America's Animal Health Corridor
The nation's premier animal health companies are benefiting from the synergy created by their clustering in the Kansas City area.
Oct/Nov 09
Included among the corridor's 220+ animal health companies are the North American or global headquarters of 40+ global leaders in the animal health industry, including Bayer HealthCare Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Intervet/Schering-Plough, and CEVA/Biomune. This list represents five of the world's 10 largest animal health companies, two of the world's five largest pet food companies, and the world's largest animal health generics manufacturer.
A variety of value-added benefits have helped contribute to the growth and success of these and other companies in the corridor, including top-notch educational institutions, top-tier transportation connections, and generous incentives for companies in the animal health industry.
Specially Educated Work Force
Companies in the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor have the advantage of being located in the center of an area with a heavy concentration of animal health training programs. Specifically, Kansas City is located between two of America's top veterinary schools - the University of Missouri-Columbia and Kansas State University.
Additionally, within a 300-mile radius are three more of the nation's leading veterinary schools: Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All told, these institutions provide a steady pipeline of talented, educated individuals. In fact, Kansas and Iowa state universities and the University of Missouri have together produced more than 13,000 doctors of veterinary medicine.
According to Lynn Parman, president of bioscience development at the Kansas City Area Development Council, "Researchers want to come to an area where they can advance their name, advance their skills, and publish. Those things are advanced by the fact that Kansas City sits at the center of a triangle created by three of the most recognized land grant colleges in the United States."
But in addition to educational institutions supplying animal scientists with backgrounds in veterinary medicine and surgery, biomedical sciences, pathobiology, molecular biology, microbiology, and genetics, Kansas City area community colleges and technical schools are supplying the degreed veterinary and research laboratory technicians prepared to fill the life sciences work force continuum that supplies qualified workers at all levels.
For example, Kansas City's Metropolitan Community College offers a vet tech program; and the Institute of Industrial and Applied Life Sciences at Western State University in Saint Joseph, Missouri, offers customized animal health training programs.
Parman further notes that one big advantage to being located in the corridor is increased access to the laboratory-skilled labor pool, which helps companies recruit talented people.
Logistics Hub for the Animal Health Industry
A central location makes it easier to serve both livestock and companion animal veterinarians from the Kansas City area. Also, many of the nation's major distributors - FEDEX, CSX Conway, UPS Ground - maintain distribution facilities in the Kansas City area. In addition, YRC Worldwide and Kansas City Southern Railway are headquartered in Kansas City.
According to area representatives, other key components make Kansas City a top-tier logistical hub including:
• The largest rail center by tonnage in the United States
• More foreign-trade zone space than any other U.S. city (over 10,000 acres)
• A location at the intersection of three interstate highways: I-35, I-70, and I-29
• The top air cargo center in a six-state region
• A location on the largest navigable inland waterway
• A location in the heart of a rail corridor spanning the United States from coast to coast and extending from Canada to Mexico
Paul Hays, president of Synbiotics Corp., notes that his company "needed to be closer to many of its customers, animal disease researchers, and animal vaccine manufacturers. Kansas City is the best location to touch all of those."