Regional News

Investing in Era of Democrat Rule

Prognosticators assessing this week's Democratic sweep of two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia had suggested that control of Congress and the White House will bring significant changes in tax policy (not good if you're a high-income earner) and energy policy… more

SBA Adds 20 New Women’s Business Centers

The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced grant funding and the launch of 20 new Women's Business Centers across America to serve rural, urban and underserved communities. The opening of the business centers is the largest single expansion of its… more

Economic Chicken Littles Missed the Mark

All-time highs in all major indexes! NASDAQ and the Russell 2000 each recently gained over 3 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.25 percent. Cloud computing and cybersecurity stocks performed especially well due to multiple cyber-attacks on federal cabinet agencies… more

SBA Opening Door for New PPP Lending

The Small Business Administration has issued new guidelines under the latest update of the Paycheck Protection Program, which has been refined to place special emphasis on smaller lenders and borrowers. This PPP installment, totaling $285 billion, is expected to be… more

Macy’s Pulling Plug at Independence Center

For the second time in three years, Independence Center will lose an anchor tenant when Macy's closes the store in the spring. The retailer announced this week that that the site, at a mall routinely plagued by large-scale teen conflicts,… more

MCC Receives $5 Million from Sunderland Foundation for Three Expansion Projects

The Sunderland Foundation, the region's third-largest, has approved a $5 million grant to support three key expansion projects at Metropolitan Community College. It's the first time the MCC Foundation has received a gift of at least $1 million, and the… more

Missouri health system noted for strong operations, finances

Among 14 health systems across the U.S. rated in terms of operational metrics and financial positions by Fitch Ratings, St. Louis-based Ascension made the top of the list. Ascension has an "AA+" rating and stable outlook with Fitch and an… more

Expanded partnership to deliver new digital program to Blue KC individual, ACA members

Kansas City-based not-for-profit health insurer Blue KC has announced an expanded partnership with HealthMine, a technology-enabled member engagement and rewards company. As Blue KC begins its re-entrance into the Affordable Care Act (ACA) market in 2021, the expansion will help to… more

Insurance Insights with Claude Thau

A 2019 Harvard report opens “American companies are facing a caregiving crisis—they just refuse to acknowledge it.”1  Various studies indicate that 75%-80% of employees providing care for adults say caregiving has a negative impact on their job performance.1,2 About 20%… more

Kansas December tax collections up $64.5M

Kansas’ December total tax collections continues the state’s trend of outperforming the estimate, and outperforming the previous, December.  Total tax collections were up $64.5 million, or 9.1%, for the month with $770.2 million collected.  That is a $13.6 million, or… more