Animal health leaders kick off CVC and KC Corridor week

Becky Turner Chapman, vice president and managing director of UBM Veterinary, discusses veterinarians' role in the animal healthy industry. UBM's CVC veterinary conference is part of KC Animal Health Corridor Week in Kansas City.

Animal health industry and government leaders kicked off KC Animal Health Corridor Week in Kansas City by spotlighting the city as the epicenter of the animal health industry worldwide. At a news conference on Aug. 26, the first day of the CVC veterinary continuing education conference hosted yearly in Kansas City, speakers celebrated the economic impact the Corridor has had on the animal health industry and launched into the 11th year of Corridor events.

The Corridor, anchored by Manhattan, Kansas, and Columbia, Missouri, is hometo more than 300 animal health companies, representing the largest concentration in the world, according to Corridor representatives. Companies with a strategic location in the KC Animal Health Corridor represent 56 percent of total worldwide animal health, diagnostics and pet food sales. They employ more than 20,000 individuals and produce products from vaccines to flea and tick collars to research used to detect diseases in food animal populations.

“The KC area is globally unique in its ability to hep support the establishment and growth of animal health businesses,” said Kimberly Young, Corridor president, during the press event. “The Corridor is much more than a physical location. It is a place where the global industry can come together to solve problems, speak with one voice, and build the next generation of talent.”

Since its inception in 2006, 46 new companies have relocated to the region and many existing companies continue to invest and expand. This has resulted in more than 2,000 new jobs, nearly $100 million in new payroll, and $900 million in new capital investment in our region.

Starting on Aug. 26, the animal health industry converges in Kansas City for a five-day gathering that begins with CVC, a major continuing education convention for veterinary professionals that draws about 5,600 attendees, exhibitors and guests. “Pets are the kids who don't grow up and move away, and every year people spend $60 billion on those pets,” said Becky Turner Chapman, vice president and managing director for UBM Veterinary, CVC's parent company, which also owns the dvm360 family of print and online properties. “Even though people might spend tens of thousands of dollars on a dog bed, what they most want is long and healthy lives for their pets, and veterinarians are the only professionals who can help make that happen.”

The lineup of events culminates with an exclusive investment forum hosted by the KC Animal Health Corridor, where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas for new animal health products before an audience of company executives and venture capitalists, seeking the funding to make their ideas a commercial reality.

This year, proceeds from a market insights seminar will be donated to organizations that promote the human-animal bond through a newly created award called Spirit of Service, according to Dr. Albrecht Kissel, chairman of the Corridor and president and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica.

At the news conference, Kansas City Councilwoman Jolie Justus read a proclamation from Major Sly James declaring Aug. 26-31 to be KC Animal Health Corridor Week in Kansas City, Missouri.