BRIAN HUTCHIN

Downtown Kansas City is a well-defined center of gravity for business in the region, but there’s plenty of commerce going on in eastern Jackson County, and that’s where Brian Hutchin has carved out a home-field advantage for the past seven years. In that span, his team at UMB, where he’s community bank president, has more than doubled the bank’s line of commercial business. He attributes that, in part, to determination.

“I am never happy with meeting the minimum requirements,” says Hutchin, 39, “and it is this determination that has let me to my most significant career achievements.” Getting it done as a commercial banker means rolling up your sleeves outside the office, and Hutchin does that, serving as treasurer on the board of directors for the hometown Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation board as well as the city’s Chamber of Commerce, where he’s now vice chairman for business and economic development. He’s also past president of Lee’s Summit’s Rotary Club, serving as treasurer there, too. Hutchin and his wife, Megan, have two girls, 11-year-old Emma and Ellie, 7. “I have had wonderful role models in my life who have taught me the importance of giving back and helping others,” says Hutchin. But back to that Downtown gravity: Its pull reaches into the suburbs, too. Hutchin was recently promoted to director of commercial business development for UMB, and he’ll soon be working from a Downtown office.

MICHELLE JACOBS

She worked for some of the biggest names in their fields—Saatchi & Saatchi, Western Auto, American Century and H&R Block. But when Michelle Jacobs looked into the future of marketing, she saw an opportunity as an entrepreneur and jumped all over it. She co-founded Alight Analytics in 2007 with a mission to help other companies take control of their integrated marketing efforts.

“I love to help others by solving their problems,” says the 39-year-old. “Luckily for me, there are a lot of people out there who need help understanding how their marketing portfolio is performing.” Growing a company without any funding is a challenge, she says, “but when I hear stories from my clients about how we are contributing to their success, it is the ultimate reward.”

From a humble start with business partner Matt Hertig, launching from a guest room in her home, she’s now managing partner for a multi-million-dollar firm with 15 employees and 28 clients. That took some doing for someone inclined to be an introvert, but focusing on the problems helps build the foundation for successful client relationships. “After making our clients happy, my joy comes from traveling the world and evangelizing analytics,” Jacobs says. To that end, she’ll speak at two international data conferences this fall, in Rome and Austria. Her community-service interests include time on the marketing committee for Community LINC, and managing a $120,000 annual Google AdWords Grant for the friends of Mexican Animal Welfare..

QUENTIN JENNINGS

Meet Quentin Jennings, Exhibit A in the case for demonstrating that you can be entrepreneurial without actually owning a business. A shareholder at Polsinelli PC, Jennings concentrates on corporate transactions, startup ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. From small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, he’s worked with a client based on deals ranging from $100,000 to $250 million, drawing on a skill set that includes effective communication, problem-solving, leadership and team play.

The second in his family to earn a college degree—and the first lawyer—Jennings traces the roots of his success to “my single-mother’s work ethic,” which inspires him to excel in every task. “I consistently employ a Can-Do management style, with a vision and tenacity to achieve superior results in the most efficient and timely manner,” Jennings says. He and his wife, Melissa, are parents of 1-year-old Braylen, and Jennings balances work and home life with additional duties as a governor’s appointee to the Kansas City Board of Elections, and as a member of Power Connections, a mentoring program for businesses owned by minorities and women. He has logged volunteer service with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, is a graduate of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Missouri program, and the 36-year-old Jennings, a skilled interviewer and recruiter, is also chairman of the Polsinelli Diversity Committee.

MATT JOHNSON

Matt Johnson is not an “I” kind of guy. “My most significant career achievements,” says the 37-year-old, “come from watching others around me succeed.” Johnson is manager of assurance services for CliftonLarsonAllen, the national accounting firm with offices in St. Joseph, where he has a get-it-done reputation for tackling complicated projects, demonstrating superior communication skills with clients and internal staff, and training associates and interns. “I love teaching, showing others what I know, what mistakes I have learned from, providing them with real-world examples and helping them get started in their careers,” he says.

He has taught at more than a dozen conferences and training sessions dealing with assurance, fraud detection and audit-software use, and he’s a member of the firm’s national instructor program. Outside the office, “faith, family and fitness are the foundations of my personal life,” says the deeply religious Johnson. In addition to service with his church as deacon, finance committee member and basketball coach, he’s been a flag-football coach for the YMCA, volunteered for the St. Joseph United Way, graduated from Leadership St. Joseph, and is an active member of the Buchanan County GOP and Optimist Club. An avid runner—he has competed in five marathons to date—Johnson is particularly committed to fitness not for its own sake, but to maximize the quality of time spent with wife Becky and their three children, Haley, 10; Torren, 7; and Kane, 2