TRAVIS CARPENTER

Half a lifetime ago—remember now, he’s just 33—Travis Carpenter strapped on the apron in the Martin City kitchen of Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue and started hand-breading livers and gizzards for the fry cooker. “Although I’m vice president now,” he says, “my heart and passion still reside in the kitchens of our restaurants.” Carpenter has been along for the ride as the company has grown from that south Kansas City outpost into a metro-wide brand as the region’s premier—only?—white tablecloth barbecue joint. “I’ve been blessed,” he says, “to be a part of a family-focused, values-driven company.” His service with the company was interrupted when Purdue University came calling with a full scholarship. He answered that call and earned a degree in hotel and restaurant management, and he hasn’t forgotten what the Boilermakers gave him. “I have stayed very close and involved with the school since graduation,” he says. “I serve on a board for the program, and have a scholarship in my name that I’ve funded since 2002.” But it hasn’t stopped there; Carpenter is on track to earn his MBA from the University of Kansas later this year.

The restaurant, and its president-CEO, Case Dorman, “have also taught me the importance of giving back to the community,” he said, leading to participation with Hope Faith Ministries, City Union Mission and the Red Stocking Breakfast, among others. He and his wife, Kelly, are the proud owners of Chloe, who—considering the scraps potential from Carpenter’s work—might be the happiest golden retriever in Kansas City.

TED CHARTIER

He came out of Wichita, a city known for its wide-open entrepreneurship and its hard-work-makes-anything-possible culture. Ten years ago, Ted Chartier made the move to Kansas City as a newly minted financial adviser, but unlike many others who enter that field, he did not have family money to use as a foundation. Cue the background: “I learned early on the value of hard work,” says Chartier, 34, who has just been elevated to vice president-wealth management for UBS Financial Services. That work ethic helped him build a business from nothing to a $100 million line of investments for a client base of high-net-worth families.

At UBS, he’s received the Leader’s Circle Award for top performance, and last year, he ranked as the firm’s fastest-growth adviser in both Kansas City and the state of Kansas. His production growth ranks in the top 10 percent of comparable advisers in the country, UBS officials say, and his growth in his assets under management—52 percent—puts him in the top 5 percent nationwide. Put those numbers into context: Chartier is doing all of that from a mid-level market that lacks the kinds of potential client wealth found in larger cities. He’s also one of the youngest officers in the firm.

This 34-year-old father of two also volunteers with various charities, and plans to attend the FBI Citizens’ Academy this spring. “I love Kansas City and feel blessed to have established my career in this wonderful community,” he says.

JOHN CLUNE

John Clune is one of those rare executives who succeeded by taking the career ladder down—about 12 stories down. There, beneath what the rest of us know as Lenexa, is a sprawling, 3-million-square foot subsurface business park that is home to Cavern Technologies, where the 38-year-old is president and oversees day-to-day operations. Cavern develops, leases and operates build-to-suit data centers that serve more than 70 companies in the region with a safe, secure, reliable and cost-effective site. Among those clients are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, VinSolutions and CyteWorks.

This past year, Clune says, “was incredible for me professionally and for Cavern Technologies, as we took our state-of-the-art data center and co-location facility from 30,000 to 60,000 square feet.” Before joining Cavern, Clune was a producer for Universal Underwriters Group, Thomson West and the Lockton Companies’ office in Atlanta. His experiences taught him about operational efficiencies and team-building, and those who know him say his ability to work in and motivate teams has been a foundational element of the success at Cavern.

Clune, who earned his degree in accounting at the University of Missouri, is on the advisory boards of Ah-Ha Tree and BigWebApps.com, and he’s and active supporter of Catholic Charities, the Foundation for Inclusive Religious Education, and of the Rev. Jerry Waris, a Catholic priest from Kansas City who works on mission trips to El Salvador to improve living conditions there. He and his wife, Angela, make their home in Kansas City.

TOM COLLINS

Career has always been the means to a greater end for Tom Collins: “As a native Kansas Citian, one of my most significant achievements has been giving back to the community in which I was raised,” says Collins. At 36, he’s vice president of Portamedic operations for New Jersey-based Hooper Holmes, which provides underwriting support, medical testing and other services for the insurance industry. Portamedic is the largest business unit in the publicly traded company, and Collins is charged with leading a team of more than 5,000 employees and contract examiners. Before joining Hooper Holmes three years ago, he was principal and owner of Preferred Finance Partners, which provided accounting and consulting services to businesses, and previously worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton. His success has been a tool he wields to make a difference, not just with volunteer efforts on behalf of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Chordoma Foundation, but with a non-profit start-up of his own—he helped found the Supporting Kids Foundation in 2009, and it has donated more than $70,000 to local families touched by childhood cancer and cancer-related illness. “I am fortunate,” says Collins, “to have not only owned my own business in this community, as well as been part of starting a local charity, but am now also raising my family here and serving as a senior leader of a publicly traded company.” He and his wife, Maggie, have a son, Freddy, 2, who will have a brand new little brother or sister this summer.