to raise the awareness and understanding of what supply chain management

Supply chain management

Supply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...

 is and it's function in modern business practices.

Kansas City has proposed two ports:

• The 14th & Liberty Street truck port near the city's first union train station in the city's West Bottoms
  West Bottoms
  The West Bottoms is an industrial area immediately to the west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Kansas River. The area is one of the oldest areas of the city....
  
   (which is already in contract).
• The Richards-Gebaur train port south of the city which would be served by the Kansas City Southern Railroad (which is considered a long term project).
• And a proposed international collaboration in order to ship goods through Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
   to Europe
  Europe
  Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
  
  .

KC Logistical Advantage

Kansas City has the most rail traffic in the United States in terms of tonnage

Tonnage

Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...

 passing through the city.

Kansas City has the third highest trucking center in the nation.

Kansas City has the largest area of free trade zone

Free trade zone

A free trade zone or export processing zone , also called foreign-trade zone, formerly free port is an area within which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported without the intervention of the customs authorities...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 - more than 10,000 acres (40 km²).

Kansas City has the largest underground warehouse space in the world.

Kansas City has the largest air cargo facility in the region and the largest navigable inland waterway.

KC SmartPort in the News

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/07/20/focus2.html
http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/07/20/focus3.html
http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/03/09/story5.html
http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/12/22/focus10.html