Ingrams September 2023

SEPTEMBER 2023 • VOLUME 49, NO. 9

Perspectives 4 Editor’s Note

The collective wisdom of this year’s Ingram’s 250 inspires a call to action from Kansas City’s leadership. by Joe Sweeney Service, as we’ve come to know it, is holding up for now, but the Age of Tech may yet impose unseen costs for all of this convenience. by Jack Cashill As if business owners didn’t have enough to keep them up at night, rapid advances in artificial intelligence are outstripping legal and legislative guardrails that could limit the actions of bad players. by Dennis Boone Multiple factors are on the minds of members of the Fed, complicating their task of walking a fine line between an inflationary economy and a high interest business climate. by Ken Herman

9 Between the Lines

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11 Reflections

Features

12 In a Nutshell

Special Reports 21 The Ingram’s 250

7 Driven to Excel

Honorees from Ingram’s 40 Under Forty program get behind the wheel for a unique Porsche Driving Experience Event. By Will Crow Mike Heitmann With retirement on the horizon, the chief executive of Garney Construction wades into the details of crafting a succession plan for an employee- owned company with more than $1.5 billion in annual revenues.

The leaders of Kansas City’s most influential companies reflect on The Next Big Thing, prospects for an economic downturn in the com ing year (and how they’re preparing for it), share personal experiences with mentors who inspired them, talk about qualities they seek first in leadership hires—and even ponder the question of what type of charity they might start if they had a chance.

14 Q&A with …

16 Inflection Pointers

Half a century ago, Kansas City rose to a rare challenge to remake some major infrastructure and reposition itself on the national stage. Times have changed,

but business leaders in the metro- politan area believe new opportun- ities are emerging almost every- where, and must be seized. 21 The 2023 Ingram’s 250

Retirement continues to levy its toll on business leadership in the Kansas City region, as this year’s updated Ingram’s 250 demonstrates. But make no mistake, the pipeline of power leaders is strong and bears great might. Wecome the eighth class of Ingram’s 250 and the region’s most powerful exercutives.

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I ngr am ’ s

September 2023

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