Kansas City catches $16M fish

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 16, 2008 – Iowa-based Pure Fishing Inc. selected a site at the Skyport Business Park. The company will construct a new 400,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution center near KCI.  The company expects to employ 80 when it is fully operational in 2009.

Pure Fishing considered Columbia, S.C., Reno, Nev., Louisville, Ky., Pittsburgh, Pa., and St. Louis for the new national distribution center. KC SmartPort and partners worked closely with the company to present Kansas City's transportation case. In the end, Kansas City’s transportation infrastructure sealed the deal.

The company, whose roots trace back to the 1930s, designs and produces fishing equipment for retailers worldwide. Fishing enthusiasts may recognize some of Pure Fishing's brands, including Abu Garcia, Berkley, Fenwick, Gulp, Mitchell and SevenStrand.

Partners:

• Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri
• Platte County Economic Development Council
• Missouri Department of Economic Development
• Aquila, Inc.
• Greater Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone, Inc.
• Kessinger/Hunter & Co., LC
• Colliers Turley Martin Tucker
• McAninch Corporation
• TranSystems Corporation
• KC SmartPort