Ingram's May 2024

BILL DUNN JE DUNN CONSTRUCTION

TERRY DUNN JE DUNN CONSTRUCTION

BILL ESREY SPRINT CORP.

Bill Dunn was born a year before his father started a one man construction company in 1924. Like the father, the son would become a legendary figure

His grandfather hit the launch button on the company in 1924, and his father triggered the booster phase. But Terry Dunn, the third generation, put JE

For a company that no longer exists— well, it does in another incarnation and brand—Sprint Corp. certainly made an impact on the Kansas City region.

in Kansas City—as would the organization. After graduating from Rockhurst College, the younger Dunn went to work at the family enterprise, and was a fixture there for nearly 75 years before he finally relinquished his role as chairman emeritus in 2020. As CEO, he helped turn the company into one of the biggest contractors to call Kansas City home before turning that leadership over to his son, Terry, in 1989, serving as chairman for years afterward. Among his greatest civic contributions was the 1981 founding of the Dunn Family Foundation, with a commitment that became the gold standard for corporate philanthropy in the Kansas City region: donating 10 percent of its net income to charities every year. Last July, Bill’s family celebrated with him on his 100th birthday.

Dunn into orbit as CEO from 1989 thro ugh his retirement in 2013. He embraced growth and expansion strategies to create a national power in construction. By the time he left, he’d directed a revenue arc that went from about $150 million to more than $2.6 billion. More than that, he set in place a framework for growth by steering its transformation into employee ownership in 2010. Hard to argue with the results: the successive leadership, with Gordon Lansford as CEO and nephew Tim Dunn as chairman, pushed the firm to record revenues of $6.46 billion last year. Always a civic champion, he’s been laser-focused for the past decade with KC Common Good, a non-profit formed to promote economic opportunity and address the root causes of Kansas City’s crime problem.

And one of those swinging the hammer was Bill Esrey, a Harvard MBA grad who had started his career with the Bell Telephone system. From there, he became president of Empire City Subway Co. in New York, then logged a decade at a Wall Street investment bank. In 1980, that East Coast history took a decidedly Midwestern turn when United Telecommunications came calling. It had yet to morph into Sprint by name, but with his reputation as an expert and forward thinker in energy and telecommunications, his services were in demand for a growing company. He came here in 1980 and became president and CEO five years later, holding that position for the next 18 years as Sprint became one of the nation’s three primary telecom service providers and one of this region’s biggest employers.

JIM FERRELL FERRELLGAS

ANITA GORMAN KC PARKS BOARD

NATHANIEL HAGEDORN NORTHPOINT DEVELOPMENT

For someone who came back home in 1965 to provide short-term help with his father’s strug gling propane busi ness, Jim Ferrell re- defined what we

For more than 50 years, Anita Gorman was a fierce cham pion for the region’s quality of life. Pas- sionate about the condition and am- enities in the city’s

In terms of influ- ential area busi ness figures over the past 50 years, Nathaniel Hage dorn is something of a late-comer: He was barely 30

might call stick-to-itiveness. “The last thing I wanted to do,” he would later recall, “was be a small, little propane retailer.” Turns out, he wasn’t. Not for long: After turning around the fiscal fortunes of the company, he became a big propane retailer, and Ferrellgas became the nation’s second largest dealer. By the time he turned over the leadership to Tamria Zertuche last year, the company had nearly 1,000 locations and 4,500 employees nationwide. Ferrell’s pen chant for acquisitions in a highly fragmented industry paved the way for its growth and later allowed him to launch Ferrell Capital, which manages the financial, business and personal affairs for the family, but also pro vides investment advisory services guidance on asset allocation and investment selection, fund management, and financial planning.

parks, recreational venues, and conser vation, she moved fluidly between leader- ship roles, fund-raising, and operating be- hind the scenes to influence policy with the executive and elected official classes. It all started on a personal level, fighting commercial overbuilding near her North land home, an effort that led to creation of the park that today bears her name. That led her to the city’s Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners—the first woman to achieve that stature—serving as its president for nearly half her 12 years there. She also pres sed for the passage of bond issues to improve the Kansas City Zoo, advocated for new parks, and called for improved maintenance of sculptures, fountains and monuments. Anita served as a commissioner for the Mis souri Department of Conservation.

years old in 2012 when he assembled the pieces of what today is NorthPoint Development and set out to change the model for industrial property development in the U.S. It took him less than a decade to do that, and his Northland firm’s footprint has vastly outgrown the Kansas City market. With financial backing from deep-pocketed investors, NorthPoint has blossomed into a powerhouse with more than 150 million square feet of industrial property in its portfolio and nearly $20 billion in assets under management. Hagedorn himself has helped raise more than $16.5 billion to power its real estate investments and development pro- jects, which also include more than 5,900 apartments.

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I ng r am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

May 2024