Ingrams September 2023

Greg Silvers CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT/CEO, EPR PROPERTIES

Chase Simmons CHAIRMAN/CEO, POLSINELLI, PC

Greg Silvers completed the leadership trifecta at EPR Properties last year, adding the role of board chair to his executive duties as the publicly held company completed its rebound from the pandemic hangover. Social distancing became a revenue killer in 2020 for a company whose holdings are primarily tied to large-audience venues, inflicting a 37-percent decline in COVID Year One.

One can only wonder how much scale this home-grown law firm led by Chase Simmons can attain as it asserts its place among the nation’s legal hierarchy. Back to back years of double-digit revenue growth have pushed the top line to $800 million, and the firm contin ues its march up the rankings of the AmLaw 100, American Lawyers ’ annual ranking of the nation’s biggest practices.

COLLEGE: B.S., from Tennessee Technological University; J.D., University of Kansas School of Law 2022 REVENUES: $658 million, up nearly 24 percent from the previous year. SHARES RECOVER, TOO: The company’s 52-week share price range topped out at $47.71, hand somely rewarding anyone who got on board in 2020 when it dropped below $25 a share. LEGAL EAGLE: Silvers is a KU law school graduate who worked at what is now Stinson, LLP, before coming on board a year after the company was formed as Entertainment Properties Trust. ABOUT EPR: It’s all about the experience with this real estate investment trust: EPR has $6.5 billion invested in 363 locations across North America, including casino resorts, museums, amusement parks, zoos, aquariums and marinas, golf complexes, entertainment districts, concert venues, fitness centers and many others that draw people together.

COLLEGE: B.A., Political Science, Southern Methodist University; J.D., University of Georgia Law School (cum laude) HERE AND THERE: The firm, founded with a team of three lawyers in 1973, now has more than 900 in 22 offices across the U.S. More than 220 of them are based at the mother ship in Kansas City, the second-largest cohort among firms operating here. POST-PANDEMIC LANDSCAPE: : “In the face of uncertainty never seen in our lifetimes, we dou bled down on our values and culture. Those associates that were with us at that time saw it and have expressed how much they appreciated it. It’s a factor now when speaking with young attorneys. A firm can SAY anything, but what did they DO when things got hard? As the labor market tightened, this has been a differentiator for us.” ON MANAGING TALENT: “We have combined that with Polsinelli Path , which is a career planning and mentoring program that we believe is unique among law firms of our size,” Simmons says.

Jeff Simon OFFICE MANAGING PARTNER, HUSCH BLACKWELL

Brian Sloan CEO, WACHTER, INC.

Husch Blackwell specialized in business law, and in nearly a decade under the leadership of Jeff Simon, the Kansas City office has helped fuel overall growth of the firm. But Simon doesn’t see his duties stopping with billable hours: He’s a powerful advocate for responsi ble social change to lift up the truly disadvantaged. He’s also he’s a longtime supporter of law enforcement, having previously served as president of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners.

According to Brian Sloan, if there’s a recession in sight, it isn’t making itself known in his technology deployment/network communications/electrical world. Things are going great: “I am very proud of our YoY growth of 12 percent, coming off last year’s record year,” he said. “As well as our ability to maintain our current customer base while adding well over 150 new clients.” He went on to add, “We could grow even more today, if we could find more of the right people!” Wachter’s headcount is currently 2,008.

COLLEGE: B.A., English, J.D., University of Missouri SCALING: Acquisitions and organic growth within its six defined practice groupings have taken the firm’s lawyer count to more than 800, of whom about 135 report to Simon in Kansas City. The Pla za-area location is one of more than 20 offices the firm maintains across the nation. FOCUS: The firm is organized around six business frameworks—energy/natural resources, financial services, food/agribusiness, healthcare/life sciences/pharmaceuticals, real estate/development/con struction, and technology/manufacturing/transportation—and groups all aspects of its work within that structure, combining litigators with transactional staff to align their client-focused missions. EARLY RISER: Simon is a St. Louis native who was in the Class of 2003 for Ingram’s 40 Under Forty awards, spotlighting rising executive talent. COURTROOM: An accomplished trial attorney, Simon has a client roster that includes Fortune 500 firms.

2022 REVENUES: $333.4 million RECESSION ODDS: “If I had to say, maybe 25 percent?”

KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “Downtown baseball stadium, for sure. I think this would do wonders for our city. Any time you have the opportunity to add 1-2 million visitors to Downtown, we have to take advantage of it.” ON THE NEW KCI: “Used it many times. I love the new airport terminal. It is beautiful, intuitive to use, and I love how you can search online to check short-term parking availability.” SALUTING A MENTOR: “Brad Botteron, the owner of Wachter, spent the last five years of his Wachter career mentoring me one-on-one. He taught me to make every aspect of our business ‘world class.’ He taught me to be impatient with short-term goals and patient with long-term goals.” MORNING READ: “Company numbers, email, news, financial news.”

David Smith PRESIDENT/CEO, ASSOCIATED WHOLESALE GROCERS Like so many of his generation, David Smith is taking the final lap in a career that took him to the top of this region’s third-largest private enterprise. He’ll leave behind an enterprise considerably larger than he inherited in 2015, serving more than 3,400 separate supermarkets in a 31-state region. Most recently, he notes, AWG opened America’s first fully automated multi-temperature zone distribution and logistics facil ity, which will transform the labor-intensive history of filling the shelves.

Pete Smith CHAIRMAN, MCDOWELL RICE SMITH & BUCHANAN In an economic climate where many are talking about belt-tightening, long-time legal eagle Pete Smith is proud to say McDowell Rice has added both staff and attorneys over the past year. Recognized as one of Missouri’s Top 20 Law Firms by Missouri Lawyers Weekly, McDow ell Rice has been serving clients for more than 75 years. He’s not just a business-law expert, but has a start-up history of his own with a legal-services company he founded and sold.

2022 REVENUES: $12.2 billion KC’S NEXT BIG THING: “From our perspective, the priority is quality of life in the Greater Kansas City area. Quality of life requires good income and jobs, great housing conditions, health, education, environmental quality, personal and business security, and civic engagement, where citizens believe the government is definitely on their side. While this may not be glowingly aspirational, like having the best international airport in the Midwest or having the best stadium, it is at the heart of what we all need and expect. We would like to see more access to healthy foods in underserved neighborhoods, meaningful safety and security reforms, investments in neighborhood renaissance, and educational system improvements.” ON THE NEW KCI: “It’s a very nice airport and as nice as any in the U.S. As a local, I miss the efficiency of the old airport and being able to walk far less to get to and from the gates and parking. However, I understand and appreciate the compromise to have a great facility for visitors and those traveling through KCI.”

COLLEGE: B.S., Accounting, University of Kansas; J.D., UMKC School of Law RECESSION ODDS: “I do not think it is going to happen unless the Fed continues to raise interest rates. Rapidly rising and high rates kill business.” ON THE NEW KCI: “I have flown in and out. It is great and what we have needed for a long time.” SALUTING A MENTOR: “It was Claude Rice who died a few years ago at age 99. I went to work for him at age 18. The most important thing I learned from him was to begin by ‘thinking.’ Start every project with a blank piece of paper and your imagination.” MORNING READ: “Francisco’s “money speech” from Atlas Shrugged .” LEADERSHIP HIRE TRAIT: “Decisiveness.” DREAM CHARITY MISSION: “Direct, no-overhead assistance to people who are so poor that their children don’t have enough to eat.” EMPLOYEES: The firm currently has a staff of 50, and Smith optimistically declares that it plans to add more.

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September 2023

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