Was KC a pawn to Bombardier?

By KEVIN COLLISON
The Kansas City Star

Last year, it was the failed effort to woo the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Sprint Center. Last weekend, it was Bombardier Aerospace deciding to assemble a new line of jets in Montreal.

While casual observers may believe Kansas City was used as a pawn by Montreal-based Bombardier merely to extract more concessions from Canada, experts say that’s not really the way it works.

“Typically, these projects are very competitive,” said Jonathan Sangster, a senior manager at CBRE Consulting in Atlanta. “People don’t have time to waste going through these motions.”

And sometimes the Kansas City area wins in the corporate recruitment process.

In 1996, for example, Kansas City edged out Omaha, Neb., and Louisville, Ky., for a coveted Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant. Farmers Insurance Group picked Olathe over Oklahoma City and Phoenix two years ago for a 950-person service center, and the Los Angeles-based firm now has 2,000 total employees in the area.

Sangster has been in the national site selection business for 10 years, participating in more than 125 deals. Not once has he experienced a situation where the company already had made a decision and was only going through the motions to up the ante for incentives. More here.