Ingram’s January 2023

ECONOMIC FORECAST | MILESTONES | BIGGEST BUSINESS DEALS | CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

Ingrams.com | January 2023

EXECUTIVE Year of the C S u i t e A w a r d s

Ingram’s Announces Executive of the Year and C-Suite Award Honorees

Front row: Ray Kowalik Chairman/CEO, Burns & McDonnell Tammy Peterman President (KC Division), The University of Kansas Health System Back row: Stephanie Price Chief People Officer, Terracon Jeff Poe Chief Financial Officer, Mariner Wealth Advisors Beth Wade Global Chief Marketing Officer, VMLY&R Steve Levy Chief Operating Officer, McCownGordon Construction Blake Rooney Chief Information Officer, Husch Blackwell

Ray Kowalik Burns & McDonnell Executive of the Year

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CONGRATULATIONS Ray Kowalik

From Executive of Year to a Visionary Member of our Board and Champion of Science City, your commitment to the community and our mission is profound. Union Station stands vital and vibrant because you lead by example and do so with contagious enthusiasm.

On behalf of Union Station’s Board of Directors and our entire professional team, we congratulate you for this well-deserved recognition and applaud you for your endless passion that will propel us for years to come. Ramón Murguía, Chairman • Ray Kowalik, Vice Chairman • Peggy J. Dunn, Treasurer Charles Sosland, Secretary • George Guastello, President • Bucky Brooks Erin Stucky • Dr. Kimberly Beatty • Dr. Thomas Sack • Robert D. Regnier Dan Lowe • Michael R. Haverty • Jon Cook • Michael J. Brown Dr. Mauli Agrawal • Mayor Quinton Lucas, Ex-Officio UNION STATION KANSAS CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS UnionStation.org

Emergency

JANUARY 2023 • VOLUME 49, NO. 1

Talk of the Town 7 In the News/Correspondent Business News and Legislative Updates Perspectives 4 Editor’s Note Deeper in the C-Suite by Joe Sweeney 9 Between the Lines Class Warfare on Truman Road by Jack Cashill 11 Reflections And now, gas stoves?

8

Features 8 Chief Concerns

14

It’s past time for the regulated to start making some noise. by Dennis Boone

Stacey Graves, Kansas City’s new chief of police, pays Ingram’s and crime prevention friends a visit to talk about collaborations that can help reduce crime.

12 In a Nutshell

The Fed has a thorny issue confronting it in efforts to stem inflation without imposing further damage on the economy. by Ken Herman

Special Reports 34 Economic Outlook 2023 A final look back at regional growth in 2022; special celebrations for hundreds of long-lived companies in 2023; and what economists and wealth managers say about business conditions as indicators flash warning signals for the year ahead. Engineering Industry Outlook Report While the Kansas City region is well- positioned for construction and design work in 2023, the prospects for beyond that aren’t entirely clear. In the mean- time, contractors and design firms are grappling with long-running issues involving tight labor, supply chain disruption and workplace design after the pandemic—for starters. 53 Construction and

14 Executive of the Year Ray Kowalik’s tenure at Burns &

McDonnell has been a study in growth.

18 C-Suite Awards

Business & Commerce 37 Wealth Management

Meet six stars of the C-suite, extra ordinary executives who have helped take their organizations to the next level. 31 Biggest Business Deals of 2022

Looking for ways to avoid taxes on retirement and Social Security income? Here are some strategies you might want to consider. by Clint Haynes Leads & Lists 58 Top Area Architectural Firms

Transformative developments across the region weren’t at all uncommon.

34 Economic Forecast Recession? Stagflation?

Read what leading economists and wealth managers expect for 2023.

39 Milestones

Our annual toast to companies celebrat ing major milestones in the new year.

49 Construction Trends A new KCI is just the first step

Front cover photo and feature by Matt Kocourek Photography

in a burst of construction activity for the region, contractors say.

53 Construction and

Engineering Industry Outlook Report From labor and supply-chain issues to workplace rules in the post-COVID era, construction executives have a lot on their plates.

53

60 Q&A With ...

Bill Johnson of the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities sounds off on energy trends and policies affecting customers.

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January 2023

Ingrams.com

PROUD TO BE RECOGNIZED

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) takes great pride in our commitment to the community. We are dedicated to providing our customers safe, reliable electric and water services. We understand what matters to our customers and providing it efficiently and effectively is the greatest reward we can receive.

American Business Awards: Gold Stevie ® for Best Website Silver Stevie ® for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program –––––––––––––––––– American Public Power Association Excellence in Public Power Communications Award of Merit

POWER • WATER • COMMUNITY Water Agencies Platinum Award for Utility Excellence American Public Power Association Community Service Award –––––––––––––––––– Association of Metropolitan American Public Power Association Reliable Public Power Provider Platinum Designation ––––––––––––––––––

Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting 40 Consecutive Years –––––––––––––––––– Partnership for Safe Water 5 Year Director Award for Water Treatment Program Excellence

Social Media Category Print/Digital Category

540 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101 | 913-573-9000 | bpu.com

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E

by Joe Sweeney

Excellence at the Top

When we acquired Ingram’s 26 years ago, we quickly assessed the publication’s editorial programming, including a few competitions and recognition programs. Two programs existed when we took the reins in February 1997: Corporate Report 100 , which is celebrating its 38th year in 2023, and the Best of Business Kansas City , now enjoying its 35th, albeit with a rebrand in 1997. We’re proud to have established other programs over the years and nearly all remain active today. Other notable recognition programs include 40 Under Forty (25 years), WeKC—Women Executives Kansas City (22 years), Hereos in Healthcare (20 years), Icons of Education and 20 in Their Twenties (16 years), Ingram’s 250 (8 years), Philanthropist of the Year (7 years) and the most recently, Executive of the Year (3 years). So why do we do it? We believe excellence matters. Com- panies and individuals performing at exceptional levels create organizational and personal wealth, which flows back into the broader community and elevates all. More than that, they set standards for and inspire those who would follow their lead. Merit matters, and we make it a point within our editorial mission to showcase it. In 2023, we’re pleased to expand the Executive of the Year program to incorporate the C-Suite Awards . We had hoped to launch the C-Suite Awards concurrently with Executive of the Year in 2021 but the pandemic hindered our plans. We opted to be patient and debut the C-Suite Awards when business trends normalized. Of the competitions and recognition programs we administer, the C-Suite Awards are perhaps the most relevant to Ingram’s readers. About 18 months after we purchased Ingram’s, Portland-based Pulse Research conducted a thorough readership study and found that KC-based Ingram’s had the highest reader profile of any business or other magazine or daily or weekly newspaper in the nation. I remember evaluating our strategy when purchasing Ingram’s and we opted to focus our content primarily on the interests of top business executives. Today, Ingram’s has more readers than all of the Business Journals in Missouri and Kansas combined and a significantly higher executive reader profile. Responsibility Within Subjectivity Inevitably, a number of our recognition programs entail some level of subjectivity, so we try hard to establish strong and viable metrics in our qualification and selection process. We also value the input of our readers who make nominations. Not all nominations are created equal, and it’s worth mentioning: a nomination from the executive offices carries more clout than from the PR person, and nomination “campaigns” usually work against the nominee. Ingram’s is an independent media property. While we value relationships with many businesses and their associates, we have no affiliation with any groups, companies or individuals that that would skew our judgment to consider the most qualified candidates, especially when subjectivity is a factor in recognition programs. Being independent eliminates obligations to groups, trade organizations or others. We know we’ll run into some level of challenges associated with administrating the C-Suite Awards, particularly regarding the

variance in titles. A CMO at a law firm, for example, is considerably different than one at a medical center. We’ve established several standard categories: Executive of the Year (typically CEO) President (often times also the CEO)

Chief Operating Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Information/IT Officer

Chief HR/People Officer Chief Marketing Officer Other titles will include a variety of Many colleagues throughout North America administer an Executive of the Year or CFO recognition award. We dis- cussed the uniqueness of developing a small but relevant portfolio of C-Suite awards, and we’ll report back at our 2023 conference about the reception of this program. We’re in no rush to develop more competitions or recognition programs. I feel the mix of those Ingram’s has developed over the years is solid. Our most important criteria is to have a program that will be sustainable. On a related theme, 22 years ago this month, Terry Dunn of JE Dunn Construction chaired the first Industry Outlook Assembly with fellow construction industry professionals. I remember having a conversation with Terry following the assembly and asking him if there would be enough developments to sustain an annual assembly. More than two decades later, we can still guarantee it. We hope our readers will suggest ways we can better refine the C-Suite Awards and who from around the region we should consider for our 2024 class. We’ve enclosed nomination information on Page 29 and hope you’ll take a minute to submit your recommendations at Ingrams.com. We’re pleased and proud to serve as a steward of business throughout the bi-state area, to be able to archive the rich history of our region, and to recognize compan ies celebrating asignificant milestones (as with the feature beginning on Page 39). We feel connected to so many com panies, and we’re honored to play a small part in the career paths of many extraordinary leaders. industry- and company-unique titles.

Joe Sweeney Editor-In-Chief and Publisher E | JSweeney @ Ingrams.com

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Applications Due by Friday, June 9, 2023 Continuing a Kansas City tradition, Ingram’s will salute the region’s fastest-growing companies in its 38th annual Corporate Report 100 competition, to be published in the July 2023 edition. The report will measure growth between fiscal 2019 and 2022. Public and private for-profit companies HEADQUARTERED IN KC’S 22-COUNTY METRO AREA, WITH AT LEAST $200,000 IN SALES IN 2019 AND $1 MILLION IN SALES IN FISCAL 2022, ARE ELIGIBLE. Company Name:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CEO’s Name:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ City: _________ State: _____ Zip: __________________________________________________ Phone: ________________ Fax: ____________ E-mail: ____________________ Web site: _ _______________________________________________________ Communications/Marketing Manager:_ ___________________________________________________________________ e-mail: _ _________________________________________________________ Where is your company headquartered? _ ______________________________ ( Must be “headquartered” in KC’s 22-County Metro Area) GROSS REVENUES Consolidated from all operations/subsidiaries. Please DO NOT round dollars to nearest thousand. Show revenues to decimal . (must have had at least $200,000 in sales in fiscal 2019 and $1 million in sales in fiscal 2022): Fiscal 2019: _____________________________________________ Fiscal 2021: _______________________________________ Fiscal 2020: _____________________________________________ Fiscal 2022: _______________________________________ BUSINESS SUMMARY Full-time or full-time (equivalent) employees as of 12-31-2022:_______________ Year business was founded: _________________________________________ Describe company’s primary business: ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INDICATE THE REASON FOR YOUR RECENT GROWTH (check one or two): Service New Offices/Location Other:_________ CORPORATE REPORT 100 NOMINATION FORM CORPORATE REPORT 100 PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOUR COMPANY GREW FROM 2019 THROUGH 2022 (Please be specific. May submit on another page): ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ IS YOUR COMPANY’S PRIMARY ACTIVITY CLASSIFIED AS (check one): Retail trade Manufacturing Services Family owned OTHER LOCATIONS :________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ SIGNATURE: ______________________ _______________ TITLE: ____________________ PRINT NAME:_ ________________________ EMAIL: _____________________ To be considered for CORPORATE REPORT 100, Return or Submit at Ingrams.com or email to Editorial@Ingrams.com by Friday, June 9, 2023 2049 Wyandotte, Kansas City, MO 64108 n Phone 816.842.9994 n Fax 816.474.1111 Wholesale trade Construction Other: IS YOUR BUSINESS (check one): Publicly held Privately owned New Products/Services Acquisitions Marketing

Editor-in-Chief & Publisher Joe Sweeney | JSweeney @ Ingrams.com Editorial Director Dennis Boone | DBoone @ Ingrams.com Senior Editor Jack Cashill | Editorial @ Ingrams.com Columnists Clint Haynes Ken Herman Director of Sales Michelle Sweeney | MSweeney @ Ingrams.com Art Director Traci Faulk | Production @ Ingrams.com Copy Editor Nancie Boland | Editorial @ Ingrams.com Contributing Photographer Matt Kocourek

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Ingrams.com MISSOURI’S AND KANSAS’ DIGITAL BUSINESS MEDIA The entire contents of this publication are copyrighted © 2023 by Show-Me Publishing, Inc. with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use in any manner of editorial or graphic content without permission is prohibited. The magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. Ingram’s reserves the right of unrestricted editing of articles. Submissions must be in writing to be considered. Ingram’s (ISSN #1046 9958) is published monthly by Show-Me Publishing, Inc. at 2049 Wyandotte, Kansas City, Missouri, 64108. Price: $44.95 for one-year, $69.95 for 2 years and $99.95 for 3 years. Back issues are $5 each. Periodical postage paid at Kansas City, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please email address changes to JRyan @ Ingrams.com, fax to 816.474.1111 or mail changes to Ingram’s Magazine at 2049 Wyandotte Kansas City, Missouri, 64108.

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Ingrams.com

I N T H E N E W S

Tidbits of Business News from Around the Region

MISSOURI

Plexpod Infill Project Building off of the success with Plex- pod Westport Commons, developers have filed plans to turn the adjacent urban garden into a pair of apartment buildings with a total of 100 units. KANSAS JOHNSON COUNTY PCIA on Acquisition Tear Prime Capital Investment Advisors wrapped up 2022 with a pair of acquisitions, boosting its overall level of assets under management to $20 billion and securing its spot in the region’s Top 10 wealth management firms. The biggest recent addition was Florida-based Liberty Wealth Correspondent News Updates from the Capital cities

Advisors, with $1.75 billion in AUM; Professional Financial Services, a South Dakota firm, brought in $185 million more. That gave PCIA 10 acquisitions for the year. WYANDOTTE COUNTY Historic District Expansion Unified Government is exploring an expansion of its historic Downtown district, raising from 11 to 121 the number of buildings that might be eligible for rehabilitation tax credits. The expanded district would be bordered by Seventh and 10th streets, from Nebraska Boulevard to Tauromee Avenue. If approved, more than half the buildings in the expanded district would qualify for state income tax credits—up to 25 percent of rehabilitation costs—as well as a federal tax credit of up to 20 percent of those costs.

BUCHANAN COUNTY St. Joseph Progress

Fresh off the city’s No. 15 ranking by SmartAsset for the nation’s best places to work in manufacturing, the St. Joseph Chamber has announced some of the success metrics for 2022. Among them: More than $131 million in capital investment, which helped generate 70 new jobs at an average annual salary of more than $52,000. Highlighting that was the $25 million invested by battery maker Clarios, an expansion that will bring 110 jobs when the work is complete. JACKSON COUNTY Copaken Brooks-CBC Merger CBC Real Estate Group has merged into Copaken Brooks, one of the region’s biggest names in commercial realt estate. The merger became effective Jan. 1 with Bill Crandall, CBC’s managing partner and co-founder, becoming a principal at the expanded firm, joining Keith and Jon Copaken and Bucky Brooks. NASB Dropping Mortgage Line NASB Financial will withdraw from direct-to-consumer mortgage lending by mid-March, with staff reductions of bet- ween 125 and 160. The publicly owned Grandview company said multiple factors contributed to the decision, including the spike in interest rates, sharply higher home values and the continuing barrier of low housing inventory. The bank had net in- come of $32.1 mil. for its fiscal year, a drop of 56.5 percent from $73.7 mil. in 2021. Sandwich Plant in Works The Port Authority of KC has received an application for a property-tax exemp tion of $222 million for an Iowa food company to build a 327,000-square-foot packaging and distribution center in south Kansas City. Documents filed with the city indicate that Liberty Foods would lease most of the structure in the I-49 Industrial Center. The company is one of the nation’s biggest protein processors.

Washington | House GOP Goes After IRS Expansion Moving swiftly on an agenda to undo legislation passed by Democrats in the previous session, House Republicans made one of their first moves by rescinding $72 billion for the IRS to hire new agents, despite claims by Democrats that the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year included no such provision. On a 221-210 party-line vote, the House passed a measure that directs the IRS to spend new money only on customer service and IT improvements. Republicans had claimed before the vote that the IRS would have led to tens of thousands of new hiring agents and auditors that would hound low- and middle-class Americans instead of wealthy individuals and corporations. Jefferson City | Parson Lifts Propane-Trucker Limits Gov. Mike Parson issued an executive order in December, temporarily relaxing hours of service regulations for commercial motor vehicles transport ing propane heating fuel. Current federal and state regulations limit commercial truck drivers to 11 consecutive hours behind the wheel. In the face of potential energy shortages during intense winter storms, Parson has lifted those restric tions on carriers transporting propane fuel. The order, however, does not apply to the transport of other petroleum products or fuels. Topeka | Kelly Bolsters High-Speed Connections Gov. Laura Kelly says the state has announced that $23.1 million will be awarded to six service providers that will bring high-speed broadband service to nearly 4,200 homes, businesses, schools, health care facilities, and other institutions in unserved and rural areas of Kansas. The goal is to solve the “last mile” of broadband need in targeted counties that have as few as five locations per square mile. That lack of density has prevented companies from investing resources in higher-level broadband services.

I n g r a m ’ s 7

Kansas City’s Business Media

January 2023

Putting ‘Safe’ Back into Public Safety

Kansas City’s new chief of police offers broad brush strokes on a strategy to reduce crime.

by Dennis Boone

J ust days after her appointment as Kansas City’s new chief of police—and with the clock ticking down on a year that produced 171 homicides in the city—Stacey Graves made a special appearance at Ingram’s , accompanied by executives from various law-enforcement-oriented organizations, business leaders and non-profit groups working to crack the riddle on violent crime in the city. In a nearly two-hour discussion, she laid out a broad vision for increasing the department’s engagement with residents, particularly in the handful of neighbor-hoods that account for a distressingly disproportionate share of calls for police response. Among those around the table were representatives of non-profits like KC Common Good, the police foundation, sponsors of youth-focused activities, and other interests who, like the department itself, have been grasping for solutions. It’s clear, though, that if Kansas City wants to return to a pre-2020 dynamic in terms of violent crime incidents, the city’s leadership is going to have to step up to the plate with funding to rebuild a department devastated by resignations and early retirements, in addition to normal levels of attrition. With the officer count down close to 1,100—when a fully-staffed department would have 1,350 officers or more—street officers and investigators alike are out numbered as never before in the past half-century. Graves hopes to change that by rebuilding relationships with those controlling the purse strings at City Hall, with the prosecutor’s office, and with neighborhood leaders who no longer believe an effective police response is possible in some parts of the city. She could only have been heartened then to hear of outside initiatives focused on attacking crime through the use of empirical data—information that identifies the crime hot spots and allows public and private resources to be applied in response. One example: KC360 and KC Common Good’s Darren Faulkner explaining how a laser focus on problem bus stops could produce measurable improvements in public safety. He also noted that a deeper dive into crime statistics revealed that the vast majority of violent crime in the city was, in fact, confined to a geographic area of just a few blocks. But Graves was clear on one point: Even with more funding and more officers, the Kansas City Police Department can’t solve the riddle on its own and never could. Fixing what’s ailing the streets of this city will require successful collaborations with business owners, residents, and neighborhood organizations. 1. Chief Stacey Graves said the KCPD would more actively seek collaborations with business leaders to help reduce overall crime rates. | 2. Terry Dunn, former CEO of JE Dunn Construction, is now pressing for more corporate engagement on public-safety issues through KC Common Good, which he founded. | 3. As program manager for KC Common Good and KC360, Darren Faulkner outlined a number of strategies to disrupt criminal behavior. | 4. Pete Smith said his Plaza-based law firm hasn’t seen a significant police presence, and that Plaza security itself wasn’t meeting the needs of either tenants or patrons. Other participants include: Jeff Simon, Husch Blackwell/KC Common Good; Lisa Krigston and Karl Zobrist, Dentons; Tye Grant, Police Foundation of KC; Jake Becchina, KCPD; Matt Tomasic, Police Athletic League KCK; Skip Cox, Police Athletic League KCMO; Warren Erdman, Kansas City Southern; Kelly Specht, Carl’s Cause; Dennis Boone, Ingram’s; Michelle and Joe Sweeney, Ingram’s.

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January 2023

Ingrams.com

B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S

Pointed Perspectives & Penetrating Punditry | by Jack Cashill

Class Warfare on Truman Road There’s a lot to be said for creating bike lanes in Kansas City—just not in places where they simply don’t make sense.

families, they do real physical work. They cannot quite grasp people whose “work” is done for “fun.” These drivers may not have the word “dilettante” in their working vocabulary, but I am sure they know one when they see one, and I was rapidly becoming one. After a close call or two with passing trucks, I was reminded of that old Chinese adage, “The cockroach is always wrong when arguing with chicken.” I could throw a finger until it came out of the socket or shout “a**hole” until I turned blue, but that entity lying bruised and bloodied on the side of the road was never the chicken. A tombstone inscribed “the other guy was wrong” would make me no less dead. Drivers did not

At the age of 30, I decided that each new year, I would teach myself to master some new skill. At the top of my list was riding a bicycle. Growing up in a crowded city, I never did learn. This was a secret shame that I know others share but refuse to admit. What I did not anticipate was that upon learning to ride, I would become, like many adult bicyclers, a raging narcissist and road hog. When narcissists think collectively, they can be the most fearsome lobbying bloc on the planet. If proof were needed, one need only check out the proposed new bike lanes on Truman Road. Yes, that Truman Road. Before exploring the Truman Road brouhaha and the psy chology behind it, let me suggest a training regime for those

still closeted non-riders. After about age six, it looks really, really bad to have some exas perated adult push you down a public street yelling “Attaboy!” In my case, I got hold of a mo-ped, took it to some unseen byway, and rode up and down self-propelled for about an hour before “it” came to me. I then put the mo-ped aside, hopped on a bicycle, and marveled at how I had let so simple a skill elude me for, lo, those many years.

cause my undoing, but my bum right knee eventua l ly did. Once sidelined, it rea l ly hit me how non-inclusive cycling was. As long as I was among the elect, I could think as the elect did, but once out, I had to rethink everything, starting with cyc lists in groups. Partly for self- protection but lar-

When cyclists unite and take to the road in a cluster, groupthink takes over. They quickly become individually unrecognizable, even to the mothers who suckled them.

Having learned to ride, I next mastered the etiquette of urban bicycling. To this day, I cannot control a bike with my right hand, let alone no hands, but I learned quickly to control the bicycle with just my left hand. This kept my right hand free for a better use, namely flipping the bird to anyone who dared intrude on “my space,” wherever I designated that space to be. The Advent of Moral Superiority Still in my thirties, I joined the noisy Yuppie throng demand ing special set-aside bike lanes. To prove my moral superiority, I even biked to work on a few occasions. It was then that reality began to set in. On a bicycle, you are quickly reminded of how hilly Kansas City is. On nice days, I got to work all sweaty and nasty. On days that were cold or rainy, the bike was next to useless. Worse, during rush hours, I learned, drivers are even less patient than they are on Sunday mornings. After all, no one gets docked for being late to church. Pickup truck drivers were the least obliging. I suspect it’s a class thing. To feed their

gely for self-esteem, adult bicyclers almost inevitably find their way to some bicycle club or another. When they take to the road in a cluster, groupthink takes over, and they be- come individually unrecognizable to the mothers who suckled them. A little better equipped, and I can imagine them invading Poland. This is an international pheno menon. I did not recognize the menace of it all until I lived abroad. On one occasion in Ireland, we ran smack into some improvised road rally and had to pass at least 30 clusters of belligerent bicyclers on a road barely wide enough

Jack Cashill Ingram’s Senior Editor P | 816.842.9994 E | Editorial @ Ingrams.com

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B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S

for a donkey cart. By the time we reached our destination, I needed a beer, and my wife needed counseling. Just a few years back, I was driving with a French friend in the south of France when we found ourselves stuck behind a cycling cluster utterly indif ferent to the drivers behind them. “Fascistes!” my friend shouted at the cyclists, a word whose meaning even those who don’t speak French should be able to decipher. During my cycling days, I was as sanctimonious as the next guy, smug in the knowledge that I was purifying my body and reducing pollution. Had I known then that I was also keeping polar bears afloat and preventing Martha’s Vineyard from sinking into the sea, I would have been unbearable. Self-selected to save the world from climate change, today’s cyclists make demands whose unbridled “classism” will embarrass their ancestors if they bother to have any.

So self-righteous are they in their ascending power that bicycle advocates somehow convinced the city of Kansas City to carve out seven miles of protected

On, say, Shawnee Mission Parkway or 119th Street, you won’t see busi nesses like Kansas City Screw Products, SignmanKC, Atomic Collision Shop, or Blue Valley Machine and Manufacturing. Those are pure Truman Road. People don’t bike to businesses like these. Ever. And the owners who run the businesses on that thoroughfare would just as soon keep it that way. To their credit, they have forced the City Council to rethink the project. Like J.C. Nichols, bike-lane advocates are “products of their time,” but Nichols, at least, left behind something more valuable than green pavement, busted pylons, and the occasional squashed “cockroach.”

People don’t bike to most businesses on Truman Road. Ever. And the owners who run those same businesses would just as soon keep it that way.

bike lane on Truman Road, the most blue-collar thoroughfare west of the Mississippi. If proof were needed, there is not a single Starbucks on the whole homely length of Truman.

The views expressed in this column, which is also published online in the Heartlander, are the writer’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Ingram’s Magazine. Jack Cashill , Senior Editor, Editorial @ Ingrams.com

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Ingrams.com

R E F L E C T I O N S

by Dennis Boone

At the Intersection of Business and Life

May the Expert Class Get What It Truly Deserves

Lord, save us from those who know better.

(Dial tone, as though one party has

abruptly hung up.)

A long time ago, in an entrepreneurial fantasy far, far from profit, I had this idea that I could make some pretty good English style ales and earn a few bucks selling them. That’s how the door to the wide, wide world of regulation flung open for me, with its introduction to the whims of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They’ve since grown up as a bureaucracy to add “Explosives” to the monogram, but still tend to refer to themselves as the good, old ATF. That opening led to a journey that began with lifelong membership in the party of JFK and ended mere months later on the far side of the whackiest anti-government Libertarian sensibility you can think of. Why? Well, it wasn’t the strict processes required to document safety in ingredients in production methods—hell, I wouldn’t want to go blind drinking someone’s flawed recipes, either. Nor was it a city zoning maze to run to build a microbrewery in a state where none had existed for nearly a century. It wasn’t even the dopey state regulations compelling brewers to deliver products to the market via a system of state-sanctioned middlemen, distributors who had maxxed out political contributions to every legislator. What really got to me was beer-bottle label production and

We produced a few thousand kegs before our expansion dreams collapsed with bottling equipment caught up in an Italian dock workers’ strike for six weeks. That completely skunked the most conservative cash-flow projections, and a year later, the bank came for the keys. I think of those days as my three-year MBA, learning about supply chain, just in-time delivery and shipping, marketing, cost analytics, staffing, pay, benefits and much more. Truly, I wouldn’t change a second of it, despite the personal cost. The really big take-away was an appreciation for what transpires outside the Ivory Tower of Print (I was working for a newspaper at the time). And it primed me for a life of recognizing the limitless potential of government elites to complicate our everyday lives. As with the half-gallon pitcher on the bathroom sink at home, filled and dumped—five seconds into every flush cycle—to complete a task left undone by the 1.6-gallon tank, mandated by some genius bent on saving the world’s fresh water supply. Or the LED bulbs now mandated becuase incandescent bulbs aren’t as efficient. (Gee, why not do the same with our cars, based on MPG?) Or the laws that criminalize wine-makers who suggest their product has intoxicating properties, or outlaw skateboarding at the National Institutes of Health, or prohibit hunting of doves and pigeons with machine guns (all true). And just this month, word that they’re coming after kitchen stoves fired by natural gas. So my wish for everyone in this new year is for safety, good health and prosperity—and for the vision to recognize intrusions into their lives by the Faceless Ones, along with the righteous indignation to become vocal with objections thereto. Maybe, if we holler loud enough, someone will hear us, and start addressing life’s real challenges. But I’ll bet you a pint of English ale that’ll never happen . . .

approval, which made me a temporary ward of the ATF. The agency required full-size, four color labels to be submitted, along with every keystoke of text, for review and approval. Prohibited: The use of both “ale” and “beer” on any one label, lest it “confuse” the customers you’re trying to school on those distinctions. And if any corrections were ordered, it all went to Square One with the graphic artists, producing a new set of proofs. Rinse and repeat.

To one and all: A happy New Year filled with propserity—and completely lacking in bureaucratic nonsense.

All of this before digital imaging, Photoshop or desktop printers that could make such changes in a heartbeat today. And before an Internet that could allow same-day re-submission, rather than delivery left to the tender mercies of the U.S. Postal Service. Through the fog of 30 years attempting to forget the whole exercise in capital destruction, I learned that nothing rivals a federal agency for public-sector pettiness. A quick recollection of just one of many phone calls to Area Code 202: (Phone rings) Faceless Voice: “Bureau of ATF; how may I direct your call?” Me: “Can I speak with the person in charge of label approvals?” FV: “What letter does your company start with?” Me: “Uh . . . what?” FV: “Your company name—what’s the first word?” Me: “Miracle.” FV: “Hold on . . . I’ll connect you with the person in charge of the M’s.” Me: “The M’s? That’s insane. How many people could you possibly have reviewing beer-label applications?”

Dennis Boone is the edito rial director at Ingram’s. E | DBoone @ Ingrams.com P | 816.268.6402

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January 2023

I N A N U T S H E L L

by Ken Herman

Powell’s Distinctly Hawkish Forecast

Excessive Fed optimism in 2022 helped open the door for higher inflation. It will be difficult to close. As expected, the Fed recently raised interest rates by 50 basis points (½ a percent), but there were also plenty of mostly hawkish surprises in its new forecast. A scattering of 2023 forecasts came in as expected, but there was a distinctly hawkish tilt among Powell’s comments. The takeaway regarding median interest rate projections by Federal Open Markets Committee members is 5.1 percent in 2023, 4.1 percent in 2024, and 3.1 percent for 2025, while the balance of his com- ments again favors the hawks. The Fed statement predicted modest economic growth, strong employment growth, and an unemploy ment rate that remains low. Also, “Inf lation remains elevated, ref lecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures.” Understanding Inversion

to a hard landing, others contend that it marks a bottom for the economy, followed by recovery. As a reminder, in 1980, the Carter economy was just starting a long run of recessions (for eight of 14 quarters from mid-1979 to end 1982). What history warns us is that the economy generally suffers a material slowing the year follow- ing peak yield-curve inversions, meaning that 2023 may likely prove to be a challenging year for the U.S. economy. We should not be surprised to experience a period of higher unemployment, much lower housing purchase prices, low GDP growth, and lower earnings for the S&P 500. For the record, not all yield curve inversions precede a reces- sion. History also shows that in the year following a steeply inverted

Perhaps the biggest surprise, es pecially after relatively quiet Oct- ober and November reports on the Consumer Price Index, is a much higher range of inf lation forecasts. Yes, recent inf lation news has been encouraging, but there may be a long way to go. The Fed apparently was much too optimistic through Sept ember.

yield curve, the stock market of ten begins the next leg of a secular bull mar- ket. If the past is a prologue, 2023 could be a pretty good year for stocks. There are those that argue that the bottom has arrived, and the next bull leg

An inverted yield curve historically has indicated a very difficult time for the economy in the coming months.

By now, most investors have come to understand what an “inverted” yield curve looks like and means. That’s where the 2-year Treasury Note yields are considerably higher than the 10-year Treas- ury Bond. An inverted yield curve historically has indicated a very difficult time for the economy in the coming months—for example, 13 percent inf lation in 1979, the dot-com blowup of 2000, the housing crisis of 2008, the COVID-19 impact during 2020, or the currently ag- gressive rate hikes to force a slowdown after a run of worrisome high inf lation. Recently, the yield on the 2-year T-Note stood at 4.21 percent, while the yield on the 10-year T-Bond was 3.48 percent, for a difference of 0.73 percent, or 73 basis points. This is the widest 2-10 spread since 1980. While one camp argues that such an inversion is a precursor

has just begun.

Fear sells headlines, and as we wind down 2022, tensions conti- nue running high. Investors are rattled and on edge from a year wrought with war, politics, bad government, and economic fear. Recession fears have impacted stock prices in a far worse way than the reality of a global COVID pandemic, even as COVID continues claiming human lives. That might be a sad commentary on what we hold dear.

Ken Herman served as the Managing Director of Bank of America Global Capital Markets and was the Mayor of and served on the City Council in

Glendora, Calif. E | Editorial@

Ingrams.com

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Ingrams.com

Isn’t It Time To Put Ingram’s On The Plan?

Our readers are far more affluent and influential than any other regional or national business publication’s readers Readers of Worth

Ingram’s Readers are Affluent and Influential

Loyal and Engaged Readers Typical time Ingram’s readers spend reading or referencing the area’s leading publications

95% of Ingram’s readers have a college degree. 70% work for companies that provide tuition reimbursement; 80% plan continuing ed. 81% are presidents, CEOs, owners or partners. 75% serve on two or more boards. More than 40% of Ingram’s readers are women.

95

%

$2,560,000.00 [Investment Assets] 228,750.00 [Individual Income] 285,937.00 [Household Income] 572,500.00 [Home Value] 27,000 of Ingram’s readers own a second home worth $313,000 avg.

MINUTES PER ISSUE 102.25 Ingram’s Magazine

81

%

29.6 Kansas City Business Journal

29.8 The Kansas City Star

40

%

Ingram’s readers have 40% higher investment assets than the Business Journals’ national average.

Decision Makers with Purchasing Power

Readership Rivaling ALL Regional Business Journals— Combined ! Ingram’s delivers a larger number of executive readers. By far. In fact, Ingram’s has 38.1%more readers than all the business journals in both Missouri and Kansas — Combined! And Ingram’s readers have signific- antly higher demographics. ➊ Ingram’s Magazine s 3.78% 68,353 Influential Executive Readers ➋ St. Louis Business Journal t 11.62% 21,348 ** (9,793 copies) ➌ KansasCityBusiness Journal t 7.63% 15,286 ** (7,012 copies) ➍ Wichita Business Journal t 12.28% 6,666 ** (3,058 copies) ➎ Springfield Business Journal t 2.57% 6,191 ** (2,840 copies)

Ingram’s Magazine 68,353

➋ St. Louis Business Journal All Others Business Journals Combined 49,491

95% actively read each and every edition and resource the ads in Ingram’s. 95% trust Ingram’s as a reliable source; 85% rate Ingram’s excellent or good; 78% have read Ingram’s 5 years plus. 60% recently visited an advertiser’s web site as a result of an ad in Ingram’s. 60% share and 40% re-read Ingram’s. 80% say Ingram’s ads enhance brand image. acquire business leads from Ingram’s; Before Covid our average reader was eating out 9 times a week. 85% used ads in Ingram’s to guide purchases. 85%

85 %

Ingram’s Magazine ➊

60 %

➌ Kansas City Business Journal

95 %

➎ Springfield Business Journal ➍ Wichita Business Journal

* Readership Survey conducted by Market Intellect. ** National Readership Average (2.18 readers per copy) Source: Newspaper Association of America and Statement of Ownership from above-mentioned business journals

Updated: October 2022

THE MOST POWERFUL BUSINESS LEADERS IN KANSAS CITY

CONSIDER THIS: Ingram’s 250 honorees are among the most affluent business leaders in the greater Kansas City region. Their firms have combined revenues that exceed $160 billion

• 221 companies or organizations are represented in this year’s Ingram’s 250. • 35 of these corporations have revenues in excess of $1 billion—with a total of $116.2 billion. • 65 others are among Ingram’s 100 largest Private Companies, with $26.4 billion in revenues. • The other Ingram’s 250 honorees represent firms with a combined $17.5 billion in revenues. • Some honorees are public officials with massive budgets not included in revenues above.

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