Ingram’s September 2022

Bridgette Williams EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEAVY CONSTRUCTORS ASSOCIA TION OF KANSAS CITY Bridgette Williams leads an organization affectionately known as “The Heavies”—made up of about 150 contractors and product and service suppliers responsible for constructing the region’s critical public and private infrastructure. That in cludes roads, highways, bridges, airports, reservoirs and major utility corridors. Williams has been with the association since 2010, becoming CEO in 2017.

Jim Williams CIO, CREATIVE PLANNING

Jim Williams works for an organization that specializes in help ing people dream big. And the past year has been no exception. “The last year has been extraordinary for Creative Planning, with the assets we are advising on topping $200 billion,” he told us. Williams credits that in part to the team never breaking stride during the pandemic. “We have always had a work force that has been both in the office and remote,” he said.

COLLEGE: University of Missouri-Kansas City COVID: “We have always had a work force that has been both in the office and remote. The evolv ing nature of remote/office is something we were able to work through without missing a beat.” ECONOMIC OUTLOOK : “The Federal Reserve has been clear that they are going to raise rates until inflation is contained. The good news is the economy is still relatively strong. I believe the most likely result is a relatively mild recession.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Hopefully, an NBA franchise.” NEWNO. 1: Last year, the workload doubled for his firm when Creative Planning acquired Lockton Retirement Services. Creative had recently passed the $100 billion AUM threshold itself, but infusing Lockton’s $110 billion in account value pushed Creative Planning to the head of the pack for wealth-management firms in this region.

COLLEGE: B.A., Communication, Pittsburg State; B.A., Liberal Arts, Ottawa University; MBA, Helzberg School of Management, Rockhurst University LOCAL HEART: The association mainly comprises local family-owned businesses, working closely with city, county, state, and federal elected officials and civic leaders to build the infrastructure that is foundation of the KC Metro. WORDS TO LIVE BY: Her organization’s motto is “Making It Better…” exemplifying the vibrant spirit of members rising to meet the challenges of improvement for Kansas City and the states of Kansas and Missouri.

Doug Wolff CEO, SECURITY BENEFIT CORP.

Simon Witdouck SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TVH AMERICAS

The torch has been passed at Security Benefit, and now Doug Wolff is the man tasked with bringing both heat and light to the retire ment-services world and its tech platforms. In June, he succeeded Mike Kiley, who turned it from a firm with $10 billion in assets under management into one with $50 billion. In Wolff, the firm opted for leadership consistency; he had been president of the Se curity Benefit Life arm since 2011, a year after Kiley came on board.

Belgian-based TVH couldn’t offer Simon Witdouck the world as an employer, but it did come through with half a planet last fall when it put him in charge of the western hemisphere from its Olathe headquarters for TVH Americas. He joined the industrial parts supplier a decade ago as a corporate development man ager and now oversees operations that generated $419 million last year.

COLLEGE: Master in Law, Ghent (Belgium) University; M.S., London School of Economics and Political Science; post-graduate studies, University of Leuven BEFORE : Witdouck came up through the ranks working as a corporate development manager, in cluding TVH Brazil and Bepco Group, the agricultural division of TVH Parts Holding. His duties also included COO for Bepco, before he was assigned to the KC area as vice president of operations. OTHER DUTIES: Witdouck is also a member of the parent company’s Global Management Team. FAMILY OWNED: It’s not often you find a family business that operates on six continents, but TVH Parts is just that. For a decade, the Olathe operation was run by Els Thermote of the ownership family. CASHING IN: Last year, TVH sold a 40 percent stake in the company to a Brussels-based conglomerate, a deal that placed the value of the family’s enterprise at $3.65 billion Euros, or about $4.2 billion in U.S. currency at the time of the sale.

COLLEGE: B.S., Finance/Actuarial Science, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign BEFORE SECURITY: Wolff’s career started with Ernst & Young as a consultant for eight years, then he headed to Allstate as director and actuary for nearly seven more. He’s been with Security Benefit Life for nearly 21 years. LOOKING AHEAD: “As CEO, I plan to continue our trajectory of growth and have confidence in the people we have in place to execute on the tremendous opportunity we have before us,” Wolff said when the transition was announced. HUMBLE ORIGINS: Security Benefit traces its roots back nearly 130 years to the Knights and Ladies of Security—11 people who chipped in a dollar each to create a fraternal insurance provider. The mission has evolved greatly since then, and it’s a major retirement-services company with a strong fintech presence.

Eric Wollerman PRESIDENT, HONEYWELL FM&T

Keith Zimmerman CEO, HCA MIDWEST HEALTH

Eric Wollerman’s group helps keep America safe in ways most of us don’t know about: The Kansas City National Security Campus, managed by Honeywell, is a key defense contractor. “During the pan demic, we supported the National Nuclear Security Administration in delivering two weapon programs into production in support of the U.S. Navy and Air Force,” Wollerman said. He credits that success to a team-wide, consistent focus on excellence in support of that mission.

He’s new to the Kansas City market, wrapping up the process of moving from Dallas, and here, Keith Zimmerman will oversee the market-leading hospital network in terms of staffed beds and one of the largest workforces in the region, with more than 10,000 providers and support staff. Across its 100 care sites, the health system had nearly 600,000 patient encounters last year, and with a $916 million payroll, it paid nearly $200 million in taxes.

COLLEGE: B.S., Industrial Engineering, M.S., Industrial & Systems Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison ACQUIRING TALENT: “While our attrition rates are far below the national average, we know we can’t rest on our heels during a tight labor market or any other time. We continue to recruit for well-paying, stable careers at local high schools, community colleges, universities, and at career fairs..” RETAINING TALENT: “It is important that we have good employee engagement, and we work to foster that by hosting intramural sports, e-sports leagues, and investing $1 million in our commu nities which provides our employees the opportunity to volunteer and give back to our communities.” COVID PERSPECTIVE: “COVID-19 safety protocols forced all businesses, including us, to look at our remote work differently. Due to the nature of work, remote office work was the exception prior to the pandemic. For many of our non-manufacturing roles, we have been able to use IT and other tools to do our jobs in a hybrid model in the workplace.”Even with the switchover to hybrid office work, the KCNSC delivered on all our customers’ requests on time.”

COLLEGE: B.A., Business Administration, University of Louisiana-Lafayette; MBA, Regis University BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: “In 2021, our health system was the only provider in the region with six hospitals to earn the highest patient safety and quality rankings by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health-care consumers.” RECESSIONPREP: “Throughout our history, whether during an economic downturn, natural disasters, and weather events such as floods or tornados, our health system has not only overcome challenges, but our employees consistently show up to support the patients and communities we serve.” CHALLENGES AHEAD: “Hospital employment data indicates a critical shortage of staff necessary to meet that demand. While our health system is not immune to this trend, with the strategies we have implemented and with the strength and sharing of best practices across HCA Healthcare, we are poised to overcome these challenges while providing high-quality, compassionate patient care.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Multiple NFL Super Bowl wins for the Kansas City Chiefs!”

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September 2022

Ingrams.com