Kansas Earns 13th National Silver Shovel Award for Economic Development

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today announced the State of Kansas has collected another prestigious Silver Shovel for excellence in economic development. Area Development magazine’s annual Silver Shovel award recognizes states for attracting high-value investment projects that create a significant number of new jobs in their communities. This year marks the 13th time Kansas has received the Silver Shovel award. “This honor is further proof of why Kansas is a preeminent location for businesses to grow and thrive,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “From Day One, my administration has worked diligently to foster an environment that companies need when deciding where to locate and expand. As we move towards a cautious reopening, awards like this will continue to help in our efforts to spur economic development across Kansas.” As the state’s leading economic development engine, the Kansas Department of Commerce works to help businesses and communities grow in Kansas. All business successes submitted for the Silver Shovel award were supported by Commerce’s business recruitment team. “Economic development is a team sport, and we are so grateful at the Department of Commerce for our incredible partners in economic development, who we work with every day to achieve this level of success,” Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “We also appreciate Area Development for recognizing the hard work that goes into economic development.” The Kansas Department of Commerce worked with various economic development organizations and partners across the state to select a sample of successful projects to submit for this award. The Top 10 are:

Company	City	N/E	Job Creation	Investment	Industry
1 Vision Aviation, PLLC	Salina	N	900	$5.2 million	Aerospace
A Place for Mom	Overland Park	N	622	$5 million	Back Office Operations
Advisors Excel Holdings, LLC	Topeka	E	275	$14.4 million	Insurance & Brokerage
CarMax Auto Superstores, Inc.	Olathe	N	315	$5 million	Back Office Operations
Empirical Foods, Inc.	Garden City	N	300	$252 million	Food Processing
Faith Technologies	Olathe	E	780	$38.5 million	Pre-fab Electrical Products
King of Freight	Wichita	E	1,060	$1.1 million	Freight Brokerage
Resers Fine Foods	Topeka	E	301	$54 million	Food Processing
SelectQuote Insurance Services	Overland Park	E	968	$10.1 million	Insurance Brokerage
Walmart	Topeka	N	300	$235 million	Logistics/Distribution

To see the most recent business successes in Kansas, check out the Kansas Department of Commerce website. The full report on Area Development’s Gold and Silver Shovel awards can be found here.