Ingram’s September 2022

Brian Sloan CEO, WACHTER

David Smith PRESIDENT/CEO, ASSOCIATED WHOLESALE GROCERS David Smith has been in the grocery sector since he was a teenager working in a family-owned business. Over the years, he worked in various retail roles, including store owner/operator. Smith spent 17 years in various wholesale positions prior to join ing AWG in 2003 as director of real estate, which was followed by several promotions over the years leading to his appointment as president and CEO, a position he assumed at the end of 2015.

All these years of helping other businesses with their operations paid off big this past year, according to Brian Sloan. “I would say our biggest achievement was, quite frankly, holding it all together during one of the most challenging years to be a leader, at least in my career,” he said. “Demand at an all-time high, supply at an all-time low, and a workforce that is demanding more than ever from their leadership! It’s been challenging but also a lot of fun!

ON TALENT: “We have developed the first accredited low-voltage apprenticeship program in the state of Arkansas. We hire young men and women right out of high school from every state in the nation and put them through a two-week boot camp before sending them to work under a journeyman-level installer for a period of two years. We have had over 60 new hires go this route this year,.” COVID PERSPECTIVE: “I think during unprecedented times like these, you just have to remain flexible, patient, and compassionate. Let adults be adults; let them work through this at their own pace. The COVID situation has been difficult in some way for every human on the planet, so forcing employees out of their comfort zone, in this case, will only cause a company more harm than good.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Downtown baseball field. 1-2 million people go to the Royals games each year. Directing that traffic to the spending center of our city is the way to go, in my opinion.”

CALLING THEM OUT: Smith went to bat for his member stores and independent grocers last year in congressional testimony that cited industry concentration among the top five grocery retailers, led by Walmart, as a primary cause of the supply-chain crisis for foodstuffs. “These retailers use their control over the market to advantage themselves at the expense of everyone else,” he said. “They dictate terms and conditions to suppliers.” ABOUT AWG: Founded in 1924 and incorporated in 1926, AWG is the nation’s oldest grocery cooperative. FINANCIAL FACT: Continued a long streak of sales growth by hitting $10.8 billion in 2021; by comparison, more than half of Walmart’s $555 billion in sales was generated by groceries. Still, that was good enough to place AWG No. 2 on the region’s list of top private companies.

Jeff Spencer SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HOLMES MURPHY

Tom Spencer SENIOR VP-BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, SE2

With roots going back to 1932 as an insurance company, Holmes Murphy is today a widely diversified business advising and provid ing services for businesses in a broad range of risk management scenarios. Jeff Spencer heads up the company’s efforts in the KC region in the world of employee benefits. He’s pleased to report that, over the past year, the company has been successful at “Retaining and acquiring talent; growing our top line and increasing profits.”

Tom Spencer’s work with SE2, building it into a powerhouse of tech tools and third-party administration services for the insurance in dustry, set the stage just this month for its evolution as Zinnia. For going on three decades, he’s worked in the financial services and insurance industry, assisting as some of the nation’s largest insur ance companies upgraded their tech tools. He helped lead it from a startup with a handful of employees, to more than 2,000 associates.

COLLEGE: University of Kansas TALENT STRATEGY: “Profit sharing, increased 401k match, allowing for somewhat flexible work schedules.” COVID PERSPECTIVE: “The pandemic challenged all aspects of our business. We have been focused on nurturing our culture through the challenges to continue to attract and retain the best talent in our industry.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Another World Series.” CHIEFS PREDICTION: “13-4. Don’t bet against Mahomes.”

COLLEGE: B.A., University of Missouri-Columbia BIG IMPACT: On average every 12 months, SE2 says it helps launch 10-15 new products and thou sands of apps, generating more than $15 billion in new premiums. BEFORE SE2: Spencer has worked with or served as consultant to some big names in the sector, including DST, GE Insurance Solutions, UnitedHealthcare and TIAA. HOBBIES: Travel, hiking, fly-fishing and golf. REGIONAL IMPACT: The company’s growth, and that of its parent, is a significant piece of the long term strategy set by economic-development officials in Topeka and Shawnee County to boost the fintech presence there. LONG REACH: Nearly two dozen client companies of SE2 administer more than 2 million insurance policies, and have more than $100 million in assets.

Brad Sprong U.S. TAX PRACTICE LEADER, KPMG

Patrick Stueve PARTNER, STUEVE SIEGEL HANSON

The leadership at KPMG grew the firm by 20 percent in a tough environment this past year, to which Brad Sprong says, “Way to go Steve Penn!” in a nod to his office’s managing partner. Sprong hopes Kansas City experiences the same. “Get large conventions back to KC,” he said. “We’ve lost many of them over the past 10 years due to transportation and hotel space, which we’ve partially solved. Also need a major company to relocate their HQ here.”

Partner in a firm specializing solely in litigation of complex commer cial cases, Stueve has been recognized by peers as one of the top commercial trial lawyers in the country. He has prosecuted claims in federal and state courts nationwide in the areas of antitrust, intel lectual property, securities fraud, and other commercial torts against some of the largest businesses in the world, as well as several na tional and statewide class actions against large global firms.

COLLEGE: B.S., Accounting, William Jewell ON RETAINING TALENT: “We instituted a hybrid work model which strongly encourages time with clients and the office, to help grow as a person technically and culturally, but allows them to work remote a couple of days a week to help with responsibilities they may now have outside of the work environment.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Sports related—Super Bowl!” CHIEFS PREDICTION: “11-6. Teams have built themselves to defend the Chiefs’ offense and score on the defense. Have the Chiefs modified their approach enough to stay ahead of other teams’ changes?”

COLLEGE: B.A., Economics, Benedictine College; J.D., University of Kansas School of Law LEGAL INNOVATOR: Stueve helped start a business litigation law firm from scratch using a unique economic model based on the results achieved for clients rather than the traditional hourly billing model that law firms have used for decades. DATA DEFENDER: The firm has established a national reputation for its class-action work in cases of major corporate data breaches. Most recently, it produced a whopping $190 million settlement over a major breach of Capital One’s records. LIVING ITS VALUES: The firm demonstrated its commitment to a more diverse legal sector last fall when it made a $1 million gift to the University of Missouri. That created a pair of matching scholar ship funds, one for black students at the law school. The other will promote studies in press freedom through MU’s journalism school.

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