Ingrams September 2023

Ken McClain PARTNER, HUMPHREY, FARRINGTON & MCCLAIN

Marc McEver DEALER PRINCIPAL, OLATHE FORD

Ken McClain has two reasons to be optimistic looking forward: For one, he thinks the economy will generally withstand the threat of recession. The other is the simple relief from a pandemic in retreat. “Being able to resume a normal schedule following Covid,” was huge for his Independence law firm, he says. “Trials and complex arbitra tions are proceeding, and we have been able to resolve cases quicker because of the skills we learned during Covid utilizing remote access.”

Marc McEver’s operation maintained its place as the local destina tion for all things Ford over the past year by opening its Ford Pro Elite Commercial Vehicle Service Center—the third of only 120 to be opened nationwide. Where else but the center of the U.S. to locate a vital commercial vehicle resource? Currently employing 340 people, McEver says the intent is to boost staffing by around 5 percent within the coming year.

COLLEGE: B.A., Graceland College; J.D., University of Michigan Law School RECESSION ODDS: “Low, between 10-20 percent. Inflation continues to fall, so interest-rate in creases will slow. Employment is high and wage growth is moderate.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING?: “Beautiful but very large, long concourses. Elderly travelers will have diffi culty, pickup is a nightmare. For Kansas City based travelers, the old airport was much easier to use.” KEY MENTOR: Norman Humphrey, Jr., my deceased partner. From him, I learned to be confident in my own ability and to put one foot in front of the other.” MOST-ADMIRED CEO: “Tom McDonnell, former head of DST—a great civic and business leader.” BEST BUSINESS BOOK EVER READ: “ How to Win Friends and Influence People ,” by Dale Carnegie. LEADERSHIP HIRE TRAIT: “Self-evaluation. Knowing yourself well enough to improve yourself is critical for a leader to be effective.”

2022 REVENUES: $785 million RECESSION ODDS: “Very slim. I believe we will have a slowdown, but not what most people would consider a recession, like 2008-09.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Moving the Royals stadium is really big; I hope we can do that without killing Power & Light. The Plaza needs some help—not a complete overhaul, but a major clean-up. The Plaza is the top attraction for KC, and it needs to look like it.” ON THE NEW KCI: “The airport is a huge success, and I congratulate KC for a job well done. I use it several times every month, and I still get excited every time I get off the plane!!! Love the stores and restaurants; it’s a treat when you’re delayed.” MENTOR: “Don Maddux, previous owner of Olathe Ford Lincoln, was my mentor. I still miss him every day. His respect for our employees and customers was what I learned the most. He ALWAYS put them first!!!!”

Ryan McMonagle CEO, CUSTOM TRUCK

Michael Merriman PRESIDENT, FINANCIAL HOLDING CORP.

“I am proud of our team’s strong performance during what is proving to be a turbulent economy,” said Ryan McMonagle, reflecting on recent times. Custom Truck has seen continued growth and strong perfor mance during the first half of 2023, with revenue up 25% during the first half of 2023 compared to 2022. Just this spring, McMonagle stepped in to succeed Fred Ross of the founding family as chief exec utive for this publicly traded company.

Michael Merriman tends to keep a low profile, but when your hold ings become part of the speculation on a new home for the Kansas City Royals, the spotlight will shine. His FHC is the holding company for a wide range of properties and companies, many of them in the Downtown area, but his firm has been in the news of late with reports that it has assembled nearly 100 acres in North Kansas City for con sideration as a site to replace Kauffman Stadium.

2022 REVENUE: $1.57 billion RECESSION ODDS: “We have been very intentional about the end markets that we serve: utilities, telecom, rail, and infrastructure. We continue to see strong underlying demand fundamentals in these end markets and, as such, are planning on growth in 2024.” KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “I think bringing the baseball stadium closer to Downtown will be a great opportunity to invest in the local neighborhood. And I can’t wait to see what happens on the riverfront, especially with Chris and Angie Long’s investment with the KC Current.” ON THE NEW KCI: “I am really impressed with KCI. I travel a lot for work, and KCI makes a great first impression on visitors to Kansas City. Some of the executive team we recently recruited to Kansas City said the same thing: that the new KCI leaves such a favorable impression compared to the old airport.”

COLLEGE: B.A., Business Administration, Southern Methodist University DOWNTOWN BOOST I: FHC previously partnered with Burns & McDonnell to develop what is now 1400KC, a $148 million office tower originally intended to be a new home for Waddell & Reed. When an overseas firm snapped up the Overland Park financial services giant, those plans fell through— until health insurer Blue KC stepped in to claim that spot for its new headquarters, starting in 2025. DOWNTOWN BOOST II: One of FHC’s most prominent holdings, Americo Life, is partnering with Canadian Pacific Kansas City on a redevelopment that would add a pocket park and a 13-story resi dential tower at 13th and Broadway. It would have 255 apartments plus retail space facing Broadway. Merriman reportedly owns 18.95 percent of Americo. FINANCIAL POWERHOUSE: Americo’s online profile shows a dozen subsidiary corporations focused on services like mortgage lending, consulting, investment advisory, and workplace benefits, among others.

Trey Meyer PRESIDENT, MIDWAY FORD TRUCK CENTER

Bill Miller CHAIRMAN/CEO, WELLSKY

It’s always great to see a plan pay off, and Trey Meyer is enjoying that sight right now. “Having a record year after the challenges of COVID-19 felt great,” he said. “It underscored that we made the right decision to retain all of our people and stay the course with our business plans.” At present, Midway’s employee headcount is at 281. Asked about the future, he said, “We are in a growth phase, so if anything, I see us adding more people.”

More than two decades into his health-care IT career, Bill Miller signed on with a company called Mediware Information Systems in 2017 as an agent of change. Mission accomplished: He soon rebranded the company as WellSky, then oversaw a structural changes that have more than doubled revenues in six years. The company serves more than 20,000 clients world wide, including hospital systems, blood banks, government agencies, hu man services organizations, home health providers and hospice agencies.

RECESSION ODDS: “I’ve been reading about a looming recession for several years—eventually, the news will be correct! I have to admit, however, that there are seemingly unsustainable things going on with our economy and the world today. I think the smart move is to hope for the best and plan for the worst, keeping many pivot options open.” ON THE NEW KCI: “It works well, and it is right for the future of KC, but I sure do miss those short walks from the terminal!” SALUTING MENTORS: “One unique influence was David Stanley. I saw him speak at an Ingram’s luncheon in the early ‘90s, and his message to ‘Leave the woodpile higher than you found it’ has always resonated with me.” MORNING READ: “ The Wall Street Journal .”

2022 REVENUES: $611 million COLLEGE: B.A., Economics; M.A., Urban Planning/Public Policy, University of Kansas GIVING BACK: Miller’s zeal for data to drive growth and innovation also has a philanthropic element. He’s on the board of the WellSky Foundation, which was formed in 2019 to address the social deter minants of health. The foundation says those are far greater factors in a patient’s health than access to or quality of care. CAREER PATH: Miller previously served as CEO of OptumInsight, and before that, as senior vice president of technologies at Cerner Corp., where he was tasked with oversight of the company’s global managed services and outsourcing. ABOUT WELLSKY: It was founded in 1980 with a staff of just two, producing clinical software in blood and pharmacy-management solutions. After going public in 1991, it resumed its private-com pany status in 2012.

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September 2023

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