Coming of Age in Cass County

You really feel like you’ve gone someplace different when you arrive in Harrisonville, Missouri. Although just a half hour south of midtown Kansas City, the town square of the Cass County seat retains the charm of another time and place.

The restored Galvez restaurant on the square amplifies that charm. It was there on a pleasant early October day that Ingram’s Magazine convened development leaders from throughout the county for an assembly on the progress the county has made in the three years since Ingram’s last showcased Cass. 

Chairing the assembly was Cass County Presiding Commissioner Gary Mallory. Sponsoring the event was the Cass County Corporation of Economic Development. This assembly was part of Ingram’s ongoing effort to highlight economic development issues in Kansas City’s greater metropolitan area.

Positioning

The question was raised as to the distinctive strengths of Cass County and how the county should position itself based on those strengths. Gary Mallory saw the potential for business growth in Cass County as one of its distinctive strengths, something the county can build on, especially given the availability of land and resources.

For Darold Shelton of Allen Bank & Trust, the chairman of the newly formed Cass County Economic Development Corporation, the county’s most conspicuous asset is its “tremendous quality of life.”

“We were a good, solid community before the growth came,” said Ken Southwick, superintendent of the Belton School District. He observed that many new suburban areas lack the kind of physical and even spiritual core that Cass County began with. “We still have a sense of community,” said Southwick. “We are small enough that if we need a contact person, we know that person by name, we can have a sit-down conversation with them, and put things into action that could happen.”