BEST AD AGENCY
Bernstein-Rein comes up Gold once again. BR ranks in the top 50 agencies in the United States and represents some of the most prolific clients in the world, helping them sell more than $400 billion in goods and services last year alone. The agency employs about 300 people and has called Kansas City, Mo., home since 1964, when Bob Bernstein and Skip Rein founded the agency. Barkley Evergreen & Partners and Kuhn & Wittenborn tie for the Silver. The Bronze award goes to the downtown-based NHK&W, which offers PR services and research as well as advertising.

BEST ARCHITECTURAL FIRM
The Gold this year goes to HNTB. Founded in Kansas City nearly 90 years ago, the HNTB Companies have more than 300 employees in some 50 American cities, the largest of its offices here in Kansas City. CDFM² scores this year's Silver. The firm added a Sports/Collegiate group this past year and also grabbed a Best of Show at the BMA Fountain Awards. Winning the Bronze is Gould Evans Goodman, a design firm with 27 years of experience in architecture, interior design, urban planning, landscape architecture, graphics and information systems.

BEST BANK
Under the leadership of Crosby Kemper III, UMB Bank secures still another Gold. This past year Fitch assigned UMB its highest rating, an A+. U.S. Banker named the Kansas City-based UMB one of the top 100 banks in America from an equity perspective and one of only two Missouri banks in its top 100 category overall. Commerce Bank, UMB's cross-state and cross-the-street cousin and long time rival, nets a Silver. International megabank, the Bank of America, has begun to establish a real hometown presence through its generous community development investments and foundation grants and secures the Bronze.

BEST DAY SPA
Bijin Salon & Day Spa of Prairie Village wins this year's Gold. It's got a reputation as cool as its name and a loyal following of affluent customers. Named one of the top ten small businesses of the year, the professionals succeeded by entertaining their customers and exceeding their expectations. Mario Tricoci's Salon & Day Spa moves up a notch to earn this year's Silver. Its Kansas City locations, one in Leawood, the other on the Plaza, offer hair care, body waxing, massage, nail care, and more.

BEST GENERAL CONTRACTOR
We might as well retire this category. J.E. Dunn Construction Co., the winner of the Gold, has a lock on it. J.E. Dunn has long since established itself as the dominant construction company in the Kansas City area. Name a notable project, and you will find J.E. Dunn: among others, the Union Station restoration, the Liberty Memorial, and the Sprint world headquarters in Overland Park, the largest construction project this city has ever seen. According to Forbes, J.E. Dunn ranks among the top 15 privately held construction companies in America. As it did last year, Walton Construction wins the Silver, probably for its ability to finish projects on time and under budget as it did this year with the renovation of Harrah's North Kansas City. Turner Construction debuts on the list as the Bronze winner.

BEST HOSPITAL
St. Luke's Medical Center, a key component in the St. Luke's — Shawnee Mission Health System, has literally and figuratively towered over Kansas City health care for more than a century. The Plaza-based hospital is perhaps best known for its heart care. It wins the Gold. North Kansas City Hospital, not on the list last year, earns a Silver. It likewise has a strong reputation in heart care and a reputation as well for imaginative advertising. The Overland Park-based Menorah Medical Center wins the Bronze this year as it did last year.

BEST HOTEL
The Fairmont Kansas City wins the Gold once more. The Plaza-based hotel—once known as the Alameda Plaza and more recently as the Ritz-Carlton—takes its name from its company's flagship hotel, the legendary Fairmont Hotel atop San Francisco's Nob Hill. The hotel combines elegance, efficiency and an increasingly valuable location to make it the hotel of choice for many Kansas City visitors. Its location strengthened by the restored Union Station and soon the Liberty Memorial, the Hyatt Regency-Crown Center moves up a notch to wins the Silver. The Hyatt recently received a Four-Star designation from Mobil/Exxon and a Four-Diamond nod from AAA. The Kansas City Marriott Downtown breaks on to the list this year as the winner of the Bronze.

BEST LAW FIRM
Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, a client-driven firm with more than 300 attorneys and 400 professional support staff, wins the Gold. The firm has offices in Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri; Overland Park, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; Edwardsville, Illinois; and London, England. The high-flying Blackwell Sanders also has affiliate relationships in Auckland, Guangzhou, Leeds, Manchester, Shanghai, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Shook Hardy & Bacon, also a national and global mover and shaker and the largest law firm in KC, moves up a notch this year to win the Silver. Lathrop & Gage, which opened a Boulder office and strengthened its already prominent IP department, garners the Bronze.

BEST ACCOUNTING FIRM
Andersen takes the Gold this year. Andersen is a leading provider of assurance, business consulting, tax and business advisory services to the region's leading public and private companies. Andersen has been an integral part of the Kansas City business community since 1923, when it was established as the firm's fifth office. The Kansas City office has grown, dispensed with its "Arthur" and now employs more than 250 professionals. Two firms tie for the Silver, H&R Block and Baird Kurtz & Dobson, which has grown since its Kansas City founding in 1923 to become America's eighth largest consulting and accounting firm. Accenture wins the Bronze.

BEST COMMERCIAL REALTOR
Even after the Highwoods merger, the developer of the Country Club Plaza retains its high profile in Kansas City. Since its founding in 1905, the J.C. Nichols Company has influenced the character of our city, and it wins the Gold. Since its inception in 1984, Grubb & Ellis|The Winbury Group, one winner of the Silver, has gone from being a local, independent real estate firm to one with a national affiliation. At the other end of the spectrum, the family-controlled, multigenerational Block & Co. has been part of Kansas City's history for over 50 years. Block shares the Silver. Cohen-Esrey Real Estate Services, winner of the Bronze, just moved its KC headquarters from the Plaza to City Center Square, and it has expanded into five regional offices in the Midwest.

BEST SHOPPING DISTRICT
The historic Country Club Plaza wins still another Gold. Though nearing its 80th birthday, the Plaza shows no signs of growing obsolete. High-end new residential development at 501 Ward Parkway and the conversion of the Hemingway and the Sulgrave to upper-end condos are indicative of the renewed value of a Plaza location. The new Valencia Center has also added charm and diversity to the district. The corporate literature for Town Center Plaza of Leawood describes it as an "upscale strip-center." The emphasis here is on upscale. As southern Johnson County continues to gain critical mass, Town Center Plaza continues to mature into a genuine "center," and for the third straight year wins the Silver. The Bronze goes to the one "traditional" enclosed shopping center, the still prospering Oak Park Mall.

BEST IT TRAINING CENTER
It's good to know you're appreciated. Ingram's readers have given Conseva another Gold this year for its technology education. Conseva remains focused on its students and on their job placement. ExecuTrain landed the Silver award, and it's not surprising. With business technology always in flux, ExecuTrain remains flexible with its offering of desktop training, certifications, consulting and custom courses. The Bronze goes to the DeVry Institute of Technology. DeVry takes pride in its dedication to students and clients. Their business ethics have been recognized in a Torch Award from the BBB and in number 11 slot on the 2000 list of "100 Best Corporate Citizens."

BEST COMPUTER TRAINING
Another top-ten ranking in Ingram's fast-growing 100 and a Gold in Ingram's Best of Business makes for a good year at Conseva, formerly known as Step 1. In addition to the name change, the firm moved to a new location and began franchising. Ingram's
readers like the fact that Conseva works hard to get its students jobs, particularly through its Fast Track program. The Silver this year again goes to New Horizons. With more than 250 offices in 40 different countries, New Horizons may provide something of a model for Conseva. From the day Ted Waitt founded Gateway on an Iowa cattle farm, the company's business has been about people. Gateway's cow-like spots and its training programs from office software to certification for IT professionals earn it this year's Bronze.

BEST RESIDENTIAL REALTOR
J.D. Reece Realtors took the Gold this year and JC Nichols Residential took the Bronze, but together they may have a lock on the top spot for the foreseeable future. In the biggest residential real-estate brokerage acquisition in Kansas City area history, the parent company of J.C. Nichols Residential, HomeServices.com, recently purchased JD Reece. The purchase will lead to the merger of the two largest residential brokerage firms in the area, and create a one-stop shop with more than 2,000 sales associates and expected 2001 gross sales of more than $4 billion. No need to feel sorry for RE/MAX, the Silver winner. This global real-estate franchise network is the number one real estate organization in the United States and Canada.