Visit KC opens a business on the side

Visit KC, the Kansas City area’s nonprofit convention and visitors agency, has officially opened a new for-profit business that will operate separately from the agency.

Spark, a Destination Management Company, was announced at the Visit KC annual meeting last month. March 1 marked its first day of business.

The new limited liability corporation rents office space in Visit KC’s downtown headquarters but is otherwise separate in terms of staffing and sources of funds.

Spark is designed to provide services such as logistics planning, entertainment and venue selection, tours, transportation, food and beverage service, decor design, and gift sourcing.

Ashley Rossbach, most recently a Visit KC employee, has been appointed to lead Spark as director of sales and experiences.

Rossbach began a soft launch for Spark last month and said she’s already seen “traction in the marketplace from clients.”

Visit KC CEO Ronnie Burt said he believed Visit KC is the first such visitors agency in the United States to open a company similar to Spark.