Ingram’s September 2022

Greg Righter PRESIDENT/CEO, BERKEL & COMPANY CONTRACTORS Most of us will never see what Greg Righter’s company puts in place but, according to Berkel, most of us have been supported by that work at some point in our lives. The deep foundation work Berkel is known for is trusted by the world’s largest and most suc cessful engineering firms and contractors. And it’s not just Righter and his c-suite colleagues whose reputation goes into each job; Berkel was employee-owned before employee-owned was cool.

Michael Riggs CEO, JACK COOPER TRANSPORT CO.

Eighty years after its 1928 founding, Jack Cooper Transport was struggling. In stepped Michael Riggs, who acquired it in 2009 and set about the task of restoring the fundamentals for a company that plays a big role in the automotive sector. Not as a manu facturer but as the vital link between assembly plant and dealer lot, transporting thousands of new vehicles to their dealership destinations each year.

COLLEGE: B.S., Business, Kettering University; MBA, Harvard Business School THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: On Riggs’ watch, the company has built a workforce of nearly 3,000, and it now ranks among the 100 largest trucking firms in the country by trade magazine Transport Topics . A MAKER’S BACKGROUND: Before he came to the trucking industry roughly 20 years ago, Riggs had made his mark in the manufacturing sector. MAJOR MOVE: Among the most significant leadership initiatives, Riggs navigated the firm through a 2019 bankruptcy filing, securing a restructured pension program (with 68 percent of union workers supporting it) and positioning the company for long-term growth. INDUSTRY PRAISE: He’s been a member of the American Trucking Association’s executive com mittee and chairman of the Auto Carriers Conference. E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year program recognized him with its 2013 Midwest region awards.

COLLEGE: B.S., Pre-Engineering, Furman University; B.S., Civil Engineering, Clemson University; M.S., Civil Engineering, Georgia Tech UP THE LADDER: Righter started as a field engineer with the company in 1999, then steadily advanced through the ranks as project manager, regional manager and vice president of operations. He took the reins of the company in 2017. PARTICIPATING IN HISTORY: Berkel was involved in the post-9/11 rebuilding efforts at the Penta gon and World Trade Center. Closer to home, it’s been involved in the historic makeover of Kansas City International Airport, starting with the foundation work on the project in 2019. CORPORATE ORIGINS: The late Charles Berkel founded the company in 1959. Today, it has 250 employees in the area and 650 total in offices nationwide, and had 2021 revenues of $175 million to earn a place on the Ingram’s 100 list of the region’s biggest private companies.

Jim Rine PRESIDENT/CEO, UMB BANK

Kimberly Rock KC MANAGING PARTNER, EY

Jim Rine is proud to say his banking team has come through the past year without “missing a beat” and is in a great posi tion to help customers. “We continue to have strong performance throughout the organization,” he said. Rine is also quite pleased with his larger organization, saying, “Our regions outside Kansas City also continue to grow and make a more sizable impact, partic ularly our Texas, Arizona, and Colorado markets.”

It’s a simple question but a big one: Where do you start if you want to change the world? For Kim Rock, big changes start with something small, triggering a cascade of responses that lead to a better working world. “I am working diligently every day to build a Better Working World for our clients and our people,” this CPA says, and she does that by leading a team that advises clients with a wide range of corporate financial services.

COLLEGE: B.S., Finance, Missouri State University KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “The continued reimagination of downtown with our major league baseball stadium as a new centerpiece for sports fans is certainly an exciting option. As demonstrated in other metropolitan areas, having a world-class MLB stadium would drive even more traffic and economic activity for Kansas City.” PROMISING METRICS: “We’re experiencing strong loan growth and have the capacity to continue to lend—both critical to our success and a positive outlook.” CHIEFS PREDICTION: “10/7. Our division has strengthened, and there is tough competition ahead.”

COLLEGE: B.A., Accounting, John Carroll University BEFORE KC: She joined EY in 2004 and worked in the assurance service line as both a senior manager and partner in Nashville and Charlotte, N.C., before coming to Kansas City in 2020. EY’S SERVICE LINE: The company’s accounting services include financial statement audits, adoption and audit of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, mergers and acquisitions, private equity offerings, IPOS, and offerings of public debt. EQUITY COMMITMENT: Rock, the first woman to lead EY’s Kansas City office, is also a member of the firm’s Professional Women’s Network, helping educate and empower women for career success. CIVIC-MINDED: Back in Charlotte, she devoted time to supporting the American Heart Association and Goodwill Industries. She quickly got into the flow of civic life in this region, serving on the board of Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City.

Dennis Rodenbaugh PRESIDENT/CEO, DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA

Chris Rosson CEO, UNITED WAY OF GREATER KANSAS CITY

Reins are for horses, so forgive the use of the analogy where they’ve been handed off to Dennis Rodenbaugh at the biggest private company—by far—in the Kansas City region. Rodenbaugh took over this year with the retirement of Rick Smith, who had helped found this national dairy products cooperative in 2018 and turned it into one of the nation’s biggest producers in that space. The company recorded $19.3 billion in 2021 sales.

“Growing up in one of KC’s poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods,” Chris Rosson says, “there were daily reminders from as early as I can remember of life’s unfairness. This spawned in me a lifetime commit ment to work to make KC a better place for all.” Leading the region’s most relevant non-profit allows him to touch the lives of one in three area residents, and he relishes each day doing it. “Today, it is a gift,” he says. “That’s why it is called the present.”

PROVEN LEADER: Rodenbaugh came on board at Dairy Farmers in 2007 and has held multiple senior management roles. Among them: vice president and chief operating officer of the Mideast operation, senior vice president of the Western Fluid Group, and executive vice president. BROAD REACH: His resume includes oversight of U.S. milk marketing, farm services, and 23 commercial manufacturing plants and global marketing operations in DFA’s Ingredient Solu- tions division. STILL MORE: Rodenbaugh is also chairman of Newtrient, on the executive board of directors for National Milk Producers Federation, on the executive committee and a board member for International Dairy Foods Association, and on the boards for several other DFA fluid milk affiliates. THE ROAD TO DFA: Rodenbaugh worked in banking and finance while also owning and managing dairy farms and other agri-businesses.

COLLEGE: B.A., Business Administration & Economics, William Jewell College; Philosophy & Political Science tutorials, Oxford University (England); M.A., International Economics & Inter- national Relations, Johns Hopkins University KEY MENTOR/INFLUENCE: “Phil Jackson (former NBA coach) is my guru.” CHILDHOOD HEROES: “Michael Jordan and David Letterman.” HOWWOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?: “Tenacious.” HOWWOULD OTHERS DESCRIBE YOU?: “Adventurous.” SOURCES OF PRIDE: “My five beautiful daughters and loving wife.” BEST PART OF HIS JOB: “I get the opportunity to make a real, transformational difference in people’s lives every day, and that is incredibly rewarding.”

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I n g r a m ’ s

September 2022

Ingrams.com