Ingram's May 2024

Ingrams.com | May 2024

$20.00

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

OUR HERITAGE

150+ YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

OUR FUTURE

ONWARD TO ACHIEVEMENT

Half of all doctors practicing in Kansas trained at KU. 50 active startup companies are based on KU research. 6,400+ KU students graduated in 2024. Learn more about how our graduates, initiatives, and innovations make Kansas City — and the world — stronger:

ku.edu/innovate

© The University of Kansas The University of Kansas is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

How do you get to the forefront of what’s next? Gain a strategic advantage with data-driven insights,

the latest tools and industry-leading security. We’re delivering the cutting edge of digital innovation to help drive your business.

What would you like the power to do?®

Start the conversation Matt Linski, matthew.j.linski@bofa.com business.bofa.com

“Bank of America” and “BofA Securities” are the marketing names used by the Global Banking and Global Markets divisions of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, other commercial banking activities, and trading in certain financial instruments are performed globally by banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Trading in securities and financial instruments, and strategic advisory, and other investment banking activities, are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“Investment Banking Affiliates”), including, in the United States, BofA Securities, Inc., which is a registered broker-dealer and Member of SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities. BofA Securities, Inc. is a registered futures commission merchant with the CFTC and a member of the NFA.

©2024 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. GBGM-563-AD 6107252 Investment products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value

TM & © Hallmark

CONGRATULATIONS

BLISH-MIZE WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOUR 50 YEARS OF SUCCESS.

1974 - 2024

MAY 2024 • VOLUME 50, NO. 5

40

Features 12 Ingram’s: Committed to

71 Honoring the Achievers Ingram’s awards over the years have spotlighted exceptional performance. 73 The 50 Biggest Business Deals/Events of past 50 years 79 The 50 Most Impactful Companies of the past 50 years 103 The 50 Biggest Players of the past 50 years Perspectives 6 Editor’s Note: Kansas City’s

Commerce for 50 Years It began with one man’s vision. It contin ues as a reflection of a thriving region. 15 A Lunch to Remember When past publishers of Ingram’s gathered 20 years ago, they created memories that still resonate today. 19 Ingram’s Legends Since 1999, we’ve honored 90 of the KC area’s greatest business and community leaders as Ingram’s Legends. 37 Then & Now: 1974-2024 A photo essay of KC’s skyline and how it has changed over half a century. 43 Headlines Over the Years The biggest stories and a timeline of key business trends since 1974. 59 Economic Transformation A look at the long-term and emerging pillars of regional commerce. 61 The Nexus of North American Trade The booming logistics sector has Kansas City uniquely positioned for growth. 65 A Chiefs Dynasty The Kansas City Chiefs, with a second cons ecutive Super Bowl trophy in hand, are offici- ally the hottest franchise in professional sports. 68 An Entrepreneurial History KC’s visionaries and pioneers of business.

Ingrams.com | May 2024

Constellation of Stars Here’s to the First Fifty Years. We can’t wait to see what’s in store in the years to come. by Joe Sweeney

Fi y Years Signi and Defin

$20.00

2024.05 May cover.indd 1

5/30/24 11:13 AM

Front cover design: Nigel Morley

15

22

Dr. Ted Higgins of Mission Hills, KS, has had a heart for Haiti since 1981. During his fourth year of general surgery residency at Yale, he spent a three-month rotation at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Des Chapelles, Haiti. FOR THE LOVE OF HAITI

OUR HUMAN

BINDS US THE ONE TO THE OTHER — NOT IN PITY OR PATRONIZINGLY, BUT AS HUMAN BEINGS WHO HAVE LEARNT HOW TO TURN OUR

After 20 years of volunteering with his church mission team to operate and train surgeons in the Dominican Republic, Dr. Ted returned to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. He joined forces with Haitian Christian Mission, an organization that has been ministering to the Haitian people since 1974.

Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope opened in December, 2016, and was named for Dr. Ted's father and uncle, both exemplary surgeon brothers from upstate New York. The Surgicenter provides care to people who live in rural regions surrounding Fonds Parisien. With annual earnings of less than $500, medical care is beyond reach for nearly all of our patients. Thankfully, generous donors and volunteers ensure the campus continues to be a destination for health, healing, and hope! Today, services include a variety of specialties including 24/7 Emergency Medical & Trauma Care, Family Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Urology, Pediatrics, Vascular Access, Dentistry, and Community Health.

COMMON SUFFERING INTO HOPE FOR THE

- NELSON MANDELA

HIGGINSBROTHERSSURGICENTER.ORG

TED HIGGINS, M.D. Founder & Chairman

RESTORING HOPE. SAVING LIVES. DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF HAITI’S HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS.

EDITOR’S NOTE

by Joe Sweeney

KC’s Constellation of Stars

Those who know me realize I’m wound a bit too tight to embrace retirement, and Michelle kindly agreed to explore a dream in the hospitality sector at mid-Missouri’s beautiful Lake of the Ozarks. On the two pages that follow are a few photos of Pebble Bay Club. The irony of this boutique water front resort west of Camdenton, including Pebble Bay Club Grill, is that we’ll officially open with 20 new employees the very day this issue goes to press. Understandably, we’re spread pretty thin and perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to serve as the general contractor and have such a hands-on tie to the development, but I have no regrets. I do, however, want to apologize to our team and patrons for not being all in at all times. The project has been disruptive but reward ing and we’re looking forward to serving patrons for years to come. We welcome you and your team or family to join us. That said, we don’t plan to leave the magazine anytime soon. I have to admit that it’s a ball to build teams that have each other’s back with an organization that demands loyalty, trust and perseverance. You’ll read a lot about perfecting these traits on each page of this edition. If you like this 50th Anniversary special edition of Ingram’s, we’re confident you’ll enjoy and may care to participate in our August and November editions. We’ve written a unique playbook with this issue and will repli cate the format on behalf of the states of Missouri (August) and Kansas (November). Our 50th year editorial plan has less to do with this organization specifically as it does the shared stories of this region’s titans of business, and the extraordinary companies and organizations that have made the greatest impact. I want to thank each of you—our readers—for your loyal following and for supporting our mission all of these years. The media have dramatically changed over the years, but this is constant: Our pledge to promote the interests of the business community throughout Missouri and Kansas to the best of our ability. We hope your organization will find a place in your plan to support that mission to support your business interests. We hope you enjoy this historic edition of Ingram’s as much as our team has in producing it. Here’s to the next 50!

Here’s our salute to the business and civic champions who built this great city. I can’t begin to tell you of the joy it brings to serve as the publisher of Ingram’s for the past 28 years and to deliver this unique edition honoring some of the most accomplished companies and leaders who built the Kansas City region we enjoy today. Ingram’s 50th Anniversary edition focuses on the past half century since the magazine’s founding, and on the titans who accomplished so much that we might take for granted today. This special edition is dedicated to the doers and their teams. We’re proud to deliver a fragment of the history that has been chronicled in the pages of Ingram’s and our predecessors, Outlook and Corporate Report Kansas City, since this publication’s first edition in 1974. The pages that follow include tributes to dozens of the bright est stars over that span. It is impossible to include all who deserve recognition for building the companies and communities we enjoy today, but we hope you appreciate our mission to shine the spotlight on several of the most deserving. This publication serves as a history book for rising stars to learn how and by whom this city was built. We hope you’ll agree this may merit required reading for those who aspire to lead going forward. for his loyal service and friendship over the past 28 years. Every Sears has a Roebuck, and Jim has served that role masterfully. Will Crow and John Ward are newer additions who round out our team and are already contributing significantly. I’d also like to recognize Jack Cashill, who has contributed as an executive and senior editor for 37 years. Thanks, too, to Nancie Boland for her editing and proofread ing expertise over the past two years. We’ve built a great culture and team at Ingram’s and would like to recruit a few others. Our small but talented team has enjoyed front-row seats to observe, report on and work for decades with the most successful leaders of this region. I can’t begin to tell you of the remarkable friendships we’ve forged with so many extraordinary professionals and companies. We appreciate your allowing our Ingram’s family to be a part of your own. Building culture is often discussed and rarely perfected but we’ll continue our efforts to build a company that, we hope, punches above its weight. This team has taken on monumental projects and executed the job very well. Michelle and I could not be more pleased to be a part of this team and the opportunity to affiliate with so many terrific companies and leaders on endless levels. The past five years especially have witnessed a historic departure of long-time friends and remarkable leaders. The Ingram’s 250 pub lished each fall has seen more than 150 departures of iconic names over its relatively short eight-year history. The Boomers are departing in massive numbers—we’ve never seen such an exodus of talent. I believe my great friends and colleagues Dennis Boone and Traci Faulk will agree that this edition of Ingram’s may have been the most challenging we’ve ever produced. Traci, Dennis, Michelle and I are the closers who pull each edition together and we’ve had the pleasure to collaborate and produce 250 publications together. I want to publicly recog nize our controller and long-time friend Jim Ryan

It’s impossible to recog nize all who deserve it, but we think this issue identifies those who truly made this city great.

Joe Sweeney Editor-In-Chief and Publisher E | JSweeney @ Ingrams.com

6

I ngr am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

4th of July WEEKEND CELEBRATION PEBBLE BAY CLUB

TICKETS $20 DETAILS SOON ON THE WEBSITE

GRAND OPENING

FRIDAY, JULY 5th 7 pm SAT. JULY 6th 7 pm THURSDAY, JULY 4th 7 pm Former Lead Singer US NAVY BAND Country Current

PEBBLE BAY CLUB 100 Pebble Bay Club Drive Camdenton MO 573-317-4999 WWW.PEBBLEBAYCLUB.COM

Hotel Suites, Vacation Rentals, Grill, Marina, Rentals, Meetings, Retreats

Pebble Bay Club is a semi-private club open to the public that is located west of Camdenton at the 12 mm of the Big Nian gua, next to Old Kinderhook golf resort.

573.317.4999 • 816.679.1828 Lodging@PebbleBayClub.com Dining@PebbleBayClub.com

PebbleBayClub.com

NOW OPEN The Grand Opening 4th of July Weekend

Pebble Bay Club The Lake of the Ozarks Premier Waterfront Grill, Boutique Hotel & Resort

CORPORATE REPORT 100

Applications Due by Fri, June 14 Ranking in July Edition Continuing a Kansas City tradition, Ingram’s will salute the region’s fastest-growing companies in its 39th annual Corporate Report 100 competition, to be published in the July 2024 edition. The report will measure growth between fiscal 2020 and 2023. Public and private for-profit companies HEADQUARTERED IN KC’S 22-COUNTY METRO AREA, WITH AT LEAST $200,000 IN SALES IN 2020 AND $1 MILLION IN SALES IN FISCAL 2023, ARE ELIGIBLE. Company Name:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CEO’s Name:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ City: _________ State: _____ Zip: __________________________________________________ Phone: ________________ Fax: ____________ E-mail: ____________________ Web site: _ _______________________________________________________ Communications/Marketing Manager:____________________________________________________________________ e-mail: _ _________________________________________________________ Where is your company headquartered? _ ______________________________ ( Must be “headquartered” in KC’s 22-County Metro Area) GROSS REVENUES Consolidated from all operations/subsidiaries. Please DO NOT round dollars to nearest thousand. Show revenues to decimal . (must have had at least $200,000 in sales in fiscal 2020 and $1 million in sales in fiscal 2023): F i s c a l 2 0 2 0 : _ _____________ _______________________________ F i s c a l 2 0 2 2 : _ ______________________________________ F i s c a l 2 0 2 1 : _ _____________ _______________________________ F i s c a l 2 0 2 3 : _ ______________________________________ BUSINESS SUMMARY Full-time or full-time (equivalent) employees as of 12-31-2023:_______________ Year business was founded: _________________________________________ Describe company’s primary business: _______________________________________________________________ _______ __________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______ __________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ INDICATE THE REASON FOR YOUR RECENT GROWTH (check one or two): Service New Offices/Location Other:_________ CORPORATE REPORT 100 NOMINATION FORM PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOUR COMPANY GREW FROM 2020 THROUGH 2023 (Please be specific. May submit on another page): ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ IS YOUR COMPANY’S PRIMARY ACTIVITY CLASSIFIED AS (check one): Retail trade Manufacturing Services Family owned OTHER LOCATIONS :________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ SIGNATURE: _______________________ _______________ TITLE: ____________________ PRINT NAME:_ ________________________ EMAIL: _____________________ To be considered for CORPORATE REPORT 100, Return or Submit at Ingrams.com or email to Editorial@Ingrams.com by Friday, June 14, 2024 2049 Wyandotte, Kansas City, MO 64108 n Phone 816.842.9994 n Fax 816.474.1111 Wholesale trade Construction Other: IS YOUR BUSINESS (check one): Publicly held Privately owned New Products/Services Acquisitions Marketing

Editor-in-Chief & Publisher Joe Sweeney | JSweeney @ Ingrams.com Editorial Director Dennis Boone | DBoone @ Ingrams.com Senior Editor Jack Cashill | Editorial @ Ingrams.com Director of Sales Michelle Sweeney | MSweeney @ Ingrams.com Controller Jim Ryan | JRyan@Ingrams.com Art Director Traci Faulk | Production @ Ingrams.com Copy Editor Nancie Boland | Editorial @ Ingrams.com Digital Editor Will Crow | WCrow @ Ingrams.com Researcher John Ward | JWard @ Ingrams.com

Advertising @ Ingrams.com Digital @ Ingrams.com Editorial @ Ingrams.com Production @ Ingrams.com Research @ Ingrams.com Subscriptions @ Ingrams.com

SHOW-ME PUBLISHING, INC.

President Joe Sweeney | JSweeney @ Ingrams.com Senior Vice President Michelle H. Sweeney | MSweeney @ Ingrams.com

2049 Wyandotte Kansas City, Missouri 64108 816.842.9994 Fax: 816.474.1111

Ingrams.com MISSOURI’S AND KANSAS’ DIGITAL BUSINESS MEDIA The entire contents of this publication are copyrighted © 2024 by Show-Me Publishing, Inc. with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use in any manner of editorial or graphic content without permission is prohibited. The magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. Ingram’s reserves the right of unrestricted editing of articles. Submissions must be in writing to be considered. Ingram’s (ISSN #1046-9958) is published monthly by Show-Me Publishing, Inc. at 2049 Wyandotte, Kansas City, Missouri, 64108. Price: $49.95 for one-year, $79.95 for 2 years and $119.95 for 3 years. Back issues are $5 each. Periodical postage paid at Kansas City, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please email address changes to Subscriptions @ Ingrams.com, fax to 816.474.1111 or mail changes to Ingram’s Magazine at 2049 Wyandotte Kansas City, Missouri, 64108.

10

I ng r am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

Shook is proud to serve our

health, science and technology clients.

Congratulations to Ingram’s on serving the business and legal industries for 50 years!

ATLANTA

KANSAS CITY

SAN FRANCISCO

BOSTON

LONDON

SEATTLE

CHICAGO

LOS ANGELES

ST. LOUIS

DENVER

MIAMI

TAMPA

HARTFORD

NEW YORK

WASHINGTON, D.C.

HOUSTON

ORANGE COUNTY

JERSEY CITY

PHILADELPHIA

THE CHOICE OF A LAWYER IS AN IMPORTANT DECISION AND SHOULD NOT BE BASED SOLELY UPON ADVERTISEMENTS.

The Big

Half a century ago, this publication made a promise to the business community. We’ve never wavered on that. … and Counting

Fi y Years of Impa Significant Ev and Defining Mom

by Dennis Boone

F ifty years ago, Ludwell Gaines put his vision into ink on pa per, and it became the mission for what Kansas City knows today as Ingram’s : “I believe that Kansas City is enter ing an exciting and promising new era, an era of planned growth and a new dynamic spirit. Outlook is a new pub lication intended to report on and to be a forum for the Kansas City economic community. I believe that our approach to business journalism has never been more relevant and in demand than right now. … “We will cover business and in vestment topics which local publishers and broadcasters have heretofore been reluctant or unable to tackle. We will provide specialized investment infor mation and relate that information to

the Kansas City market. (We) will help our readers to better understand the economic forces at work here (and will present) the full range of activities and developments in Kansas City finance, investment, agribusiness, real estate, commerce, and industry.” Mind you, Lud Gaines was not a journalist—not by formal training, anyway. He was an investment broker. But thanks to that good, old reliable we see at the top of the Bill of Rights, one need not carry the equivalent of financial services certifications to perform as a journalist. So into the arena stepped Ludwell Gaines. Gaines saw a gap in traditional media coverage in 1974, one that left unexplored the vital role that busi ness played in this region. He set out to fill that gap by creating Outlook

magazine, which, through a couple ownership changes, morphed into Corporate Report Kansas City and, fi nally, Ingram’s . Over those decades, the gap that Gaines discerned half a century ago has become a canyon: Readership of the biggest daily news paper in this market has declined by 80 percent in the 21st century; broadcast coverage remains as insig nificant as it is irrelevant. What hath Gaines’ vision wrought? Ingram’s today is a number of things, but if we had to boil it all down to a single word, we’re about connections. We strive to connect our readers with the most significant trends in region al business—primarily banking and financial services, health-care and insurance, construction and devel opment, and higher education and workforce training.

12

I ngr am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

We do that with editorial themes that rotate throughout the year, providing enterprise coverage that explores how market conditions, economic trends, executive achieve ment, and other factors are influ encing growth and investment in a region that runs from Topeka to Seda lia, from St. Joseph to Harrisonville. By doing so, we connect executives and business owners with actionable intel to help them frame their own decision-making. We layer over that a robust pro gram of business and individual achievement awards, recognizing the best employers, rising young execu tives, outstanding health-care pro viders, pinnacle educators, and oth ers who set standards. By doing so, we connect the regional executive community with high achievers who present new business opportunities. Yet another layer comes with our industry ranking lists, updated each year to inform the community of the top performers in banking, profes sional services, health care, educa tion, real estate sales, construction, venture capital, and literally dozens of other disciplines. By doing so, we connect potential customers with pro- ven market leaders. Lud Gaines started it all with a single platform: a monthly print magazine. We’ve taken the baton from him and added other means of sharing this wealth of content with Ingram’s overs y of s y o. April/May, 1978 July, 1979 February, 1979 of e 5. Ingram’s today is a number of things, but if we had to boil it down to a single word, we’re about CONNECTIONS. special publications, such as our Chiefs’ Super Bowl tributes, with an increasingly robust online presence addressing the biggest news develop ments daily, and with Ingram’s Execu tive Insights, a series of daily, themed newsletters that provide additional business insights to tens of thousands of subscribers. Much has happened in this re gion—good and bad—since that first issue of Outlook came off the presses in December 1974. As we’ve learned over the years—and relearned, ex amining more than 600 issues since then—is the importance of serving as an archiver of the biggest of business trends in this region, of the most in fluential of business personalities, of the most successful companies, and of the region’s greatest collection of thought leadership from executive suites. It’s been a lot to pack into one working lifetime. In 50 years, the United States has overcome seven recessions, including the biggest one of all that didn’t earn distinction, the Great Depression, and the sharpest one of all, brought on by the global pandemic. Bankruptcy has claimed one-time business icons like Woolworth’s, Sears, and Kodak. Financial services firms like Lehman Brothers, PaineWebber, and Arthur Andersen have gone away, replaced in the roll call of U.S. business icons by both the wildly profitable—Microsoft, Ap ple, Google, etc.—and the question ably trendy (think Uber/Lyft, Bird/ Lime and other companies with eye brow-raising bottom-line numbers). Travel companions Eastern Airlines, Pan-Am, and TWA are no more. Such has been the pace of change that even some monster corporate brands have both come and gone, a la Blockbuster. Often, what’s gone away has been replaced by something better, cheaper or more easily ac cessed. As we moved from DVDs to New Looks, Same Mission: From its first issue as Outlook through its transition to Corporate Report Kansas City and, finally, Ingram’s , the magazine has focused on the trends, people and issues of greatest significance to business executives.

July, 1980

July, 1981

August, 1981

13

I ngr am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

May 2024

health-care providers, and many oth er sectors. Across almost all sectors, the big got bigger. The region has bolstered its position as a center for agribusiness, vehicle manufacturing, logistics and distribution, health care delivery, and research—even technology, boasting the title of Sil icon Prairie. All of those factors have enhanced this region’s reputation for being less likely to fall into national reces sionary patterns and more likely to emerge first from downturns, thanks to an economy that does not rely on one or two major employers in given sectors. Having been right there, stride for stride, with the business com munity through so much of this shared journey, we pause here with this special edition to commemorate a milestone year in Ingram’s history. We’re turning 50. We hope this ret rospective view of a city’s business history will be as informative and entertaining for you as it has been for us.

We strive to connect our readers with the most sig nificant trends in regional business—primarily bank ing and financial services, health-care and insurance, construction and development, and higher educa tion and work-force training.

streaming services, did you ever hear anyone longing for the good old days when they had to be reminded to re wind video-store tapes before return ing them? Publication of this magazine’s first issue coincided with the bottoming- out of a Wall Street bear market in 1974 when the Dow Jones Industri al Average closed at just under 578 points—a day’s worth of volatility in modern market movements. Closer to home, the regional pop ulation has increased by more than 800,000 souls to 2.2 million. The shifting tides of commerce saw Kan

sas City become home to a health care IT startup that grew into the region’s largest private-sector em ployer—Cerner Corp.—before home town honors escaped us with a mon ster acquisition. A similar fate was in store for Unit ed Telecommunications Co., which had grown from a rural phone com pany into one serving 15 states, then into a national telecom powerhouse called Sprint before it met the same M&A ending. Consolidations have swept through banking and financial services, con struction and development firms,

:

S

B

E

Y

I

R

T

E

H

S

E

C

D

I

E

R

C

O

Historic Series and Sponsorship Opportunities Ingram’s journalists have spent decades building editorial and assembly series, competitions and recognition programs and we’re proud of this portfolio and of serving as the steward of business news in the greater Kansas City region and throughout Missouri and Kansas. It is our privilege and honor to serve the business community and our readers. We welcome your organization to align with Ingram’s as a project partner or sponsor with one or several of these unique programs. The Historic Series is one of many opportunities for you to promote your brand and bring exceptional content and value to our readers. A D E –

T

S

H I

Special Edition 50

& Gala th Anniversary

STUDENTS PLAN THE FUTURE

POWER BREAKFAST SERIES

THE KANSAS EDITION Including Destination Kansas

PHILANTHROPIST Year of the 2024

COMMUNITY Cares

By Ian Ritter and Dennis Boone

24

Women Executives • Kansas City

THE MISSOURI EDITION Including Destination Missouri

24 20 I CONS of E DUCATIO N EXECUTIVE EXECUTIVE Year of the Year of the 2022 C S u i t e A w a r d s

EMPLOYER SERIES

816.842.9994 n Advertise@Ingrams.com n JSweeney@Ingrams.com n www.Ingrams.com

14

I ngr am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

35

I ngr am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

June 2019

Dining and Opining

Memories of old friends, lively conversation and a few laughs linger for those who shared the experience of covering Kansas City business.

by Dennis Boone

Some business lunches are soon forgotten, sometimes within hours of paying the bill. Some will stick in the memory, always. Falling into the latter category was a gathering that took place a genera tion ago—on the first business day of 2004, to be precise: Jan. 2. One might infer that date could indeed be memorable for blessing us with an early-winter high temperature of 62 degrees (yes, in January!). But that day’s gathering at the late, great Fron dizi’s Restaurant sticks in the mind for those who dined there that day: a col

Ludwell Gaines wanted a publication that would “be an essential, authoritative, timely and positive source of information about the economic thrust and focus of Kansas City.”

lection of Ingram’s magazine publish ers past and present, whose contribu tions covering the development of the Kansas City region, eventually would combine into a 50-year legacy.

At the table that day were Richard Kappa, Woody Overton, Bill “Doc” Worley, Mike Russell, Michelle Swee ney and Joe Sweeney, and while they couldn’t be present, phone connections

Torch Bearers: Leaders of Ingram’s at various times over its history included Richard Kappa, (back row, left), Woody Overton, Joe Sweeney and Mike Russell; and (seated) Michelle Sweeney and Bill Doc Worley.

15

I ngr am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

May 2024

From Outlook to Ingram’s : Half a Century in the Making  1975: Ludwell Gaines founds Outlook magazine ___________________________ 1977: Dorn Communications acquires Outlook , rebrands as Corporate Report Kansas City ___________________________ 1980: Steve Hedlund named on-site publisher ___________________________ 1984: Richard Kappa named on-site publisher ___________________________ 1986: Mike Russell and Bill Doc Worley acquire Corporate Report Kansas City , name Woody Overton as publisher ___________________________ 1987: Robert and Beth Ingram acquire Corporate Report Kansas City ___________________________ 1989: Ingram’s debuts as the new brand in the October issue ___________________________ 1997: Heritage Media acquires Ingram’s ___________________________ 1997: Two days after Heritage Media ac quires Ingram’s, Joe and Michelle Sweeney become owner-operators

Ingram’s recognizes exceptional performance because these leaders and their companies are set ting standards for business excellence in the Kansas City region. Not just through profitability, but civic and philanthropic engagement, innovative workplace design and more.

allowed others in the magazine’s rich history—founder honing Lud Gaines, Bill Dorn, Steve Hedlund, and Beth Ingram—to offer lunch-time comments from a distance. One reason this assemblage bro ught together so much knowledge about the business history of Kansas City is that they helped drive that growth. It all started back in 1974 when business owner Ludwell Gaines de cided that the business community deserved a higher level of journalis tic interest than that reflected in the ocean of fine-type stock listings and commodity price moves that account ed for so much of the daily business “coverage,” for lack of a better word. Gaines wanted a publication, he wrote in the inaugural edition, that would “be an essential, authoritative, timely and positive source of informa tion about the economic thrust and fo cus of Kansas City. I also believe that it is important for Outlook to take an active role in Kansas City’s growth.” That’s been done through the de cades on various levels. One was through collaboration with key businesses and sectors through the long-running Industry Outlook round table series. Unique among business get-togethers in this market, it has

long brought to a shared forum oth erwise competing interests who un derstood that their voice, collectively, could produce policy change to drive growth. Another has been through its sig nature series of recognition programs for individual and organizational performance. That commitment to long-time honors like 40 Under For ty, Corporate Report 100 and Wom en Executives-Kansas City have been supplemented through the years with features like the Ingram’s 250 and the Executive of the Year awards. Why? Because these leaders and their com panies are, by virtue of their successes, setting standards for business excel lence here. Not just through profit ability, but civic and philanthropic engagement, innovative workplace design and more. Lud Gaines, who died in 2018, had confessed over the phone at that long ago luncheon that “I did not know a thing about publishing” when he be gan shaping the contours of that first issue in the back room of a West port night spot. But 25 years after its founding, and a generation removed from its ownership, he observed: “I am impressed with the magazine. It has come a long, long way since I was involved.”

In Memoriam Among the key figures in the history of Ingram’s magazine who have passed away:  Ludwell Gaines (1931-2018), founder, 1975-1977  Bill Dorn (1937-2019), Dorn Communications, owner, 1977-1986  Mike Russell (1939-2009), co-owner 1986-1987  Woody Overton (1946-2017), publisher, 1986-87  Robert P. Ingram Jr. (1917-1997), owner and publisher, 1987-1997

16

I ngr am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

CALL US TODAY TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. TriCentury Bank can help you with all of your business financing needs, like we did for Epoxy Floors by Welch, LLC. in their recent shop purchase and day to day business needs.

EPOXY FLOORS BY WELCH, LLC. OFFERS: • COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL EPOXY FLOORING

• DRIVEWAY SEALING • POLISHED CONCRETE

SEE MORE OF THEIR WORK AT WWW.EPOXYFLOORINGKC.COM

CONTACT STEVE REMPEL AT 913.583.3222 TO LEARN HOW WE CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS!

DE SOTO 913.583.3222

SPRING HILL 913.592.5700 708 S. Webster Spring Hill, Kansas 66083

LAWRENCE 785.592.3211 1444 Kasold Dr. Lawrence, Kansas 66049

33485 Lexington Ave. De Soto, Kansas 66018

17

I ngr am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

May 2024

CHEERS TO 50 YEARS, INGRAM'S!

Here's to celebrating 50 years of achievement and banking on many more years of success ahead.

From your friends at

816-931-4060 • www.countryclubbank.com • Member FDIC

Giving back to Kansas City’s champions!

Reconciliation Services is a bright light in our city, revealing the inherent strength of our communities by addressing community needs to improve health and self-sufficiency. We’re proud to partner with them as they open a newly renovated building that will enhance their incredible impact.

Mazuma Credit Union is honored to support 75+ Community Partner organizations through our time, our space, and our resources.

www.rs3101.org

www.mazuma.org

Insured by NCUA.

18

I ngr am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

The Legends Live On These executives dedicated their lives to building a better Kansas City, one company at a time.

“Perfection,” it’s been written, “consists not of doing ex traordinary things, but doing ordinary things extraordinari ly well.” With that in mind, Ingram’s Living Legends series debuted in 1999 to showcase truly legendary figures of Kansas City business in the latter half of the 20th century. People who did things exceedingly well. As the roster below notes, that first year brought us iconic names like Bloch, Kemper, Nichols and Sunderland, leaders whose vision, deeds—and, let’s face it—money— were all heavily invested in the success of their enterpris es here. That success didn’t stop at the office exit: as their companies thrived, so did the broader region. The same can be said for those to whom we paid tribute

every half-decade since. Truly, a Who’s Who of commerce in Kansas City. In most cases, they handed off the baton of business and civic leadership to the generation behind them, members of which populate the 2024 Living Legends lineup. Just as those recognized before them, these are the risk-takers and innovators, in some cases bold and brash, in some cases cooler and calculating. But in every case, a change-maker. As they move past the concerns of weekly workdays into something, presumably, more relaxing or put the finishing touches on their careers, please join us in saluting them for their contributions. To each of them, our thanks for letting us be a small part of their story.

Legends Alumni, 1999-2019

1999 John Anderson Bert Bates Bob Bennett Bert Berkley Henry Bloch Lucile Bluford Bill Clarkson Jerry Cohen Jay Dillingham Bill Dunn Sr. Don Hall James Nutter Jack Morgan Miller Nichols James Olson Buck O’Neill George Powell Morton Sosland Beth Smith Jack Steadman Joe Stevens Herman Johnson James Kemper Jr. Sam Montague Crosby Kemper Jr. James Sunderland Charles Wheeler 2004 Gene Balloun Gordon Beaham Alvin Brooks Ken Baum Allen Block Ben Craig Anderson Chandler Richard DeShon Carl DiCapo

2014 Bob Bernstein Dolph Simmons Emanuel Cleaver Charles Garney Ollie Gates Jerry Reece Mick Haverty Shriley Helzberg Herb Kohn Pat McLarney Bill Doc Worley Betsey Solberg David Glass Jim Spigarelli 2019 Don Armacost Tom Bowser Joe Brandmeyer Dennis Curtin Frank Devocelle Ann Dickinson Hank Herrmann Cliff Illig John Kornitzer Frank Oddo Tom Turner Jim Polsinelli Jim Calcara Carol Marinovich Tom McDonnell John Meara Leo Morton Bob Regnier Kathryn Shields Pete Smith Tom Watson Russ Welsh Jan Kreamer Ron LeMay

Jane Flynn William Grant Anita Gorman Adele Hall Lamar Hunt Whitney Kerr Barnett Helzberg Jr. Al Mauro Byron Thompson Rose Kemp Avis Green Tucker Harry Wiggins John McMeel James Stowers Jr. Hugh Zimmer 2009 Kit Bond Jeanete Nichols Dick Berkley Jack Craft Michael Braude Bud Cray Paul Copaken Len Dawson Jack Dicus Ed Eilert Jim Ferrell Irvine Hockaday Lowell Kruse Mamie Hughes

Pat Roberts Fred Pryor

Sister Joan Miller Landon Rowland

Lou Smith David Ruf Ike Skelton

Legends

Don Ahnger The success equation for Don Ahnger was both simple and elegant: “Living by God’s Golden Rule,” he says, “as well as working smart have been keys to my long success.” Both of those aspects were on display during his decades of leadership at Midway Ford Truck Center in Kansas City. Not only was it the first Ford Motor Co. truck franchise, it’s a consistent win ner of the company’s top performance awards. Ahnger’s value proposition had something to do with that: He was running the show in 1982 when Midway Ford adopted an employee stock-ownership plan. That covers both the notion of treating others as you’d have them treat you and working smart. The thing is, the first ESOP in the U.S. didn’t come along until 1956, and even 25 years later, they still hadn’t caught fire in corporate America. They did at Midway. “I took responsibility for researching ESOPs and helping Midway Ford Truck Center be approved as a very rare Ford dealership ESOP,” he recalls. “Midway’s ESOP helped our dealership become one of Ford’s most successful truck dealerships in the world,” he notes, and proudly declares that its growth continues today. Ahnger is an Illinois native who grew up in the small town of Spring Valley, working evenings at the local drug store while in high school. “I gained a work ethic from my high school years which would carry throughout my active business career,” he says. “I also remained active in my family church (The United Church of Christ) through my high school years.” After graduating from the University of Texas in 1966, he signed up with what was then Ernst & Ernst in its audit department. There, he was actively involved in auditing client businesses, providing busi ness suggestions, and overseeing client feedback. That led to a gig with a Ford dealership in Texas and eventually to Midway. The roadway wasn’t without occasional obstructions. “One of our franchises was lost in the late 1980’s when Volvo discon tinued a brand Midway had represented,” he remembers. “We decided to fight for a just legal settlement with Volvo, which we used to expand Midway’s main facility and workforce.” Though retired and spending the bulk of his time out of state, Ahnger makes occasional trips back in his capacity as Mid way’s board chairman. He tips his hat for the firm’s continuing success to Trey Meyer, who stepped in after Ahnger’s retire ment and has turned it into a billion-dollar revenue enterprise for those employee-owners.

Betty Drees For someone who didn’t set out to become an executive level administrator, Betty Drees sure has relished the challenge. Of course, it helps to be effective in those leadership roles. For 13 years she was dean of the School of Medicine at UMKC, step ping down from that position in 2014. Then, in 2018, the leader ship itch presented again, and Drees scratched it as president of the Graduate School for Kansas City’s Stowers Institute for Medical Research. Neither role was about her career ambitions; both came in response to need. “I don’t know that it was a conscious decision to go into ad ministration,” she says. “It was more a matter of things needed to be done and a desire to be part of the decision-making pro cess to improve systems and outcomes, and that naturally draws you into administration. It was more an organic evolution.” That was particularly true at UMKC, where she found that when tasks needed doing, other administrators would fre quently sound her out. But she also experienced the pull earlier in her career, working at the VA Medical Center and then on the University of Kansas School of Medicine faculty. That’s how she became chief of medicine for the VA when a similar vacancy led her to the dean’s office. When the Stowers graduate school president left town, the request came again, and she felt her skill set complemented the need. “I’ve been doing this for six years, not so much driven by wanting this position and title, but having something to offer to support the mission and fulfill it.” Drees was raised in Wellington, Kan., a wheat-growing county near the Oklahoma border. “I grew up in a supportive family that never told you there was something you couldn’t do,” she says. Most anyone raised in a farming community knows the value of hard work, but Drees also benefitted from the family’s interest in math and science—her grandmother was a teacher, as well—so she gravitated toward medicine. For Drees, over coming organizational challenges didn’t fall into categories of crises; “I think it was a collection of things,” she says. “In both organizations, what I worked toward was the infrastructure that made it so people could be successful, whether finding financial resources at UMKC or whether it was drafting policies for our initial accreditation at the graduate school at Stowers. It’s always more a matter of thinking, “Where do we need to go? What can we do now to get where we want to be in the future?” that makes things sustainable.”

20 I ng r am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

Don Ahnger: Driven to Succeed Congratulations, Don, on being named one of Ingram’s Legends!

Midway Ford is consistently one of the top performing Ford Truck dealers in North America. It is also one of the largest Employee-Owned companies in the Kansas City Area. 24 consecutive years recipient of the Ford Motor Company President’s Award given in recognition of outstanding customer satisfaction.

7601 NE 38th Street Kansas City, MO 64161 Sales • Parts • Service (816) 455-3000 www.midwaytrucks.com

Parts and Service Open 7 Days a Week to Serve Our Customers

CONGRATULATIONS, Dr. Betty Drees!

UMKC applauds Dean Emerita Betty Drees, M.D., as a 2024 KC Legend . Your exceptional work as a mentor, researcher, colleague and leader at the School of Medicine has ensured the success of our students and faculty for years to come.

Photo courtesy of Stowers Institute for Medical Research

21

I ngr am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

May 2024

Terry Dunn Terry Dunn a banker? Before he would go on to a long career turning JE Dun Construction into one of America’s big gest contractors, Dunn did indeed log some time in a financial services setting while he was concurrently working on his MBA from UMKC. “I worked in a management training program at Columbia Union National Bank from January 1972 until Febru ary 1974,” he remembers. “I served in every department of a $450 million bank. The last six months, I served as the assistant internal auditor. The experience was an outstanding opportunity to gain a greater understanding of banking.” At about the same time, Bill Dunn Sr., Terry’s father, was winding down negotia tions to buy out the elder’s brother, Ernie Dunn and his family. “I was offered and accepted a junior officer position at JE Dunn in February 1974, the day after the acquisition was completed,” Dunn says. What followed over the next 40 years is the stuff that entrepreneurial dreams are made of. Entrepreneurship, in fact, was the defining quality he demanded not only of himself but the entire team. As recently as 1990, the year after he became CEO, the company had revenues of $155 million. Even account ing for inflation, revenues when he retired in 2014 had grown more than seven-fold on his watch, and the firm soared from 247th on the list of America’s Top 400 general contractors all the way to No. 12. Nearing the end of its impressive career, disaster struck: The Great Recession. It took a while to drain the work flow pipelines of contractors, but by 2009, the whole industry was in crisis. “Our company had not faced a major recession until this time,” he says. “Our revenue dropped from $2.8 billion in 2008 to $2 billion in 2009.” Then came the tough choices. “As CEO of JE Dunn, I had to oversee letting go over 100 office and field-management employees in January of 2009,” he says. “I tried to encourage empathy and respect for each person who we let go.” He considers himself fortunate in his early career to have been exposed to an executive class here that’s long been known for collaboration, mentorship and shared guidance. “I learned leadership and team building under many community leaders who were also great mentors,” he says. “As I was learn ing from these great leaders, I tried to hone my skill set to be a leader, teacher, and mentor to many future leaders in Kansas City.” Nearly a decade after retirement from the firm, he’s pur sued a passion for addressing social inequities after founding the non-profit KC Common Good, which will add a new element to his story, his work, and his contributions.

Greg Graves There’s a difference, Greg Graves will tell you, between climbing a mountain and plotting a career. The mountain eer sets his sights on a goal before taking that first step. But to reach the pinnacle in business? “Personally, I don’t think careers work like that,” says Graves, who retired as CEO of Burns & McDonnell at the end of 2016. “The best leaders I’ve known usually just set off to work hard at what they are doing and at the same time worked even harder on making themselves get better.” In his own case, that meant time on construction sites while working on his MBA at Rockhurst College. “I was blessed for one to spend my entire career at Burns & Mac, and through multiple random acts of hustle and blessing, I found myself named just the firm’s 6th CEO in 104 years,” Graves says. “I was probably way too young at just 42 when I was announced, but my board was wicked smart and gave me an 18-month transition before I took the helm. Eighteen months is a long time to ‘listen’ and ‘think,’ and my now infamous list of 100 things to make better had me ready to act and to act fast.” The list and the will to act were logical products of an upbringing framed by a special value placed on hard work in his native South Dakota. “No second car, no vacations other than the occasional camping trip, summers on the farm,” Graves says. “My Dad was grounded in the Great Depression, so it should be no surprise that he was always working—always.” It wasn’t long before Graves and his four brothers were working, as well; he started as a neighborhood paper boy at the age of 8. As college approached, he recalls, “I have always loved the search for the ‘why’ of things. How do things work, how is life possible, how does the science of life set things apart? That led me to the SD School of Mines & Technology.” He came on board at Burns & Mac in 1980 and, in 2003, was named CEO. Over the next dozen years, the em ployee-owned firm tripled its staff and more than quadrupled its billings. He was fortunate, he says, to lead a company based here. “I had spent my entire adult life living here, but basically zero of my work experience was local,” Graves says. “I’d been all around the world but hadn’t really been home. Within days of being named CEO, I started reaching out to local business legends—Henry Bloch, Don Hall Sr., Tom McDonnell, and more. Every person I asked for time said yes; it’s simply built into the fabric here to help each other and to always question what’s best for our town, not just for ourselves.”

22

I ng r am ’ s

May 2024

Ingrams.com

Congratulations to Greg Graves for being recognized on the Ingram ’s list of 2024 KC Legends. Your contributions to our city have been amazing.

JE DUNN IS PROUD TO CONGRATULATE TERRY DUNN

JE Dunn is honored to celebrate 100 years of builders, innovators, creators, and changemakers like former CEO, Terry Dunn, who was named as one of INGRAM’S 2024 CLASS OF LEGENDS.

23

I ngr am ’ s

Kansas City’s Business Media

May 2024