Ingram's Magazine July 2022

Ingrams.com | July 2022

The 37th Corporate Report 100 The KC Region’s Fastest-Growing Companies

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JULY 2022 • VOLUME 48, NO. 7

Talk of the Town 7 In the News/Correspondent Business News and Legislative Updates Perspectives 4 ‘We the People ... ‘

President Ronald Reagan in his fare well address includes wisdom every American should embrace. by Joe Sweeney

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9 Between the Lines

When it comes to municipal services, “free” usually means they’re worth

every penny. by Jack Cashill 11 Reflections

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Features 5 Truer Words . . .

College athletics is having another coniption fit, but this one could work to Kansas City’s advantage. by Dennis Boone

Ronald Reagan’s farewell address to the nation more than 30 years ago carries a special significance as we head into a new election season.

Special Reports 21 Corporate Report 100

12 In a Nutshell

Is this a Bear Market rally? Uncertainty continues to hamper the markets. by Ken Herman

15 Filling the VC Void

For a 37th year, dating to its debut by Corporate Report magazine, this list of the region’s 100 fastest-grow ing companies has been a staple of business information for the greater Kansas City region. It’s all about the companies headquartered here that are demonstrating exceptional growth.

Business & Commerce 47 Of Counsel Sarbanes-Oxley at 20:

Access to venture capital, the bane of entrepreneurs everywhere, is especially painful in the Kansas City region. How does that get fixed? By Dennis Boone

What it has meant for business. by William Quick and Toni Ruo

19 The CR100 at 37

53 Wealth Management

This region’s fastest-growing companies reflect an economy where some winners are winning big.

A strategic succession plan should be a top priority for business owners. by Colleen Hayes

21 The 2022 CR100

Meet the region’s 100 fastest-growing enterprises, reflecting business sectors that are setting standards for rapid growth. Among them this year: Banks, construction companies, residential realty agencies and more.

48 Q&A With . . . Jeff Auslander

Dynamic Logistix’s CEO takes the measure of rapid growth. 50 Uncharted Waters

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Banking executives in the Kansas City region cite a litany of problems that could drive interest rates higher, and offer some insights that can help potential commercial clients.

cover photo by Matt Kocourek

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Critical Questions Confront Voters

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E

by Joe Sweeney

Once Again, It’s About Leadership. And Character.

Well, another election season is on our doorstep. It’s this time of the election cycle when politics becomes a bit personal for me. My Dad was an elected official—the last elected Jackson County Assessor, back in 1968. Though an effective team player, Dad’s party feared him a bit because he saw the Jackson Countians who elected him as his top priority. The late Jim Nutter, a big wheel among Democrats, attem pted—without success—to suggest otherwise. He told Dad that, no, the assessor’s office couldn’t bring a lawyer of its own onto his staff. Dad simply told him to talk to his attorney about it. I was raised a Democrat, but, as Ronald Reagan would fam- ously declare, “I didn’t leave the party; the party left me.” Reagan had me at “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!” (June 12, 1987). Michelle and I were inMunich shortly after—the tension was notice ably thick in eastern Germany but appreciation for America was high. Those words, like so much about Reagan’s world view, were grounded in American principles of democracy, patriotism and the belief that public officials served the people first. Not many of them operated in that mode back then; fewer still today. One who did was Jack Danforth, the former senator from Missouri. I’m glad to see him standing up independently in recent election commercials in support of Missouri Stands United. The ideology is superior, though I have a hard time believing it will catch on any time soon. It appears modern progressivism—don’t call it liberal, because it’s anything but—is running rampant. We must get back to the basics and instist that every school-age student learn the Constitution. And maybe mandate that each elected official be trained in a neutral program about the virtues of the Constitution and their oath to the commonwealth. Somewhere along the line, the majority of politicians become part of an exclusive club working on behalf of their party’s interest—and usually, their own. I can’t think of many who shouldn’t immediately be replaced. In a matter of days, voters across the nation will render judgment on members of the U.S. House, roughly one-third of the U.S. Senate, the performance of state legislatures and governors, and more. Missouri and Kansas will be among the states voting in primary elections on Aug. 2, and again in the general elections in November. From what we’ve seen in early voting in other states, “judgment” might be the wrong word to describe voters’ motives this time around. “Punishment” might seemmore appropriate. And fitting. We hear a lot about a red tidal wave coming in November, one that will sweep Republicans into control of the legislative branch in Washington. I’m not so certain, given the way House seats have been configured to keep incumbents coming back to the trough every two years. The House might see a big shift to the GOP, but it might also be a narrow split in favor of Republicans this time around. The Senate, too, is a reflection of a Red State/Blue State America, and from what we’ve seen over the past generation, we can probably count on something closer to a 50-50 division again there, as well. Certainly not a 60-40 national mandate for change. In an America this sharpy divided politically, that’s to be expected. But I’m left to wonder. Why is so hard to see a way out of this?

The root causes of so many of the current conditions, the one that have many small businesses struggling, most investors deeply discouraged and many families absolutely crushed financially, can be traced in a direct line to decisions by the elites who believe they know better than everyone else. That’s not an entirely political statement: Bipartisanship, or what passes for it, has given us a $30 trillion bill that will be coming due for younger genera tions of Americans. The leadership of both parties bears the full responsibility for that. Neither party is the voice of fiscal responsibility, and that’s been the case going back 20 years or more, to the last time we actually had a balanced federal budget. Can this all be fixed? I’m talking about the inflation, the price of energy, the mis guided foreign policy that has not just the U.S., but our friends in Europe, dreading what’s to come. Well, if history is a guide, yes. Yes, it can. But you have to take off the political blinders and look at what worked more than 40 years ago, when Americans were being scourged with the same economic and policy lash. Unfortunately, too many working-age Americans today weren’t even alive when that happened. I’m reminded of all this after a good friend recently sent me a clip of President Ronald Reagan’s farewell address in 1989. On the opposite page, we’ve excerpted a key passage from that (but Google and read the whole speech). Were this not America, I’d say the situ ation is nearly hopeless. History, though, and President Reagan’s example teach us that hope—with a generous application of sheer will—can change the direction of a ship so badly off-course. It’s my hope that as voters head to the polls, they’ll set aside some of the petty divisions that have been stoked over recent years, and focus on bringing to office people who have, as President Reagan said, “great ideas” to pursue. Responding to Reagan’s farewell address (and especially the final three para graphs on the opposite page), one person in that email chain asked one very important question: Who will lead?

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

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We The People

Excerpts from Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address to the nation, Jan. 11, 1989:

Back in 1980, when I was running for president, it was all so different. Some pundits said our programs would result in catastrophe. Our views on foreign affairs would cause war. Our plans for the economy would cause inflation to soar and bring about economic collapse. I even remember one highly respected economist saying, back in 1982, that “The engines of economic growth have shut down here, and they’re likely to stay that way for years to come.’’ Well, he and the other opinion leaders were wrong. The fact is, what they called “radical’’ was really “right.’’ What they called “dan gerous’’ was just “desperately needed.’’ And in all of that time I won a nick name, “The Great Communicator.’’ But I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn’t a great com municator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation—from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries. They called it the Reagan Revolution. Well, I’ll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense. Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the peo ple’s tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. We’re exporting more than ever because American indus try became more competitive and at the same time, we summoned the national will to knock down protectionist walls abroad instead of erecting them at home. Common sense also told us that to

preserve the peace, we’d have to become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. So, we rebuilt our defenses, and this New Year we toasted the new peacefulness around the globe. Not only have the superpowers actually begun to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons—and hope for even more progress is bright—but the regional conflicts that rack the globe are also beginning to cease. The Persian Gulf is no longer a war zone. The Soviets are leaving Afghanistan. The Vietnamese are preparing to pull out of Cambodia, and an American-mediated accord will soon send 50,000 Cuban troops home from Angola. The lesson of all this was, of course, that because we’re a great nation, our challenges seem complex. It will always be this way. But as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours. And something else we learned: Once you begin a great movement, there’s no telling where it will end. We meant to change a nation, and instead, we changed a world. Countries across the globe are turning to free markets and free speech and turning away from the ideologies of the past. For them, the great rediscovery of the 1980s has been that, lo and behold, the moral way of government is the practical way of government: Democracy, the profoundly good, is also the profoundly productive.

… Ours was the f irst revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: “We the People.’’ “We the People’’ tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us. “We the People’’ are the driver; the gov ernment is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which “We the People’’ tell the government what it is allowed to do. “We the People’’ are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I’ve tried to do these past eight years. But back in the 1960s, when I began, it seemed to me that we’d begun reversing the order of things—that through more and more rules and regulations and conf iscatory taxes, the government was taking more of our money, more of our options, and more of our freedom. I went into politics in part to put up my hand and say, “Stop.’’ I was a citizen politician, and it seemed the right thing for a citizen to do. I think we have stopped a lot of what needed stopping. And I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not f ree unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and ef fect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.

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

Kathy chose the leader in heart care to save her life.

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You Deserve A Leader.

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Ingrams.com MISSOURI’S AND KANSAS’ DIGITAL BUSINESS MEDIA The entire contents of this publication are copyrighted © 2022 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.

J. Christopher Perryman, 1950-2022 We at Ingram’s would like to recognize and honor our long-time friend and one of our cherished Top Doctor honorees. Dr. Chris Perryman, who died July 7, had served as principal partner of Saint Luke’s Internal Medicine since its founding in 1992, and also in later years as Chief Medical Officer for Saint Luke’s Health System. Dr. Perryman was recognized as one of Ingram’s Top Doctors in 2001, one of our earliest classes. Not only was he an absolute titan within KC’s medical community, Chris was a gentleman, a cha racter with character and he was a great friend of our family at Ingram’s. He will be greatly missed.

1950-2022

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I N T H E N E W S

Tidbits of Business News from Around the Region

MISSOURI BUCHANAN COUNTY UMKC-St. Joseph Growth

KANSAS DOUGLAS COUNTY

PLATTE COUNTY KCI Land Eyed for Solar

A Kansas City feasibility study suggests that a solar array built on 3,100 acres near Kansas City International Airport could yield 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 70,000 typical homes, average size homes. That would be one of the largest solar projects in the country. The study calls for multiple phases of construction, with an initial installation of solar panels on 136 acres. Next up in the process, the city will issue a request for proposals to seek a private-sector partner for construction.

Lawrence Annexes for Growth The Lawrence City Commission has approved annexation of roughly 60 acres of land on the northwest corner of the city, setting the stage for a residential construction project that could add 200 homes and room for a new school. Plan 2040, the city’s comprehensive vision for managing growth, identified that area as an annexation target. $10 Million Gift for LMH A Lawrence man has pledged $10 million—half now, half due within several

Armed with a fresh tranche of federal funding—$15.5 million to help improve rural health care—the University of Missouri-Kansas City is moving ahead with plans to expand the St. Joseph campus, which is halfway to its enrollment goal of 80 students since it opened in 2020. UMKC is working in tandem with Mosaic Life Care to produce healthcare professionals who will work in under-served rural areas of the state. JACKSON COUNTY $100MM Health Building Set The University of Missouri-Kansas City has unveiled plans for a $100 million health sciences building in its Downtown health sciences district, a project that will add teaching facilities for the schools of medicine and dentistry. It will also house the Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center and the Biomedical Engineering program, and will allow the district to improve access to care in the urban core, as well as sparking development to turn the campus into a regional draw. Officials say it will prompt entrepreneurship and economic growth across the region. The State Fair Community College Foundation has received a $100,000 donation from Alro Steel in its capital campaign for the new Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center, which opened in June on the Sedalia campus. The center is tasked with expanding SFCC’s capacity to meet the growing demand for technical work-force training and strengthen the communities it serves. Alro Steel distributes metals, industrial supplies, and engineering plastics to more than 50,000 customers in North America. PETTIS COUNTY Alro Steel Steps Up

Correspondent News Updates from the Capital cities Washington | Private-Sector Employment Rebound The Labor Department’s most recent employment report showed the economy created 372,000 jobs last month, with the private sector adding 381,000, and propelling the nation past its pre-pandemic employment private-sector jobs. Those additions now have the work force at 140,000 jobs above the totals from February 2020. All of that growth has come on the private side, as the loss of 599,000 local and state government jobs still has overall employment below pre pandemic levels. Jefferson City | Parson, Chamber Team Up on Crime The Missouri Chamber of Commerce brought a special guest to Kansas City earlier this month as Gov. Mike Parson joined chamber CEO Dan Mehan and other public-safety officials to unveil a multi-disciplined approach to crime reduction in the Show-Me State, with a special emphasis on reducing numbers of repeat offenders through job training and assistance with mental health and sub stance abuse. It was one of two stops on their tour, the other being in St. Louis to take the wraps off of the Chamber’s Safer Missouri, Stronger Missouri strategy. It’s hailed as a business-led, statewide approach to reducing crime in a state where the three largest metro areas–Springfield is the third–consistently rank in among the nation’s Top 15 for per-capita violent crime. Topeka | Kansas Ends Fiscal Year Up Big With June tax receipts of $918.8 million, Kansas wrapped up its 2022 fiscal year $438.1 million over its projections, based on total tax revenues of $9.8 billion. Gov. Laura Kelly hailed the fiscal performance as further evidence that “our state’s economy is continuing its forward momentum. Our efforts to be the most fiscally responsible and pro-business administration in Kansas history has helped our state become a hub for economic growth.” Though individual income tax collections for June were nearly 10 percent below estimates, at $40.3 million, the state would have exceeded those estimate by 6.7 percent if not for a one-time, unusually large refund. Corporate income tax collections beat estimates by $148.1 million—48.1 percent overall, and nearly a third more than collected in June 2021.

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I N T H E N E W S

Tidbits of Business News from Around the Region

PCIA Adds $1 Billion AUM Prime Capital Investment Advisors, already one of the region’s biggest wealth management firms, is getting bigger, thanks to a pair of acquisitions that, combined, will add more than $1 billion in assets under management. The larger of those is the $600 million AUM from Gulf-coast-based Burns Estate Planning and Wealth Advisors; San Antonio-based Crossvault Capital Management accounted for an additional $440 million in AUM. Lenexa a ‘Go’ for Advent The Lenexa City Council has signed off on AdventHealth’s plans for an 11-building campus near the Lenexa City Center development project. The measure authorizes construc tion on a 25-acre site, including a hospital of more than 230,000 square feet and a new medical office building. Plans also call for a pair of parking facilities that will accommo date more than 500 staff and patient vehicles. The buildout, over five phases, is slated to be completed in 2031. It comes on the heels of AdventHealth’s October opening of a $150 million expansion at theBluHawk project near 167th and Antioch in Overland Park.

years—to help the LMH Health Found ation address strategic needs and create an endowed fund for future goals. The gift from Dana Anderson, who made his fortune developing shopping malls, is the largest of its kind in the 101-year history of Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the 52-year-old foundation. Labor Crunch Hits City Hall Further evidence that the nation’s tight labor market is squeezing the public sector as much as it is for private compa nies, officials in Lawrence says the city has roughly 85 current positions open. While that’s down from 100 positions vacant earlier this year, officials say they are seeing resignations submitted at a higher rate than normal, complicating efforts to staff positions for city services, including administration, parks functions, planning, finance and public safety.

vehicle-battery production plant, DeSoto is easing zoning restrictions in the hopes of luring projects of similar scope. Changes in zoning requirements will allow certain high-tech industries to secure city approval for new plants and approvals for new factories in DeSoto. The City Council eliminated a two-phase process to autho rize new plant construction for companies producing electronics, computer products or vehicle batteries on land previously zoned for use as light or heavy industrial. Mega-Apartments in Works A Minneapolis development company has submitted plans to build a 446-unit multifamily on part of a 17-acre site at 135th and Antioch Road in Overland Park. The bulk of that site would be dedicated to apartments, with slightly more than four acres for commercial sites. Among the residential options would be 202 two bedrooms units, 196 single-bedroom units and several dozen with three or more bedrooms. The site also would feature a swimming pool, clubhouse and spa, as well as a dog park, space for grilling and a fire pit.

JOHNSON COUNTY DeSoto Eases Restrictions

As it attempts to land a $4 billion trophy fish in the form of a 4,000-job

R E A D E R S ’ L E T T E R S

A Call to Greatness

Goal!

I just finished reading Joe Sweeney’s excellent article while eating lunch here at the KU Cancer Center. I share in many of the fun and exciting memories of KC and appreciated Sweeney’s “what if” com ments that a few leaders considered in the late 60s and early 70s that led to who we are today. His article reminded me of a time when Bob Dunn and I attended a Wizards game and we sat directly in front of Lamar Hunt. Bob and I talked about how boring the game was because it ended with a score of 1 to 0. Little did we know what Lamar was thinking and his vision for the “what if” for Kansas City way back then. Jeff Wright Vice President of Cancer Services The University of Kansas Health System

I just wanted to reach out and say that I very much enjoyed Joe Sweeney’s Editor’s Note regarding the World Cup [“World Cup Kansas City,” Ingram’s , June 2022]. I fully agree with everything Swee ney said and think we need more of this positive “what if” thinking in our city. This is a once in a generation opportunity that we can’t let slide by. Thanks again for being such a great ambassador for our city.

improvements that were conceived and built in the late 60s and early 70s is stun ning. The article sheds light on an oth erwise complacent city that has watched comparable cities in that era like Dallas and Denver flourish while then much smaller cities like Des Moines and Omaha have grown to compete with KC. Vision, leadership and bold thinking and action is paramount when a unique opportunity such as theWorld Cup avails. Time will tell if city, county and state leaders sleep thro ugh this rare and tremendous opportunity.

Jeff Stingley Executive Vice President CBRE, Kansas City

John Stevens

Have something to say about what you’ve read in Ingram’s? E-mail your comments to Editoria l@ Ingrams.com. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Ingram’s lead feature in the June is sue about the World Cup being hosted in KC was revealing and forward thinking. The list of so many public and private

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

Pointed Perspectives & Penetrating Punditry | by Jack Cashill

When Things Are Free, You Get What You Pay For

Kansas City’s effort to get its hands on the KCATA cookie jar was sadly predictable. Reading about the chaos at KCATA—Kansas City Area Transportation Authority—I am reminded of my own brief career as a public servant. Having fallen through a wormhole some years back, I woke to discover myself the director of man agement at the Housing Authority of Kansas City. Despite the fall, I retained my belief, unpopular in govern mental circles, that the public servant’s first obligation is to the people who pay the bills. In public housing, that wasn’t the tenants. That was the taxpayer. True story: I once attended a tenants’ meeting at the notori ous high-rise housing project, the late and unlamented Wayne Miner. The tenants were threatening a rent strike. I told them to go ahead. They had no leverage, and I explained why. The average tenant did not pay rent. At all. The rent was calculated on a sliding scale based on income and various deductions. When the utility allowance was factored in, the

Perversely, the absence of riders proved to be something of a windfall for the KCATA. The federal government dispatched millions of free COVID dollars its way, so much so that its brass did not know what to do with the excess. One thing they could not do with any success was hire new bus drivers. As it happens, the feds had also sent billions of free dollars to people who might otherwise have become bus drivers. Given a choice between planting one’s butt behind the wheel of a bus all day or planting it in a La-Z Boy watching Netflix, many opted for the La-Z-Boy. It was easier to change channels than change routes. Plus, fighting your kids for the remote was generally safer than

authority actually paid at least half the renters to live at Wayne Miner. The housing authority, I continued, would actually come out ahead had the tenants persisted with a strike. These meetings went better than you might imagine. Many of the tenants, includ ing the leaders, welcomed the idea of being spoken to as thinking adults. In fact, my taxpayer-oriented management style played better with the tenants than it did with the authority’s board, especially its soon-to-be incarcerated chair. As the reader might suspect, I was not long for that world. The problem at the KCATA is that no one seems to be paying for anything. In

f i g h t i n g s ome psycho for your life. Al l that f ree COV ID mone y sitting idle at the KCATA pr ov e d too much of a temptation for City Ha l l . The same City Council that voted to make bus riding free, voted 11-1 to install new energy-efficient street lights. The

In a metro where 92 percent of the people take cars to work, getting people on any kind of public transit, rail included, was never going to be easy.

December 2019—mind you, this is before words like “COVID” and “pandemic” had entered the lexicon—the City Council voted unanimously to make riding free on all transit. The reason for free fares, said Mayor Quinton Lucas at the time, was to “build up a culture of bus riding.” The real reason for the free fares went unspoken. The light rail system was headed to the Country Club Plaza and beyond. Mayor Q knew it would look downright racist and undeniably classist if the white woke could ride their precious light rail for free while real, live, working people subsidized their whimsy by paying bus fare. In a metro where 92 percent of the people take cars to work, getting people on any kind of public transit wasn’t going to be easy. Getting people enthused about public transit after COVID struck was harder still. Now every bus ride held the promise of being a super spreader event.

fact that the city had set aside no money to do this proved only a temporary inconvenience. When city leaders saw the necessary $20 million or so in the KCATA piggy bank, they went looking for the nearest hammer. Shocked by their brazenness, Robbie Makinen, KCATA”S longtime CEO and president, called in a 10-17, piggy bank heist in progress, to the Federal Transit Administration, but the staff was apparently on a donut run. He tried the State of Missouri, but he couldn’t get a hearing. Like a pipsqueak little brother, he had to just sit and watch as his big brother at

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

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City Hall took what he wanted. Having sacrificed his only revenue stream, bus fares, and now almost fully dependent on the city’s largesse for KCATA’s very existence, Makinen had no more leverage with the city than the residents of Wayne Miner had with the housing authority. Eventually, Makinen signed a “coop erative agreement” with Kansas City that reads like the letter the Ramseys found when Jon Benet went missing. Pay Kansas City $22.5 million for the street-lighting project over the next two years. Throw in $6 million to help extend the streetcar to the riverfront and add another $4 million for a Grand Boulevard bike and pedestrian bridge, and we’ll let your child live—that child being the KCATA. The smart money has Makinen pounding the pavement by the time this article appears in print. The real reason for his departure will be that he

embarrassed City Hall, but the given reason will be the poor performance of the KCATA. What’s left of the local newspaper has been working this angle for some time. In a recent article, The Star interviewed scores of disgruntled passengers who Free bus service? Sorry, but no one deserves “free” anything. That thinking means we have become a metro of grifters. complained of too few buses and too much unpredictability. Said the newspaper in a separate editorial, “Kansas Citians deserve public bus transit that is safe, reliable, convenient,

comfortable—and free.”

Sorry, comrades, but no one “des erves” free anything. Bus riders who don’t pay “deserve” good service no more than KCATA “deserves” its COVID money, no more than City Hall “deserves” KCATA’s money. In strip ping public service of its funding logic, we have become a metro of grifters. On a final note, harkening back to those public-service days of my past, the cable companies needed my per- mission to install cable in the public housing projects. I asked their rep how they could collect cable fees from people who don’t pay rent. “Simple,” he said. “We cut off their cable until they do pay.” People liked their cable enough to pay for it.

The views expressed in this column 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

Conference Calls: Here We Go Again . . .

Even with no Division I college football program of its own, Kansas City has much at stake as college athletics realign—again. For nearly 90 years after their 2007 alliance, an association of collegiate athletic programs known as the Big 8 Conference called Kansas City their home. In February 1994, following the implosion of the old Southwest Athletic Conference, the Big 8 generously opened its southern border to four Texas refugees of the SWAC: Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor. And, as they say, no good deed . . . In a sign of what was to come regarding the way college athletics defines gratitude and favors the haves over the have-nots, members of the newly formed Big XII called for a vote on where the conference headquarters should be. Almost predictably, the Texans—abetted by Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Colorado—stuck it to the member schools who had graciously taken them in. A lot of pom pons have been shaken by the seismic forces of Mind you, Kansas City lost its claim to the conference headquarters on a 7-5 vote. For those of you keeping score, that makes three schools—Texas, Colorado and A&M—who were among the majority in that block, but are no longer part of the conference. Thanks, guys. About the only gratification we might find in that vote’s outcome is that neither Colorado nor A&M (save for a couple of blips on the radar, courtesy of Johnny Manzeil) have done much to burnish their credentials as national football powers since deserting the Big XII. One might hope, fervidly, that the same fate awaits Texas and Oklahoma in a vastly stronger SEC. Working past that dose of lingering bitterness, perhaps we should look at the college athletics landscape today as another opportunity for the Kansas City area to reclaim some lost stature. Consider that the current realignment mania touched off last month with the ridiculous notion that Southern Cal and UCLA have deemed the Big Ten their best home going forward. Thus, we have the nation’s first nationwide super-conference, running from the beaches of the Pacific to the Atlantic dunes near Rutgers in New Jersey. The California schools’ desertions instantly touched off speculation that the Big XII—still working to digest its latest expansion with Cincinnati, South Florida, Houston and BYU by 2025—might make a play for some of those rowing the Pac-12 lifeboats. college athletics in the years since. In 2010, Nebraska left for the Big Ten. A year later, Missouri and Colorado jumped in different directions— Mizzou to the Southeastern Conference; Colorado to the Pac-12. Texas A&M, tired of playing second string to the Longhorns in their home state, later bolted to the SEC. And, last year, Texas and Oklahoma decided to follow suit.

If that happens, we get a second nationwide conference, perhaps including the two Arizona schools, Oregon and Washington, as well as Utah and—if one can believe the sense of irony—Colorado, again. The downside? Early talk of a 16-team Big XII hints of leaving out in the cold three programs that had long been key figures in the old Big 8—KU, K-State and Iowa State—as well as relative newcomer West Virginia, once the music stops playing and 20 candidate programs discover that the room is short four chairs. That’s the same kind of talk we heard before about conference reshuffling, and the local schools have weathered that speculation; there’s not a lot of credibility to the thought that newcomers from the desert or the Pacific Northwest will displace the heartland programs. Back to that potential upside. Get a map of the country and draw one line from Seattle to Orlando, then another from Tucson to Morgantown, W.Va., the most distant compass points for such a super conference. The city closest to where those lines intersect? Well, yes, a wisenheimer might note that it’s somewhere in the Flint Hills, perhaps Cassoday or Matfield Green. But as headquarters-level cities go, Kansas City marks the spot. That centrality could yield a heck of an opportunity to extend this city’s long dominance as host of the Big 8 and Big XII basketball tournaments (and, occasionally, the Big XII football title game). And perhaps ease some of the wounded pride inflicted by the Texas newcomers in 1994 then, three years later, the loss of the NCAA’s headquarters to Indianapolis. As the roulette wheel of conference realignment continues to spin, methinks this is a great time to make civic plans for wining and dining university presidents and athletic directors from half a dozen schools. We need to sell them on all the reasons why their next conference headquarters should have a Kansas City-area ZIP code. I just hope that excess consumption of sushi hasn’t dulled their palates to the wonder that is barbecue . . .

Centrality might once again yield a heck of an opportunity to extend this city’s long ties to collegiate athletics.

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

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Kansas City’s Business Media

July 2022

I N A N U T S H E L L

by Ken Herman

Is This a Bear Market Rally? Uncertainty Continues ...

With signs of a recession looming and the ongoing threat of inflation, the markets still have some sorting-out to do. Investors are proceeding into the second half of 2022 with caution after the capital markets realized their worst first six months in decades, The S&P 500 has plunged 21 percent since January, losing more than $9 trillion in market capitalization and suffering its worst first half of a year since 1970. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones fell 16 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Heading into the second half of the year, many are

A troublesome energy crisis is escalating not only in the United States but also across the globe, as myriad factors continue to impact flows, output, supply, and produc- tion. The latest warning bell went off recently as Germany announ- ced it would move to the so-called “alert stage” of its emergency gas plan, seeing a high risk of long-term gas supply shortages. The crunch has been exacerbated by sanctions and Russia’s Vladimir Putin turning off the taps. Obviously, our cur-

worried that central bank actions could push the global economy into a downward spiral. The latest reading from the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker is now in negative territory, predicting Q2 real GDP growth of -1.0 percent as of June 30. If that print comes to fruition, it would mark two straight quarters of negative real GDP growth (-1.6% in Q1), meeting the technical defin ition of a recession.

rent administration’s war on American fos- sil fuels has primarily been to blame for shortages and high fuel costs in the U.S.

Earnings season, which kicks off later this month, could present the next trading risk for investors.

A Failed Strategy

The big unanswered question is: will this market volatility continue? Earnings season, which kicks off later this month, could present the next trading risk, though you never know when buy-the-dip institu- tional managers and retail investors will step in and gain control of the markets. False Optimism? Investor hopes were raised by economic data that included new home sales that were better than expected for May and a slight improvement in inflation expecta- tions from the latest University of Michigan survey (potentially reducing the urgency for steeper interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve). The best measure of America’s recent loss of hope may have been the university’s consumer sentiment index, whose preliminary estimate for June plunged to a record low of 50.2, down from 58.4 in May. Within this Michigan index, its “current economic conditions” reading plunged to 55.4 (down from 63.3 in May), and the “consumer expectations” index fell to 46.8 (down from 55.2 in May). Some possible good news (from all this bad news) is that contrarian theory says that when sentiment reaches such historic lows, the only way it can go is up. Capitulation usually comes when sentiment is lowest. That could mean that the current record-low consumer confidence may be a positive indicator.

President Biden’s recent four-point plan to lower prices at the pump (including a

federal gas tax holiday) is not likely to provide any significant relief. After all, saving 18 cents per gallon is not much when a 10-gallon gas purchase creates only $1.80 in sav ings from today’s record-high prices. Even though his actions are largely to blame for fuel shortages and record-high prices, Biden is be coming increasingly frustrated with the rising gasoline prices at the pump. Recently Joe sent a letter to seven major oil companies, calling for “im mediate actions” to supply more fuel, saying that his administration was prepared to use “all reasonable and appropriate” tools to help boost the fuel supply. Hey Joe, here is our suggestion: Open up our country again for dril ling and exploration. It also would help to complete the Keystone Pipeline!

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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July 2022

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by Dennis Boone

In the center of the nation’s food chain, animal health offers uncountable opportunities. So what’s holding back investment?

Where Are the Angels? Entrepreneurs and policymakers say the bistate region has to find a way to reach the minds—and wallets—of a broader venture-capital ecosystem.

If you could put a face on the challenges the Kansas City region confronts in attracting start-up cap ital—especially in the life-sciences realm—it would look a lot like … the muzzle of a cow. That’s an image Shekhar Gupta has been pondering throughout the vi sioning, early-stage funding and com mercialization of MyAnIML, a rather unconventional but entirely innovative approach to identifying and controlling diseases in cattle, even before symp toms have shown up. And a lot is riding on the technology he’s developed. “Various diseases throughout the year costs the bovine industry over

$200 billion annually in treatment cost, revenue loss, and deaths,” he says. When you consider the added cost of treatment for animals in the beef and dairy industry, “that cuts the profit very quickly.” The problem Gupta has run into is that, because he was conducting the research on his own, without the imprimatur of an established universi ty-level research program or a well-fi nanced corporate lab, is that it’s harder to catch the ear of potential investor, even when the prospect of a big exit wafts in from the feedlot. “So I took it on myself, looked at various parts of the animal’s body to

see what part could provide advance notification of sickness,” Gupta says. “The muzzle is unique, like a human fingerprint. No two are the same. And what I found was that muzzle changes before a cow becomes symptomatic.” The average investor in artificial in telligence, he said, “just wasn’t getting it. “I had to go to investors through ag tech, had to deliver proof of concept, then started getting interest in funding.” His is not a one-off example of the barriers facing entrepreneurs, says Maria Flynn. She’s the former CEO of Orbis Bio sciences, a small biotech firm where she was part of the entrepreneurial

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July 2022