Michael Haverty
Mick Haverty serves as Chairman, President and CEO of the downtown-based Kansas City Southern. Although one of the smallest of the major domestic railroads, Kansas City Southern employs more than 400 of its nearly 3,000 employees in the Kansas City area. Under Haverty’s leadership, the company is also becoming a major player in the NAFTA market as it shareholders recently ap-proved acquisition of Mexico’s biggest railroad.

Wayne Cauthen
It literally has been generations since a Kansas City, Missouri city manager has provided this much pure oomph to the development of the city. Cauthen has not only stripped away much of the deadwood that was impeding development at the city, but he also aggressively launched projects of his own and made the weight of the city felt once again. Cauthen has swiftly earned the respect of being one of Kansas City’s most valued assets.

Mayor Kay Barnes
The Mayor was so badly underestimated in her first term that she had to work hard to beat that chronic rapscallion, Stan Glazer, to be re-elected. Since then, her fortunes have improved dramatically, capped by a hard-fought referendum win on the Downtown arena issue, a project that may eventually revive the fortunes of Downtown.

Herb Kohn
Mayor Barnes needed lots of help to succeed in her downtown revitalization plans, and none proved more strategic than that provided by veteran power broker and Bryan Cave partner, Herb Kohn. Kohn, who has counseled Barnes since her election on an ad-hoc basis, did the string pulling to make the deal work.

John Murphy
John Murphy, the Chairman of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP, shook up the Downtown landscape when he moved his firm’s 1,200 employees from their old home in the loop. But a sparkling new building in Crown Center keeps the firm’s energy based in greater Downtown. Murphy is engaged internationally but he’s certainly a force in KC.

Emanuel Cleaver
The new Democrat congressman and former mayor derives a good deal of his power, too, from his unlikely relationship with Republican Senator Bond. The business community backed Cleaver, despite his liberal credentials, because it sees him as a friend of free enterprise and trust his will and ability to bring jobs to the community. Thus, the committee assignments that were his highest priorities were Transportation and Energy and Commerce.

Terry Dunn
The CEO of J.E. Dunn Construction is the man literally responsible—on a day-to-day basis—for much, if not most, of the construction going on in and around Kansas City. In 2005 J.E. Dunn will account for 60% of all commercial construction. This has made him political force in his own rights. He receives consulting on everything. With wife Peggy Dunn as mayor of Leawood, that power flows on both sides of the state line. Terry’s father, Chairman emeritus Bill Dunn, has shown that he can still stir up some controversy when he puts his mind to it. Four of his sons and three of his grandsons now work in the family business. One of those four, Steve Dunn, serves as Chairman of J.E. Dunn Construction. Steve was instrumental in securing J.E. Dunn’s prominent role in the new H&R Block building among other huge projects.

Ann Dickinson
Dickinson showed her commitment to growing Downtown by donating $100,000 to the pro-arena campaign last August, the largest single donation. As Chairman of the Dickinson Financial Corporation, whose holdings include Bank Midwest, Dickinson has emerged as a major player in Republican circles and arguably is the most powerful woman in Kansas City.

Hugh Zimmer
As Chairman of Zimmer Companies, Inc., Hugh Zimmer has helped oversee the development of roughly three square miles of business parks in the Greater Kansas City area, as well as more than 24-million square feet of office and industrial buildings across the country. Zimmer also serves as Project Advisor for the new Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank headquarters and as Advisory Director of both Kansas City Equity Partners and Commerce Bank of Kansas City. Son, David Zimmer, is president of the company and heir apparent.

Rand O’Donnell
As CEO of arguably the city’s best-loved institution, Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, O’Donnell has led the drive to expand the institution’s facilities, not only at its main Hospital Hill location, but also at its Northland and Overland Park sites as well. Last year, Children’s Mercy dramatically expanded its research program with the opening of the new Pediatric Research Center on Hospital Hill.

John Bluford
John Bluford has served as the CEO and executive director of Truman Medical Center (TMC) Systems in Kansas City, Missouri, since March 1999. Not afraid to mix it up politically, Bluford publicly championed the April health levy necessary for Truman to expand its ER and ICU capabilities.

Clyde Wendel
The president of the Bank of America-Kansas City Region, continues to invest his bank’s money and his own energy in Kansas City. Among other projects, Wendel has put the bank behind the $9 million restoration of the historic Ellison Apartments in midtown. He serves as Vice Chair on the Rockhurst University Board and on the Kansas City Port Authority as well.

Peter Brown
Brown is the Chairman, President and CEO of the Downtown-based AMC Entertainment, the nation’s second largest movie chain. The company employs nearly 20,000 people nationally, nearly a thousand of those in Kansas City. He’s made some neccesary repairs at AMC.

Don Hall, Jr.
Although not overtly active in the Downtown revitalization, whoever sits atop the hierarchy of the privately held Hallmark Cards with its 4,500 Kansas City employees is, de facto, the major player in central city development. Crown Center is among the largest private developments in urban American history, and it continues to grow and attract new investment in its neighborhood, as of late, the IRS and the Federal Reserve Bank. For more than two years, founder Joyce Hall’s grandson Don, Jr. has been solidifying his grip on the company’s holdings. Don’s brother David Hall is also engaged in the family enterprises and yields clout. To be sure, their parents Don and Adele Hall remain squarely at the heart of the city’s arts and philanthropic community.

Tom Hoenig
Hoenig, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, disturbed the downtown powers when he announced the move of his bank’s 1,600 employees out of the Downtown loop. Now that they can see the vital stimulus that the new Fed has added to the Crown Center area, those same powers have been rethinking their opposition.

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