(left to right)
Bill Dietrich, Downtown Council

(Co-Chair, Co-Sponsor)
Genaro Ruiz, City of Kansas City, MO

(Mayor's Office)

Jon Copaken, Copaken Brooks
Ferdinand Niemann, Jackson County, MO

Tom Metzger, Bank Midwest

Jerry Riffel, Lathrop & Gage

Rick Hughes, Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association

Rick Usher, City of Kansas City, MO

(City Manager's Office)

Sean O'Byrne, Downtown Council (Co-Sponsor)

Joe Sweeney, Ingram's Magazine (Moderator)Charles Miller, Lewis Rice & Fingersh

George Wolf, Shook Hardy & Bacon

Larry Kucinick, US Bank

David Frantze, Stinson Morrison Hecker

(Co-Chair, Co-Sponsor)

Chris Lemke, DST Systems

Jim Heeter, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce

Mark Huffer, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority

Mark Foster, Stinson Morrison Hecker

(Co-Sponsor)

Jane Chu, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Steve Dunn, J.E. Dunn Construction

Nick Benjamin, Power & Light District/Cordish Company

Joyce Murray, Zimmer Real Estate Services

Todd LaSala, Stinson Morrison Hecker (Co-Sponsor)

Tom Terry, UMB Bank

David Fenley, Husch Blackwell

Herb Kohn, Bryan Cave

Marilyn Trowans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City

Jeff Pinkerton, Mid-America Regional Council

Ron Coker, Burns & McDonnell

Brett Gordon, McCownGordon Construction

Peter Witte, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance

New Directions after a Decade of Revitalization

A decade after the Downtown renaissance began in earnest,
Kansas City now has in place many of the assets it had long dreamed of: a glittering entertainment district, a new sports and entertainment arena, an upgraded convention center and, most recently, a performing arts center that has placed the city on a global stage. Residents have also doubled.

And yet, as more than three dozen of the region’s leading figures from business, higher education, non-profit groups and more know all too well, our work is just getting started. The vision for where the next efforts should lead us was the topic of discussion for this influential group at Ingram’s 2011 Downtown Kansas City Economic Development Assembly.

The meeting was hosted by co-sponsor Stinson Morrison Hecker, in collaboration with the Downtown Council of Kansas City. It yielded an energetic three hours of discussion, largely on-point and occasionally pointed, lasering in on the potential next big thing(s): From a large convention hotel to a relocated headquarters for UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and Dance, from a new federal building in the East Village to the residential housing needs that could keep redevelopment rolling, participants explored the challenges ahead, while maintaining focus on the opportunities. Never has Downtown KC been more poised for healthy growth.