40 Barnett Helzberg, Jr.

After selling his 143-dealership diamond fiefdom to Warren Buffet several years back, Barnett Helzberg turn- ed his attention to innovative philanthropy. He founded the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, which has proven highly effective despite its slacker acronym, HEMP. He also co-founded University Academy, an ambitious charter school sponsored by the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Helzberg was also a very public supporter of Mark Funkhouser’s mayoral bid.

39 Bob Regnier

The chairman & CEO of Blue Valley Bancorp, Bob Regnier has emerged as arguably Johnson County’s most civically active and influential all-around player. He is much in the news: acquiring Lenexa’s Western National Bank; co-chairing a drive to launch a Johnson County Education Research Triangle Authority; being honored with Shawnee Mission Education Foundation’s Patron Award. The banking corporation that he launched seventeen years ago in a trailer now has $700 million in assets and operates five area branches. Regnier himself owns 31 percent of the corporation currently valued at $90 million.

38 Mark Funkhouser

Kansas City may have a “weak mayor” system, but if knowledge really is power, Mark Funkhouser may become the most powerful mayor in recent Kansas City history. The former auditor really wanted to be the City Manager. With that path blocked, he turned his attention to the mayor’s race. He is willing to run the city. It remains to be seen whether the entrenched powers shaken loose by his ascendancy will let him. Weak mayor or not, with more than $1 billion per year to spend, for as many as eight more years, Funkhouser should be formidable. Time will tell how high Funkhouser will ascend on Ingram’s Power Elite list.

37 Irv Hockaday

A retired Hallmark CEO, Irv Hockaday has kept his hand in Kansas City’s civic affairs as chairman of the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute. In this role, he has been steering the proposed affiliation of Saint Luke’s and KU Medical Center and has used his clout to garner $150 million in corporate pledges to support the affiliation. Of late, he has also served as a director of Aquila, Crown Media Holdings, Dow Jones, Inc., Ford Motor Company, and Estee Lauder.

36 Rich Hastings

Saint Luke’s Hospital made the news again last month when CEO Rich Hastings guided it to a Distinguished Hospital award for patient safety, putting Saint Luke’s in the top five percent of all hospitals nationwide. A few years earlier, Hastings, who also serves as president and CEO of Saint Luke’s Health System, led the hospital to a highly prestigious Malcolm Baldrige award for quality. Still, after ten years at the helm of Saint Luke’s, a system with more than 5,000 local employees, it remains to be seen whether Hastings has sufficient clout to make a go of Saint Luke’s proposed interstate affiliation with Kansas University Medical Center and University of Kansas Hospital.

35 Tom Bowser

Six years after assuming the role of president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Tom Bowser has solidified his position as a civic force. In addition to running a company with more than 1,000 employees and $1.6 billion in revenue, Bowser serves as a board member of the Greater Kansas City Chamber, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, and the KCADC. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the KU Edwards Campus and the KU Center for Research board of trustees. Bowser is one of the good guys, who throws his power gracefully.

34 Mike Brown

The chairman, CEO, and president of Euronet World-wide, Mike Brown co-found- ed the company in 1994 and has served as its chief executive ever since. To read the news on Euronet is to read a virtual march through the world that would make Alexander envious: Euronet acquires Spanish company; Euronet forms Asian joint venture; Euronet plans ATM deployment in Ukraine. Euronet now has in-country operations in twenty-one nations and has business lines in eighty additional countries. Not bad for a thirteen year-old company out of Leawood. Watch Mike Brown and Euronet Worldwise closely as this $630 million company may swiftly blow past $1 billion in annual sales with the possibility of doubling that again.

33 Clark Hunt

With the death of his father, the legendary Lamar Hunt, Clark Hunt has assumed more responsibility in the management of the metro’s most closely followed business, the Kansas City Chiefs. Now Chairman of the Board, Hunt played a critical role in the passage of the stadium improvement referendum and is actively involved on a few NFL management boards. Hunt is also a founding investor-operator in Major League Soccer and owns two franchises. As has become obvious, they do not include the Kansas City Wizards. In addition, Hunt serves as CEO of Shoreline, Inc., a financial services advisory. While few non-Kansas Citians earn their way onto Ingram’s Power Elite, Hunt throws enough weight to claim his position here.

32 Jim Ferrell

Only global warming stands between Jim Ferrell and the continued success of the Kansas City area-based Ferrell- Gas, the country’s second-largest pro-pane retailer with more than one million customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Ferrell serves as chairman, president, and CEO. Still, despite a warm start to the winter, estimated earnings for the last six months increased 5.3 percent to $111.5 million from $105.9 million a year ago. Jim Ferrell carries significant clout in business and industry and he and his wife Zibbie contribute significantly to area private colleges and philanthropies.

31 Steve Dunn

Steve Dunn serves as chairman of the J.E. Dunn Construction Group, ranked among the nation’s twenty largest contractors with pre-booked annual revenues for 2007 of $3 billion before the year began and 17 office locations coast-to-coast. In addition, ENR Magazine has named J. E. Dunn one of the nation’s top ten general contractors. Steve represents the third generation of family ownership in a company whose cranes have graced the KC skyline for nearly a century. Steve and brother Terry Dunn are at the forefront of driving the growth at J.E. Dunn.

«April 2007 Edition