Ingram's May 2024

Rosana Privitera-Biondo In 2002, Ingram’s rolled out a new executive recognition program, this one focused on a score of women in leadership roles. At the very top of that list was Rosana Privitera-Biondo, who had been president of family-owned Mark One Electric for eight years. Her placement there was not entirely a func tion of alphabetic chance—Rosie, as she’s more commonly known, was already demonstrating her ability to lead, both at the corporate level and by virtue of an off-hours calendar packed with functions of multiple civic groups. It’s a lifestyle molded by a core leadership value she embraces: “Work hard, and never give up.” In 1994, Red Privitera stepped back from the top of the company he had founded 20 years earlier and turned the reins over to Rosie and her three brothers. They are not, we should point out, doing light electrical work: “We are frequently chosen to perform highly sophisticated system installations and vital support services,” she writes, “including design/build construction, estimating, engineering, pre-construc tion coordination, project management and architectural design for difficult commercial, industrial, and government projects.” Her dedication to the family enterprise began considerably earlier than her days in the corner office—she was pushing a broom around the place while still a teenager. In addition to managing one of the city’s biggest electrical contracting firms, her work entails property ownership/investing, following a model that Carl and his wife, Josephine, had created—in fact, they were key figures in the development of Rosana Square shopping center in Johnson County, named for Rosie herself. She and her brothers also stepped in to acquire The Kansas City Star’s former printing press building, that green-glass monster overlooking the southern fringe of the Central Business District; it has since become the focus of the Kansas City Royals’ plans to build a new stadium in Downtown Kansas City. During her career, she has fiercely advo cated for improving the lot of women and minorities women and minorities, including a stint as chair of the National Association of Women in Construction. She has also testified on Capitol Hill on issues relating to women in construction and is a past member of the National Women’s Business Council, which advises the White House and Congress, among others, on policy issues affect ing women and entrepreneurship. Closer to home, she’s served on the boards of the Economic Development Commission of Kansas City, the Kansas City Area Development Council, and the Kansas City Museum, among others.

Fred Ross Some say the mark of a successful entrepreneur is a

profitable exit. Perhaps. But there’s a higher threshold, and Fred Ross has crossed it: a profitable exit with affiliates of the world’s largest alternative asset manager, Blackstone, writing the check. Back in 1996, Ross founded Custom Truck & Equip ment to address a niche construction sector need for heavy machines and services. He was one of nine members of the family to launch that enterprise—six brothers and two sisters took the leap with him. It took barely more than a decade for a company with thousands of pieces of gear in its rental portfo lio to crash past the $175 million revenue threshold and amass a workforce of more than 300. Ross served as CEO, orchestrat ing a controlling-interest sale to Blackstone in 2015 and taking on the Custom Truck One Source brand. By 2021, Custom Truck had surpassed $1 billion in revenues and was acquired for nearly $1.5 billion by Nesco Holdings, which adopted Ross’ brand with its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Ross stayed on board as CEO during the transition, stepping down in March 2023 and expanding his focus to other endeavors. Having survived the construction industry’s meltdown during the Great Recession, Ross offered his take on leadership in an interview with crainebrief.com: “Remain calm and be in constant communication, so your employees feel informed and supported,” he said. “Do not come out of this time doing what you did going into it. Be creative. Ask yourself how you can be a better leader, a better company, and a better partner, and then empower your people to make it happen.” Over the course of his career, Ross deftly switched gears between heavy equipment and water-borne entertainment: He’s also the owner of Iconic Marine Group, building performance v-bottom boats, catamarans, and center-console craft under the labels of Fountain, Donzi and Baja. Of course, building boats means one might also benefit from a place to sell them, as Ross does with his Big Thunder Marine in Lake Ozark, Mo. Those interests are the current extension of an upbring ing that included a large cabin on the lake, where he joined siblings and cousins, uncles and aunts, skiing or tubing. And most recently, he’s been behind the development of a massive waterfront project on the lake called Oasis at Lakeport. Early plans for the $350 million project called for restaurants, a Fer ris wheel, a water park complete with a retractable roof, and a 400-room Marriott hotel.

34 I ng r am ’ s

May 2024

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