Ingram’s Magazine: April 2026

Progress Amid Conflict Equals Market Rally

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 Capital markets rallied and oil prices fell in mid-April after Axios reported significant progress in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations. Treasury yields fell 6-8 basis points, past recent lows, and West Texas Intermediate dropped to nearly $75 a barrel—well…more

Drafting Enforceable Non-Compete Agreements

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 A non-compete agreement can protect a business when a departing owner, executive, or employee could use inside knowledge to compete unfairly. At the same time, a non-compete that reads like a blanket ban can be difficult to…more

Lifestyle Creep Retirement Savings

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 Learn how lifestyle creep and managing salary raises can impact long-term retirement savings and financial flexibility. Many professionals focus on reaching the next salary milestone or securing a promotion. However, financial progress should not be measured by…more

A Pivotal Year for Benefits Plan

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 Surveys project that health-care costs in the United States are likely to increase by 6.5 percent to, in many cases, as much as over 10 percent in 2026. Regardless of the exact figure, employers can expect costs…more

Data Overload

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 There is a moment in every economic cycle when momentum becomes its own argument. For Kansas City, that moment has arrived not with a ribbon-cutting or a hiring surge, but with a different metric altogether: megawatts. The…more

2026 Class of Ingram’s 40 Under Forty

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 Courtney Brooks Long before Kansas City began preparing to host a global audience, Courtney Brooks was already connecting the region to the world. Her career has been built on the idea that international engagement doesn’t…more

Giving Back, Smarter:

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 Kansas City’s rising business stars are reshaping what it means to “give back.” No longer content with the traditional volunteer model of long-term board seats or obligatory charity galas favored by retiring Baby Boomers, today’s young executives—largely…more

40 We Missed…

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 In the spirit of full disclosure—and a generous helping of hindsight—Ingram’s proudly presents “40 We Missed,” our sheepish confession that, over nearly 30 years, we dropped the ball on some genuine up-and-coming heavyweights during their 40 Under…more

40 Under Forty Alumnus of the Year: Marty Bicknell

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 The wealth-management sector has some fundamental ways to measure success—and at a certain point in a founder’s career, those metrics can start to tell the story for him. For Marty Bicknell, the numbers attached to Mariner Wealth…more

40 Under Forty: A Power Pipeline

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 If ever there were proof that Ingram’s 40 Under Forty is more than an annual exercise in optimism, the evidence is sitting in plain sight across Kansas City area boardrooms, executive suites, civic institutions and national power…more

Q&A . . . With Charlie Shields

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 Q: You’ve worked in retail, the Missouri House and Senate, and now the C-suite at University Health while maintaining deep civic involvement for decades. What first pulled you into public service, and how has the definition of…more

Double Whammy

PUBLISHED APRIL 2026 As the never-ending, three-way chess match involving corporate health-plan designers, insurance companies and providers plays out, a new piece is emerging on the board: Pharmacy benefits. That vital aspect of modern health care has quietly become the…more