On December 7, 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps announced that the Fairfax Industrial District in Kansas City, Kansas, would host a North American Aviation B-25 bomber production plant to prepare for the possibility of the United States entering World War II. The medium-sized bombers would eventually prove crucial to the American strategic bombing campaigns in the European and Pacific theatres.

The War Department, in conjunction with the president of North American Aviation, J. H. Kindelberger, selected the Fairfax District as a result of its geographic location and the heavy lobbying on the part of Kansas City business leaders. The war industry had become concentrated on the east and west coasts, where military strategists feared potential attacks from the Germans or Japanese if the U.S. entered the war. Due to its location near the center of the country and a significant population of potential laborers, Kansas City fit the basic requirements for a war plant. The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce unsurprisingly agreed that it was the "logical location" for war plants.

The other draw to Kansas City came from local business leaders who stressed Kansas Citians’ productive potential and loyalty. J. C. Nichols, who served on the Advisory Council for National Defense, argued that Kansas City was a "sleeping industrial giant." Other business leaders stressed the city’s identity as the "Most American City" due to its unusually high percentage of white, American-born citizens, who were more likely to remain loyal. This presumably made the location resistant to sabotage by foreigners or unpatriotic citizens.

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