Nate Orr to Chair Downtown Council

The Spencer Fane law firm announced Thursday that one of its partners, Nate Orr, had been elected board chairman of the Downtown Council of Kansas City, assuming those duties with a commitment to bring more businesses to the commercial heart of the region.

Orr, who had been vice chairman for the past two years, will work with Bill Dietrich, the council’s president and CEO, to implement its 2018 business plan. “My focus the coming year is to further Downtown’s effort to attract and retain corporate relocations,” Orr said. “We have spent the last several years developing residential units, retail amenities and regional cultural assets. With the arrival of the streetcar, the daily working environment for businesses and employees in the downtown area has never been better.”

The council comprises more than 300 companies, property owners, arts and cultural groups and other organizations, and it has advocated for such large-scale regional initiatives as the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, the Downtown streetcar, creation of the Downtown Community Improvement District, and Art in the Loop.

Orr, a member of Ingram’s 40 Under Forty Class of 2014, serves as outside general counsel for his clients at Spencer Fane, and is currently serving as president-elect for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.