Three Platte County companies nominated by the Platte County EDC were named finalists in the EDC of Kansas City Cornerstone Awards. The Cornerstone Awards recognize companies and organizations in Kansas City, Missouri that have contributed to the growth of our economy. The Cornerstone Awards Program recognizes investments by companies in Kansas City, Missouri. Finalists were selected based on their ability to demonstrate the highest level of impact in improving economic development and growth in Kansas City, Missouri.
The EDC of Kansas City will select final award winners from the Finalists and those winners will be recognized at the May 9th event. A few surprise special recognition awards will also be presented, and once again, we are bringing back the popular “People’s Choice” award, where a public vote will be tallied to name the number one project in Kansas City, Missouri in 2017.
The finalists include:
About MULTIVAC
MULTIVAC, a global leader in packaging solutions for food, medical, consumer and industrial products, recently underwent an expansion of its U.S. headquarters in Platte County. The company, which has global headquarters in Germany and conducts operations in over 140 countries, has been steadily growing in Kansas City where it has manufactured food packaging equipment for 26 years. MULTIVAC’s employee count is expected to reach 300 with the current expansion as its engineering and service teams continue to grow.
The additional 32,000 square feet of space brought MULTIVAC’s total space to nearly 120,000 square feet. The new space provides more office space and a larger, more modern Innovation Center which offers customers the ability to do package testing on their products to evaluate the look and quality of various package solutions.
MULTIVAC’s clients include some of the largest food processors in the United States and it is a 12-time Hormel Spirit of Excellence Award winner. MULTIVAC is a two-time Platte County Business Excellence Award winner.
About Kansas City Sausage Company
KC Sausage opened its sausage manufacturing facility off of 106th and Pomona in 2009 with 18 employees and it has since grown to 175 employees with 200 required during peak periods.
The company continues to expand and recently added a new blast freezer and an additional production line. The new freezer allows them to freeze 250,000 pounds of product from 34 degrees to 0 degrees in 24 hours. The expansion added 18,000 square feet to the existing 37,000 square feet and KC Sausage plans to add another 15,000 square feet in 2018 to add another production line and additional employee areas.
KC Sausage currently produces 35 million pounds of product for three main customers: Wal-Mart, Save-A-Lot, and Smithfield. KC Sausage prides itself on beating industry standards for safety, and since 2007 the company has been Safe Quality Food Level 3 Certified, meaning it exceeds the requirements of the Global Food Safety Initiative benchmark. The company is a two-time Platte County Business Excellence Award winner.
About k12itc
k12itc, founded in 2010, provides technology solutions tailored specifically for K-12 schools. The innovative company, located at 5904 NW 63rd Terrace in Kansas City, now serves more than 450 schools across seven states, including public, private and charter schools. Its adaptable solutions serve school districts with as few as 85 students to enrollment of over 25,000 students.
CEO Brad Sandt founded k12itc so that schools, even those in rural districts, would have equal access to the latest technology and support systems. They are changing the way technology is managed and implemented in K-12 schools.
k12itc’s employee count has increased from four in 2012 to 32 employees today. The company continues to add new staff at a rate of 1 every other month and shows no signs of slowing down.
k12itc has won numerous business awards including the 2016 Small Business of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Ingram Magazine’s named k12itc #5 on its list of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies, INC Magazine named them to their INC. 5000 list. k12itc was a 2016 PCEDC Business Excellence Award winner.