In the following pages, read about firms that specialize in anabolic therapeutics, energy, drug development, commercial construction, clean water technology, transportation technology, legislative databases and podiatric devices. Some companies are built around inventions like a traffic signal system or a foam memory insert for shoes. Others fulfill more traditional needs in the marketplace like energy or construction.
If these companies share a quality, it is an emphasis on relationships, be it with clients, investors, government institutions, personnel, or the Kansas City business community.
In addition, these dedicated entrepreneurs understand their products or services inside and out. All founded in the last five years, these startups display imagination and potential in the marketplace, and may be the corporate leaders of the next decade. We at Ingram’s are pleased to introduce these entrepreneurial enterprises.
ACCELERATION LLC“A combination of pricing, timing and quality, is to thank for the success of Acceleration LLC, according to Keith Koehler, CEO. Founded in late 2003, the Lee’s Summit firm specializes in analytic chemistry related to pharmaceutical product development. The staff at Acceleration LLC determines the purity and stability of a new pharmaceutical, as well as the methods for formulating a product. Koehler elaborates: “When the drug gets formulated into a product, a tablet or syrup, we will develop methods for that. When you get your bottle of pills, we determine the expiration date. It has to do with the safety of the product.” In the pharmaceutical business, delays can cost a company millions, so timeliness and customer service are critical to the operation. Two of the three founders are veterans of Marion Labs, and are likewise inspired by the philosophies and business model of Ewing Kauffman. “Our philosophy is to treat others as you would want to be treated,” says Koehler. “We have a business model that enables us to do that.” The firm employs 22 associates, almost all of whom are degreed scientists. “We tell new associates we want them to retire from the company.” Acceleration plans to manufacture its own products in the future, and has a short-term goal of growing to 90 or 100 associates, but intends to grow at a controlled rate. “The real focus of the company is to provide as many high quality jobs for as many people in the area.”
GENESIS GAS & OIL LLC“We look at new areas to drill for oil and gas reserves,” explains Jeff Mohajir, president and CEO of Genesis Gas & Oil LLC. “We implement a drilling program and see if we can get commercial results. Our strategy is organic growth through drilling.” A privately held oil and gas exploration company, Genesis Gas & Oil LLC began in 2005 through a private placement, with equity commitments of up to $70 million. Today, the company employs 12 executives in Downtown offices. It has leased mineral rights in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. With a plan for organic growth through the exploitation of oil and natural gas reserves, Mohajir feels Kansas City is an ideal base for operations. “Our location is centralized so I can go west and south for projects as well as east to meet investors.” Mohajir praises the reasonable cost of living and family-friendly atmosphere of the Kansas City area, which he believes enhances the quality of his workforce. Mohajir's strategy is to continue to create value to the business proposition and create attractive returns for his investors. And in the mean time, “to develop oil and natural gas in an environmentally sensitive way that will allow Americans to enjoy the benefits of energy.”
JONKMAN CONSTRUCTIONJonkman Construction has undertaken local and national projects since its 2005 founding by Timothy Jonkman, an Indiana native who has worked in the construction field in Kansas City since 1998. Based in Downtown Kansas City, the commercial and industrial construction firm has grown rapidly in revenues, scope of projects, and number of employees in its three years. While several prominent construction companies around the country have suffered some very high-profile collapses in this down market, Jonkman says his company prospered from the reputation for quality product and the client relationships he had developed in the industry. “Those relationships were strong enough that even though we were a new company we were able to do a $10 or $20 million project.” While a typical construction project might go out to bid to the general public, Jonkman Construction works with the developer tenant from day one to negotiate contract costs. Some current ventures include a three-story office building and a three-story garage for Karbank Company in Olathe, a building at 93rd and Quivira for the Kansas Workforce Partnership, and projects in Austin, Texas, and Portland, Ore. Jonkman feels the Midwestern work ethic has helped his company, as has the central location. “It allows us to jump out and work in the country, anywhere our clients need us.”
MICROVI BIOTECHSince its inception in December 2004, Microvi Biotech has strived for environmental sustainability through clean-water technologies. To this end, the Overland Park company develops water treatment processes that avoid environmental waste. Its platform water treatment technology, MB Total Solutions, relies on natural degradation to avoid byproducts that are harmful to the environment. “We use the same processes as nature, but we promote or enhance their ability,” says Fatemeh Shirazi, Ph.D., president and chief technology officer. “We take natural organisms and natural degraders and we pass the water to our reactors. The water comes clean. These natural degraders have the capability of breaking down the pollutants.” Shirazi describes her company’s market as original equipment manufacturers, consultants or “anyone who deals with the treatment of water.” She credits much of her company’s success to a series of research grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health and other government entities. “The grants we have received are very competitive. These grants helped us to commercialize our technology and overcome the challenges of scaling up the process and refining the process. We have been very fortunate.” Shirazi had 10 years of experience in research and development when she founded Microvi Biotech. The company, which began with Shirazi and two consultants, now employs four fulltime employees and two full-time consultants, and continues to recruit and hire additional staff. “This has been a great journey since 2004 and we continue to explore other markets.”
OSTEOGENEX INC.“Our company is all about building new bones,” says Debra Ellies, Ph.D., CEO, president and founder of OsteoGeneX Inc. Based in Kansas City, Kan., the company has become a leader in bone growth treatment since its 2006 beginnings. The company’s osteoporosis products are just a gateway to bigger things. Ellies plans to out-license these products to fund the clinical development of new technologies in the application of bone building in the local environment. Spinal fusion technology, she feels, has the greatest potential to benefit patients. “We expect to out-license our osteoporosis solution. That is our first goal. Then we want to focus on our spinal fusion market.” As a postdoctoral researcher at Stowers Institute, Ellies saw commercial potential in similar laboratory discoveries and received a federal grant to do a proof of concept study, which she began in July of 2006 in collaboration with the University of Kansas. After six months, she achieved her goals and was awarded a matching grant from the Kansas Science Authority; with the success of products, she was entitled to submit a phase two grant for $1 million. “In the Midwest, the universities want to help grow the economy,” notes Ellies, who has studied and worked in Ottawa, Canada, and London. “KU was extremely supportive of helping a young startup like mine. The Kansas Bioscience Authority and KTEC are great programs in the state that help tremendously.” The company consists of a management team of three, and a business advisory board and a scientific advisory board.
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING CORPORATIONA company called Professional Engineering Corporation may not sound out of the ordinary in Kansas City, but consider its motto: “A robot at every intersection.” Founded in early 2005, Professional Engineering Corporation is responsible for InSync, an adaptive traffic signal system deployed at traffic intersections. InSync is actually a robot that communicates with other robots at each intersection to know how many cars are coming, helping to optimize the traffic signals. “It’s like putting a man at each intersection talking to other men and saying you need to turn green,” explains Reggie Chandra, CEO. Born in India, Chandra holds a master’s degree in traffic engineering and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership. He joined public service as a traffic engineer in 1993 and has since managed multiple related projects. “All through this time, the pain of people having to stop needlessly at traffic lights bothered me,” he recalls. “I decided to come up with a solution for it. And we have.” The company began with Chandra and one part-time employee. It now employs six full-time associates, and continues to hire. This year, the company experienced “tremendous” growth, he said. With so much focus on gas prices and harmful emissions, Chandra prefers to focus on the public good the robots serve. They minimize travel delay and fuel consumption, improving and benefiting the environment. “We are changing the architecture of signals.”
TOEMATESKristene Davis was a financial analyst in the automotive industry when she first envisioned the Toe Pillow in 2002. “I was on my feet 10 to 12 hours a day,” explains the Eudora, Kan., native, who had resorted to stuffing her high-heeled shoes with cotton balls. “I called a close friend who was a physician and said I had a product idea.” After several prototypes, the product was born. The Toe Pillow, a medical grade foam memory insert, occupies the front space of a shoe to absorb the body’s weight. The company, ToeMates, was organized in 2005 and headquartered in Overland Park. It was not long before the Toe Pillow began to attract attention, beginning with an endorsement from Jennifer Berry, Miss America 2006. The Toe Pillow was included in the 2007 Emmy Awards gift bag, and the following year in the Academy Awards gift bag. “We had so much response that it crashed the server of the online venue we used to sell it.” For all its national attention, ToeMates has fostered a unique relationship with the community, partnering with Johnson County Developmental Supports to employ adults with disabilities at their assembly plant and warehousing all products in caves in Lenexa. Davis, who started the company with her own savings, says, “Don’t give up. As soon as you think the final door has closed, the window cracks open.” Half of the net profits from the Toe Pillow assist victims of domestic violence through the Empower4Life Foundation.
STATESURGE.COM“How do we keep up?” has been the motto of StateSurge.com since high school friends and managing partners Larry Stendebach and Lucas Tomick founded the company in 2006. The idea for Statesurge.com came from the suggestion of a lobbyist seeking a unified method of searching legislative data. Stendebach and Tomicki spent a year programming and testing data before going live this year. “We set out to build a more modern application for this, a Google of legislation,” says Stendebach. Statesurge.com allows its clients, often media professionals, lawyers and lobbyists, to pull information from government databases in real time and to track, organize or transform the information into customized reports. The managing partners are working on making the site more user-friendly and plan to open up much of the information to the public for free. They want to include all 50 states by the end of the year. “Our goal is government transparency.” Both in their early 20s, the managing partners also invented an algorithm that ranks state legislators by their effectiveness and have a patent pending on their method of information compilation. With StateSurge.com based in Columbia, Mo., Stendebach comments, “We can feel the pulse of the state. I think Missouri is a great place to do a startup because it is the frontier still, especially with internet-based startups.” As for the future, he reflects, “We are going so fast we are just trying to keep up at this point.”
