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Kansas City Business Journal
Growing share of real estate agents weigh leaving their brokerages
The Covid-19 pandemic and a recent wave of class-action lawsuits have pushed more real estate agents to consider leaving their brokerages.<\p> Those findings, from the latest annual Agent Priorities Report from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, found while 61% of agents surveyed plan on sticking with their company this year, that’s down from 75% in 2023.<\p>
After 25 years, Worth hangs up her hat, but not her Harley
When Gail Worth bought her Harley-Davidson dealership in 1999, she faced plenty of naysayers. But it only emboldened her.<\p> “People were wanting to see me fail because I was just some snotnosed girl, and what did I know about motorcycles?” Worth said. “You can’t just tell me I can’t do something. I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove that I can. You don’t think I can do it? Watch this.”<\p>
Missouri Chamber selects 5 from KC metro to newest leadership class
Five individuals from the Kansas City area have been chosen to be members of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 2024 Leadership Missouri class.<\p> The 26-member class includes four people from Kansas City and one from Lee's Summit. They are:<\p>
Kohl's will bring defunct big-box brand back to KC
Babies R Us, which closed its stores nationwide six years ago, is returning to Kansas City and other markets — but as a minishop, not a big box.<\p> Kohl's Corp., the retail chain based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, is partnering with the Babies R Us brand and adding baby-products shops inside 200 of its stores nationally — including five locations in Missouri and one in Kansas.<\p>
Airline credit-card reward programs in regulators' crosshairs
The nation's major airlines are drawing heat over their branded credit-card reward programs, with federal regulators targeting consumer complaints that claim many perks don't live up to the hype and sometimes cost more than they are worth. Those findings...
Red Lobster closes two locations in KC metro
In the face of financial difficulties across the country, Red Lobster has closed two of its five Kansas City-area locations as well as additional sites in Missouri and Kansas.<\p> The restaurant chain lists as "temporarily closed" sites at 14904 W. 119th St. in Olathe and 10700 Parallel Parkway across from Legends Outlets in Kansas City, Kansas.<\p>
Councilman wants full review of multibillion-dollar Cerner TIF plan
A Kansas City councilman wants to know what Oracle Corp. has in store for the legacy Cerner Innovations Campus — at one point believed to be the nation's largest tax increment financing project but built out with a fraction of the new investment and jobs initially promised. <\p> Councilman Darrell Curls' resolution would request a review of the surrounding Bannister & I-435 TIF Plan to determine whether Cerner, now Oracle Health, has complied with its agreed-upon obligations. <\p>
Two KC tech companies merge
Viagio Technologies and Code Koalas, two decade-old tech companies started in Kansas City, have merged. <\p> Code Koalas CEO Ryan Wyse is leading the combined companies as CEO, according to a LinkedIn post from new Viagio COO Jennifer Wyse. Viagio, which changed names from Artisan Technology Group in 2022, is a custom software company based in Kansas City. Code Koalas is a web development agency founded by Wyse in 2011. <\p>
Kansas, pet rescue engage in legal dogfight
Since 2023, Mission-based Unleashed Pet Rescue has faced dozens of state inspections, a failed attempt to revoke its business license and a refusal to renew its license — and the business claims it's a scheme to put it out of business without due process.<\p> Founded in 2011, the no-kill pet shelter at 5918 Broadmoor St. operates through private donations. At one time, it had an annual budget of about $2.3 million, with about 20 full-time employees, and helped find permanent homes for about 5,000 animals a year. That all changed in the past two years, as the business faced allegations of running an overcrowded, unsanitary and unethical operation that isn’t properly licensed. <\p>
Bank of America names new private bank leader in KC
Bank of America Private Bank promoted Tiffany Owens to be the Kansas City market executive. <\p> Owens joined Bank of America Private Bank in 2011, most recently working as a private client adviser. Before that, she was market trust executive for Kansas City and St. Louis and market trust director for Little Rock, Arkansas, and Wichita, Kansas. <\p>
Why Amazon's recent moves bode well for a cooling CRE market
Welcome to The National Observer, a roundup of top business news and actionable insights from across The Business Journals. We'll take a look today at a bankruptcy health care system's hospital sale; a $3.3B investment from Microsoft that will help establish an artificial intelligence hub; and what you need to know about upcoming changes to overtime rules. But we'll start with the dynamics in this once-hot commercial real estate subsector.<\p> Get more stories like these every day in your inbox by subscribing to The National Observer newsletter.<\p>
Higher-for-longer rate environment means more uncertainty for CRE
Commercial real estate investors, owners and occupiers all have been monitoring whether the Federal Reserve will impose interest-rate cuts in 2024 after rapidly rising rates have substantially increased the cost of doing business.<\p> Earlier this month, the Fed signaled it needed to see more progress toward its inflation target of 2% and decided to maintain its key lending rate. At that meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said gaining greater confidence around inflation "will take longer than previously expected," although he also said he felt inflation would move back down in 2024.<\p>
Missouri bank exec admits to embezzling
A former officer of a rural Missouri bank pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the institution.<\p> Stacia Wilson, 60, of Osceola, Missouri, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in Kansas City, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.<\p>
VanTrust buys historic Utah building for regional HQ
One of the largest Kansas City-based developers purchased a historic building in Salt Lake City to serve as a regional headquarters.<\p> VanTrust Real Estate purchased the Salt Lake Lumber Building in downtown Salt Lake City. The three-story, 26,997-square-foot brick building was built in 1909 as the headquarters for the Morrison-Merrill Lumber Co., according to a release.<\p>
Liberty tissue bank sues competitor
The business of human tissue banking and manufacturing is supposed to be about creating scientific breakthroughs that positively transform lives, but Vitti Labs in Liberty claims a competitor has lost sight of that. <\p> Vitti Labs is suing Orlando-based Platinum Biologics for defamation, unfair competition and tortious interference. <\p>
OP media company changes the channel to TV streaming
In an industry where media is constantly changing, global media company Spacemob has had to evolve too. <\p> Over the last three years, the Overland Park company has changed direction from advertising. It's breaking into streaming and live television and has landed deals with Amazon Prime. <\p>
Club tees up 'completely different' par-3 course
Block Real Estate Services LLC is preparing to open a new par-3 golf course it says will expand offerings for golfers of all skill levels at Oakwood Country Club.<\p> Block, which leads the investment group that owns the 143-year-old club, has substantially completed the new course after roughly a year of construction and has scheduled a grand opening over Memorial Day weekend. The nine-hole course sits on 28.8 acres of mostly wooded land that the Kansas City developer bought in 2021 and partially cleared last year, including through demolition of a one-story office building.<\p>
Gen Z's latest college grads have a new rival in the workforce
As new college graduates enter the workforce, they are facing some new competition for jobs: artificial intelligence. Given ChatGPT and other AI tools' ability to complete tasks such as research, data entry and email writing, some entry-level roles...
Developers resurface putting apartments at old Sears site in OP
Two developers are shaking up plans for the redevelopment of a former Sears property in Overland Park. Box Development LLC, an affiliate of Wichita-based developer Walter Morris Cos., seeks approval for a revised site plan for the former Sears property...
KC network comes back online; cause remains a mystery
Kansas City’s official government website was restored Thursday after the city shut down its computer network and systems over the weekend. Although city officials said at the time that the website was shuttered out of caution while they investigated...
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