Ingram's June 2026

by Dennis Boone

The Long View of Business Excellence

Nearly four decades have passed since Ingram’s first asked readers to identify the businesses, orga nizations and institutions they believed stood above the rest. In that time, the names on these pages have changed in ways that reflect the evolution of Kansas City itself. A great many of the winners from those early years have disappeared through acquisition, succes sion, changing markets or simple passage of time. Enterprises, like people, have life spans. Others have reinvented themselves repeatedly, adapting to new technologies, new competitors and entirely new ways of serving customers. And a select few have maintained a place among the region’s most respected enterprises for years—even decades. That kind of staying power is never accidental. Business excellence is often measured in quarterly results, annual growth rates or market share. But the true test is measured over longer stretches of time. It is the ability to remain relevant when industries change. To earn trust when customers have more choices than ever. To continue investing, innovating and serving when economic conditions become uncertain.

Those challenges are particularly evident today. Higher operating costs, labor pressures and changing consumer habits continue to reshape sectors across the economy. Few industries have felt those forces more directly than hospitality—especially dining and enter tainment—where businesses must balance rising costs with consumers’ expectations for value and experience. Yet many continue to thrive by doing what successful companies have always done: adapting without losing sight of what made them successful in the first place. That is the common thread connecting this year’s Best of Business winners. Whether they are first-time recipients or familiar names with long records of rec ognition, each has earned the confidence of our dis criminating readers through performance, consistency and service. Those readers have helped identify the businesses that define excellence in this region. The industries may change. The marketplace cer tainly will. But the qualities that separate the best from the rest remain remarkably constant. We invite you to join us in recognizing the organi zations that continue to set that standard not just for commerce, but for the quality of life in Kansas City.

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I ngr am ’ s

Ingrams.com

June 2026