Professional Services

Q&A With … Stephen Penn of KPMG

Stephen Penn is the office managing partner for KPMG in Kansas City. Q. Six weeks into the carnage, what's the damage assessment report you would deliver on the state of regional business? A. There’s probably a lot more going to… more

U.S. Chamber Concerned About Reopened Business Lawsuits

Business that are started to reopen as stay-at-home orders are eased could be more liable for legal action if employees or customers become sick while at their establishments, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell… more

Polsinelli: Chapter 11 Bankruptcies Rise

Kansas City-based law firm is seeing the highest rate of Chapter 11 bankruptcies in seven years, according to its Polsinelli-TrBK Distress Indices Report.  “It’s actually quite common to not see an immediate increase in bankruptcies during an economic crisis. With… more

Consumer Spending Falls 7.5% in March

Consumer spending fell by 7.5 percent in March, a according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is a major shift in the small monthly increases seen prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. The decrease was $829.9 billion in spending… more

Q&A With … Kate O’Hara Gasper, LathropGPM

Kate O’Hara Gasper of Lathrop GPM represents clients in litigation and arbitration involving breach of contract, business torts, covenants not to compete, intellectual property, professional liability and insurance coverage. Q: The nation has seen a historic increase in layoffs over… more

Creative Planning Buys Wichita-Based Coe Financial

Overland Park-based Creative Planning has acquired Coe Financial Services, an RIA firm based in Wichita with $126 million in assets under management. The firm provides financial planning and investment-management services. Coe was founded in 1983 by managing director Richard Coe.… more

Q&A with: Leslie Davis, True Peace Financial Solutions/AE Wealth

Leslie Davis is the owner of True Peace Financial Solutions in Overland Park, Kan., an affiliate of Topeka-based AE Wealth, which has more than $7 billion in assets under management. She talked about challenges in the investment market right now.… more

Kemper: Liquidity, Not Lending, for Businesses

“The greatest financial relief we can give small and mid-sized businesses in this economic crisis is faster payment of their outstanding invoices—liquidity.” With that declaration, Kansas City’s Sandy Kemper, founder and CEO of C2FO, is calling for a different approach… more

Unemployment Filings Top 6.6 Million

Unemployment claims were in excess of six million for the second week in a row, due to COVID-19, bringing the numbers to nearly 17 million over the last few weeks. For the week ended April 4, claims were 6.06 million,… more

Employment Falls By 700,000 in March

Total payroll employment in March fell by 701,000 primarily due to COVID-19, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, and the unemployment rate hit 4.4 percent, up 0.9 percent from the previous month. That marks the biggest… more