Ingram's May 2024

BERT BERKLEY TENSION CORP.

BOB BERNSTEIN BERNSTEIN REIN By

HENRY BLOCH H&R BLOCK

This longtime, third generation head of what was formerly Tension Envelope helped set it on the path to innovation that would give the family business the

now, most anyone in media circles knows the Happy Meal story authored by the man who created the concept for McDonald’s. But

He served as a B-17 navigator during World War II, so Henry Bloch knew what real fear felt like. Going into business wasn’t even close to it.

international footprint it enjoys today. But while he was doing that—and raising a family with his beloved Joan—Bert Berkley was the very face of a Good Corporate Citizen. That meant stints in leadership roles for the Civic Council. And the Chamber of Commerce. It meant service on the parks and library boards. It meant engagement with the Kauffman Foundation to promote entrepreneurship, and with the United Way to bolster corporate philanthropy. Then, as retirement-age beckoned, he worked to found the Local Investment Commission, a non-profit focused on filling gaps in the social safety net for children and families. Educated at Duke University and Harvard Business School, this veteran of World War II and Korea turns a remarkable 101 years old this month.

there’s so much more to Bob Bernstein’s ad agency and entrepreneurial success than boating that whale back in the late ’70s. The Kansas City agency he co-founded (with just $100 in the bank) along with Chip Rein would go on to land monster accounts with the likes of Walmart and Blockbuster (yes, movies used to be rented on tape and DVD) on its way to becoming the sixth-largest independent ad agency in the country. Not constrained by the silo walls of advertising, Bernstein founded the retailer Beauty Brands before selling it to a private-equity firm in 2013 (later to be re-acquired by the Bernstein family). And his philanthropic side was recognized when Jewish Family Services introduced the annual Phyllis and Bob Bernstein Humanitarian Award.

For nearly a decade after his return from Europe, he and his younger brother, Richard, operated a walk-up accounting practice in Kansas City’s Midtown. As a courtesy to clients, they’d prepare tax returns at no extra charge. The word got out, the demand came in torrents, and the realization hit: Tax prep, not accounting and bookkeeping, was the path. In July 1955, they founded H&R Block, took it public in 1962, and never looked back. Bloch’s work helped establish not only a global financial-services giant, but set a standard for philanthropy—corporate and personal—matched by few in Kansas City. And he was legendary for his willingness to counsel young entrepreneurs who wished to do the same. He died in 2019, a few months shy of his 97th birthday.

KEN BLOCK BLOCK REAL ESTATE SERVICES

LARRY BRIDGES EXECUTIVE HILLS MANAGEMENT

MICHAEL BROWN EURONET WORLDWIDE

Raised the shadow of one iconic name in commercial real estate, Ken Block is blotting out a fair amount of sun on his own. Along in

For more than 40 years under the steady hand and savvy lead of Larry Bridges, Executive Hills Management has owned and managed some of

Nearly two decades after Michael Brown earned electrical engineering degree from Mizzou, he was knocking out a master’s degree in molecular and

with brothers Stephen and Michael, he formed Block Real Estate Services in 2009 after long careers with the brokerage firm their father, Allen, started with his own brother in 1946. Under Ken’s leadership, the second generation broadened its horizons—rapidly. Stepping into new territory with multifamily properties, buying and developing them, then expanding into real-estate investment services, property management, and even consultancy on economic incentives, BRES has evolved into a national player in commercial realty; over the years, the firm’s principals have done deals in 245 states covering 45 states. All told, it manages more than 45 million square feet of office, retail and industrial properties.

the most prominent office buildings in the Kansas City area. And when we say prominent, we mean it: A crown jewel in its holdings here is One Kansas City Place, the tallest building in Missouri. Combined, those properties make EH the single largest owner-operator of commercial office space in this region, with roughly 4 million square feet of Class A office space and related parking structures. In addition to the 800,000 square feet at One Kansas City Place, it has The Plaza Steppes building on the Country Club Plaza, an additional 1 million-plus square feet along the Ward Parkway corridor, and more than 1 million more square feet in South Kansas City. On the Kansas side, it owns or manages 10 office buildings that line Overland Park’s College Boulevard corridor.

cellular biology at UMKC, at a time when most men of the age are still grappling with a midlife crisis. This serial entrepreneur wasn’t having any of that. The ink was still wet on his bachelor’s when, in 1979, he saw an opportunity to integrate business software for a recent addition to the consumer market: personal computers. He formed Integrated Software, turned it into the region’s fastest-growing company in 1986, then merged that into an advanced database software firm called Informix, and more than doubled revenues in just two years. He co-founded Euronet Worldwide in 1994 and has served as its chief executive officer ever since, delivering cash through ATMs and other services in more than 60 nations around the world, from more than 53,000 ATMs.

104

I ng r am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com