Ingram's May 2024

GARY BURRELL GARMIN

EMANUEL CLEAVER CITY OF KCMO/U.S. HOUSE

PAUL COPAKEN COPAKEN WHITE & BLITT

True innovation— and the billion-dol- lar companies it can create—is still pretty rare, but Gary Burrell crack ed the code in 1989 when he and Min

After 12 years on the Kansas City Council, Emanuel Cleaver stepped onto the final rung of municipal leadership, becoming the city’s first black mayor in 1991. He

A list of Paul Co- paken’s commercial real-estate develop ment and brokerage deals between 1959 and his 2012 re tirement is an eye popping reflection

Kao teamed up to give consumers access to wayfinding signals from space through the Global Positioning System. That sent Garmin on a journey of growth and challenge. After becoming a dominant player in GPS systems for cars, boats and planes, Garmin ran into headwinds with the launch of smart-phone programs that could deliver directional assistance at no cost. Burrell retired in 2002 as the company was pivoting to wearable tech, a concept that has evolved into a suite of personal health-monitoring and improvement products. And once again, Garmin is a global leader in that tech field. The company that started with two men now employs more than 5,000 people at the Olathe headquarters, and 19,000 in 35 countries worldwide.

brought to that role an intentional focus on development as an economic leveler— pushing not just to create the kinds of jobs needed to break the cycle of poverty but bringing those employers into the neighborhoods closer to its source. He was also instrumental in pressing for completion of a project that had languished for decades but had the potential to connect poorer sections of southern Kansas City to job centers near Downtown: What we now know as Bruce R. Watkins Drive. He also advocated for greater city funding of the 18th and Vine entertainment district. This ordained minister continued his commitment to public service by running for Congress in 2004 and has easily won reelection to the U.S. House eight times. He’s currently seeking a 10th term representing Missouri’s Fifth District.

of his work ethic: Oak Park Mall, Town Pavilion, the world headquarters for Sprint and for Black & Veatch, for example. A signature achievement, though, was his influence in chairing a committee that produced a strategic plan to revitalize Downtown—one that has paid off with $8 billion in investment in the central business district. He’s a Kansas City native who earned a degree in economics from the elite Wharton School of Commerce and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, and after he came back home, he was as busy with civic engagement as he was with business development: roles with the Downtown Council, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Civic Council of Kansas City and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, among others.

DAVE CUMMINGS TRADEBOT

DENNIS CURTIN RE/MAX REGIONAL SERVICES

JACK DICUS CAPITOL FEDERAL FINANCIAL

He keeps a low pro file in Kansas City, but Dave Cum mings has been an agent of change since he cracked our 40 Under Forty lineup in 2008. He’s

He never forgot his humble Northland upbringing, not even after turning the nation’s first RE/ MAX franchise into a national—even in- ternational—power

The Dicus name looms large in Kan- sas financial circles, particularly in Top- eka, where John C. Dicus helped turn Capitol Federal Sav- ings & Loan into

been a busy fellow since then: After found ing Tradebot Systems in 1999, which disrupted the equities-trading market with high-frequency, high-speed transactions, he turned his attention to a startup called BATS Global Markets, which took that concept to another level and surpassed the NASDAQ in daily trading volume before its $3.4 billion sale to the Chicago Board Options Exchange in 2017. Those successes have allowed him to become a major financial backer of a Kansas City logistics startup that has blown the doors off that sector nationally, NorthPoint Development. A published aut hor, he wrote in his 2016 book “Make the Trade” that he was inspired to apply tech to trading after seeing IBM’s Deep Blue defeat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game match in 1997.

of home sales by forging a team with thousands of agents making the American Dream a reality for many. That’s a long way from the single Kansas City office he started with in 1975. He pays tribute to his own spartan upbringing as a passionate advocate for Mimi’s Pantry, which he launched to honor the memory of his mother and the way she used to feed patrons at her diner, even if they couldn’t afford to pay. Curtin sold his own franchise rights back in 1990, and turned his attention to building RE/ MAX Mid-States and Dixie Region, which in 2021 reorganized under the RE/MAX Regional Services flag to better serve bro- kers and agents. He’s earned enough industry awards—both for professional achievement and philanthropic—to popu late a personal trophy case.

a Sunflower State financial titan. After earning a business degree from the University of Kansas in 1955, he joined the bank in 1959 and served in various leadership roles until 2009, when he handed the reins off to his son, John B. Dicus, who continues with leadership duties today. When he first came on board, the institution was known as Capitol Federal Savings & Loan, primarily serving the mortgage market in the state. The senior Dicus oversaw a transition into the Capitol Federal Financial we know today, a publicly traded company with $9.59 billion in assets and nearly 50 locations across the state. He’s also a philanthropic champion; a $20 million gift from the Capitol Federal Foundation led to construction of Capitol Federal Hall at his alma mater.

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May 2024

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