Five quick questions for Lynn Parman

1 How did you become interested in economic development, and specifically, bioscience development?
This is very pertinent to the Independence geography. I actually started my career as a city administrator in Buckner. In 1996, I was the city administrator in Buckner, and I was there for two years. There was an industrial park in Buckner and one of the roles I had as city administrator was working with economic development. I really enjoyed it, so I decided to change the role of career from public administration to economic development. I think it was my time at Buckner and working on a community level and recruiting companies to the area that really got me interested in economic development. My career took the bioscience turn when I worked in St. Joseph because that area has a high concentration of animal health companies. I’m not a veterinarian and I’m not a scientist, but I play one by day. I know what those companies look for when they’re looking for a new area of establishment. 
 
2 What has been the KCADC’s role in developing the Independence Regional Entrepreneurship Center?
The KCADC is the regional economic development organization for the Kansas City area, so we focus on new business recruitment for the entire region, which includes two states and 52 cities. We focus on new business recruitment, but we work with all of the cities on a local level. We work together to help recruit them to the region. ... My first conversation with Tom Lesnak (Independence Council for Economic Development president) goes back to two or three years ago. Overwhelmingly, we were very excited about the concept of the entrepreneurship center since the beginning. Now, with the center being closer and the funding being secure, our role will kind of change in that we’ll make sure companies know about the incubator and about the wet-lab space that’s available. Our role will be helping to market the facility to a national and international audience.

3 What role have you played in developing Blue Springs’ Missouri Innovation Park? 
Again, we’ve been involved since the beginning with the conceptual phase of wanting to develop a bioscience park. Now that MU is going to be a key anchor in that park and they have such a strong support from the city government, we’re very excited about the opportunities, including additional wet-lab and incubator space on that site.

4 What role does the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor play in the metropolitan area’s overall economy?
Since we launched the Animal Health Corridor in 2006, we’ve worked with more than 75 companies that were interested in relocating or establishing locations in the Kansas City area. Of those companies, we’ve recruited 14 animal health companies that will create 974 new jobs. Currently, I’m working with 18 animal-health companies that are considering locations here. The animal health corridor has a significant impact on the economy of the region. The Kansas City region has the largest concentration of the animal-health industry in the world. Since the launch of the corridor, we have made a major impact on the Kansas City region, and I think products like the Independence incubator and the Blue Springs innovation park are going to be very important to the future with places that these companies can call home.   

5 What factors help attract animal health and bioscience companies to the Kansas City area?
From an animal health perspective, having the strong concentration of the companies here equals a strong concentration of assets. We have the skilled workforce here that knows the industry. We have service providers that know how to provide the specialized services to them. We also have resources here that they can’t find anywhere else, such as training programs offered by area universities. We have contract research and production companies that are specific to the animal health industry. For them, it’s like coming home where everyone knows their name. From the biotech perspective, the Kansas City region is fifth per capita in terms of clinical trials being conducted. We have a lot of people who know how to bring drugs to market, from the bioscience perspective. In the Kansas City region, we have 20 universities, including a pharmacy and medical school. We have a workforce pipeline and a tremendous amount of research that’s occurring here.

www.kcanimalhealth.com