A Community Where Progress and Tradition Meet

Rooted in centuries of tradition, this town is firmly focused on the future

Liberty, Missouri is a thriving 200-year-old city that blends a storied past with bold, forward-looking initiatives. From revitalizing a historic downtown to attracting cutting-edge industries, Liberty is a shining example of how tradition and innovation can coexist to build a healthy city that will support generations to come.

“To have an economically vibrant community, you have to have a community that people want to live in and work in,” says Mayor Greg Canuteson. “We believe that economic development is the attraction of talent, so you want to have a community that has a great feel to it, and has a lot of amenities. We have a beautiful downtown, we have a local college. We have a great school system and a great park system, and it’s all nestled around the county seat.”

Revitalizing Downtown Liberty

Over the past five years, significant investments have been made to enhance Downtown Liberty’s appeal. Canuteson highlights, “We have a town square that has been the county seat since 1822, and we believe that revitalizing the downtown and adding amenities for the rest of the area is imperative to remain an economically diverse and prosperous community.” The mayor shares details of a comprehensive revitalization plan spearheaded by a Downtown Task Force, which envisions a vibrant mix of residential, retail, and entertainment options. “It presents a vision that the downtown would be redeveloped in a way that promotes more living and more amenities downtown,” he details.

One project includes the redevelopment of a dilapidated building which will see the introduction of 16 residential lofts and underground parking in the downtown. “It’ll be the single largest private sector development project on the town square in Liberty’s history,” boasts Canuteson.

To incentivize development, Liberty has initiated programs such as Chapter 353, which offers property tax abatements to encourage investment in the downtown. “We believe that tax incentives are the primary motivating factor for developers in areas that are hard to develop,” says Mayor Canuteson. “ It’s hard to compete with just greenfield development in the suburbs.”

Economic Development Director, Brandon Smith emphasizes the value of the chapter 353 incentive, noting, “We recently completed our 36th project to help revitalize and refresh our downtown square. That’s been a key driver for investment, and it’s been a huge benefit to the other businesses on the square, as well as the city from a presentation standpoint when people come to our downtown.”

The intention is to extend this successful program for another decade, to encourage further investment. “Ultimately, what we’re looking for are businesses that will continue to help our downtown thrive. We’re looking for walkability, uniqueness, something that will make people want to come back, something they remember,” says Smith. “The Downtown Task Force gives us a vision and an opportunity to tell developers who we are and what we want to be moving forward, and it gives us an opportunity to then attract what we’re looking for.”

Industrial and Economic Expansion

While downtown revitalization is a priority, Liberty has seen major investments in advanced manufacturing and industrial development, creating over 7,000 high paying jobs. “There are two areas of industrial and advanced manufacturing in the city. Both of them have experienced tremendous growth in the last 10 years due to the policies that we put in place,” recounts Mayor Canuteson. “A community of just 32,000 people has implemented tax incentive policies that have generated almost $2 billion worth of investment in private sector development. We believe that is a tremendously successful tax incentive policy for the city of Liberty.”

The city’s proximity to the Ford Claycomo plant has been a boon, attracting suppliers such as Dakota Bodies and others from related industries. “Ford Motor Company alone has invested $750 million within Liberty’s city limits,” relays Canuteson. Knowing that Ford will continue to be a major economic driver, efforts are also being made to diversify the workforce and employment opportunities in the community. “If one industry starts to lack, we don’t want to go down with it,” Smith asserts. “We want to be able to diversify and continue to thrive. It gives us a good opportunity to continue to grow as a community and as a city.”

Beyond automotive, Liberty is home to entities such as a Walgreens micro fulfillment center, and Berlin Packaging. In addition, the city has recently welcomed the US headquarters of TAB Batteries, a Slovenian company. It’s brand new this year,” shares Smith. “The average wage of those jobs was just shy of $100,000 and they hired about 50 people in that facility.” B & B Theatres, the fifth largest movie distributor in the United States also has their headquarters in Liberty. “We’re very proud of the fact that they have more than 100 employees located in Liberty,” touts Mayor Canuteson. “We want to have as many company headquarters here as we can.”

Smith points out the city’s use of incentives to attract businesses. “We utilized the chapter 100 program, we factor in investment jobs and the average wage of those jobs,” he reports. “That has been a key driver in what we look for when we incentivize. The policies that have been put in place to make us successful as a community. We know who we are, so it allows us to go after businesses. They know who we are as a community and what we’re looking for.”

Mayor Canuteson echoes this, adding, “We are the most aggressive city on tax incentives in the area, and our aim is to be the most aggressive city for economic development in the region. We believe that we implement all the economic incentive tools that we can. But we want to grow smartly, and we do that for businesses that provide good jobs with good wages in targeted sectors.”

Residential Growth and Quality of Life

To accommodate its growing workforce, Liberty is focusing on residential development. One example is the Montage project, a master planned community set to bring 11,000 new residents to the city. “It is a twenty year build out, but that project alone would basically be a third of our existing population,” remarks Smith. This development will add residential options, from apartments to entry level and high end housing, as well as commercial space. “ It truly will check a lot of boxes for different demographics,” he adds.

Another area of development is South Liberty Parkway, where much of the city’s industrial growth is happening. “We drew a hard line in the sand out there, basically to where it stops now. Anything to the east of that we’re really driving and pushing for residential development,” asserts Smith. With several projects underway and more coming forward all the time, he notes, “We created the jobs, took an aggressive approach on incentives and development, and we’ve fulfilled, and are continuing to fulfill that vision, and it is paying off dividends on the residential component.”

Liberty’s dedication to quality of life is evident in the significant investments in parks, recreation and cultural spaces. “The types of people we want to attract to our community expect a vibrant cultural environment, a strong arts commission, a vibrant downtown square, off leash dog parks, a great trail system, nice restaurants, great venues to go and see entertainment,” illustrates Canuteson. “Those are all essential if you want to have a diverse community that attracts people from the region. We want to be that place that people want to live, the city that they want to move to.”

With a walkable downtown, plenty of greenspace, and a myriad of trails for active transportation, Liberty continues to add to its outdoor amenities. “We have one of the best parks groups in the state. We have a lot of trails, and we have parks within the downtown area that people can walk,” outlines Smith. “We have invested a lot of money into our parks program, and we’re constantly looking for ways to expand trail systems within Liberty.”

Moving Forward

As for what the future holds for the city of Liberty, Smith says he will remain focused on business recruitment and retention. “I will continue to fight that good fight of bringing in additional developers,” he conveys. “The mayor and the council’s vision for our downtown will be a big priority for 2025. We also have some additional industrial development that has been approved. I’ll be recruiting additional businesses to come into those developments and then continuing to make sure that our existing employers are happy and love Liberty the way the rest of us do.”

For the mayor, the attention will be on smart growth, and ensuring Liberty remains a top community to do business, and call home. “We want to be a city that everybody in the region is envious of, where people visit and they realize that they wish they lived here because of what a great community it is,” he imparts. “This area is going to grow, economic growth is going to happen here. The only question is, what’s it going to look like? If we do it right, it’s going to be a great community for the next 200 years.”

At a Glance

Who: Liberty, Missouri,

What: A rapidly growing city blending progress and tradition, with major investments in industrial, residential, and downtown development.

Where: Located in Clay County, Missouri.

Website: https://www.libertymo.gov