Kenosha Area Business Alliance

What Kenosha Area Business Alliance does

The Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) is the lead economic development organization for Kenosha County, Wisconsin, founded in 1996 and operating as a membership-based private alliance. KABA functions as a coordinating body between businesses, municipal governments (City of Kenosha, Village of Pleasant Prairie), educational institutions (Gateway Technical College, UW-Parkside, Carthage College), and state-level entities (Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation) to attract corporate investment, facilitate site selection, and coordinate workforce development across the I-94 corridor between Chicago and Milwaukee. The organization assists companies with facility location, expansion planning, incentive navigation, and workforce training coordination, serving enterprise clients in advanced manufacturing, food processing, distribution/logistics, and corporate headquarters segments.

KABA's service portfolio is structured around eight integrated offerings rather than discrete software products: Economic Development Services, Sites + Properties, Financing + Incentives, Programming + Training, the KABA Foundation (charitable arm), KABA Mentor Program, Resource Center, and Business Events + Networking. These are delivered by a small staff of 1–10 employees supported by a volunteer board chaired by Dr. John Swallow, President of Carthage College. The organization does not operate a technology platform; its core "product" is curated regional intelligence, shovel-ready industrial sites (LakeView Corporate Park, Prairie Highlands Corporate Park, Salem Business Park), and curated access to public incentives including tax incremental financing (TIF) districts and WEDC-administered tax credits.

The revenue model is membership/investor-based: companies and institutional investors pay into KABA in exchange for business attraction services, networking, and regional advocacy. KABA also administers pass-through public grants — most notably a $4 million EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant in 2020 for a Revolving Loan Fund. Customer outcomes (not KABA's own revenue) are the principal scale metric: more than 3,000 jobs, $4.8 billion in capital investment, and 5+ million square feet of development in the last two years alone, with cumulative wins of 8,000+ jobs and $1.2 billion in capital investment since 2013.

Name

Kenosha Area Business Alliance

Legal name

Kenosha Area Business Alliance

Website

https://kaba.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kenosha Area Business Alliance (KABA) is a membership-based economic development organization that attracts corporate investment and facilitates site selection, workforce development, and incentive navigation for companies expanding or relocating to Kenosha County, Wisconsin, along the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kenosha

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership/Investor Program: KABA operates as a membership-based economic development organization. Companies and organizations invest in KABA to support economic development efforts and gain access to site selection services, workforce resources, and business networking opportunities in Kenosha County.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

KABA is the lead economic development organization for Kenosha County, Wisconsin, providing site selection assistance, workforce development coordination, and financing/incentive facilitation to businesses looking to relocate or expand in the Milwaukee-Chicago corridor. The membership-based alliance connects companies with shovel-ready industrial sites, available buildings, customized training programs, and state-level economic development incentives. KABA also organizes business networking events and partners with Gateway Technical College, WEDC, and local municipalities to drive corporate investment and job creation in the region.

Product overview

KABA is a single, unified economic development organization serving as Kenosha County's primary economic development entity. Rather than a platform with separate products, KABA offers an integrated suite of services including economic development consultation, site/property matching, financing assistance, workforce training, mentorship programs, community development through the KABA Foundation, and business networking events. The organization functions as a coordinating body between businesses, government agencies, educational institutions (Gateway Technical College, UW-Parkside), and community stakeholders to attract new investment and support existing businesses in the region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Economic Development Services
• Sites + Properties
• Financing + Incentives
• Programming + Training
• KABA Mentor Program
• Business Events + Networking

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1.4 billion in industrial capital investments attracted to the region
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Gateway Technical CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGateway Technical College is a key partner providing workforce training and development programs for companies locating or expanding in Kenosha County. The college develops customized training programs to meet specific company workforce needs and has trained over 1,500 employees since 2013, administering over $900,000 in Workforce Advancement Training grants.
• Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWEDC provides business development tax credits, training grants, and state-level incentive programs for companies expanding or relocating to Wisconsin. WEDC has provided millions in grants and incentives for Kenosha County projects including disaster recovery microloans and startup accelerator funding.
• Kenosha County Job CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Job Center works with companies to develop grant and training opportunities, matching employers with available workforce. Functions as an extension of company human resource teams.
• National Confectioners Association (NCA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCA supports candy and confectionery industry companies and helped facilitate Haribo's U.S. expansion announcement, highlighting the economic impact of confectionery manufacturing on regional economies.
• Village of Pleasant PrairiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor partner municipality that has created tax incremental financing districts (TIF) and developed industrial parks including Prairie Highlands Corporate Park and LakeView Corporate Park. Home to major employers including Haribo and Uline.
• City of KenoshacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary municipality partner working with KABA on economic development initiatives, downtown redevelopment, and business attraction efforts.
• Haribo GmbHflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman confectionery company building its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie. The $242+ million project represents one of the largest FDI projects in Wisconsin history, expected to employ 400+ workers.
• Uline Inc.flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Pleasant Prairie-based employer and one of the largest distributors of shipping materials and supplies. Has invested hundreds of millions in Kenosha County, expanding with multiple distribution centers and headquarters facilities.
• Visit Pleasant PrairieminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLocal tourism organization that promotes Pleasant Prairie as a destination for visitors and residents, supporting quality of life initiatives that help attract talent to the region.
• Downtown Kenosha Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMainstreet organization focused on downtown Kenosha development and business district promotion, working to revitalize the downtown area through historic preservation and new development projects.
• Mueller CommunicationsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommunications consulting firm that has provided crisis communications guidance featured on KABA's blog, helping local businesses navigate communications during challenging times.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Metro Atlanta Chamber: Regional business and economic development organization for metro Atlanta. Similar chamber-plus-EDO hybrid model, but at far larger scale and with much broader corporate network.
• Greater Houston Partnership: Large regional business alliance and EDO that combines chamber-of-commerce functions with proactive business attraction, similar in scope to KABA but operating at metropolitan scale.
• World Business Chicago: Chicago's public-private economic development organization. Competes for the same large employer relocations on the Illinois side of the I-94 corridor and has a substantially larger staff and budget.
• Greater Phoenix Economic Council: Mature regional EDO with a similar site-selection, incentives, and workforce development playbook, but operating at much larger scale in a high-growth Sun Belt market.

Direct peers

• Greater Omaha Chamber: Combined chamber and economic development organization in Greater Omaha. Comparable membership-investor-supported EDO with corporate attraction, workforce, and incentive programs.
• Indy Partnership: Indiana's state-level regional economic development organization. Comparable mid-size EDO focused on attracting advanced manufacturing, logistics, and headquarters investment.
• Greater Cleveland Partnership: Regional chamber and economic development hybrid serving Northeast Ohio. Closely comparable membership/investor-supported EDO model with site selection, incentives, and workforce programs.
• Milwaukee 7: Regional economic development organization for the seven-county southeastern Wisconsin region. Direct competitor for the same Chicago-Milwaukee corridor projects and corporate HQ relocations that KABA targets.
• REDI Cincinnati: Regional economic development initiative for the Cincinnati tristate area. Closely analogous EDO model combining site selection, incentives, and workforce partnerships for a 15-county region.

Regional players

• Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance: Regional EDO alliance serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Comparably structured alliance-style EDO with a similar site-selection and incentives mandate, but operating in a different regional market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@KABAConnectHere
• Facebookfacebook.com/KABAConnectHere
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kenosha-area-business-alliance
• Xx.com/KABAConnectHere

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kenosha Area Business Alliance