Ingram’s September 2022

Pete Smith CHAIRMAN, MCDOWELL RICE SMITH & BUCHANAN Pete Smith often concedes that he’s not the smartest lawyer in the world—but he’s not about to be outworked by his opponent. That recipe for success, applied dispassionately and relentlessly for half a century, has made him one of the region’s go-to busi ness litigators. To say he specializes in business law would be to grossly understate his skills: He also is an entrepreneur who founded the legal-services company that became Epiq Systems.

Anne St. Peter CO-FOUNDER, GLOBAL PRAIRIE

Global Prairie is a 100 percent employee-owned Certified Benefit Corporation (B Corp), Anne St. Peter proudly declares. “Our lead ership team helped drive the growth of our ESOP stock by 203.6 percent last year, and our ranking among more than 5,600 B Corpo rations worldwide is in the top 1 percent.” Can that be replicated? “My dream is that one day Kansas City will be known around the world as a mecca for purpose-driven businesses.”

COLLEGE: B.S., Accounting, University of Kansas; J.D., UMKC School of Law RECESSION OUTLOOK: “Somewhat likely. I have been dealing in insolvency law for 50 years. A common thread in insolvencies that lead to recession is high-interest rates. The economy does not work with high rates.” DOWNTURN IMPACT: “We represent debtors in Chapter 11 cases. Economic downturns result in us being very busy.” CHALLENGES AHEAD: “Supply chain … followed closely by high-interest rates and high labor costs.” CHIEFS PREDICTION: “All wins except two losses because Mahomes will be out to show them.” STILL RIDING: Smith is an avid motorcyclist logging in excess of 350,000 miles. This August Smith completed his 33rd consecutive 750 mile same-day ride to Sturgis, S.D. He’s either outlived or outlasted other riders but always welcomes an endurance wingman to ride—and attempt to keep up.

COLLEGE: B.A., Political Science, Wellesley College ON TALENT: “We look for entrepreneurial, optimistic leaders who believe business should be a force for good in the world, have an owner’s mindset, and who not only want to do purposeful work for our clients but also want to be engaged in their communities. Once hired, we are intentional about retaining our talent by providing ownership in Global Prairie, best-in-class benefits, and a supportive, growth-oriented culture with opportunities to learn and lead.” COVID PERSPECTIVE: “Over the last 2.5 years, our Global Prairie team switched to a hybrid work model in our nine offices in the US and Europe, increased our DE&I efforts, purchased carbon offsets to neutralize our environmental footprint, improved our data security, and increased our charitable

giving to communities in need during these challenging times.” CHIEFS’ PREDICTION?: “17-0, because they’re simply the best.”

Robert Steer CEO, SEABOARD CORP.

Philip Straub EVP/MANAGING DIRECTOR-AVIATION, GARMIN

The Merriam headquarters is unimposing from the outside, but Seaboard Corp. is the hub of a diversified organization with more than 13,000 people worldwide and net sales over $7 billion annually as the Kansas City region’s largest public company. The first non-family CEO since Otto Bresky founded the company in 1918, Robert Steer has been with Seaboard nearly 40 years.

Those movies where a plane’s pilot falls unconscious? If that ever happens to you in real life, hope that you’re sitting next to Philip Straub—he holds an airline transport pilot certificate for multi-engine planes, and he’s a certified flight instructor with single-engine, multi-engine, and instrument privileges. For more than a decade, he’s used those skills to help Garmin develop its line of aviation-sector products.

COLLEGE: Kansas State University DIVERSE WITHIN AG: Seaboard has interests in pork and poultry production, processing, cargo shipping, commodity merchandising and flour and feed milling. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: Seaboard plans to spend more than $300 million over several years to capture methane emissions from a portion of its hog production facilities. It is investing $180 million to construct three container ships capable of operating on natural gas. DEDICATED WORK FORCE: In Seaboard’s 2021 annual report, Steer wrote, “It has become in creasingly difficult to find the people we need to fully staff our facilities. This means that in many cases we have had to ask more of the people we do have. I am incredibly proud of the dedication I have seen time and time again from Seaboard’s employees.”

COLLEGE: B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Missouri-Columbia EARLY HIRE: Garmin wasn’t far removed from a small startup—just four years—when Straub climbed on board in 1993. Over the years, he’s served, helped, and led the development of aviation products, software, and certification flight testing. BIG JOB: For a company with just shy of $5 billion in 2021 revenue, Straub plays an outsized role. He was the first person to hold the aviation manager’s duties when the job was created. And he oversees all global aviation business activities—from engineering, marketing, and sales to flight operations and aviation customer support. In 2017, the company elevated him to his current role. Before joining Garmin, Straub was a pilot and flight instructor at Executive Beechcraft and Baker’s Aircraft Center. BIG THING: The company’s recent advances in aviation tech include an autonomous landing system for small planes when the pilot is incapacitated. That Autonomi advance is winning awards around the world.

Erin Stucky PRESIDENT/CEO, BLUE KC

David Squyres PLANT MANAGER, GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER

In an organization outwardly focused on well-being, Erin Stucky turns the focus inward. “One of our biggest challenges continues to be weighing talent acquisition and retention with the expecta tions and challenges surrounding a hybrid workforce,” says the CEO of this region’s biggest health insurer. “We continue to evaluate all our positions to ensure we are evolving to meet the needs of our members, our employees, and our business.”

With roughly 1,500 workers at its Topeka plant, Goodyear is a major regional employer, and that workforce is under the direction of David Squyres, who has been with the Akron, Ohio based company since 2011. He’s a native of Lawton, Okla., whose previous stop with Goodyear was north of the border, at Goodyear Canada’s plant in Nepanee, Ontario. He succeeded Dusty Douglas in that role last fall.

COLLEGE: B.S., Education, University of Missouri ON RECRUITING: “Individuals have quite different expectations for how and where they will be working. We have implemented several recruiting initiatives due to the competitive labor market..” COVID PERSPECTIVE: “COVID has greatly changed the landscape of the health-care industry. While we have had challenges such as figuring out how to help our members access appropriate care in an overwhelmed system, we have also seen opportunities including an increased emphasis on behavioral health and virtual care.” NEXT BIG THING: “Kansas City has so many great things happening right now; it’s hard to predict the next big thing. I’d love it if we were named one of the United States’ healthiest cities. I think with the work we’ve been doing to improve our parks and install bike lanes and walking paths, we can get there.” CHIEFS PREDICTION: “I’m hoping in 2023 we are hosting a Super Bowl parade in February and a World Series parade in the fall!”

COLLEGE: B.A., Business Administration/Management, Cameron University SERIOUS SCALE: The Topeka plant is the second-largest tire plant in the world, at 3 million square feet, nearly 69 acres under one roof. At its peak, the plant employed 4,400 people, nearly three times the current workforce, and it celebrated 75 years in production as of March 2020. CRISIS-TESTED: Squyres’ managerial skills were tested in Canada when the plant there, for the first time in its 32-year history, was completely shut down at the onset of the global panic, idling 750 workers. Earlier this year, the Topeka plant averted a strike when union workers agreed to a new contract. DID YOU KNOW: The Topeka plant has cranked out more than 2.5 million tires used by U.S. military Humvees. The largest tire it rolls out is 13 feet tall and weighs more than 6½ tons. ABOUT GOODYEAR: The company overall employs 63,000 people worldwide at 47 facilities in 21 countries.

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September 2022

Ingrams.com