Ingram's May 2024

HONEYWELL FM&T NATIONAL SECURITY CAMPUS Year Founded: 1949 Headquarters: Gaithersburg, MD/Kansas City, Mo. Sector: Defense Contract Manufacturing Number of Employees: 7,000+ Nearly 25 years after securing its first federal contract to produce non-nuclear components for the nation’s military arsenal, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies continues to expand the massive footprint at the site it manages for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Since it was first awarded the work in 2000, the operation has pulled into this region billions in federal funding and attracted a highly educated work force skilled in advanced manufacturing, engineering and other disciplines. A decade ago, it opened a 900,000-square foot plant in southern Jackson County, escaping the confines of the former Ban nister Road complex in south Kansas City. The growth continues to be impressive under President Eric Wollerman: recent hiring efforts have boosted the employee count above 7,000, making it one of the region’s biggest employers.

HOSTESS BRANDS/INTERSTATE BAKERIES Year Founded: 2013 Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo. Sector: Consumer Products Number of Employees: 19,000 (peak)

For nearly a century of acquisitions, rebrandings, re structuring, layoffs, fiscal peril, bankruptcy and more acquisitions, this company known throughout its history as Interstate Bakeries, Interstate Brands, Interstate Bakeries (again), and Hostess Brands has been a major player in the nation’s baking circles. At one time, it was the nation’s fifth-largest baker, and at its peak had more than 19,000 employees. The final trip through bankruptcy set the stage for recovery that started in 2013, and the maker of popular snack cakes and other products was soon on the path back to billion-dollar revenues. That performance, in a secotr where consolidation is king, eventually caught the eye of the leadership of the food giant J.M Smucker’s, which last year acquired Hostess in a deal worth $5.6 billion, one of the region’s biggest acquisitions of the past decade.

JE DUNN CONSTRUCTION CO. Year Founded: 1924 Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo. Sector: Construction & Engineering Number of Employees: 4,540

KIEWIT CORP. Year Founded: 1884 Headquarters: Lenexa, Kan. Sector: Construction & Engineering Number of Employees: 31,000

One man’s vision 100 years ago, one family’s commitment to construction-services excellence, one company’s pledge to be a model corporate citizen—all are woven into the story of JE Dunn Construction. Over the past 50 years, it has become the region’s largest hometown contractor and one of the 20 biggest in the nation. With 1,200 employees here and more than 4,500 in more than two dozen offices nationwide, JE Dunn continues to break records, as with last year’s high-water revenue mark of $6.47 billion. The company’s commitment to local philanthropy and civic engagement in all of its markets is well known, and its commitment to members of the team was demonstrated when it transitioned to an employee stock ownership model in 2010. Founder John Ernest Dunn turned the reins over to Bill Dunn, Sr., then Gen3’s Terry Dunn and Steve Dunn until 2014, when Gordon Lansford assumed the lead.

Even as an operating unit of the Omaha-based engineering and construction giant, Kiewit’s power division in Lenexa is massive: Nearly 1,700 people work from that office, and last year their labors yielded more than $3 billion in revenues. Over the past 30 years, the company has delivered an esti mated 125,000 megawatts of power generation around the world. Some perspective: That’s roughly 104 times the annual output of the Wolf Creek nuclear generating station 90 minutes southwest of Kansas City. Kiewit designs and builds systems for power generated from renewables, hydrogen and fossil fuels, plus storage for that power, solutions for reducing carbon emissions, and transmission/distribution networks. The Lenexa-based division, led by Dave Flickinger, is now deep into the development of power sources less reliant on carbon, including solar, hydro and wind.

92

I ng r am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com