Ingram's May 2024

 Best Companies to Work For (2008), getting granular with compensation and bene fits, workplace design, financial health, train- ing, corporate culture, and organizational-lev- el philanthropy at companies sorted by size— large, small, and mid-level businesses.  20 in Their Twenties (2008), a sort of run-up to 40 Under Forty, with a goal of identifying young entrepreneurs especially, but also high-achieving executives from larger companies.  Icons of Education (2009), launched in tandem with the 35th-anniversary edition, and recognizing the lifetime contributions of educators at all levels—public and private uni versities, community colleges, high schools, and even some K-12 programs.  50 Kansans You Should Know and its cross-state counterpart, 50 Missourians You Should Know (2011), extending our reach bi state to note the individuals driving business growth and quality of life in both urban and ru ral settings statewide.  Also in 2011, we took an annual indus try ranking list focused on private companies and turned it into The Ingram’s 100 . Just as the CR100 would recognize fast growth, the Ingram’s 100 puts the pillars of Kansas City business front and center for readers anywhere, based on their top-line impact on the regional economy.  The Ingram’s 250 took a bow in 2016 and immediately became the contact bible for anyone wanting to become acquainted with the region’s most powerful and influential ex ecutives. It has proven to be a remarkably fluid lineup; introduced after the first wave of Baby Boom retirements, it’s been an almost real-time chronicle of leadership change in this region. To date, nearly 400 individuals have been rec ognized, which means close to 60 percent of the first I100 have moved on.  In 2020, we began our CEO of the Year awards, which didn’t need much time to morph into 2023’s C-Suite Awards program to include chief officers in finance, operations, human re sources, and other leadership disciplines. There are some others to consider but think about all of these in their totality for a moment. We believe you’ll see that we’ve done the hard work of identifying the companies and individ uals you want to do business with, you want to work for, you want to hire from, and you want to engage with on both a professional and a personal level. In the end, business success is all about connections. And there’s no better way to make good ones than to know who’s being recognized as the best of the best than by reading Ingram’s .

New ownership in 1997 with the Sweeney era soon led to some new silos that stand tall in their space today in executive leadership and health care: 40 Under Forty and Top Doctors. From its first installment, 40 Under Forty has become an annual rite of passage for rising executives—especially, for reasons we’ve never fully discerned, within law firms. Each year, more than four hundred candidates compete for one of these prized slots, and a grueling process to vet each one produces the final field (rarely, we note, without some hurt feelings from selection committee members who were outvoted on certain choices). We’re proud to say that, as of this past year, 1,040 members of this region’s executive class have been recognized, and many—especially from that first class in 1998—have gone on to the C-suite and top leadership roles at some of the region’s most prominent companies and organizations. That same year, Top Doctors debuted with a class of 18 physicians regarded as giants in their respective areas of practice. But how did we get there? By asking other doctors a simple question: If, facing a life-threatening or life- altering diagnosis for yourself or a family mem ber, who would you turn to first for care? Since then, more than 300 physicians have earned the distinction of being a Top Doctor, and not just the superstars from the biggest medical centers. We work hard to recruit a can didate base that also includes community hospi tals, private practices, and even non-profits that provide care services. Also in the late 1990s, the magazine began supporting an initiative to address concerns of women in leadership roles. A series of assemb- lies, dubbed Women Executives-Kansas City , helped air those issues and spawned our own recognition program, which debuted as the WeKC awards in 2002. Since then, hundreds of the region’s most accomplished female leaders have been profiled, sharing their stories of per sonal challenges and professional success. In the first decade of the 21st century, the magazine’s editors recognized the deeper im pact of these awards, particularly with the ability to introduce honorees in any one year or category to other sharp minds in unrelated sectors. The intellectual cross-pollination was becoming more visible each year. From that realization came:  Heroes in Healthcare (2004), recog nizing the contributions of administrators, pro fessional staff, nurses, support staff, and volun teers, along with a special category for lifetime service.

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