The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI) has tracked the region’s life sciences company inventory since 2003. Conducted every three years, reports have been published in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012 – and the 2015 report will be available in January of 2016. The life sciences census is an invaluable tool shared with business and civic leaders, legislators, economic developers, and many others. Remarkably, the 2012 report was downloaded by persons in 23 other states outside Kansas and Missouri.
KCALSI defines a life sciences company as a company that engages in research and development activities within life sciences and/or directly supports research and development activities within life sciences. Life sciences are broadly defined as the study of the biology and/or chemistry of plants, animals, or humans. While it would seem a straight-forward task of developing a life sciences company list by using North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes, it is not that easy.
NAICS codes are self-assigned by companies and should designate their primary business activity. Companies are required to have at least one NAICS code, but many companies have several. Unfortunately, no central government agency assigns, monitors or approves NAICS codes for businesses, with the exception of codes designed specifically for small businesses. Misclassification is common and complicates NAICS code searches by returning highly variable results.
That is why your participation in completing the survey is so important. The information provided about specific aspects of your company is a key element in the process of validating and cross-referencing information from database resources. Rest assured that responses are reported in aggregate with no attribution to specific companies. It is also important to note that the workforce information collected by the survey is truly unique – there is no other source reporting specific workforce needs of the regional life sciences industry.
In August, KCALSI sent a correspondence requesting your participation in the 2015 life sciences census. The letter explained the purpose of the census and provided instructions for completing the census/survey online, via US mail, or by fax. To respond online, please visit the 2015 Industry Census Survey. Our response rates to the survey are usually very high – please help us continue that positive trend. We appreciate your help!