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Kansas City Business Journal
Agency finds Oracle Health has met office incentive obligations
A Kansas City agency found that Oracle Health has met incentive obligations it assumed at the former Cerner Innovations Campus, despite extensive gulfs between current investment and job levels, and those promised at the project's onset.<\p> The city's administrative Tax Increment Financing Commission said in a July 10 report that it "did not identify any existing material instances of default" at Oracle Health's campus in south Kansas City. The City Council in mid-May sought a report within 60 days reviewing whether the health care IT company had complied with the campus' Bannister & I-435 TIF Plan and recommending enforcement options, like litigation or termination of incentives, if it had not.<\p>
KC-area Walmart adds primary care option
Seniors will have another primary care option in the Kansas City area. <\p> CenterWell, a part of the health care services company Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), is opening primary care centers tailored to seniors across the U.S., including one in Gladstone. <\p>
Black Chamber of KC names new leader
The Black Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City selected a new executive director with a strong record of building up organizations and leadership.<\p> Cecilia Belser-Patton will assume leadership of the chamber on Thursday, according to a release. She succeeds A. Marie Young in the role. In the job, Belser-Patton will direct all day-to-day operations of the chamber and lead fundraising and community engagement activities.<\p>
HQ project trucks in $20M for energy-efficiency work
Master’s Transportation Inc. secured financing to help with energy efficient improvements as it builds its new headquarters and servicing center in south Kansas City. <\p> The national commercial vehicle provider last week closed on a $20.15 million loan through the Show Me PACE program for construction at its headquarters campus at 14655 Prospect Ave., where it will move from its current location in Belton, Jackson County property records show. Master's introduced the multifaceted project during a Port Authority of Kansas City meeting last summer and started work in December.<\p>
KC law firm changes leadership structure to keep culture as it grows
Looking to keep its culture strong as it continues to be one of the nation's fastest-growing law firms, Kansas City-based Spencer Fane LLP created a new alternative leadership structure.<\p> Spencer Fane grew its revenue by 139% since 2018, the highest rate of any of the top 200 law firms in the nation. Over that same period, the firm grew from 243 lawyers in eight states to 419 lawyers in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Average profit for partner at the firm is at $779,000, up 24% since 2020.<\p>
Casual dress is just the start of Gen Z making offices less formal
The post-pandemic workplace has undergone a lot of change, with hybrid work and the implementation of more-casual dress codes among the biggest shifts.<\p> Newly available research spotlights how both business owners and employees have younger workers to thank — or blame — for an ongoing casual revolution in the workplace that extends beyond dress codes.<\p>
KU Health lands $20M for two key initiatives
The University of Kansas Health System is receiving a dose of federal funding that will partly bolster fundraising efforts to construct its estimated $450 million cancer center. <\p> The University of Kansas Cancer Center and the health system each received $10 million in federal funds to support efforts to build KU Health's new cancer center and buy cardiovascular equipment for the health system. <\p>
West Bottoms infrastructure incentives offer development road map
The central West Bottoms soon will surge with new public and private construction after two public financing approvals by Kansas City.<\p> The City Council on Thursday approved a community improvement district (CID) around the first phase of SomeraRoad Inc.'s $526.7 million "live-work-play" redevelopment and a tax increment financing (TIF) plan amendment. The measures will redirect different taxes to support $45.8 million in public infrastructure and green space, on which the city could break ground in August, according to a developer timeline.<\p>
Engineering firm picks first leader outside its founders
After 40 years in business, a Kansas City-area engineering firm is saying goodbye to one of its namesakes. <\p> Tim Scott, president and a founding member of Gibbens Drake Scott Inc., retired last week. He is succeeded by Jay Guerra, a 28-year veteran of the firm who most recently was senior vice president. Guerra's promotion marks the fourth leadership change in the company’s history.<\p>
Birth center closes, blaming insurance payments
Three years after a birth center shuttered its Kansas City, Kansas, location, it’s closing a second center in the metro area, blaming insurance company reimbursements for creating “unsustainable market conditions.” <\p> The New Birth Co. center, 9209 W. 110th St. in Overland Park, is closing because “multiple insurance companies (Medicaid and Commercial) have failed to pay enough to cover expenses,” according to an announcement published on its website. <\p>
KC innovator who helped credit unions nationwide will retire
Jeff Kline will retire as CEO of Kansas City-based Members Development Co. after spending most of his 40-year career helping credit unions develop new services and tools to better support members.<\p> Members Development (MDC) was founded in 2000 as a collaboration between the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and 36 large credit unions nationwide. During Kline’s leadership, Members Development grew to serve more than 80 credit unions representing about 45,000 members. The company’s research-and-development efforts directly led to credit unions' assets tripling in size, and it started collaborating with fintechs. <\p>
Florida federal jury hits Lockton with verdict
A federal jury in Florida issued verdicts against two Lockton Cos. executives accused of stealing clients and poaching colleagues from a rival insurance company.<\p> USI Insurance Services accuses Matthew Simmons and Jack Mitchell of soliciting more than 25 USI clients after they resigned in January 2023 to join Kansas City-based Lockton's operation in Tampa. Six colleagues also resigned to join them.<\p>
Indictment: North Korean hacked Kansas hospital
A man who allegedly carried out cybercrimes for a North Korean military intelligence agency was indicted in a conspiracy to hack American health care providers, NASA, military bases and other international entities, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.<\p> A grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, indicted Rim Jong Hyok. He’s accused of using money launderers to cash out the illicit proceeds, which he then allegedly used to buy computer servers and fund more cyberattacks on defense, technology and government entities around the world.<\p>
Hacked KC aviation exec still chases $10M award, justice for hacker
Kansas City aviation executive Farhad Azima finally won a $10 million judgment in a hacking case this year and implicated the London-based Dechert LLP lawyer who instigated it.<\p> But he has yet to collect any of that money and still is waiting to see justice delivered to former Dechert lawyer Neil Gerrard after a recent court ruling.<\p>
Southwest Airlines will drop this unique feature
Southwest Airlines Co., the largest carrier at Kansas City International Airport, will abandon its longtime open-seating policy and instead assign seats, offer premium seating and redesign its boarding model.<\p> The move comes as the Dallas-based carrier faces pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which in June disclosed a nearly $2 billion stake in Southwest and called for new leadership as the carrier underperformed competitors. Southwest stock (NYSE: LUV) is down more than 25% during the past year.<\p>
KC has two of world’s 100 ‘greatest places’
Time Magazine’s listing of 100 of “The World’s Greatest Places of 2024” includes an African rainforest, a Norwegian museum, a restaurant in India — and two places in the Kansas City area.<\p> Under the heading “Places to Visit” (the other is “Places to Stay” — none from the area), Time directs readers to check out the Kansas City Current’s CPKC Stadium and experiential museum The Rabbit hOle in North Kansas City.<\p>
AdventHealth cancer center reflects firsthand patient experience
Patients of the AdventHealth Cancer Institute, a $76 million facility that opened in May, get the latest tech in treatment — and the benefits of a designer who herself is a cancer survivor.<\p> The firsthand experience of Amy Williams, vice president and director of interior design at Hoefer Welker, pairs with the center being the first in the region to offer advanced MRI guided radiation therapy. <\p>
High-visibility Crossroads apartments sell
A Crossroads Arts District apartment property visible to tens of thousands of daily motorists on Interstate 35 has changed hands.<\p> Hamilton Zanze, a San Francisco-based real estate investor, on Tuesday acquired the Crossroads Westside apartments, located east of I-35 and south of Southwest Boulevard at 601 Avenida Cesar E Chavez, from developer Cityscape Residential of Carmel, Indiana. A purchase price for the five-story complex was not available as of press time; its 2023 market value was $39.6 million.<\p>
World Cup planning team adds three staff members
The organization handling planning for Kansas City’s host duties for the 2026 FIFA World Cup made several appointments on Thursday, a move that came about a week after it gained a new leader. <\p> Pam Kramer, who was named CEO of the organization on July 17, picked Jason Sims as director of transportation. Sims is vice chairman of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and a vice president at Kapsch TrafficCom North America, a traffic management solutions provider. <\p>
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