KC SmartPort elects new Chairman
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – January 30, 2012- Eric McDonald, senior vice president of national accounts of Storage Solutions, has been elected as Chairman of KC SmartPort, as of Wednesday, January 25, 2012. Former Chairwoman, Melody Warren, finished her two year term last Wednesday at the first quarterly board meeting of 2012.
In his first year as Chairman, McDonald will work closely with Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, and the rest of KC SmartPort board to continue the mission to grow the transportation and logistics industry here in the Kansas City region.
“As chairman, I plan to support KC SmartPort’s outreach efforts by expanding the contact base that SmartPort currently reaches.” said Eric McDonald. “It is important to convey the message of Kansas City to key decision makers for the market.”
Along with increasing the messaging and outreach, McDonald plans to strengthen and grow the current investor base.
“Increased investment for the organization will allow us at KC SmartPort to do our job, which is selling this region, to the best of our ability,” said McDonald.
McDonald, as chair, will also serve on the 2012 KC SmartPort executive committee. Also appointed to the committee is Al Figuly, president of the Greater KC Foreign Trade Zone, Robert Marcusse, president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council, John Hein, president and CEO of WLX, LLC, and Melody Warren, president and CEO of Transportation Logistics Systems.
The Kansas City region experienced great success in 2011 by attracting companies such as; MARS, UpWind Solutions, Van-Rob, and 1A auto. KC SmartPort plans to continue this success in 2012 by working with the Kansas City Area Development Council to ensure deals continue land in the region.
“2011 was a great year for our region,” said Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, “We plan to work with our new chairman, along with all of our other resources, to ensure we raise that level of success in 2012.”
KC SmartPort will focus on increasing the KC region’s marketing and outreach with new campaigns such as, it’s recently launched, “E-Commerce Campaign,” which highlights KC’s assets for dot.com businesses. SmartPort also plans to push its vertical ready sites to differentiate KC from other regions. The region’s workforce will continue to be a priority as SmartPort brands the Supply Chain education effort through marketing materials to connect the educators to the industry.
The Trade Data Exchange has also made great headway in 2011. The TDE solidified a technology partnership with eShipping in early 2011. To date, the TDE can announce a comprehensive TMS is live and being utilized by customers.
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Kansas City SmartPort
(816) 374-5640
