Adams-Gabbert & Associates, Inc.

The Road to Smoother Projects

With the single-source, standardized view of metrics provided by its “Executive Project Dashboard” tool, Adams Gabbert & Associates helps clients avoid potholes like budget overruns or missed deadlines on projects. Clients can customize each component, with such data as hours spent vs allocated or budget spent vs allocated.

While innovation allows the firm to improve the operations of other businesses, Adams Gabbert has grown its own, receiving the “Top Diversity Owned Business in Missouri” award for three consecutive years. Its founder, Jo Anne Gabbert, has earned regional finalist recognition in the “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year” awards program three times.

The company’s net income grew by 400 percent between 2004 and 2005. Employees spread that wealth back to the community, with involvement at several area charities.

Assurant Employee Benefits

Balancing Risk With Reward

Success in overlooked markets is Assurant Employee Benefits’ specialty.

One product, Serious Disability Benefit, shows the company’s fresh approach. Statistics show that one in three Americans will be disabled for at least three months before the age of 65. Yet fewer than 25 percent of full-time employees at small companies and just 42 percent of those at large companies are covered.

Enter Assurant. The company used objective “Impairment Ratings” from the American Medical Association to define disability, which established objective benchmarks. How unique is this product? Unique enough that Assurant has a patent pending.

While expanding its business reach into Canada, Europe and Latin America, Assurant is expanding its philanthropy to many local charities operating in three main areas:  education, neighborhood preservation and health and social welfare.

Decision Insight

Virtual Consumption

Real-life answers. That’s what Decision Insight provides to clients wondering how consumers will react to products once they’re in a store.

The company uses online, virtual environments to replicate the actual purchasing behavior of consumers. The company landed in the top-5 of the judging in last year’s American Marketing Association’s EXPLOR award and is up for the award again this year.

With equity growing by 117 percent between 2004 and 2005, the company is in its strongest financial position. Although most business flows in from out of town, the firm supports the activities of its Kansas City employees, resulting in a broad range of philanthropic activities.

Entertainment Properties Trust

Putting Movies in Motion

On your next visit to a megaplex, consider the complex negotiations, agreements and financing that went into delivering your popcorn and blockbuster.

Entertainment Properties Trust considered those details and is now the only company in America pinpointing the entertainment-related real estate niche. The company is designed to be a one-stop shop for owners and developers needing assistance with buying land, financing construction and executing long-term leases.

Launched in 1997, Entertainment Properties Trust’s $1.4 billion asset portfolio includes 67 megaplex locations in 24 states as well as Canada. Closer to home, the company supports organizations as varied as the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, the YMCA and the Learning Exchange.

Freightquote.com

Shipping Simplified

For business owners shipping goods, Freightquote.com works the same way Travelocity works for travelers: users compare carriers, choose the best rate and service, then book and manage the selection online.

The excellent implementation of this simple idea has resulted in the firm making appearances on the Inc. 500 and the Entrepreneur Hot 100. One of the first companies to apply Internet technology to shipping freight, Freightquote.com is now around five times larger than its nearest competitor. Its technology is so respected that eBay has selected it to power the freight calculator function in its shipping center.

Growth since the website launched seven years ago has been quick and steady, with the company employing more than 550. Those employees are active in a variety of philanthropic activities in the Kansas City area.

Pro Circuit

Sensing New Opportunities

Commercial and industrial electrical contractor Pro Circuit considers service as its main product and employees as its main marketers. With that as a foundation, the firm focuses on keeping employees happy, which results in top-quality service that keep customers happy.

And happy they must be, considering Pro Circuit grew from 20 employees in 2004 to 72 in 2006. With complex projects involving multi-million dollar equipment, those employees also receive detailed training and certification to ensure they can solve problems on the job. 

The firm helps solve problems in the community as well, offering support for the ACLU, the House of Menuha, the Human Rights Campaign and other local non-profit organizations.

Sunlight Saunas

One Hot Business

The sun never sets on Sunlight Saunas. With 80 percent of sales through the Internet and distributors in countries ranging from Australia to Sweden, the company’s products are proven to be universally appealing.

The far infrared sauna industry also seems universally appealing, growing from a small group in 2003 to more than 50 large and small competitors today. So Sunlight Saunas developed the Armana line of saunas, full of innovative heating technology as well as sleek designs. For marketing sizzle, the company recently pursued a major PR campaign resulting in USA Weekend, the Robb Report and Playboy magazine coverage.

Among other contributions, the company donates a portion of profits from every sale to the American Heart Association to prevent heart disease among women.

TranSystems Corporation

Getting People From Here to There

Nothing much happens in the global economy unless people and things travel from point A to point B. Ensuring a smooth journey is the goal of TransSystems.

The firm offers full-scale professional services to both public and private sector transportation clients whether they use highways, railroads, water or air. One recent project involved rebuilding a section of railroad track destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. While working, Hurricane Rita hit. But the team still completed the project—on time and on budget.  

This reliability and quality has resulted in the firm’s financial progress over its 40-year history. True to its transportation roots, TransSystems supports Racing for Kids, which sponsors visits by professional drivers to children’s hospitals.

Two West

Meeting the Challenge

Two West is an ad agency with a twist: it specializes in what it calls “Challenger Brands,” which compete against established industry leaders with more money and greater resources.

So Two West helps define challeger brands using a specific five-step process. The agency practices what it preaches, with innovative ideas such as Brand U Seminar, specific workshops for challenger brands, and The Brand Show, the nation’s only hour-long radio program dedicated to discussing marketing and advertising. Two West also became the first Kansas City area agency to create a specific Latino division, appropriately named Two West Latino.

Two West commits to a minimum of  two pro-bono clients each year, supporting the DeLaSalle Education Center and the March of Dimes in 2006.