Ingrams September 2023

Kevin Barth CHAIRMAN/CEO, COMMERCE BANK OF KANSAS CITY A bank with a 155-year history must be comforting to other long lived businesses. Over the past the year, Kevin Barth says Commerce has added a significant number of new commercial clients. “Some of these companies have been in business for over 80 years, he said. “Many were attracted to our reputation for helping businesses access the payments system and our reputation for safety and soundness.”

David Ball PRESIDENT/CEO, BALLS FOOD STORES

Talk about a 2023 highlight. “This year, we are celebrating 100 years as a locally owned, family grocer serving the greater KC area,” says David Ball. “We are so blessed with our amazing 3,000-strong Family Teammates.” He’s the third generation of Ball leadership that started with Sidney and Mollie Ball in 1923, heading up a chain known in the Kansas City area for flying the flags of grocery brands like Price Chopper, Hen House, Sun Fresh and Tippin’s Pies.

KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Being the first city to be green—truly green.” ON THE NEW KCI: “It’s very nice. I don’t travel a lot, but I love the new airport.”

COLLEGE: B.S., Business Administration/Economics, Graceland College; M.B.A., Rockhurst University 2022 REVENUES: $1.5 billion RECESSION ODDS: “I am cautiously optimistic, but we must re member that the cost of taming inflation is to slow down economic activity by raising interest rates.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “I’m very excited about the prospects of a Downtown ballpark and its po tential to sustain and even strengthen the already positive momentum we’ve generated downtown.” ON THE NEW KCI: “The front door to KC has a new, modern, energetic look for people visiting here.” SALUTING MENTORS: “I had several key mentors. Mike Braude, a former banker as well as a former President of the Kansas City Board of Trade, made some of the most influential contributions to my career. Surround yourself with the best people you can and make sure they feel appreciated.” MORNING READ: “ The Wall Street Journal. ” LEADERSHIP HIRE PRIORITY: “Emotional intelligence.” DREAM CHARITY MISSION: “Assisting children who are aging out of the foster care system.”

SALUTING MENTORS: “A very important mentor throughout my life was my father, Fred Ball. I also believe life’s a village to draw experiences from, so I would say I continue to learn from our teammates.” LEADERSHIP HIRE TRAITS: “It’s all about relationships. My grandparents always told me that we are not in the grocery business; we are in the people development business.” DREAM CHARITY MISSION: “Through Ball Charities, our mission is to enrich and enhance the lives of children and families, to create a world in which every person is safe and connected to a strong family and a healthy community.” EMPLOYEES: Currently at 3,000-plus, he says, the wise move in his sector is to resist standing still. “Change is constant. You either grow, or you decline. It’s a lot more fun to grow. We are always growing!”

Marion Battaglia PRESIDENT, SOAVE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Brad Batz PRESIDENT/CEO, FIKE CORP.

In the world of luxury vehicle sales, Marion Battaglia and team are surfing the crest of some positive waves. The bounce back from a dreadful 2020, he says, produced “a huge uptick in purchasing of the higher-priced vehicles we offer, vehicles that were $150,000-plus.” With the vehicle shortage created by pandemic supply-chain disrup tion, “the values of not just some of the new cars in short supply rose, but also the used-car vales skyrocketed as much as 30 percent.

When you think of a family-owned business, the image that comes to mind is not likely to be a global company in the industrial safety sector, based in the suburb of Blue Springs. Well, think again. Brad Batz is leading a nearly 80-year-old enterprise founded by his grand father, Les Fike Sr. It produces safety systems that manage risk from fires, pressurized and fire-suppression systems, combustible dust explosions and other potential threats from systemic failure.

2022 REVENUES: $540.2 million CURRENT TRENDS: “What we’ve seen in 2023 was stabilization and even a downward trend in used-car values, but there is still a high level of interest in the upper end. Those are still selling.” BUYER MOTIVATIONS: “Several things. Many of us lost people to COVID, so maybe there’s an ele ment of ‘I’m going to enjoy life, I’ve worked my whole life, I’m going to reward myself with something fun. Frankly, in our end of the biz, we’re not just selling transportation, we’re really selling more of a lifestyle product.” THE LINEUP: Soave is the parent for Aristocrat Motors, featuring such upper-end brands as Mer cedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW and Jaguar, among others.

2022 REVENUES: $298.3 million COLLEGE: B.S., Business Admin., Univ. of Florida; MSc, Lean Operations/Manufacturing, Cardiff Univ. QUOTABLE: “We were born on invention, engineering and manufacturing,” says Batz. “Oftentimes, we’d run across something and ask, can we make that?” STRATEGIC THINKER: After taking the leadership baton from his uncle, Les Fike Jr. (in 2014 as president and 2017 as CEO), Batz crafted an aggressive restructuring to improve efficiency across the enterprise and transition to a market-served organization. ON THE FRONT LINES: In leading a global company with roughly 1,000 employees, Brad Batz has had a front-row seat to the supply-chain ills that have plagued the world’s economy in recent years. But his executive mandate also includes the manufacturing process and quality control, HR and IT functions.

Kim Beatty CHANCELLOR, METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Kimberly Beatty oversees Kansas City’s first public institution of higher learning. It’s been through a few names over more than 100 years, but its goal has always been providing educational oppor tunity for the community it serves. Today, with MCC’s Advanced Technical Skills Institute on Troost having been voted Kansas City’s 2023 favorite vocational school, Beatty Is justifiably proud of, as she put it, “Creating greater equitable access to higher education.”

Rob Bratcher PRESIDENT, COMMERCE BANK OF KANSAS CITY

Rob Bratcher has no problem citing the 2023 bright spot. “I think our team did an amazing job guiding our clients through the liquidity crisis that impacted the banking industry in late spring,” he says. “The team took a very proactive approach to helping customers understand how to safely maximize deposit yields while providing great insights into the strength and stability of Commerce. By being proactive, we not only retained our relationships, our team also added several new customers.”

COLLEGE: B.A., M.A, English; Ed.D., Higher Education, Morgan State University RECESSION ODDS: “I don’t have the appropriate financial acumen to respond to this, but things seem to be moving in the right direction.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Continuing to build upon the great assets we have in the city to make a destination where people can work, live, and play.” ON THE NEW KCI: “Fabulous! It has to be one of THE BEST airports in the country.” SALUTING A MENTOR: “Dr. Christine McPhail. She often provided me with sound wisdom regarding my career. Essentially, don’t sweat the small stuff. While this seems simple, it’s easy to get upset over things that take too much energy and focus away from the real work.” MOST-ADMIRED CEO: “There are many, but I’m going to provide a response that may seem a little weird—Queen Elizabeth. She, in my opinion, was the ultimate example of leading with grace.” EMPLOYEES: “825 full-time; 1,100 part-time. Hopefully, we will grow because we will have more students!”

RECESSION ODDS: “There continues to be strong demand for hiring in several industries in our reg- ion, so until we see a broader pullback in hiring, it’s hard to see a major recession in the coming months. I do think it’s still possible we will see a pullback and perhaps a moderate recession, but likely not until the second half of 2024.” ON THE NEW KCI: “I think we now have a front door that reflects the quality of our city. And it’s still one of the most convenient airports in the country!” LEADERSHIP HIRE TRAITS: “Empathy.” SALUTING A MENTOR: “I have been fortunate to have several mentors, but if I had to narrow it down to one, it would be my mother. I spent several summers going to work with her and observing how she led her C-Stores. One of the key attributes she taught me was never to ask someone to do something you are not willing to do yourself. She also often re minded me that you have nothing to lead without a team, so treat everyone with kindness and respect.” MORNING READ: “The WSJ app and Bloomberg App for business news. Al Jazeera App for global news.”

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September 2023

Ingrams.com