n AROUND THE BLOCH
ALUMNI FEATURE: MIKE PLUNKETT By Mike Plunkett
“I understand how an experience like being at the Bloch School can change a life.” – Mike Plunkett
Mike Plunkett (’91) is co-founder and COO of PayIt, a Kansas City-based government tech company that successfully closed a $100 million growth equity investment in 2019. Before that, he was a top executive in startups throughout the area. Very active as a Bloch School alumnus, he serves on the Bloch Accountancy Executive Board and the Bloch School Advisory Board. He also was the speaker for Bloch’s 2019 winter commencement ceremonies. He is, however, not the editor of the Bloch Magazine. That would be Mike Plunkett, who works in UMKC’s Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications (MCOM) and has written about business and entrepreneurship for various publications before coming to the university in 2018. Confused? So was PayIt’s email filter, which labeled Mike Plunkett (MCOM)’s emails as “Suspicious Impersonator” in Mike Plunkett (PayIt)’s spam box. Both sat down at the Bloch School to talk about lessons learned from Henry Bloch, working hard as an entrepreneur and giving back. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MIKE PLUNKETT (MCOM): Was coming to UMKC always part of your plan after high school? MIKE PLUNKETT (PAYIT): No, it was never in the plan. I wanted to get away from Kansas City at that age and looked at a lot of schools but ended up going to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas. And so I spent two years there but I was also working my way through school. I liked SMU a lot, but I realized I didn’t want to live in Dallas. I loved Kansas City. At the same time in 1988, Henry Bloch had put all of the investment into this school. And so it was a convergence of a desire to live and work in Kansas City, and I wanted to change schools and be in an area and in a situation that would lend itself to working after school. This was the perfect place to come. And that’s still something the Bloch School is about. They are very passionate about being fully in Kansas City and helping students make that transition. In many respects, it’s a small town. But it’s a big city. It offers world-class amenities, professional sports, all the things you have in a so-called NFL city. But you run across the same people with similar values who want to be here. It’s wonderful. Did you ever meet Mr. Bloch? One time. I wish I would have had an opportunity to speak to him, but I shook his hand and thanked him. I certainly have met Tom (Bloch,
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BLOCH n 2020
