BRAD STRATTON No doubt Brad Stratton, 38, takes great pride in his accomplishments at Merrill Lynch where he works as Kansas City sales manager and senior financial consultant. Stratton has also been a major contributor to Kansas City’s civic life first as a Centurion, then as a board member of ReStart and a church elder at Village Presbyterian among other efforts. But experiences in his family life have helped him keep his success in perspective. Ten year ago his wife Kimberly gave birth to a “beautiful daughter,” Brady, who was diagnosed with Edward’s Syndrome and given less than a year to live. This past November Brady celebrated her tenth birthday and continues to shower the Strattons, including sister Corinne “with her love and smiles in her own special yet limited way.” Says Stratton, “For me this is what living is all about and why we choose to live in Kansas City.”

MIKE SWEENEY If most of the 40 under 40 nominees are best evaluated by their resumes, Mike Sweeney is best evaluated by his scouting report. And what terror the report must strike in opposing pictures. Last year, the 27 year-old California native was shifted to third in the batting order and responded with the most productive RBI year in the Royals history, the 6-3, 225 pound first baseman had 206 hits and drove in 144 runs on the way to a .333 batting average in this, just his second full season as a Royal. He was consistent throughout the year and deadly in the clutch. His intensity with runners on base earned him respect from opposing coaches and a spot on the all-star team. Kansas City breathed a collective sigh of relief when Sweeney resigned during the off season. In this, the era of rapidly shifting loyalties, Sweeney has the potential to be the first Royals superstar since George Brett.

WILLIAM R. THOMAS Back when he was captain of the football team at Lee’s Summit high, Thomas, 38, had little thought of becoming an entrepreneur. The trait did not run in his family. After graduating from the University of Missouri at Rolla and working nine years as an engineer, he launched C&M Restoration “because at my previous employment I was expected to ignore conduct contrary to everything I had been raised to believe.” He took C&M from scratch and raised it to be a solid, healthy company. “I had great teachers,” says Thomas in explaining his success. Along the way he picked up two other companies, Gunite Inc. and ILICO LC. Thomas is now the president and owner of all three. He is also the proud father of three and, as he notes, “My most significant achievements begin with my wife and children.” He and wife Leslie and the family still live in Lee’s Summit.

JODY TUCKER The 33 year-old Tucker does not shy away from self-definition. “Who am I?” he asks. “An entrepreneur,” he answers. This focus has helped him accomplish a good deal in a short time. In 1998 he helped merge two companies with different cultures to form the Cytek Corporation, of which today he is the CEO. In those three years the company has doubled its staff to 20 with, Tucker believes, “the lowest employee turnover ration in the industry.” Within Cytek, he has launched two new companies to better serve his customers, Syberos Security Group and the Cytek Web Management Group. Tucker is also a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, a mentor with the Helzberg Entrepreneur program, and a counselor with Kauffman Foundation’s Fasttrac program. “What is important to me?” he asks. “My family, employees, and customers,” he answers. Tucker and wife Melanie live in Lee’s Summit.

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