Ingram’s 100: KC’s Top 100 Private Companies

Ostensibly, this feature is about big businesses—the biggest that the Kansas City region has to offer. But in a way, it’s about planting trees.

You start with seeds or saplings, nurture them for years, even decades, and end up with a combination of beauty, utility and value. From that perspective, this region has been blessed with some visionary arborists throughout its history. Virtually every name on this list started off as a small business, even as a one-man show. With hard work, innovation and determination, they now stand as pillars of regional commerce.

So here’s to the seed-planters, the forward thinkers who saw opportunities not just to create, but to build something that endures. These companies may not last forever—just as no tree does—but the Top 100 Private Companies in the region have shown us all how important it is to set down the right roots.