Shawnee Dispatch

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), Kansas City's largest private company with approximately $18 billion in revenue in 2014, has announced plans to build its new global headquarters in Kansas City, Kan.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, announced today that DFA's more than 325 employees would relocate from office space it has leased in Missouri since its formation in 1998, to a state-of-the-art office building being constructed in the expanded Village West area in Wyandotte County.

Owned by more than 15,000 dairy farmers across the country, and invested in brands such as Borden Cheese, Kemps, Keller's Creamery and Hiland Dairy, DFA is the nation's largest milk marketing cooperative. An exporter of dairy products and powders to nearly 50 countries, DFA is also the sixth-largest global dairy company.

With this new building, the Kansas City-based cooperative will join Cerner Corporation, U.S. Soccer and other companies in Village West.

"We are pleased to welcome Dairy Farmers of America to the vibrant and growing Village West area where we offer world-class entertainment and retail for residents and visitors to our city," Kansas City, Kansas Mayor Mark Holland said in a news release. "We're excited to continue to grow the region with new housing and office development."

Edwin Birch, Unified Goverment public information officer, said the proposed location for the DFA is on the eastern side of the area known as Village West, on property located between the Schlitterbahn Kansas City Waterpark and Interstate 435. Featuring open floor plans and abundant glass, the three-story, 100,000-square-foot building will be constructed with sustainability in mind and designed to LEED standards.

"This building will pay tribute to our cooperative's farmer-owners and the sustainable practices they employ on their dairies," Rick Smith, DFA president and chief executive officer, said in the news release. "More importantly, as DFA strives to be the workplace of choice for employees, the new building will feature a modern, flexible work environment designed for employees of today and tomorrow."

The layout of the building will foster increased collaboration between employees while offering the technology and amenities that play a crucial role in ensuring employee success and satisfaction. Kansas City companies have been chosen to complete the project and include RED Brokerage, LLC; J.E. Dunn Construction Group; HOK; and VanTrust Real Estate, LLC.

"Amongst DFA's priorities was retention of their current talent while offering a location that could improve and expand employee recruitment efforts. Secondly was a location that would provide their staff and visiting farmer partners with immediate access to a wide variety of amenities," said Tim Schaffer, executive vice president of RED Brokerage. "We worked with them to ensure their new location met this criteria."

Expected completion of the project is December 2016.