Ingrams September 2023

Mark Kleeman PRESIDENT, SAVE HAVEN SECURITY

Greg Klein PRESIDENT/CEO, INLAND TRUCK PARTS

Safe Haven Security launched in 1999, and by 2012, had crossed the $10 million revenue threshold. That’s a nice step up, but nothing compared to what would follow: It took just six more years to record a 10-fold increase, pushing past the $100 million mark. And as of last year, it had nearly quadrupled again. Mark Kleeman is the man with his foot on the pedal driving growth for the North Kansas City based company.

As a key cog in the logistics sector, Gregg Klein obviously under stands truck traffic and points out that Kansas City, at the heart of the country, has a lot of semi traffic on its interstate system. Con cerned about the traffic problems other cities have, he suggests building regional bypass roads that “would minimize the impact on existing developed areas and allow future developers a clear vision of where the future of our road transportation footprint is heading.”

2022 REVENUES: $386 million NO. 1: Safe Haven Security is now the nation’s biggest authorized ADT dealer, with more than 100,000 system installations across 75 metro areas. SECURITY & MORE: The company’s service line includes in voice- and climate-control systems, remote locks and arming devices, lighting and surveillance systems. GROWTH FACTOR: Leveraging the power of connections, the company has implemented an agent referral program to reach professionals selling real estate, and it turned to a builder and developer to design its Homebuilder Program, creating another a line of repeat business.

2022 REVENUES: $195.45 million MILESTONE: “2022 marked our 40th year of ownership by our employees via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan,” Klein says. “Our employees are the cornerstone of our success, and their favorite slogan is ‘We act like we own the place, because we do.’” RECESSION ODDS: “We believe there is a very high risk of a recession in the next 12-16 months.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “The 470 Expressway in Denver and the 130 Toll Road bypassing Austin are great examples of toll roads alleviating traffic congestion. Anyone who has made the north-south trip through the DFW metro understands the congestion that a lack of a good bypass road alternative brings. Bypass roads could be located anywhere from 5-15 miles beyond portions of the current I-435 loop.”

ON THE NEW KCI: “I think it is a great improvement over the old KCI terminal. The only complaint I have is they didn’t put in enough restroom capacity.”

Ann Konecny CEO, FOLEY EQUIPMENT CO.

Randy Klindt FOUNDING PARTNER/CEO, CONEXON

Ann Konecny brings an influential business pedigree to her leader ship at Foley Equipment. This third-generation CEO is leading her company through the nationwide transition to heavy-duty electric vehicles for the construction sector through new partnerships. If that wasn’t enough, Konecny aims to support the next generation of workers who will use Foley equipment.

When co-founding Conexon in 2015, Randy Klindt recognized the need to connect rural families—lots of them—with the most cost-efficient fiber-to-the-home broadband available. Quite the undertaking, but Conexon has defined itself as an industry stan dard for successful rural electric co-op fiber networks. From one home to the next. Klindt had led his team over some exceptional milestones with four-digit growth over four years.

2022 REVENUES: $173 million KANSAS OUTREACH: Conexon partners with El Dorado, Kansas-based Butler Electric Cooperative in a $21 million project to bring fiber-to-the-home internet access to approximately 4,300 rural Kansans. The partnership marks Kansas’ first electric cooperative fiber broadband network and the first Kansas project for Conexon. RECOGNITION: The company has been on a four-year run through Ingram’s Corporate Report 100 list of the region’s fastest-growing companies, including three Top 10 finishes the past three years. BEFORE CONEXON: Through hands-on expertise, Klindt aided in the operations of Co-Mo Connect in Missouri and OzarksGo in Arkansas.

COLLEGE: B.A., Finance and Economics, Wichita State University WORK-FORCE DEVELOPMENT: Foley is a Wichita native who retains deep ties to the community; her company and her alma mater’s WSU Tech launched the Foley Internship Program in January, providing students with hands-on experience at Foley Equipment locations. BROAD REACH: The company has 18 locations in 15 cities, spanning the two-state area from Sedalia to Liberal in southwest Kansas. FAMILY VALUES: Her grandfather founded the company in Wichita in 1940, and on her watch, it has grown to provide sales and rentals of new and used heavy equipment like backhoes and loaders, plus power generators and more. LOCAL FOOTPRINT: Foley Equipment Co. also secured the right to serve as the exclusive autho rized Shuttlewagon dealer serving Kansas and Missouri.

Ray Kowalik CHAIRMAN/CEO, BURNS & M C DONNELL

Ray Kowalik is about to take his place in an increasingly long line of influential departures among the region’s executive elites; he has announced plans to retire early next year from the firm he has led for nearly seven years. In that span, Burns & Mac has become a driving force in employment growth—it now has a global staff of 13,500— expanded its service lines, and leapfrogged to No. 1 status among engineering firms in this region in billings.

. . . here they are: Kansas City’s most powerful and influential business executives. Think we missed someone? Let us know: Editorial @ Ingrams.com And be sure to check back in 2024 to see how this line-up changes over the next year!

2022 REVENUES: $6.86 billion COLLEGE: B.S., M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Missouri-Columbia ON DECK: With his retirement announcement, Leslie Duke will become the eighth chief executive in the history of the 125-year-old firm and the first woman to hold that title. MORE THAN ENGINEERING: Kowalik took the ball and ran with it as the firm lengthened its reach by expanding its footprint in construction, architectural, environmental, and consulting services. VANISHING BREED?: Kowalik is a fierce advocate for employee ownership, especially the stripe prac ticed by Burns & Mac. His story belies the conventional wisdom that people can’t end their career with the same company where it started—he’s been there since the ink was drying on his Mizzou diploma. IN THE LEADERSHIP: Kowalik worked on the front lines for 14 years before he became an officer in 2001. Six years later, the firm made him president of the Energy Group and then added him to its board in 2009. He succeeded Greg Graves as chairman and CEO at the start of 2017.

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I n g r am ’ s

September 2023

Ingrams.com