OK, there is no perfect stock market metaphor for those who make their living in one non-profit entity or another and whose task it is to strengthen, one way or another, the bonds among us, but several of these people have genuine clout.

When Tom Hoenig speaks, people listen. As President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Hoeing helps set the nation's monetary policy and serves as Chairman of Benedictine College in nearby Atchison, Kan. in his spare time. Even after losing some $700 million in the bear market, the Kauffman Foundation has more money than Midas, and it has a new CEO determined to spend it more wisely, economist Carl Schramm. Unless his board stops him, the no-nonsense Schramm will re-direct the energies of the foundation along the entrepreneurial path that Mr. K. had once set.

Freed from its awkward alliance with the Shawnee Mission system, Saint Luke's Hospital, under the veteran guidance of President and CEO Rich Hastings, is re-emerging as the non-profit counterweight to the newly purchased Health Midwest, a sign of which is the $22 million, 70,000-square-foot health care campus in Lee's Summit and a sizeable expansion at Saint Lukes Hospital north of the Plaza.

Lowell Kruse has served as President and CEO of mega-employer Heartland Health in St. Joseph for the last 18 years and is arguably the most powerful individual in Buchanan County. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Excellence in Missouri Foundation, sits on the board of the Area Health Education Center and has recently been named to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education by Governor Holden.

The President & Chief Executive Officer of KU Medical Center, Irene Cumming, led the team that transformed the Med Center into a competitive, patient focused organization with sound financial footing. In the last four years, in fact, KU Med's patient count has increased 33 per cent, revenues are up 85 per cent and patient satisfaction up 1500 per cent.

Karen Pletz began her career as a partner in a law firm, then moved into banking, and then found her calling as President & CEO of University of Health Sciences, the largest medical school in Missouri. She has also assumed some serious community responsibilities, including the role as Chair Elect of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

No educator in the area has more clout than Charles Carlsen, head honcho at Johnson County Community College, quite likely the nation's most influential college of its kind. As testament, JCCC has a major street named after it, and Carlsen already has a building named after him.

On the Missouri side Wayne Giles has helped raise the profile of the Metropolitan Community Colleges and made them a serious force in local economic development. Harley Davidson would not have come here without them. As head man at Kansas University, Chancellor Bob Hemenway keeps a low profile but wields significant clout. He has recruited more capital into his institution than any counterpart in the region. At Central Missouri State University, the only univer-sity president in America named "Bobby," Bobby Patton to be precise, has done an excellent job of increasing CMSU's visibility and level of respect. CMSU has the same enrollment as UMKC and continues to become a growing force in the region.

Dr. Dean L. Hubbard is the president of Northwest Missouri State University and is among the most innovative university presidents in the nation. He and his team do exceptional R&D and work on many cutting edge engineering, science/life science and ag programs. Hubbard created the nation's first"Electronic Campus." Wife Aleta has a keen interest in the redevelopment of Downtown Maryville and is arguably northwest Missouri's most hospitable lady.

For the length of George Bush's presidency, no landlord in Kansas City will have more clout than Brad Scott, GSA's Heartland Regional Administrator. Scott oversees a budget of more than $760 million and directs a workforce of more than 1,000 that acquires office space, equipment, supplies, telecommunications and information technology for federal workers located in 400 government-owned and leased buildings in communities throughout Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

On the political front, Senator Kit Bond of Missouri is among the most powerful movers and shakers in Kansas City through the projects he brings to town, his influence with politicians, and the truckloads of cash he continues to send from Washington.

Governor Kathy Sebelius of Topeka bucked the odds and emerged as the most successful Democrat in Kansas in decades. Sebelius has shown strong signs of leadership and appears poised for a healthy term as Governor of Kansas.

Kansas Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore will have to work harder to stay in power and may decide to gamble it all on a run against Republican Sam Brownback in 04, a run that will win him friends but not necessarily an easy seat in the Senate.

Republican Congressman Sam Graves meanwhile is building a power base north of the river that may in time make him the single most powerful political figure in the greater metro. Mayor Carol Marinovich has made her share of enemies, but she has been instrumental in the transformation of Wyandotte County into a respected player on the area economic development scene.

Kudos to Roy Williams, the area's most respected and influential sports figure. He took KU to the final four once again with a team led by "seniors," a word that has ceased to have any meaning at many a more mercenary institution. Williams is the only Power Elite honoree we know who can silence 18,000 screaming fans in a matter of seconds simply by flapping his arms. Williams would relinquish his new role on Ingram's Power Elite fast should he move to become the Grand Tar Heel of North Carolina.

And special kudos to Col. Douglas L. Raaberg, who commands the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, a job that has put Warrensburg on the world map and has taken more than a few highly deserving targets off of it. He and his wife Claudia Raaberg were named winners of the Air Force's 2002 Gen. and Mrs. Jerome F. O'Malley Award for that wing commander and spouse whose contributions to the nation, the Air Force and the local community best exemplify the highest ideals and positive leadership of a military couple in a key Air Force position.

Lt. Gen. James Riley serves as Commanding General at Fort Leavenworth, a position of critical national importance even in peace time. The Gulf War veteran had presided over the Army's biggest combat headquarters in Europe before taking charge of the Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth.