Ingrams September 2023

Mike Bukaty CHAIRMAN/CEO, BUKATY COMPANIES

DeAngela Burns-Wallace PRESIDENT/CEO, EWING MARION KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION DeAngela Burns-Wallace is excited about the future, citing the Kauff man Foundation’s key investments such as KC Scholars, Great Jobs KC, Real World Learning, and ProX. “All of which,” says the new chief executive there, “give community members the access to a brighter financial future.” She is also looking back fondly: “We are proud of the learning and impact of Kauffman Scholars as it sunsets after a 20-year investment in Kansas City’s future leaders.”

Mike Bukaty has been at the helm of his enterprise for more than 30 years and continues to lead it into growth. Just this past year, Bukaty Companies acquired a new property and casualty business, doubling the size of its P&C activity. Asked about a dream charity, he told us he’s already addressed that question: “Bukaty Companies sponsors a number of local charities whose missions support health initiatives, affordable housing and education.”

COLLEGE: University of Kansas KC’S NEXT BIG THING?: “A new Chiefs stadium.” ON THE NEW KCI: “The airport is a great addition to the city and creates a positive first impression for visitors.” SALUTING MENTORS: “I had a number of mentors who taught me the importance of integrity, tenacity and humility.” MORNING READ: “Local business news.” IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP SKILL: “Adaptability.” STAFFING PLANS: Currently with 160 on the team, Bukaty says, “we expect to add employees.”

KNEXT BIG THING: “We need to continue to tend to the infrastructure needs that will support growth in our region. Aside from that, we need to focus on providing the real-world learning experiences that will give our next generation the opportunity and creativity they will need to usher KC into the future.” SALUTING A MODEL: “Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State, Col in Powell, and former chancellor of the University of Kansas, Bernadette Gray-Little—both strong, mission-oriented leaders who focused on impact and people.” BEST BUSINESS BOOK: “So many books. So little time. Creativity Rules by Tina Seelig is a long-time favorite, and recently I’ve enjoyed reading A Follow Up to Beginner’s Pluck: A Roadmap to Success in Highly Uncertain Times by Liz Forkin Bohannon, a graduate of the Kauffman FastTrac program.” LEADERSHIP: “Passion and determination for long-lasting, systems-level change. Involving being stewards of Ewing Kauffman’s legacy without ever losing sight of, or connection with, the people and communities we serve.”

Andrew Callahan PRESIDENT/CEO, HOSTESS BRANDS

David Callanan CO-FOUNDER, AE WEALTH/ADVISORS EXCEL

Andy Callahan saved his biggest achievement of the year for press deadline: Just this month, he reached an agreement for Hostess Brands to be acquired by J.B. Smucker for $5.6 billion. Clearly, a guy who spent years as a naval flight officer, knows how to hit a target. Since 2018, he’s led the continuing resurgence of the company that makes the iconic Hostess Cupcake, Twinkie, and Ding-Dong.

Go ahead and call David Callanan a double-dipper, but you can’t argue with the results: AE Wealth is one of the region’s biggest wealth-management firms, and Advisors Excel, a marketing firm that helps roughly 700 wealth advisers nationwide by providing tools they need to succeed.

2022 REVENUES: $1.38 billion COLLEGE: B.S., Mechanical Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy; MBA, Florida Institute of Technology; Executive Agribusiness Seminar, Harvard Business School STOCK SWINGS: The folks who assign stock symbols at NASDAQ will, on occasion, let their sense of humor slip through—the platform’s symbol for Hostess is TWNK. Over the past year, shares have traded between $28.56 in November and a 52-week low of $21.81 in late January before surging in the last full week of August trading to hit $27.73, up 14.6 percent in a single day. FEEDING THE MASSES: Callahan’s private-sector career has been all about food. He’s held leader ship roles at Tyson Foods, Hillshire Brands, Sara Lee, and Kraft. INDUSTRY ADVOCATE: He’s also on the board for the Consumer Brands Association, an advocacy group that unites packaged goods producers from sectors as diverse as pet products, canned soup, breweries, cheese makers, and many others.

COLLEGE: B.A., Management and Marketing, Washburn University DOMINANCE: According to SEC data, AE Wealth had $1.924 trillion—with a “t”—in assets under management earlier this year. That ranks the firm at No. 7 nationwide, behind such well-known names as Vanguard, Fidelity, Blackrock, and J.P. Morgan. COAST-TO-COAST: The firm services more than 160,000 client accounts across the nation, nearly 2,300 of which fall into the high-net-worth category. GIVING SPIRIT: Under Callanan’s watch, corporate philanthropy has been a priority. Last year, Ad visors Excel gave more than $925,000 to organizations that address hunger and poverty, enhance education, and improve financial literacy. Employees backed that up with more than 5,500 hours of volunteer time in their communities.

David Campbell PRESIDENT/CEO, EVERGY

Scott Campbell CEO, TUKHS-ST. FRANCIS

It’s in darker moments that an energy executive sees people shine. Dave Campbell points to a massive July storm that caused wide spread tree and power-line damage and deprived more than 200,000 Evergy customers of power. “I am immensely proud of the Evergy team for their tireless efforts to restore power to all of our customers,” he says. “We are also grateful to neighboring utilities who sent more than 1,500 line workers to help in the restoration efforts.”

There’s little question that finances made Topeka’s St. Francis Health System the sick man of Kansas hospitals in 2017, but a partnership between the Kansas City region’s biggest hospital and the for-profit Ardent Health proved to be just what the doctor ordered. Entrusted to take that infusion of support and run with it is Scott Campbell, who was named CEO of the 328-bed hospital in May of 2022 and took over the next month.

2022 REVENUES: $5.86 billion COLLEGE: B.A., Yale; J.D., Harvard Law School; Masters, Interna tional Relations, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar) ON THE NEW KCI: “I travel frequently, so I was a heavy user of the old KCI and I am now a frequent flyer out of the new KCI. While we all have fond memories of the old airport, the new airport is a massive and necessary upgrade—a great way to welcome travelers to KC. And we are very excited to team with three other KC companies to form the 816 Consortium and build a new solar array at KCI, further enhancing the world class KCI facility. Working with the city, the target is to bring the first phase of the solar array online in 2026.” SALUTING MENTORS: “Two mentors played critical roles for me early in my career. One relentlessly drilled the importance of doing high-quality work. If you consistently deliver high-quality work, your reputation builds and doors open—everyone wants a strong contributor on their team. A second men tor taught by going out of his way to support me in my career development and enable opportunities.

2022 REVENUES: $1.19 billion COLLEGE: B.A., Virginia Commonwealth University; M.A., Healthcare Administration, Medical College of Virginia-VCU PREVIOUS STOPS: Campbell’s path through 30 years in health-care has taken him to stops in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. A RARE COMBO: With some exceptions on the high end of the scale, hospitals in Kansas tend to be either for-profit or community-owned. The renewal at St. Francis was executed in a partnership between The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent. It seems to be working; 2022 revenues were up a healthy 12.7 percent at the hospital. That figure has more than doubled over the past decade. ACQUISITION MODE: Earlier this year, the hospital acquired Optimum Health Family Practice, bring ing to 31 the number of primary-care providers employed by the Topeka campus. RELIGIOUS ROOTS: The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, which formerly owned the hospital, estab lished the Topeka location in 1909.

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September 2023

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