VOL. 28 // ISSUE 1 // JANUARY 2019
ON THE ROAD TO $100 MILLION Freight broker grows quickly with nimble model.
LOGISTICS LOCALE
Small businesses take advantage of KC’s hub.
NEW KIND OF SHOWPLACE
Local businesses are in the spotlight at Hy-Vee Arena.
» iThinkBigger.com
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CONTENTS
JANUA RY 2019 VOL. 28 // ISSUE 1
F E AT U R E
28 Hy-Vee Arena Becomes a New Kind of Showplace
The repurposed arena highlights small businesses to a steady stream of visitors.
IN FOCUS
45 Planes, Trains & Automobiles (Plus Boats)
Kansas City stands out as a logistics hub for reasons beyond its geography.
D E PA R T M E N T S
07 The Bigger Picture 08 Legislative Briefs 09 Biz Bits 12 BIG | deals 15 25 Under 25 Updates 50 BIG | shots
S M A R T S T R AT E G I E S
32 BIGGER | sales
24 | KC ENTREPRENEURS
The 4 Languages of Business
34 BIGGER | marketing Brand New You
36 BIGGER | tech 5 Ways to Hack-Proof Your Smartphone
38 BIGGER | management The Overlooked Management Tool
40 BIGGER | law 2019 Employment Outlook
HE ON T R E V CO
GROWING LIKE A WEED Tallgrass Freight Co. is one of the fastest-growing companies in the Kansas City metro and landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fast-growing companies nationwide.
16 BIG INFLUENCE 4
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
|
19 BIG STARTS
|
19 MADE TO LAST
Tallgrass Freight Co.’s headquarters is in Shawnee, but it has 50 freight brokers who live as far away as Ecuador.
17
C O M PA N Y T O WAT C H
20
KC M A D E I T
22
ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
Wise Power
Amina Marie Millinery
Brian Gregory
$3 million investment powers expansion.
Hat designer brings craftsmanship to fashion.
He loved the company he worked for — so he bought it. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
5
CONTENTS
JANUA RY 2019
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1 8 TH A N N U A L 2 5 U N D E R 2 5 AWA R D S
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THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
It’s a New Year and a Time to Start Fresh
I
n January, we like to look ahead and
Do you need help? Sometimes talking to a
make plans. We think about how we
person outside of our business or industry
could do things differently.
can give you perspective or show you how
It’s good to take time out and set a vision. A few
they tackled a problem.
hours or days now will pay off down the road.
January is National Mentoring Month, so what
But you can’t restart everything. You’ll have the same
better time to look for someone who can help your
employees. You’ll have the same bills to pay and collect
business grow?
on. You’ll have the same workload — or maybe more,
There are many organizations in Kansas City that can
if your vision includes more clients, expansion or
help connect you to a mentor. Or you can just give
otherwise thinking bigger.
someone you admire a call — this is a community that
That’s no excuse not to think about change. Think about
loves to give back, so it’s likely that they’ll take you up
new training opportunities for your employees or new
on at least going to coffee to pick their brain. If you hit it
incentives that can increase their commitment. Think
off, they’d probably be willing to do it again.
about delegating more tasks so you can spend more
Take the first steps toward growing your business this
time on the part of your business that you enjoy.
month, whether the changes are big or small.
Katie Be an
// Edi tor and Managing D irec to r // kbean@iThinkBigger.com
SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
7
L E G I S L AT I V E B R I E F S
FEDERAL New trade agreement replaces NAFTA In November, the U.S., Canada and Mexico signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a trade deal replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement previously in place. The new agreement includes changes for automakers, labor and environmental standards, intellectual property protections and some digital trade provisions. Among the changes most likely to affect small businesses: » U.S. farmers will receive access to the Canadian dairy market. » Copyright was extended to 70 years beyond the life of an author, up from 50 years. » The period in which pharmaceutical drugs can be protected from generic competition was extended. » Duties are prohibited on music and e-books.
» The new agreement did not impose tariff protections, but the three countries did make a separate agreement that shields Canada and Mexico from possible auto tariffs. » The deal “sunsets” or expires after 16 years and is subject to review every six years. The deal can be extended at any of the review periods. Leaders of all three countries signed the agreement, but it is still subject to ratification by the countries’ governments.
planning clinics if their employer-provided health insurance does not cover it. In December, a federal judge issued an order that permanently blocks the federal government from forcing employers to cover contraception, saying that violated their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Trump administration did not fight the order.
Employers receive leeway to opt out of contraception coverage
New attorney general tapped
A proposed rule would allow businesses to exclude contraception coverage from health insurance benefits. The Affordable Care Act mandates that access to birth control be included in health benefits. However, religious organizations and business owners who say that contradicted their strongly held beliefs have fought against that mandate. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar proposed a rule that would allow women to seek contraceptives from family
MISSOURI Gov. Mike Parson appointed a new attorney general in November. In January, Eric Schmitt will replace Josh Hawley, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in midterm elections. Schmitt was Missouri’s state treasurer since 2017, overseeing the state’s $28 billion budget. “It was important to appoint someone who has already been thoroughly vetted by the people of Missouri,” Parson said. “Eric is someone who I highly respect, personally trust, and have full confidence to serve as Missouri’s chief law enforcement officer.”
“Nationally Certified Woman-Owned Business”
•
MARKETING
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DESIGN
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AlphaGraphics 1717 Oak St | Kansas City, MO 64108 | 816.842.4200 alphagraphicskc.com | us190@alphagraphics.com | /alphagraphicskc
8
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
SIGNS
BIZ BITS
Reporter Claire Martin joins Thinking Bigger Claire Martin has joined Thinking Bigger Business Media as a reporter, where she will write news and features about Kansas City’s entrepreneurs and small businesses.
A Kansas City native, she has a master’s from Creighton University and has worked at Omaha Magazine. She also has had internships at American Century Investments and Union Station in Kansas City.
Joni Cobb will leave Pipeline Joni Cobb, CEO of Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship, announced she will step down from the post at the end of 2019. The program mentors entrepreneurs of high-growth companies. Cobb signed on when Pipeline launched in 2006, expecting to help with startup and pass the baton. Under her leadership over the past 12 years, the companies led by Pipeline entrepreneurs have generated nearly $1.4 billion in revenue and more than $622 billion in wages. The companies have raised more than $522 million in outside capital and do business in more than 85 countries. Cobb will remain on the board of directors after stepping down. Current board chairman Mike Beckloff said he and Cobb will take several months to assess needs for the program’s next leader. “Pipeline is on a strong financial footing, we have committed sponsors who believe in our work, and our entrepreneurs are eager to increase their role in ensuring that Pipeline thrives for future generations,” Cobb said.
HBA names 2019 president Shawn Woods, president of Ashlar Homes,
will serve as president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City in 2019. As part of his duties, he will work with cities to address the root causes of higher new home prices, including government regulations, increasing cost of materials and labor shortage. Woods has served as on several committees for the HBA and was vice president last year. In 2014, he received the Next Generation Builder award.
Former mayor named as Kansas Citian of the Year The first first female mayor of Kansas City, Mo., was honored as 2018 Kansas Citian of the Year at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce annual dinner Nov. 20. Kay Barnes, who served two terms as mayor from 1999 to 2007, oversaw the era of Downtown’s revitalization, including the opening of the new H&R Block World Headquarters, Sprint Center and the Power & Light District. Other improvements that occurred during her watch included the Kauffman Center Parking Garage, improvements in the Crossroads District, the conversion of dozens of buildings into lofts and apartments, with thousands of people moving Downtown.
Funding allows university to help businesses with technology, product development
The U.S. Economic Development Administration has designated the Advanced Manufacturing Institute of Kansas State University in Manhattan as part of its University Center Program. The designation is a collaborative initiative of the university and the Kansas Department of Commerce to boost development of new products and technologies in the state. The initiative will provide $1.6 million over five years to assist entrepreneurs and existing businesses in Kansas with strategic planning efforts to identify and overcome the technical challenges faced in new product and technology development. "As technologies continue to evolve and prototyping processes improve, our organization is assuming a lead role in assisting companies, entrepreneurs and researchers in the front-end development of new products and technologies,” said Jeff SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
9
BIZ BITS
Tucker, executive director of the Advanced Manufacturing Institute. “Our staff can significantly reduce the cost and time required to develop and launch new technologies." This new public-private partnership focuses on providing an integrated innovation-based economic development approach to help Kansas entities become more competitive by engaging applied research and development, supplying technology scouting/management and streamlining the technology development process, Tucker said. The Advanced Manufacturing Institute provides a broad range of engineering and business development services to both private industry and university researchers to advance the commercial readiness of new products or technologies. Visit K-State.edu/ami for more information.
K-State to offer online Kansas insurance certificate
As part of a statewide initiative to promote careers in the insurance industry among financial planning and business majors, Kansas State University will launch an online Kansas insurance certificate for undergraduates in spring 2019. Students who complete the certificate will be familiar with the intricacies of health, life, property and casualty insurance structures, annuities and insurance-related employee benefits. "The insurance industry as a whole is seeking qualified applicants to replace long-standing employees expected to retire in the coming years," said Martin Seay, associate professor and director of the university's Institute of Personal Financial Planning. "Students completing this program will have a leg up on the competition for those jobs." The certificate can be earned as a stand-alone credential for those who already possess a bachelor's degree or can serve as a direct path to the university's online bachelor's degree in personal financial planning. 10
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Small businesses report hiring challenges Small business owners reported difficulty in finding qualified workers in 2018, according to the Q4 MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index. According to the report, about 40 percent of small business owners actively searched for new hires last year, but 67 percent reported difficulty finding candidates with the required skills. Only 9 percent of small business owners called the talent pool “very good.” As a result of not being able to find workers, 81 percent of small business owners said they had to work longer hours or take on additional roles. That was true with 87 percent of manufacturing companies and firms owned by women (85 percent), minorities (89 percent) and millennials (95 percent). In addition, 61 percent of owners said they pushed their staffs to work longer hours. About 55 percent said they invested in training current employees to compensate for not finding the needed skill sets in the market.
» Chris DeVolder, HOK » Bill Ferguson, Central Bank of the Midwest » Penny Postoak Ferguson, Johnson County, Kan. » Spencer Fields, Willis Towers Watson » Steven Green, State Street » Brett Lewis, Grant Thornton » Ora Reynolds, Hunt Midwest » Brian Roberts, Lockton Cos. » Harland Russell, Leavenworth County Development Corp. » Dr. Joe Sopcich, Johnson County Community College » Dave Tovar, Sprint » Dr. Elizabeth MacLeod Walls, William Jewell College » Mayor Eileen Weir, City of Independence » Richard Wetzel, Centric » Cale Wilson, Terracon Consultants Inc.
Last chance: National Small Business Week Awards
Missouri unemployment rate hits record low Missouri’s unemployment rate tied a record low in October, hitting 3.1 percent. The last time the state’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent was October 1999 to January 2000.
KCADC picks new leaders, board members The Kansas City Area Development Council recently added new board members and chose new leadership. The KCADC is a nonprofit organization that markets the Greater Kansas City area as a business and lifestyle destination. The board’s new co-chairs are Beth Soukup, CFO of JE Dunn Construction, and David Hall, president of Hallmark Cards. Other new board members included elected officials, business leaders and other local stakeholders: » Mayor Bill Baird, Lee’s Summit » Karrie Clinkinbeard, Armstrong Teasdale LLP
Nominations end soon for the Small Business Administration’s 2019 National Small Business Week awards. SBA Administrator Linda McMahon said in a news release that the National Small Business Week award is one of the nation’s highest honors for small business achievement. Nominations must be mailed or hand- delivered to the local SBA office, 1000 Walnut St., Suite 530, Kansas City, Mo., by 2 p.m. Jan. 9. Recognition includes Small Business Person of the Year, Exporter of the Year and awards for prime contractors, subcontractors and 8(a) graduates; small business development centers; women’s business centers; veteran business outreach centers; Jody C. Raskind Lender of the Year; and Small Business Investment Company of the Year. Get nomination forms at SBA.gov.
Calendar of Events JANUARY
National Mentoring Month Brew:30 // Jan. 23 Brew Lab Pipeline Innovators Conference // Jan. 25 Omaha
FEBRUARY 2019 American Advertising Awards // Feb. 16 Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland 25 Under 25 Small Business Awards // Feb. 23 Kansas City Marriott Downtown Muehlebach Tower Bizwomen Mentoring Monday // Feb. 25 // Jan. 25 Overland Park Convention Center
MAY National Small Business Week // May 5-11
National Women’s Small Business Month
Greater Kansas City Chamber Small Business Celebration // Think Tank breakfast, May 2; Awards luncheon, May 23
National Minority Enterprise Development Week
Kansas Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award Big Breakfast // June 13 Chamber Board Room, Union Station
JULY Brew:30 // TBD
Greater Kansas City Chamber Small Business Celebration Candidates’ Showcase // March 27
APRIL KCDMA Ambit Awards // April 4
NAWBO KC Women in Business Summit
NOVEMBER
Global Entrepreneurship Week AltCap Your Biz Pitch Competition UMKC Henry W. Bloch School of Management Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Small Business Saturday
AUGUST
MARCH
InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum // March 19-20 Westin Kansas City
Brew:30 // TBD
JUNE
KC Animal Health Investment Forum // August 27
Big Breakfast // March 14 Chamber Board Room, Union Station
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER Big Breakfast // September 12, Chamber Board Room, Union Station
DECEMBER
National Write a Business Plan Month Big Breakfast // December 12, Chamber Board Room, Union Station
Looking for high-quality networking with like-minded small business owners? Join Thinking Bigger for networking and educational events like
Brew:30 // TBD
the Big Breakfast and Brew:30. Find more local business events
Leadership Lyceum // April 23
online and submit your own at iThinkBigger.com.
BIG | deals
AWARDS & RECOGNITION Johnson County Gala Names Small Business Of The Year During the Northeast Johnson County Chamber Annual Gala on Nov. 17, Springboard Creative was honored as the Small Business of the Year.
Springboard Creative was recognized for the work it does on behalf of the City of Mission, the Northeast Johnson County business community, as well as the advertising industry. Owner Kevin Fullerton also served as chair of the Gala. Based in Mission, Springboard Creative is a team of brand and communication designers. Also at the gala, KC Pretzel Boys was honored as New Business of the Year. Clay County Honors Local Businesses Several small businesses were among the projects honored by the Clay County Economic Development Council in December. The Keystone Recognition Awards honored developments and construction projects that have made significant contributions to Clay County’s economy and quality of life. Honored small businesses: » B&B Theatres, Liberty » Dubious Claims Brewing Co., Excelsior Springs » iWerx, Gladstone » Norterre, Liberty » The Summit Gill, Gladstone » Gunsmiths of Liberty LLC, Lawson » McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff 12
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Rightfully Sewn Wins Pitch Contest Rightfully Sewn was the first-prize winner at the AltCap Your Biz pitch competition, which took place in November at Global Entrepreneurship Week. The social enterprise offers training and job placement to seamstresses. It earned $10,000 and a scholarship to Workshop in Business Opportunities, a 16-week training program for business owners. Gigi’s Kale Chips, a gourmet snack company, earned second place in the competition, earning $5,000. My Flex Play, a family coworking space, nabbed third place and $2,500. Both runners up also earned WIBO scholarships. Innovative Product Calls The ‘Shots’ ShotTracker was named as a CES 2019 Innovation Awards honoree for its rechargeable ball rack. The custom design is a wireless charging solution that can recharge ShotTracker’s technology-enabled basketballs, which contain sensors to measure motion, position and dynamics during games or practice.
The awards are sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association. ShotTracker will be honored at CES 2019, which takes place Jan. 8-11 in Las Vegas. UMKC Awards Visionary Leaders The Henry W. Bloch School of Management at University of Missouri- Kansas City celebrated visionary leaders in November at its 33rd annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
Recipients: » Henry W. Bloch International Entrepreneur of the Year // Steve Case is chairman and CEO of investment firm Revolution and a co-founder of America Online. » Regional Entrepreneur of the Year // Toby Rush is senior director of international technology at Ant Financial, which bought Zoloz, the firm he founded » Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship // Paul DeBruce is founder and CEO of the DeBruce Foundation and former CEO of DeBruce Grain Inc. » Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Inductees // Jim and Virginia Stowers founded the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. Jim also founded the firm that became American Century Investments. Leawood Entrepreneur Earns National Recognition David Dehaemers Jr., CEO of Tallgrass Energy LP, was a national winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the energy and natural resources category. He is one of 12 national winners. “Being named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is particularly meaningful to me because it’s an entrepreneurial spirit across our company that made Tallgrass Energy into what it is today,” Dehaemers said in a release. “I’m very proud to lead an organization filled with individuals who think entrepreneurially, embodying one of our essential values – growth.” Founded in 2012, the Leawood company has nearly 800 employees and $656 million in revenue in 2017. CLOSINGS Westport Bar Says Goodbye McCoy’s Public House in Westport planned to close in late December after a 21-year run. “Unfortunately, market conditions and the competitive brewery environment have made it
BIG | deals
difficult to continue,” the restaurant and brewpub said in a statement. McCoy’s was part of the Beer KC restaurant group run by James Westphal and Marc Kelpe. Beer KC also operates Char Bar and Beer Kitchen in Westport, which remain open. Ruins Pub Due For Rebranding Ruins Pub at 1715 Main St. has closed. The owners, brother Grant and Jason Tower, plan to reopen with a new concept — Taps on Main — in January. Closing Liberty Bar Thanks Loyal Patrons Liberty’s Rock & Run Brewery and Pub closed in December after five years in business. It announced the news on Facebook: “We will miss our loyal guests, patrons and friends who we’ve come to know and love and who have been with us through thick and thin.” Crossroads Coffeeshop Eyes New Location Thou Mayest planned to close its coffee shop in the Crossroads Arts District at the end of December with the hope of opening a new flagship location in the future. Its wholesale and online operations will remain in operation.
Kansas Marketing Firm Ventures South Digital marketing firm JSMM + VBM, based in Overland Park, has opened a second satellite office in Miami’s South Beach and joined the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. The firm works with real estate and tourism clients and is increasing its presence in the luxury real estate and tourism sector.
Flyover Capital. LendingStandard — a series of software-based products and services, developed to create efficiency in the multi-family lending business — is the fund’s 16th early-stage investment since it was launched in 2015.
FINANCING
Cocreate KC Opens Collaborative Workspace
KC Business Cashes In On $2.5M Investment An investment has landed Kansas City-based LendingStandard $2.5 million following the close of a Series A funding round led by Flyover Capital, CEO Andy Kallenbach said. “These are folks that are well-known in Kansas City and have had software businesses in the past, and that’s a really rare combination,” Kallenbach said of
A new coworking space in North Hyde Park caters to professionals in creative fields.
Staffing Kansas City Wishes You a Happy and Prosperous New Year! We look forward to another great year of providing Kansas City companies with “Top Performers!”
EXPANSION
W
ENTY-FIV
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∙T
Start the New Year off right and call your employment partners Marie, Shelley, Michelle, Ashley and Roses
EN
E∙
UNDER
W
∙T
Agency’s Platform Goes National Leawood advertising agency MBB is expanding nationwide its platform that matches patients with doctors. MBB created the mobile-friendly platform MD MatchUp for Shawnee Mission Health in 2016. Last year, it implemented the tool at a Nebraska health system. Both doctors and patients take a 12-question survey, and the platform matches them by personality as well as needs.
NEW BUSINESS
TY
V -FI
E S T. 2 0 0 1
Class of 2016
913-663-JOBS (5627) www.staffingkc.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
13
BIG | deals
CoCreate KC offers 3,000 square feet with 12 desks, conference rooms, kitchen and a pool table. The space at 3238 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Mo., was created by advertising veterans Jan Creidenberg, Brad Lang and Matt Anthony, who now run BrandWell Partners. South KC Features New Event Space A 4,500-square-foot event space has opened in South Kansas City’s Red Bridge Shopping Center. Venue508 offers a ballroom, two smaller spaces and dressing rooms. The space can accommodate about 150 people. Family-Owned Gaming Lounge Bends Reality FlipSwitch VR is a new virtual reality gaming experience in the Crossroads Arts District. Jim Mahoney and his son, Jamie Mahoney, opened the space at 2021 Washington St. In 7,000 square feet, FlipSwitch offers two arenas for multiplayer gaming and a lounge for other gaming. New Cat Café Offers Warm Brew and Fur-Ever Homes
Nonprofit Supports Parent Entrpreneurs SymbioBiz, a nonprofit incubator that supports parent entrepreneurs, launched in November. SymbioBiz, founded by Stephanie Zamora Schilling, matches businesses to unused space in the community. For example, it matched FlexPlay childcare with underutilized space at Summit Christian Church in Lee’s Summit. Additional space at the church is open to other entrepreneurs. New Boutique Finds Home In Crossroads Boutique Floc5 & Co. opened its shop and brand studio in November in the Crossroads Arts District. It offers apparel, accessories, home goods and apothecary items in the shop and plans to launch comprehensive brand experience services. It is located at 110 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. ON THE MOVE Delden Promotes New Director Willy Dahms was promoted to director of operations at Delden Manufacturing Co. He will oversee production, sales, service and management. Delden is a wholesale garage door manufacturer and distributor. OTHER NEWS
A new concept in Kansas City’s Midtown area will bring together people and potential pets. Whiskers Cat Café at 3705 Southwest Trafficway opened in November. Patrons can order drinks in the café, and a cat lounge will feature adoptable cats from KC Pet Project. Guests can make a 60-minute reservation. Owners Audrey Boese and John Thompson raised $20,000 through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to help get the café purring. Criminal Defense Firm Opens In Riverside Attorney Natasha Scruggs launched The Scruggs Law Firm in Riverside. The firm specializes in criminal defense and offers wholistic options for clients looking for a fresh start. 14
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Life Equals Upgrades To Superfoods Life Equals announced that it would rebrand to Balance the Superfood Shot. The change follows its focus shifting to its superfood shots, which contain half the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Riverside Fulfillment Company Acquired Innovative Fulfillment Solutions, a Riverside e-commerce fulfillment and logistics company, was acquired by Symbia Logistics of Edwards, Colo. IFS has been a pioneer in providing third-party fulfillment services to e-commerce companies since 1998, getting its start around the time that Amazon became a
household name. “Since launching IFS, we’ve seen explosive growth in online shopping and e-commerce services,” IFS co-founder and CEO Keith Milburn said. “It’s been an exciting ride for the past 20 years, and we’re delighted with this transition occurring following the best year in company history. And, we are thrilled to know that the Symbia team will continue to treat our employees, our clients and their customers with the same care and exceptional customer service that we have committed to over the years.” IFS has around 50 employees, all of whom will remain in their positions going forward. Matt McCoy, Symbia General Manager, will continue to run the local operation. McCoy joined IFS in 2014 as Vice President of Operations and was promoted to President in 2017. Travel company acquires St. Louis-area business
Acendas Travel has expanded its operations with the acquisition of Gwin’s Travel, which has offices in the St. Louis suburbs of Kirkwood, Mo., and Bethalto, Ill. The deal is effective immediately. While current Acendas Travel staff will assume various responsibilities after the purchase, Gwin’s will retain its name and remain as a stand-alone agency. Previous owner Rhonda Kaminski will retire, while her existing staff will stay on board. “The move follows our strategy to grow in the Midwest by acquiring agencies with a track record of success and a culture which aligns with ours,” Acendas Travel President Brent Blake said. “We have long been familiar with Gwin’s and impressed with Rhonda Kaminski’s leadership. Acendas has headquarters in Mission and Eden Prairie, Minn. In June, it acquired a South Dakota travel agency.
2 5 U N D E R 2 5 ® U P DAT E S
ANNOUNCING THE CLASS OF 2019 A new cohort of outstanding Kansas City-area small businesses has been selected as the 2019 class of 25 Under 25 Small Business Award honorees. The newly selected companies embody this year’s event theme, “Go Places. Think Bigger.” Some are growing and moving into new, larger headquarters. One honoree, Mi Rancho Tequila, just signed an international distribution agreement. The cohort includes businesses all over the KC metro, from Tonganoxie to Blue Springs. An independent panel of judges selected the honorees for Thinking Bigger Business Media’s 18th annual award program. The companies must be Kansas City-area for-profit businesses that have been in operation for at least three years and have fewer than 25 full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees. The award recognizes
AlphaGraphics Kansas City AlphaGraphics Kansas City (Class of 2016) attained national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) from the Women’s Business Development Center-Midwest, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. The printing and marketing company, based in the Crossroads Arts District, also is recognized as a WBE and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise by Kansas City, Mo. Travois Travois (Class of 2010) earned a 2018 When Work Works Award for exemplary workplace practices. The Kansas City business is the only company in Missouri to receive the honor this year.
small-but-mighty businesses, which are critical to the economy: 89 percent of U.S. businesses have 20 or fewer employees, according to 2016 U.S. Census data. For this award, companies are judged on financial stability, ability to overcome adversity and challenges, community involvement, distinguishing or defining characteristics, and company vision. Winners will be recognized at a black-tie dinner and gala Feb. 23 at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown Muehlebach Tower. Tickets are on sale now, and prices will increase Jan. 1. For tickets and other information about the gala and awards, visit 25under25.com.
2018 Winners
Participating local businesses: » Advantage Pressure Pro » Bulldog » Chief of Staff
Travois focuses on economic development for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. The award recognizes employers of all sizes across the country that excel at offering a variety of top-rated employee initiatives such as work-life fit policies, flexible scheduling and transition to parenthood programs. The award goes beyond work-life programs and includes initiatives that address the additional evidence-based aspects of effective workplaces, such as opportunities for learning, job autonomy and a culture of respect and trust. Veracity Veracity (Class of 2011) closed out 2018 strong.
» Digital Maelstrom » e2E » Fresh Approach » HMC Performance Coatings » IntegriShield » KC Wine Company » Love Letters » Mi Rancho Tequila » Midwest Comfort Homes » Moxi Events » MSP Consulting » My Child Advocate » OneHQ » Otto Service » Porter Teleo » ReDesign KC » Shamerrific Shine » Smith Mohlman » Taxes Plus » Tea-Biotics » The Running Well Store » Umzuzu
In October, the company opened a new two-story headquarters in downtown Overland Park. The space, designed by Clockwork Architecture, includes a variety of workspace areas to fit various work styles. Also in October, the tech consulting firm earned the Minority-Owned Business Award from the Kansas Department of Commerce. It is woman-, minority- and LGBT-owned. In response to client demand – and to leverage the expertise of the Veracity team – the company has also added new service lines to its offerings, including emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotic processing automation. The company is now a member of the Government Blockchain Association (GBA), and CTO Mike Talbot serves as president of the Overland Park chapter of GBA. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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AT A G L A N C E K C
E N T R E P R E N E U R S
BIG INFLUENCE | MEYER MUSIC
Band of Angels Plays to Company’s Strengths
Meyer Music's Band of Angels is a philanthropic partnership with Fox4 News to collect instruments, which are refurbished and distributed to students across the metro. (Photos courtesy of Meyer Music )
eyer Music was founded more than 50 years ago by two educators, Ted and Betty Meyer, who believed that music education is critical to a child’s development. Today, the company’s three locations offer private music lessons and instrument sales or rentals for musically inclined students.
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As school districts have cut arts funding, Meyer Music saw an opportunity to step in. In partnership with Fox4 News, it collects monetary donations and musical instruments that are refurbished and distributed to students who can’t afford to buy or rent them. The effort, which began in 2010, was dubbed Band of Angels and is now a 501(c)(3) charity. “Fox had been doing many stories about the arts being cut in schools,” said Mike Meyer, Chairman Angel of Band of Angels. “Meyer Music had all the infrastructure to fix and distribute the instruments as well as help identify students in need with its strong ties to over 60 school districts.” Band of Angels has provided more than 1,800 instruments to schools and students. It also has funded 210 scholarships to send students to summer music camps for free. Meyer Music, a family business, has instilled the importance of philanthropy into its staff. 16
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
“From a young age, all of the Meyer children were told of the need to give back to the community. So when the idea of using these instruments that were not being used at the time came up, it made perfect sense,” Meyer said. “So many studies show that kids who study music excel in all other areas of their lives, so by helping students learn music, we are also building a stronger community.” Fox 4 News shares that philosophy, Meyer said. Involving the employees of both organizations has payoffs beyond the impact of the donations, he added. “Without question it has made a seismic change to the company culture at both Meyer and Fox. Making our staffs both a part of the process has made them feel a part of it and also made them feel great about coming to work and who they are working for,” Meyer said. “On many occasions, employees have told me that they feel great telling people who they work for, and seeing the impact makes coming to work more fulfilling. “Sometimes money is just the easy answer, but using the assets and talents you have around you in your business makes it more real for your employees. … Band of Angels has provided a perfect opportunity for us to share this project with our staffs and change our company culture while making a difference in the community, all at the same time.”
C O M PA N Y T O WAT C H K C
WISE POWER
E N T R E P R E N E U R S
Power Surge INVESTMENT PROPELS ENERGY TECH COMPANY WORLDWIDE. multimillion-dollar investment from a Saudi Arabian accelerator and capital firm is pushing Wise Power from the West Bottoms to global growth, said founder Kevin Williams.
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ENTREPRENEUR
Kevin Williams C O M PA N Y I N F O R M AT I O N
Wise Power (844) 947-3769 getwisepower.com TYPE OF BUSINESS
WISE is a lifestyle management system that allows users to store the energy to power their homes and businesses. YEAR FOUNDED
2012
“The injection will allow us to expand quickly to get this technology out to the world, which was what our original intent was with WISE Power,” he said. Wise Power uses patented technology to help homeowners and businesses store energy to power their spaces, in addition to managing and automating energy usage. Users can integrate, monitor and control smart appliances and devices through a smartphone, tablet or computer. The end goal is lower energy bills and a smaller carbon footprint. “We sold a successful company (WillCo Technologies, a 25 Under 25 Award honoree in 2010) because we felt that we had a calling to spread this technology that could benefit many others by providing electricity — one of the things that we take for granted,” Williams added. The term sheet agreement of a capital injection of up to $3 million from SilverNote Investment Capital — at an evaluation of up to $10 million— has fueled partnerships in Nigeria, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the opening of four offices in India, he said. Wise Power, now in the midst of a capital raising campaign, began by reaching out to other startups and returning to its pitch deck, Williams said, noting recent global recognition stemmed, in part, from the firm’s uptick in social media presence. “We felt like in this go-around, we needed to raise the capital necessary to go to market, not only
(Photo courtesy of Austin Walsh Studios)
quickly, but with all of the resources and timing that we needed,” he said. “It’s one thing to do research and development, and as we’ve made money each month, we’ve put it into certain things, but now we need to make a sustained and coordinated effort to go to market. A new relationship with Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City’s West Bottoms now allows potential investors and distributors to tour WISE Power’s 9,000-square-foot lounge demonstration site, which has contributed to the company’s partnership growth, said Williams. Wise Power is moving its office from Overland Park to the former Kemper Arena, which is being redeveloped into a sprawling sports complex and will be powered by Wise Power, he added. “A gentleman traveled 21 hours to come and see it,” Williams said. “Having Hy-Vee Arena as our demonstration site is paying off.” The business-to-business and business-to- business-to-consumer hybrid model Wise Power employs makes the expansion possible, he added, with those in the distributor network able to benefit from the partnership. “We decided that we were not going to sit here and try to sell this to the world ourselves — rather, we bear this technology through a business model through other businesses, so that they would add new products and services to our other existing customers, and to be able to go out and sell to new customers,” said Williams. “Our recent activities have just validated that business model.”
Elyssa Bezner is a reporter at news partner Startland News. // StartlandNews.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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BIG MONEY | BARDAVON HEALTH INNOVATIONS
'Change is coming to health care'
MADE TO LAST | RIVERSIDE RED X
‘Store to explore’ lasts 70 years and more
COMPANY // Bardavon Health Innovations ENTREPRENEUR // CEO Matt Condon WHAT THEY DO // A health tech firm that’s aiming to transform
how companies manage workers' compensation. RECENT FUNDING // The four-year-old company’s national
expansion push comes thanks to $15 million in new funding led by NewRoad Capital Partners, based in Northwest Arkansas, which saw proven success in the venture-backed, cloud-based clinical intelligence and analytics of Bardavon, Condon said. “This investment confirms that change is coming to health care, that workers’ compensation programs will help catalyze the transformation to quality-based medicine, and that Bardavon is well-positioned to lead that charge,” he said. Health care cost containment strategies of the past simply have not worked, added Paul Morris, COO of Bardavon. “We spend more each year on health care yet are less satisfied with the experience and outcome. Bardavon is changing that,” he said. WHAT’S NEXT // The Overland Park firm is poised for explosive
growth, said Clete Brewer, managing partner of NewRoad Capital Partners in Rogers, Ark. “Having followed Bardavon’s progress for three years and observed the breakthrough results in quality outcomes they have achieved with national employers, we are excited to be the lead investor that fuels their national expansion,” Brewer said. CONTACT // Bardavon.com // info@bardavon.com // 913-236-1020 From news partner Startland News // StarlandNews.com
Riverside Red X considers itself the “store to explore.” The retailer celebrated 70 years in business in 2018 and is a family business. Ed Young founded the company as a filling station in 1948 with only $150 in inventory. Red X was the gas distributor. The store has evolved to offer a grocery, deli, pharmacy, liquor store, hardware and memorabilia — including a collection of bells — in 85,000 square feet. It is now led by Zeke Young, a second-generation owner, and Chief Strategy Officer Jen Boyd, a third-generation family member. Riverside Red X has endured a few hiccups over its decades in business, including three floods and a fire. But it has overcome those natural disasters and continues to innovate. The store offers an app and online ordering for groceries and household goods — customers can even schedule a date and time for pickup, and Riverside Red X employees will load items into the car. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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KC MADE IT K C
AMINA MARIE MILLINERY
E N T R E P R E N E U R S
Hat by Hat Milliner brings craftsmanship to fashion hen it comes to fashion, hats have re-emerged as a statement item, allowing women to punctuate their sense of style. Just ask designer Amina Marie Hood, who has created her own signature line of millinery here in Kansas City. She features two lines — couture and commercial line A.HOOD. She works out of a studio behind boutique Floc5 & Co. in the Crossroads Arts District. Hood’s designs are sold at Floc5 and through her website, and she is expanding the wholesale end of the business. Today, Amina Marie Millinery has been featured in numerous fashion magazines, museum exhibits and runway shows around the world.
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BECOMING A MILLINER
A graduate of Shawnee Mission East high school who attended art school in San Francisco, Hood has always had a creative streak. She just didn’t know it would take her into millinery. “I was in drama, and I used to sew costumes in high school, and I was always creative,” Hood said. After a stint at textile school, Hood worked in the retail space as a visual designer for Nieman Marcus and later as a buyer for Halls. “I have a lot of knowledge of how things work in the (fashion) industry, and that absolutely helped me with this,” she said. It’s been a five-year journey creating Amina Marie Millinery. “In the beginning I was making hats for friends. It was a fluke,” she said. A friend asked Hood to make a hat for her to attend Burning Man, a California art festival in the desert. “I told her ‘I don’t make hats,’ and she said, ‘I think you can,’” Hood said. Knowing no one locally who made hats, she searched online for “how to make a hat” and found Arizona-based designer Jeanne 20 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Bjorn on the internet. “We did three Skype sessions, and it was really hard, but I managed to make this hat for my friend,” Hood said. “It wasn’t my finest moment in millinery, but it got me excited and started.” FROM A FLUKE TO A BUSINESS
Hood traveled to Colorado to take a weeklong class with Bjorn. “I hadn’t thought about doing it as a business,” she said. The turning point came after she entered an international millinery competition put on by London’s Lock & Co. Hatters. “I ended up becoming a finalist, one of nine in the world and the only American,” Hood said. “I went to London hat week, and that’s when I thought, ‘I am good at this, and maybe this should be my profession.’” With the help of her husband, attorney Matthew Hood, she went into business as she continued to study the art of millinery. One stint took Hood to New York City for 23 days to study with a prestigious Russian milliner. There, Hood learned couture stitches and techniques; the experience was invaluable. CASUAL TO COUTURE
For Amina Marie Couture, “everything is done by me, and it is hand-sewn, dyed by me, and all the material is the finest material, a lot of it coming from France,” Hood said. All hats in the couture line are custom designs. “I do a lot of custom designs for people attending the Kentucky Derby, Ascot and Preakness races, for mothers of the bride and weddings overseas.” Last season, she made 30 hats for the Derby alone. Hats in the couture collection average $350 to $400 and up depending on materials and labor. “The A.HOOD line is my commercial line that I just launched, and I am hoping to wholesale to national stores and boutiques,” Hood said. “They are more casual. I call it
street style—mine are more Parisian street with a feminine edge.” Hood designs the commercial line, but these hats are stitched by others based in New York. Hat materials include high-end wools and fur felt, and Hood likes to mix in vintage materials she finds. These chapeaux are more accessible, with a price point of $100 to $300. “I like to make things special, not made on a press in China.” Hood prides herself on making her designs special, no matter which line a customer chooses. “When someone finds the right hat, they just beam,” Hood said. “It gives them such confidence. People are so serious here, and it just loosens people up.” ‘YOU LEARN TO BALANCE’
There have been challenges along the way. She still designs her couture pieces at home. Hood works to balance her millinery work with raising three children – a 14-year old and eight-year-old twins. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my husband,” Hood said. “It’s always been a little nutty, but you learn to balance. When you are passionate about something, you make it work.” ‘AN OPPORTUNITY TO STAND OUT’
These days, Hood is focused on growing the wholesale line, but she has ideas for the future of Amina Marie Millinery. “I would like to do a kids line for A.HOOD and do more men’s styles for that, as well,” Hood said. She wants to expand her social media presence and find people locally to sew for her lines. “It’s hard to find people that hand sew.” While her hats have worldwide appeal, Hood said Kansas City is a great place to do business. “I could have located anywhere, (but) Kansas City really supports small business and helps them,” she said. “You have an opportunity to stand out here. … A lot of people who would have moved to bigger markets have decided to stay here.” Ruth Baum Bigus is a former managing editor of a weekly newspaper and a longtime freelance writer. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY K C
( by Kate Leibsle )
E N T R E P R E N E U R S
‘I wasn’t afraid of entrepreneurism’ Brian Gregory learned valuable lessons from a banker and clients.
B
rian Gregory’s fascination with computers and data goes way back — back to the days when not everyone had a desktop computer, let alone a handheld one. Luckily for his customers, Gregory found his niche at 19, working in communications and building his business, Network Innovations Inc., into one of Kansas City’s successful small businesses. 22
THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Finding Solutions The Paola native was “always into computers. In fact, in high school they used to come get me out of class to help solve problems in the computer lab,” he said. When he first started working at Network Innovations — and when he bought it from the original owner — the business plan primarily revolved around helping customers choose the right phone systems. The company has evolved with technology and now has focuses more on data aggregation. Gregory became the sole owner of the company at 19, despite having no business
experience: "I was loving what I was doing," he said. "It was a big risk and I knew it, but I figured there would never be another time in my life where I could take that kind of risk, so I went for it." He may seem an unlikely entrepreneur, but he has thrived as a business owner and innovator, he said. “I love to learn. I love to research and find solutions,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid of entrepreneurism even at 19. I had a few really good clients that became mentors.” The Bottom Line That’s not to say that the transition from high schooler to business owner was easy – far from it. For starters, when he took over the business, it wasn’t in good shape. His banker insisted on monthly meetings. That’s where Gregory learned a valuable lesson: the bottom line is all that matters. “I would go in every month and talk about
“I wasn’t afraid of entrepreneurism even at 19. I had a few really good clients that became mentors.” Brian Gregory // Owner, Network Innovations Inc.
to grow his company too large. He has fewer than 10 employees, many of whom have been with him for more than 10 years. Adding more personnel would move him away from his customers, and he doesn’t want that. “I enjoy doing client work,” he said. “I couldn’t do that if we got too big.” So what’s next for the company? In the short term, it’s all about continuing to do what they’ve always done to be successful. What’s the next big thing in communications? That’s harder to judge than ever, Gregory said, thanks to the millennials flooding the workforce. “They have radically different ideas about communication,” he said. Network Innovations will continue to reinvent itself and add products and services
as necessary. Gregory knows that the narrow niche they live in has helped keep the company strong. He is starting to partner with other businesses to work for clients. “Because we are working so narrowly, we can come in and do our little piece really well (in a larger project),” he said. As for Gregory, he is always working to be a better entrepreneur. One of the other lessons he’s learned through the years is that successful business owners never think they’ve “made it.” “I still enjoy it,” he said. “I get to decide our direction, and I enjoy it.” Kate Leibsle is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area.
Amy and Brian Gregory own Network Innovations, which in 2018 earned Thinking Bigger's 25 Under 25 Small Business Award
ACS Data Search – “Unlock the Truth” ™ how many customers we had, how many orders we had, etc.,” he said. “I was always so proud when we were up. Then one month he said, ‘This number down here at the bottom is all I care about. The profit and loss number is all I want to know.’” The lightbulb went off, and Gregory took that lesson to heart and has based all future business deals on it. Network Innovations moves into new areas or projects only if profitability is in the cards. “The P and L is what matters,” Gregory said. “It confounds me to this day people who don’t understand that.” The Next Big Thing Another lesson learned is that everything in his business is about constant change. Gregory says that the hot new trend of today will be on the outs within three years. But that’s part of what makes his job endlessly fascinating. It’s also one of the reasons he doesn’t want
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Tallgrass Freight Co. founder Damon Anderson wanted to run his own small freight brokerage from his Leavenworth farmhouse. With the help of COO David Barnes, the company has outgrown the original vision and is on the road to $100 million in revenue.
24 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
KC ENTREPRENEURS
Moving Forward Tallgrass Freight Co. doesn’t want to be the world’s biggest freight broker, just the best.
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16 W-2 employees and 50 affiliated freight agents
hen he started Tallgrass Freight Co., Damon Anderson had a couple goals. He wanted to run his own small freight brokerage from his farmhouse in Leavenworth. And he wanted to give his clients outstanding service, the way he saw fit. It didn’t work out exactly like he planned, but the journey’s still been pretty amazing. Six years after it launched, Tallgrass Freight Co. is one of America’s fastest-growing private companies, going from $4 million in 2016 to $30 million last year. Anderson and his business partner, David Barnes, employ about 16 employees at their Shawnee headquarters and work with another 50 affiliated brokers — some who live as far away as Ecuador. “We move everything from rotors to military vehicles to alcohol, frozen turkeys, blueberries,” Barnes said. “If you can fit it in the back of a 53-foot van or flatbed, we’re moving it.”
KEYS TO SUCCESS
GROWTH MODEL
ENTREPRENEURS
Damon Anderson & David Barnes C O M PA N Y I N F O R M AT I O N
Tallgrass Freight Co. 6800 Hilltop Road, Suite 202 Shawnee, KS 66226 (913) 721-0079 TallgrassFreight.com TYPE OF BUSINESS
Full-service logistics solution provider YEAR FOUNDED
2012 E M P L OY E E S
“We treat people with respect.” — Damon Anderson, CEO and founder
One of the secrets to Tallgrass Freight’s growth is its agency model. Brokers are essentially the boss of their own business. They set their own hours and goals, and they keep two-thirds of the profits. In exchange for its cut, Tallgrass gives those brokers access to its cutting-edge customer relationship management platform. The company handles billing and collections, invests in marketing and deals with other back-office tasks. That’s allowed Tallgrass to attract seasoned
brokers from bigger competitors. These are people who know the business but are sick of the rules and high-pressure sales quotas of larger freight companies. While Tallgrass promises more freedom to its affiliates, it’s also a lot pickier about the people it selects. Anderson vets each and every person for a culture fit before they can join the team. “We treat people with respect,” Anderson said. “Dave and I take a lot of effort to make sure that we create an environment where people understand, hey, it’s human beings you’re working with. It’s not just somebody you can step on to get where you want to go.” ‘I CAN DO THIS’
Anderson got into the industry back in 2006 when he went to work for a major freight broker here in Kansas City. It was a good opportunity. Beyond the salary and health insurance, he learned the business and earned a great reputation with customers. It could be frustrating, though. He really liked his clients, and if they had a problem, he wanted to fix it quickly. Company policy was to kick any issues over to a separate department like claims or adjustments, but Anderson made a point of staying involved because he was personally invested. One time, a client needed to book a shipment over the weekend, and Anderson’s old company didn’t allow him access to the computer system from home. So he drove 22 miles to the office. Then he knocked on the glass doors until someone finally let him in.
by James Hart // photography by Dan Videtich SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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Using an agency model, Tallgrass Freight Co. has grown fast — it landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing business in the U.S. at No. 1922.
“Finally, I just hit the wall,” he said. “No amount of money made it worth it. And I saw the numbers, and I thought: I can leave. I can do this on my own.” When he started Tallgrass Freight, Anderson planned to maintain a relatively small book of business, but it kept growing. Worried about customer churn, he was always on the prowl for new business, but the churn never came. His customers stuck with him. “Because they see you care about problems and you’re the buck-stops-here person,” Anderson said. As his book of business grew, Anderson brought on a buddy who wanted to go out on his own but didn’t have the necessary certifications. And then another friend. And another. They all operated from Anderson’s farmhouse. To streamline their work,
Anderson hired a couple of developers to build a database, which gradually evolved into a CRM. (The first server was kept in the basement because the farmhouse didn’t have air conditioning, and that was the only place cool enough.) While the extra people and the CRM helped, Anderson found himself drowning in work. He would book freight and interact with clients during the day, but he had to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning to create invoices, manage billing and tackle other must-do tasks. Finally, a friend introduced him to Barnes, who was working as a consultant. Not only had Barnes launched successful businesses of his own, he had freight experience, too. Barnes was a life-saver. He helped Anderson discover some efficiencies and bring his
26 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
“If you find the right people, and you treat the right people the right way, funny how things can come together and really start to snowball.”
workload back under control. And it was Barnes who suggested they might be sitting on a massive opportunity. What if they expanded their agency model and started working with people Anderson didn’t already know? With some enhancements, the CRM could support an even larger team. Plus, the two of them clicked. “Damon is the extroverted sales guy, can sell ice to an Eskimo,” Barnes said. “And I’m operations and process, analytical — I’m a numbers nerd. So the things I really love to do, he hates. And the things he’s really good at and likes
David Barnes // COO
to do, I hated.” After a few months, they decided to join forces. “We negotiated me buying into the company on a napkin at the Hereford House, sitting by the bar,” Barnes said. ON THE ROAD TO $100 MILLION
Were they surprised by Tallgrass Freight’s explosive growth? “I personally wasn’t,” Barnes said. Anderson laughed: “I was!” “I knew the caliber of the sales agent that comes to work for us,” Barnes said. “I had a very good understanding of what their value
was from a monetary standpoint.” Right now, the company is on a trajectory for $100 million in annual revenue within 24 months. Organic growth is enough to get Tallgrass Freight to $75 million to $80 million. They’re also looking at acquisitions. In July, the company completed its first-ever purchase, buying Westport Business Group, and would like to carry out a few more deals. “You can do incredible things when you go through and acquire good talent,” Barnes said. And that’s really an echo of what Anderson has been trying to do ever since he had his first friend come work with him at farmhouse: Find good people, give them a shot at doing great work, and — if there’s a good fit — you’ll be amazed at the results. Of course, not everybody is a good fit. Some people aren’t ready to be their own boss. They need
someone pushing them to make X number of calls every day to generate new business. “In essence, every agent we get here is somebody starting their own company,” Anderson said. “We can only give them so much. Make sure you really understand what it means to work. Because if your internal boss isn’t pushing you, no one else is going to.” ONE STEP AHEAD
Finding good people is just one part of high growth. Tallgrass also has continued investing in its platform so it can handle an increasing workload. If the platform weren’t as efficient as it is, the company would have to hire more people, which would cut into profits. Another key? Fast-growing companies often face a cash gap as they add people and resources to service new business. Having a
good lending partner — and having a relationship in place before you need it — is critical. “Growth costs a lot of money,” Barnes said, “and you better stay ahead of that. Because banks don’t loan money to people that need it.” SNOWBALL EFFECT
Every December, Tallgrass Freight hosts a Christmas party, and it’s always bigger and better than the year before. Almost everyone turns out, even the brokers coming from the other side of the country. A lot of times, it’s the first time that Anderson has ever met the new brokers face-to-face. One of the first things they tell him? "Thank you." Thanks to Tallgrass Freight, they’re able to work when and how it makes sense for them. They’re not under pressure to bill
more and more and more every month, though they’ve got the freedom to pursue the brass ring if they want to. “We get thank-yous all the time, and it’s almost … I don’t really want to say ‘you’re welcome’ because we’re all part of this together,” Anderson said. “But like Dave said, we cried over a few people last year. Their stories are so exciting.” Barnes is proud of what they’ve built. “We don’t need to be the biggest, we don’t need thousands of employees and all of that,” Barnes said. “But if you find the right people, and you treat the right people the right way, funny how things can come together and really start to snowball.”
James Hart is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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HY-VEE ARENA BECOMES A NEW KIND OF SHOWPLACE THE REPURPOSED LANDMARK HIGHLIGHTS SMALL BUSINESSES TO A STEADY STREAM OF VISITORS.
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oody Carter’s business is scheduling events in the newly renovated and rebranded Hy-Vee Arena. Business is brisk. “For 2019, we have six weekend days where there’s nothing on the books yet,” Carter, the arena’s events and sales manager, said Nov. 7. “We’re doing well, getting large tournaments. It’s a wonderful, multi-use space.” The former Kemper Arena — once host to professional basketball, hockey and soccer games, Final Fours and music legends from Cher to Frank Sinatra — has been given 28 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
a second life as a site for youth and adult sports after a $39 million investment by Foutch Brothers LLC. The 44-year-old structure also will offer office and retail space as well as restaurants and other amenities. AT THE STARTING LINE
The revamped structure opened for sporting events in September, but many of its new tenants are still building their locations, said Carter, who noted that 80 percent of the arena’s space had been leased. The arena, which has courts on two
levels, can offer 12 basketball or volleyball courts or 24 pickleball courts. Carter said the arena also will host events for other sports, including gymnastics and wrestling. Hy-Vee Arena will be a hotspot for youth activities during the weekends and will be used for adult recreational sports at night. KC Crew owner Luke Wade said his organization is scheduling adult basketball, volleyball and pickleball leagues at the arena five nights a week. KC Crew has about 15,000 adults participating in its leagues, Wade said. The group’s indoor games had been scattered
Foutch Brothers redeveloped Kemper Arena, creating a new hub in Kansas City's West Bottoms. The renamed Hy-Vee Arena will host rec and youth sports, plus a myriad of local small businesses. (Photos courtesy of Hy-Vee Arena)
across a handful of community centers. Now all that activity has been moved under one roof. “You can play a game and have a beer after,” said Wade, who planned to move his offices to the arena. “It’s a cool, historic place that’s being repurposed.” A MULTI-USE SPACE
With youth sports on the weekends and adult sports at night, the Hy-Vee courts will see plenty of action. But Carter said the arena also plans to sell gym memberships that would allow people to use the courts
during open periods and provide access to the arena’s new fitness center, locker rooms and 350-meter track. He said memberships will cost $65 a month for individuals or $90 for families. Thalia Cherry, president and CEO of Cherry Sports Gear, said the arena was the “perfect fit” for her 6-year-old sports apparel company, which plans to open its first brick-and-mortar location there in January. “You can feel the energy and the vibe,” said Cherry. “This could be the next revitalized community in Kansas City.” Cherry said her store will offer gear
for fans of the Chiefs, Royals and local colleges, but the arena location also will offer her company an opportunity to market uniforms. “It’s the right audience for us,” she said. “It offers sports. It’s old and new mixed together. “I remember my parents taking me to so many events there. Not just Kemper but the restaurants that were there at the time. It’s very nostalgic. Everybody has a story there. That’s what’s beautiful about it.” Carter said the arena will be home to several restaurants. All American Diner, SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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“This was a perfect opportunity. It’s a great fit for both businesses. It’s nothing short of amazing what’s been done with the building. It’s something Kansas City needs, especially the youth. This is definitely something that will revitalize the West Bottoms. We’re happy to be part of it.” —KEVIN WILLIAMS // WISE POWER, CEO
Thalia Cherry is owner of Cherry, an apparel retailer located at Hy-Vee Arena
Cool Beans, Longboards and The Smoothie Shop already are on board, and he said other contracts were being finalized. The expectation he said, is to land a pizza place and a barbecue restaurant. “We want to be full-tilt by mid- December,” he said. The arena also will offer an arcade. “We want to cater to everyone,” Carter said. ‘A COOL OFFICE LOCATION’
Carter said not all the businesses coming to the arena are connected to sports. He said there are tenants that offer irrigation equipment, snow removal, lawn care and a boutique, among others. “It’s a cool office location,” he said. 30 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Wise Power Inc. plans to move from its Overland Park location to the arena by mid-January. But the new location will be far more than just an office for the energy storage and technology firm. Wise Power is creating a nearly 9,000-square-foot Wise Power Lounge with 14 virtual reality simulators, said Brittany Williams, who will own and operate the lounge, which also will offer food and drinks. The simulators will offer a wide range of sports, including golf, basketball, football, soccer and hockey, as well as carnival games, target shooting and zombie dodgeball. The lounge also will serve as a demonstration site for Wise Power, which will provide supplementary power for the arena,
said Wise Power CEO — and Brittany’s father — Kevin Williams. The elder Williams said the company is installing solar panels on a 40-space carport, and visitors will be able to monitor how much energy is created and stored from those panels. “We already had a business plan for a golf simulator lounge,” Brittany Williams said. “This was a perfect opportunity. It’s a great fit for both businesses. It’s nothing short of amazing what’s been done with the building. It’s something Kansas City needs, especially the youth. This is definitely something that will revitalize the West Bottoms. We’re happy to be part of it.” ‘THE AREA HAS REALLY TURNED A CORNER’
The Hy-Vee Arena projects coincides
Hy-Vee Arena's track and two levels of courts can host a variety of events. Competitors can visit the restaurants and other local businesses located in the arena during breaks.
with a $26.7 million, mixed-use project by Flaherty & Collins that will build more than 230 luxury apartments and 5,500 square feet of retail space in the West Bottoms. Dubbed “The Yards,” the development is adjacent to the Livestock Exchange Building. “In general, there’s a lot of momentum in the area, and the arena is certainly part of that,” said Bill Haw Jr., owner of Haw Contemporary, the Stockyards District art gallery. “It’s a super ambitious project. I don’t think something like this has been done, repurposing a large arena. They’re usually just knocked down. If they get the
numbers they’re talking about — 1,000 people a day — it’s going to be a big impact on some businesses.” Haw and his father, Bill Sr., own five West Bottoms properties between them, including the massive Livestock Exchange. They are keeping a keen eye on the arena development. “Kemper hadn’t been effectively utilized for long time,” Haw said. “No area can thrive on just events unless you have an event three or four nights a week. Hy-Vee Arena is going to provide regular traffic, and a lot of businesses will benefit from that.” Haw said his father owns 25 acres of
undeveloped land between the Kansas River and the Livestock Exchange, which raises an interesting question: What’s next for the West Bottoms? “When the right thing comes along, we look forward to developing that as well,” he said. “Something unique. Not cookie cutter. The area has really turned a corner. We went to keep the momentum going and help guide it to be something special not just another planned development.”
David Mitchell is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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BIGGER | sales
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The 4 Languages of Business
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( by Diane O’Byrne )
arly in my career, I called on a client who was a friend outside of work. No one frustrated me more in the business arena. I would present to her on a Friday afternoon; she’d give me feedback that my proposal looked great and she would work on putting her plan together over the weekend and get back to me Monday. I would come in Monday morning to a voicemail that she was sorry she wasn’t able to buy my proposal … maybe next time. WHAT? How could everything look great Friday when I was the last to present, and now I’m out? You can be honest with me; give me the straight feedback as to what I could have improved with my proposal so I know for next time. I never got it, so I operated blindly for future presentations. Where was the disconnect? I was driven to study the sales process to better understand where that disconnect existed, and now I know — we spoke two different languages. Personality quadrant theorists say we process information in basically four different ways. (Wouldn’t it be easy if we all fit nice and neatly into square boxes — but the theory has daily application!) Breaking down the information, you can easily identify how you process information and how your customer processes information. The goal is for you to be able to modify the way you process, the language you speak, and learn to speak your client’s language. ANALYTICAL The first quadrant is the analytical quadrant. The operative word for this language 32 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
is information — they simply cannot get enough. This is the customer who wants to learn every single detail about your product. They don’t really care what time it is, they want to know how the watch is made. You need to be very specific and detailed about the features and benefits of your product and deliver your information in a very systematic and logical way without emotion — just the facts. You can easily identify someone who speaks the analytical language by the detailed questions they ask. Key qualities include closed body language and lack of emotion in the buying decision. They dislike confrontation and will retreat if the situation becomes adversarial. They may be a challenge to close because they worry about some missing piece of data that might impact their decision. Your response in “analytical speak” is to recap detail by detail why they should buy your product. DRIVER Customers who speak “driver” enjoy confrontation. You may be very direct with them in delivering your information. The operative word for this language speaker is control. They want you to get to the point as quickly as possible and deliver the bottom line. They won’t want to see all the details that the analytical does, but if asked, you better have them readily available. You always want to offer this client at least two options; they then hold the power card to decide which option they want to buy. This feeds into the strong need for control of a situation.
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Learn how to speak to any customer — and close the deal.
You may identify someone who speaks this language easily by the directness of the questions they ask and their aversion to “chit-chat.” EXPRESSIVE The third language many speak is the language of ideas or the expressive language. These are your visionaries — you need to paint the picture of how your product will impact them. Benefits need to be presented with ideas and not details. Speakers of this language don’t avoid confrontation but prefer to build partnerships with you. They will freely give you information about their business to help you identify how your product can help them. They are by nature gregarious, open with their body language. You need to adjust your language to ensure you all always speak in terms of ideas; they
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THE LANGUAGES IN ACTION A clear example demonstrating speaking in different business languages is an experience I had in car shopping.
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I headed to a BMW dealer to check out their options and told the salesman at the time I had two requirements for a car: one, it needed to be safe for my children, and two, it needed to go fast quickly. The salesman proceeded to lift the hood up on the car and describe in great detail the German engineering, the fuel-injection system, etc. He clearly spoke “analytical,” and I’m sure he couldn’t understand why this “driver” walked out of the dealership. I didn’t want all the details — was it safe, and did the car go fast? He lost the sale because he couldn’t adjust to speak my language and stayed within the box of his own. I’m sure he had sales success … one out of four times.
love trying anything new or out-of-the-box, versus the analytical language speakers who want to do everything the way they’ve always done it before. AMIABLE The final language spoken is the amiable. This quadrant of speakers relies on building a relationship with you. They will not buy from you until they believe and trust in you. Trying to sell them anything before you have built a relationship with them is futile. The care and precision you took in building a proposal for an analytical needs to be manifested with this language speaker in time building a relationship. They, too, are averse to confrontation. Their operative word is relationship, and they will stay a customer with you once a relationship is established.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER When giving this presentation to my sales coaching clients, I ask them to list their top 10 customers and what quadrant they think they fall into. As they struggle to identify their own quadrant, I ask if they had to buy a new laptop today, what would they do? » Analytical trainees reply they would go on the internet and research, research, research. It would take time, so it’s highly unlikely they would buy today. » Drivers respond they would ask a reliable source and head out to a store and just buy it. » Expressives are excited at the prospect because they would seize the opportunity to buy the newest laptop with all the bells and whistles that have been added. » Amiables ask all their trusted friends for
advice and rely on their help to decide on the purchase. You may speak two languages that are side by side — for example, a driver-analytical or an expressive-amiable. You aren’t likely to speak the language that’s cross-quadrant. My goal is for you to learn to speak all four languages fluently so you able to better communicate and connect with your customer!
Diane O’Byrne is proud to be “quadra-lingual!” Her mission statement is to help others find their success in sales. She is Managing Partner of Competitive Resources, a sales coaching firm. As a sales coach, she works with all size companies as well as individuals to build their business. She has more than 30 years of sales and management experience with a variety of industries. // dcobyrne@gmail.com // 913-484-6094 // CompetitiveResources.net // Twitter: @dobyrne SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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BIGGER | marketing S M A R T
( by Joe Lieberman )
S T R AT E G I E S
Brand New You Stated or unstated, a brand promise is what customers expect from your company — and you.
S
ometimes, your customers are unhappy because your brand promise doesn’t match up with your delivery of that promise. In other words, your actions don’t match your words. Or, said another way, the company is not a “man of its word,” sometimes exposing enemies deep in the heart of the organization. First, the traditional definitions of a company’s brand and brand promise: Brand // Contrary to popular belief,
brands are not logos. Brands include logos, for sure, but brands cover an entire range of a company’s recognition from its name to its products and services to its 34 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
image and the emotions that the logo or name conjures up. The logo might be considered the leading element of the brand, but branding also can include other elements such as the business’ physical atmosphere, marketing materials and word-of-mouth. Brand Promise // The general
concept of a brand promise is the intended feeling and relationship the customer will have when they have an interaction with that brand. A highfalutin concept, yes, but at its core, brand promise leads to customer
expectations. Customers expect an entirely different experience at McDonald’s than they do at an upscale restaurant, for example. Often, a company’s brand promise is not entirely stated to the public. BMW offers the promise of the “highest quality engineered” vehicles in the world. Volvo, on the hand, promises the “safest” vehicles on the planet. But baked into each of their promises is also excellent customer service. Delivering On Your Brand Promise When a customer has a bad interaction with a company, many times it’s because their expectations were not met. This is often because the brand promise did not meet the customer’s expectation of the value they paid for. The meal may not have been delivered quickly enough, the waiter may have taken too long to greet them, the food might have not tasted “just right,” etc. Again, most of the responsibility of your customer’s expectations falls on your brand
promise and your customer service. Why is it important to consider both your promise and your delivery of that promise? Because without a brand promise, you are selling a commodity. Your local insurance broker or dry cleaner probably doesn’t have a unique brand promise. Without a customer service experience that matches your brand promise, you are merely selling an idea (your brand promise) with nothing to back it up. Consider Progressive auto insurance, where they promise unbiased insurance quote comparisons. If you received only one much higher comparable quote, would that feel “progressive”? For many customers, the experience that comes along with the product purchase is essential to how they feel about the company itself. In most cases, the customer service received is how customers actually view their relatedness to a brand. This customer service experience is a major factor in how they make future purchase decisions. When your company’s brand promise and service delivery don’t
sync up, your customers will figure it out. It turns out customers are pretty savvy that way, and they vote with their dollars. Your Personal Brand Whether we like it or not, we all carry with us both a personal brand and a personal brand promise. Our personal brand can be thought of as the lasting impression we leave with others. It’s the image in other’s mind that they have of us: visual, audible and kinesthetic or emotional. Our personal brand promise includes the expectations that others have of us — she’s funny, he’s straightforward, she’s always late, he’s a know-it-all, etc. Whether you like it not, everyone has expectations of us, based on our words and our actions. Your delivery based on your personal brand promise is analogous to your customer service experience. Your personal brand promise and your honoring of those promises must always match. Otherwise, you are not a person of your word. This is one reason, for example, that if you
are always on time for appointments and you are suddenly late without notice, others might think there is a problem. They have always relied on your punctuality and even view it as part of your brand promise. Consider what your personal brand and brand promises are. They can always change and evolve. They may be different in business than they are socially. But know this to be true — your actions must match your words. Your “brand” promise is your promise.
Joe Lieberman has been a successful entrepreneur in several ventures from marketing & advertising to real estate development. His second book in the series of “Dragons And Enemies: For The Self Aware Leader” was published in November 2018. // joe@DragonsAndEnemies.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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BIGGER | tech S M A R T
( by Burton Kelso )
S T R AT E G I E S
5
Ways to Hack-Proof Your Company Smartphone
Cybercriminals have developed sophisticated scams to steal information and more. developers have created apps — hundreds S of apps — that allow most entrepreneurs to ince the introduction of the smartphone,
control almost every aspect of their business: email, CRM, accounting, social media … the list is endless. With the rise of the popularity of smartphones, hackers have turned their attention away from computers and now focus on hijacking mobile devices and the accounts associated with them. Cybercriminals want access to your smartphones because of the information stored on them, such as your emails and banking information, to commit a variety of crimes such as fraud, blackmail and theft. Types of scams There are two types of scams solo and small business owners should be on the lookout for. 36 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
The first is cellphone subscriber fraud in which hackers obtain your cellphone information and set up accounts for themselves using your business’s name. Armed with your account information, they can also purchase smartphones, tablets, mobile hotspots and other equipment, leaving you to pay for equipment your business never purchased. The second scam is cellphone cloning, which occurs when criminals get ahold of your smartphone’s serial number and mobile number. Once a phone is cloned, it’s hard for your mobile carrier to tell the difference from your smartphone and the cloned one. This allows criminals to gain access to your business communications such as texts, calls and more. With more websites and financial institutions using two-step authentication via your phone, criminals could gain access to your online account. With a cloned phone, hackers could send texts to your customers, scamming them to click on a link that could install malware or ransomware on their devices.
Take precautions How can you protect your business from these scams? Take the following precautions.
1. Set up protection with your
phone carrier. All major phone carriers are aware of smartphone hacking and have taken steps to make sure that their customers are protected. Your phone carrier should request you to create a PIN for your account. Whenever you contact your service provider to inquire about your account or to make changes to your account, your PIN is requested. If you think you do not have a PIN, call your provider and make sure you have one. To keep your employees from abusing your account information, only share your PIN and other account information with critical personnel.
2. Beware of phishing attacks. Phishing and spearfishing attacks are some of the more popular ways phone hijacking can occur. The purpose behind
phishing and spearfishing is to get sensitive information from you or your employees. Most small business cyberattacks occur via email. Be sure you learn how to identify bogus emails and train your employees not to click on suspicious links in emails, especially if they look like they come from your mobile provider. When in doubt about any phone calls or emails regarding your mobile account, call customer service or stop into a store of your provider.
3. If you can help it, do not
publish your phone number online. It’s tempting to post your and your employees’ smartphone numbers on social media, business cards and on the company website. Don’t do it. Keep business cellphone numbers off of your company website and social media accounts. Cybercriminals are always looking for any piece of personal information they can use against you and your company. If a criminal gets ahold of your cell number, they can do an internet search to see which provider you use. With that information, they can impersonate a customer service representative and gain valuable account information from you. If you want to give you and your employees a safe way to use a smartphone for business, get a VoIP (voice over IP) phone system for your business. Services like Vonage Business and Ring Central have smartphone apps that allow you to make business calls from your smartphone while masking your cell number.
5. Do not use the same usernames and passwords for your online business accounts. Cybercriminals count on solo and small businesses to use the same usernames and passwords for all of their accounts. In this day and age of data breaches, your company’s online account information is probably floating around on the dark web. When criminals get your account information, they begin the process of checking all of your accounts using your information to see what they can access. They start with less critical online accounts such as social media and email. If they are able to log into these accounts, then they move on to more
critical accounts such as your financial and mobile accounts. Make your passwords long, complicated and difficult to guess. Criminals are constantly finding new ways to scam small businesses. They use a combination of technology and tactics to gain access to information. Follow the above steps to keep safe from phone scams. Burton Kelso is the Chief Technology Expert at Integral, which provides on-site and remote support for computers, tablets, smartphones, routers, printers and any device that connects to the internet. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter and watch great tech tip videos on his YouTube channel. 888-256-0829 // burton@integralcomputerconsultants.com
4. Review your phone bills
monthly. In this day of the email statement and autopay, it’s tempting to just pay your bill without looking at your statements. You won’t always get an alert from your phone provider if something bad happens. Keep a close lookout for any odd changes. If something doesn’t add up, report it immediately. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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BIGGER | management S M A R T
( by Kate Zabriskie )
S T R AT E G I E S
The Overlooked Management Tool Staff meetings matter more than you might think. meeting. I staff I used to have staff meetings, but we stopped
sit right next to them. We don’t need to have a
having them. Nobody had anything to talk about. We have enough meetings. We certainly don’t need another. For a myriad of reasons, many managers don’t hold regular staff meetings. Furthermore, most who do don’t get the most they could from them, and that’s too bad. Good staff meetings can focus a team, energize employees and engage them in ways ad-hoc interactions don’t. So how do you turn a halted or ho-hum approach to staff meetings into a high-functioning management tool? STEP ONE: Connect Daily Work with Your Organization’s Purpose In addition to distributing information, staff meetings present an opportunity to connect your team’s daily work to your organization’s purpose. If you’re thinking, “My people know how 38 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
their work fits into our overall goal,” you would be wrong. In fact, if you ask your group what your organization’s purpose or your department’s purpose are, don’t be surprised when you get as many answers as there are people in the room. (And you thought you had nothing to talk about in a staff meeting! A discussion about purpose is a good one to have.) Purpose is why you do what you do. You connect the work to it by explaining how what people did aligns with the greater goal. For example, the head of housekeeping at a busy hotel might hold a meeting with the cleaning staff. In that meeting, the managers might recognize a team that received a perfect room score from all guests who took a survey and then talk about purpose. The purpose of the hotel is to provide people a safe and comfortable place to spend the night. Having a clean, welcoming and functioning room is one of the ways a cleaning staff achieves that goal. By regularly connecting such activities
as cleaning toilets, making beds and folding towels to the guest experience, the manager highlights why each of those activities is important. No matter what they do, employees usually enjoy their jobs more when their organization’s leaders talk about the importance of their work. They also tend to make better choices if they receive frequent reminders about purpose and what types of activities support it. STEP TWO: Highlight Relevant Metrics Connecting work to purpose usually works best when a team focuses on both anecdotal and analytical information. If you don’t currently track statistics, start. What you track will depend on your industry. However, whatever you decide should have a clear line of sight to the larger goal. For instance, a museum that holds events to attract new members might track the number of events held, contact information collected,
memberships sold and the percentage of new memberships that come as a result of attending the free event. With regular attention placed on the right metrics, the team is far more likely to make good choices as to where it should focus its efforts. STEP THREE: Follow a Formula and Rotate Responsibility Successful staff meetings usually follow a pattern, such as looking at weekly metrics, sharing information from the top, highlighting success, a team-building activity and so forth. By creating and sticking with a formula, managers help their employees know what to expect. Once employees know the pattern of the meeting, many are capable of running it because they’ve learned by watching. Managers then have a natural opportunity to rotate the responsibility of the meeting to different people. By delegating, the manager is able to free up his or her time and provide employees with a chance to develop their skills. STEP FOUR: Celebrate Successes In many organizations, there is a huge appreciation shortage. Staff meetings provide managers and employees with regular intervals to practice gratitude. “I’d like to thank Tom for staying late last night. Because he did, I was able to attend a parent-teacher conference.” “Maryann’s work on the PowerPoint presentation was superb. I want to thank her for preparing me with the best slides shown at the conference. The stunning photos outshined the graphics others used. Maryann’s work really made our company look good.” A steady drip of sincere gratitude can drive engagement. Note the word: sincerity. Most people have an amazing capacity to identify a false compliment. Real praise is specific. Well-delivered praise also ties the action to the outcome. Whether it’s being able to attend a conference, looking good in front of others or some other result, people appreciate praise more when they understand how their actions delivered results. A praise segment in your staff meetings ensures you routinely take the time to recognize efforts.
STEP FIVE: Focus on Lessons Learned and Continuous Improvement Staff meetings that include an opportunity to share lessons learned help drive continuous improvement. At first, people may be reluctant to share shortcomings. However, if you follow step four, you should begin to develop better communication and a sense of trust with your team. Modeling the process is a good place to start. “I learned something this week I want to share with you. I had a call with a client that could have gone better. I’m going to tell you what happened and then I’ll discuss some ideas about how I would handle something similar in the future.” The more you practice this exercise, the greater the gains you should experience. STEP SIX: Develop a Schedule and Stick with It Almost anyone can follow the first five steps
some of the time, but those who get the most out of staff meetings hold them consistently. They publish a meeting schedule, and they stick with it. They may shorten a meeting from time to time or reschedule, but they don’t treat their chance to gather the team as the least important priority. Good staff meetings aren’t perfunctory activities that add little value. On the contrary, when used to their full capacity, they are a dynamic management tool. Now what are you going to do about yours?
Kate Zabriskie is the president of Business Training Works Inc., a Maryland-based talent development firm. She and her team help businesses establish customer service strategies and train their people to live up to what’s promised. // BusinessTrainingWorks.com
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SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
39
BIGGER | law S M A R T
( by Jim Holland )
S T R AT E G I E S
2019 Employment Law Outlook Some issues on the minds of lawmakers could affect your business.
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ith the midterm elections over, we can now sit back and evaluate – at least with a bit more clarity – what 2019 will hold for employers. Employers will need to pay attention to several issues that are likely to be addressed at both the federal and state levels. Minimum Wage Although Congress has avoided raising the federal minimum wage, many states and municipalities have moved forward with increases. Missouri jumped on board with the approval of Proposition B in the Nov. 6 election. The current minimum wage in Missouri is $7.85 per hour. With the passage of Proposition B, the minimum wage will increase 85 cents every year until it reaches $12 in 2023. 40 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
With the Democrats regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, it is likely that a raise in the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 per hour) will once again become a topic of discussion. Pay Equity Pay equity continues to be a big and important topic. The Equal Pay Act has been reinvigorated by recent political and legislative initiatives and by social media. A number of bellwether states, including Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, Delaware and Oregon, have enacted robust pay equality statutes, with more legislation on the horizon. Equal pay litigation is on the rise, and multi-million-dollar settlements of class-action lawsuits are being reported weekly. Activist shareholder groups are demanding that companies conduct pay audits to ensure employees are being paid fairly and in compliance with these new laws. It is not a bad idea for your company to conduct an audit as the first step of any compliance effort, and it is generally recommended that
you have employment counsel conduct this audit so the results will be privileged. More #MeToo The #MeToo movement has resulted in a significant increase in sexual harassment and discrimination claims. With the contentious – and now infamous – Brett Kavanaugh hearings as an example, we expect that trend to continue. What you need to do in advance of having a claim asserted against your company: » Make sure your harassment/ discrimination policies are up to date » Redistribute your policies to all employees » Conduct training with your managers on how to handle complaints and how to promote a respectful work environment If someone in your company does make a complaint, investigate it promptly. Overtime Rules for “White Collar” Workers In 2016, the Department of Labor released new regulations that would have changed the salary threshold for “white collar” workers from $455 per week to $913 per week. This regulation
got put on hold temporarily by the courts and then – with the 2016 election – got put on hold further with the new administration. We expect the Department of Labor under President Trump will likely issue new regulations sometime in 2019 that raise the salary threshold again, but this time to somewhere in the mid-$600-per-week range. More from ICE We have seen an increase in investigations from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That trend is likely to continue. In light of this, it is important that you make sure through an internal audit that your I-9 forms are in order. Use payroll records to ensure you have all I-9 forms required for current and prior employees. Train the appropriate staff on how to complete an I-9 and what actions they should take when they are made aware that an employee may not be authorized to work. Paid Sick Leave Of all of the measures expected to be pushed by the new House, it seems likely that paid sick leave will be on the top of the agenda. Many Republican members of Congress have indicated support for such a law, and even President Trump has provided words of support for some form of paid sick leave.
The devil is in the details, however, and it remains to be seen what form of paid sick leave would be agreed upon by the Senate and the president. Some Republicans have floated the concept of a voluntary paid sick leave program, or one that is borne by employees themselves through a reduction in Social Security or other benefits, which has not been well received by Democratic leadership. One thing is for sure – if 2019 is anything like the last three or four years, it will be an exciting (and potentially bumpy) ride for employers to navigate.
Commercial . Industrial Data/Comm Design Build Utility . Prime Jim Holland is managing partner of the Kansas City office of labor and employment firm Fisher Phillips. // 816-842-8770 // jholland@fisherphillips.com
MO: 909 Troost, KCMO 64106 KS: 3236 N. 7th St, KCKS 66115
816-842-7023 www.markone.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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SCALEUP! KC
MARGARET’S PLACE
( by Dawn Bormann )
A New Approach ADVISERS TEACH OWNER TO ‘THINK LIKE A CEO’ hen Patricia McCreary opened Margaret’s Place Adult Recreation and Wellness Center in 2016, she knew how to make her facility stand out. Right down to its name, McCreary wanted to strike a different chord than a typical adult day center. Margaret’s Place offers nutritious, farm-to-table meals. It’s clean and sanitized three times a day. But above all else, it encourages clients to engage by offering fun, fulfilling activities including in the 2,500-square-foot gym. McCreary learned the hard way with her own grandmother, Margaret, that engaging adult day care facilities – a place for adults with autism, cerebral palsy, memory loss and many other health challenges – were few and far between. Many facilities smelled awful.
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42 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Several treated the clients like they were infants. McCreary knew her clients would thrive if they were respected enough to set goals, accomplish reasonable tasks and feel needed. Margaret’s Place has flourished as a result. It was so good that McCreary often didn’t have time to focus on administrative duties. That's when McCreary turned to ScaleUP! Kansas City. ScaleUp! KC is a free program offered by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center with support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The program includes classes, peer mentoring, professional guidance and more. It’s open to small businesses like Margaret’s Place that operate in a market capable of supporting more than $1 million in annual sales that want to rapidly grow their business. CHANGING DIRECTION
ScaleUP! KC showed McCreary that
immediate changes were necessary if her business was going to survive. She was doing great at the moment but failing to plan for growth. “We definitely would have closed our doors if we would have kept going in the direction we were going,” she says. McCreary is so passionate about helping others that it was hurting the business. She wanted to give clients everything, and that often meant making unsound business decisions. ScaleUP! coaches showed her that she didn’t have to sacrifice client care in order to make financial efficiencies. It led McCreary to consider more partnerships and outsourcing, including for transportation. McCreary had to rethink her 22-passenger bus. She was immensely proud of the bus that allowed clients to be active and take field trips. But keeping a driver and maintaining the bus was dragging the business down. “It’s been a nightmare,” she says. ScaleUP! coaches asked her: What’s best for the business? “They changed my thought process.
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“It’s definitely been amazing to get those tips and pointers in class and going
ENTREPRENEUR
Patricia McCreary COMPANY
back and give it to the team and watch
Margaret’s Place Adult Recreation and
the magic happen. It’s also changed the
MargaretsPlaceKC.com
Wellness Center An adult day center designed to give elderly
team camaraderie.”
and disabled adults an engaging, clean
Patricia McCreary // CEO
and safe environment where wellness and recreation take priority.
ARE YOU READY TO SCALE UP?
ScaleUP! Kansas City—a free program for KC small businesses—is looking for companies that want to supercharge their growth. Learn more at www.scaleupkc.com.
ScaleUP! has made me sit back and take my emotions out of my thoughts and really make decisions about what’s best for the business and not what I think personally or how I feel personally.” THINKING LIKE A CEO
ScaleUP! experts also urged her to trust the staff she hired and stop trying to fill every role. “I have learned to think like a CEO,” she says. The ScaleUP! coaches also asked McCreary to create standard operating procedures that would put all of the policies in her head on paper. It would allow the business to grow without McCreary overseeing an employee’s every move. When it came time to work on operating procedures, McCreary stepped back and let staff help. Her director, Shereese Hameed-Muhammad, finished a large portion of the work in an eight-hour day. As it turns out, Hameed-Muhammad was in charge of creating similar procedures at a bank before joining Margaret’s Place. McCreary hadn’t tapped that potential until
ScaleUP! pushed her. “It’s definitely been amazing to get those tips and pointers in class and going back and give it to the team and watch the magic happen. It’s also changed the team camaraderie,” McCreary says. Delegating has led to other benefits too. It’s helped employees become more invested in the long-term strategy and goals. That positive energy has trickled into every aspect of the business, including client care, McCreary says. It’s freed up her schedule to plan and promote the business. FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
McCreary says ScaleUP! has changed every aspect of her business, especially her long-term plans. She is thinking about the competitive advantages she has and can build on to accomplish her dream to scale. For starters, the center has a partnership with a wellness program called Peace for Your Pieces, which is operated by her director, Hameed-Muhammad. It brings specialists including a nutritionist and
occupational and speech therapists to the facility. It means residents can work on their overall health while at the facility instead of sitting idle. ScaleUP! enabled her to create a threeyear plan to build a second and third facility. McCreary will hire more staff in the first quarter of 2019 so her existing staff can work on growth. McCreary also is developing a franchise plan and considering a fourth facility under a franchised model. Margaret’s Place employees say McCreary’s passion is now fused with the sound ScaleUP! business data. It’s allowed McCreary to grow as a leader and business owner. “It’s given her more of a mindset to reach the goals that she had in her heart,” says Hameed-Muhammad. “They’ve given her step-by-step classes where she can look at other well-known businesses and see what their best practices are.”
Dawn Bormann is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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THE PURPLE GUYS
A Breach Is Just the Beginning: Make It the End by Monitoring H
acking used to have one major barrier to entry: talent. Unfortunately, the dark web has enabled individuals with nothing more than a bad attitude and a small amount of spare cash to buy sophisticated hacking tools. This means that your data is more vulnerable than ever before. When your business’s data is breached, criminals aren’t just getting personal information — they’re potentially getting all of the login credentials for every user on the breached website or platform. So once these criminals have all this sensitive information, it couldn’t get any worse, right? Wrong, because their next step is to use and then sell that information — yours and your customers’ — to other bad actors on the dark web. To keep from becoming a victim the second time your data makes the rounds, follow these three steps:
1 Re-secure your sensitive data. // First and foremost,
change all your passwords. It’s not enough to add an exclamation point at the end or to replace an O with a 0. Resist the temptation to use similar passwords across many accounts, because the odds are good that one of them will be breached at some point and all accounts that use that password — or its variations — will be compromised.
Security number, birth date, credit card number, CVV number, and expiration date will cost only about $30 in an anonymous currency such as bitcoin. As I stated earlier, no system is infallible, and phishing attempts can and will get through. But by preparing both your software and your employees to watch for attacks, you’ll give yourself the best chance to keep your data safe. Because sellers on dark web marketplaces have ratings just as they would on eBay or Amazon, they’re motivated to provide accurate information to their clients, which means buyers can be confident they’re getting the real thing. The only way to act quickly to protect yourself when your information appears is by monitoring the dark web for your own credentials. The security breach is just that: a breach. Hackers use your personal information, but when they’re done, they’ll finance future efforts by selling that info to other criminals on the dark web. Knowing when your information is out there is vital to minimizing the impact of data breaches.
2 Learn to spot phishing attempts. // Phishing attempts are more sophisticated than they used to be. Instead of the trusty Nigerian prince with frozen assets, scammers trawl your contact information and personal networks to send invoices and wire transfer requests that precisely imitate your boss, co-worker, family member, or bank. Knowing that this approach is a possibility is the first step in preventing this kind of fraud.
3
Jon Schram is a husband, father, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of The Purple Guys, a Midwest-based information technology support company. The company has grown since 2001 to become the Midwest’s premier IT support company with more than a 97 percent customer satisfaction rating. Jon and his wife,
Monitor the dark web. // A security breach is like a break-in at your house. After thieves have taken anything of value, they’ll try to sell it for profit. In this case, the valuables are your sensitive data, and the marketplace is the dark web. And when the information goes up for sale, it’ll be cheap. Typically, a full package that includes a name, Social
44 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
Jill, have three children and have founded two businesses.
816-221-3900
IN FOCUS
LOGISTICS ( by Katy Ibsen )
2019
PLANES,TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES (PLUS BOATS)
KANSAS CITY STANDS OUT AS LOGISTICS HUB FOR REASONS BEYOND ITS GEOGRAPHY
C
hris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, is still surprised that in the last five to six years, over 25 million square feet of product and distribution building has been built on a speculative basis, meaning there was no tenant signed on at the outset of construction. “Developers and real estate teams are building these, hoping they get a client or tenant — and a majority of those have been filled. So the demand has been right behind it,” said Gutierrez. KC SmartPort’s job is to promote that space, as well as the opportunity to build facilities, to national and international companies. The not-for-profit economic development organization formed in 2000 as
an outcome of several late-1990s studies on ground transportation in the region. Today, the organization courts freightbased companies, those in manufacturing, distribution and warehousing, to locate within Kansas City’s 18-county bistate region. The mere existence of KC SmartPort illustrates the region’s foresight to capitalize on its central location, propelling it to one of today’s leading markets for the logistics industry. Many factors are responsible for that success, beginning with the obvious — its geography; its four modes of transportation: air, rail, road and water; and finally, its economic landscape to foster thirdand fourth-party logistics firms, many
of which are small businesses and independently-owned. The sum of these factors is what ultimately attracts companies to locate some or all of its logistics here. THE GEOGRAPHY
“Almost every company responds to the ability to reach their customer base more efficiently because of that central location,” said Gutierrez, highlighting distribution and manufacturing. For distribution and warehousing, the four modes of transportation create a compelling value for companies who seek efficient shipping. Take, for example, CVS reaching its regional stores, or e-commerce companies SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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IN FOCUS
LOGISTICS ( by Katy Ibsen )
2019
like Amazon or Jet.com reaching customers. “The ability to reach customers has been primary. Second and third is, of course, the workforce and the availability of buildings here,” continued Gutierrez. “On the manufacturing side, it really is kind of that core manufacturing workforce that we have here, as well as the ability for inbound raw materials to come in on those modes and the finished product to be delivered to customers.” The incoming and outgoing efficiencies for manufacturers are amplified with the four modes of transportation versus communities that have only two or three modes. Take the automotive sector, for example, which has grown its KC footprint. This year, French auto parts manufacturer Faurecia broke ground in Blue Springs on a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to serve General Motors, and many smaller companies locate here to outfit Ford Transit vans for trade contractors. Furthermore, a new trend is emerging among food manufacturers, for both ingredients and food processing. A less obvious factor, but just as 46 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
important, Gutierrez credits supportive real estate communities and local governments for advancing distribution and manufacturing in the region. “There’s a speed to market as we talk about companies when they’ve reached us. They have a short decision time, time to pick a location, and we’ve got to all be on the same page to move that speed to decision as fast as the companies wants — and we do that here,” said Gutierrez. THE TRANSPORTATION
KC SmartPort estimates roughly 230 million to 240 million square feet of industrial building space is either in use or available for companies locating logistics in Kansas City. That volume of distribution and warehousing requires versatile transportation. The BNSF Railway’s Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC) Intermodal Facility in Edgerton is an example of the region’s commitment to transportation. Here companies can benefit from 64,000 feet of track (eight 8,000-foot strip tracks), 4,300 container stacking spots and eight wide-span all-electric cranes, among others.
According to BNSF, the LPKC is the only full-service facility in the western two-thirds of the United States offering the combination of domestic intermodal service – container, trailer, expedited and standard service levels — international intermodal service and directrail/carload service. THE OTHER PARTIES
The intermodal facility and industry strength also attract another sector of business — third- and fourth-party logistics firms. Third-party firms manage or perform logistics services, such as trucking, while fourth-party firms are logistics specialists, acting as a sort of middle man for clients to ship their assets. These firms are part of the entire logistics equation and contributing to the region’s success. “The Midwest is a great location for intermodal as it is the second largest intermodal hub in the United States behind Chicago,” said Karen Duff, president and CEO of International Express Trucking (IXT). Her certified woman-owned trucking company specializes in international
intermodal drayage services — short-distance atmosphere. The fourth-party woman- and minority-owned logistics consulting firm was shipping via ground transportation — in the founded in 2017 by Jy’Juan (Jy) Maze. Midwest. When she took over the company in “In this trillion-dollar industry, I saw an 2001, Kansas City was central to the opportunity to create a logistics consulting four railroads. service for small and large companies that “IXT started in 1994 as a U.S. Customs don’t have time to shop their rates, keep up courier service. In 2001, our courier cuswith the current market and find ways to cut tomers asked IXT to expand our services to cost, awarding them higher profit margins,” include draying ocean containers to import/ said Maze. “This keeps everyone honest and export customers,” Duff said. “I cashed in my protects the customer from getting gouged.” and my husband’s 401(k) to finance the expansion.” ‘KANSAS CITY IS ON THE HORIZON’ Today, IXT operates Maze, who already was a pproximately 100 trucks. As a veteran of the logistics industry third-party logistics firm managin Kansas City, saw the potential ing its own fleet, the company for growth. works directly with clients to “This is a city that is growing accept freight deliveries beyond boundaries. There’s new originating from all Kansas development, new hotels being City rail locations and services built, a new airport in motion. Jy ' Juan Maze customers across six Midwestern ... Kansas City is on the horizon. A states: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, place where firms know they will be Arkansas, Oklahoma successful,” she said. and Nebraska. Gutierrez agreed, highlighting the regional Much like IXT, Maze Freight Solutions also approach of both states and the benefits from the region’s logistics-friendly communities within them to make sure
companies are attracted to Kansas City. “We are a pretty consistent region that looks at transportation infrastructure needs and business needs. You can applaud the Kansas City livability, people and companies wanting to be here,” he said. “There’s an appreciation for the environment, whether it’s the business environment or the quality of life, and the cost of living here. All of those factors play into why Kansas City is so successful.” Turns out Kansas City’s geography is central to its success, but its location on the transportation map is no longer the only reason product is on the move. Gutierrez said his office predicts that for logistics, Kansas City is in the sixth or seventh inning and “there’s a lot of game left. People joke that it might even go into extra innings.”
Katy Isben is a freelance writer and editor who enjoys the opportunity to share others' stories. SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®
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IN FOCUS
LOGISTICS ( by Katy Ibsen )
2019
LOGISTICS TERMS
the services contracted, such as trucking.
services themselves.
THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS FIRM
FOURTH-PARTY LOGISTICS FIRM Outsourced logistics services that manage and coordinate the activities of 3PL firms. These 4PL firms match the services needed by a company to another business that can provide those services, such as transportation, but they do not provide the
Transporting goods a short distance via ground freight. In Kansas City, this usually means transporting it from an intermodal to a warehouse or another intermediate destination.
Outsourced logistics services hired by a company to include management of the company’s procurement, fulfillment, storing or shipping. Also called 3PL, these firms can perform
48 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
DRAYAGE
LTL Outsourced logistics services that manage and coordinate the activities
of 3PL firms. These 4PL firms match the services needed by a company to another business that can provide those services, such as transportation, but they do not provide the services themselves.
FTL Full truckload shipping — a load that will take up an entire truck’s trailer space, which is typically 10 or more palettes.
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Happy Food Co.
SBA Lenders
Happy Food Co., which creates farm-to-table meal kits, moved into a new, larger space in Overland Park to accommodate its fast growth. Gary Walker, a friend of co-founder Chef Kiersten Firquain, presented a custom Happy Food Co. painting at a ribbon cutting event in November. Happy Food Co. is a 2018 25 Under 25 honoree.
SBA’s Bill Manger, second from left, joined Kansas City District Office Director Malcolm Richards, third from left, to present six Top Lender 2018 Awards on Dec. 10. Recipients were Legacy Bank, Newcomer Award; Guaranty Bank, Rural Lender Award; Core Bank, Highest Average Loans Made; Oak Star Bank, Top Dollar Volume; RMI Inc., Top Certified Development Company; and U.S. Bank, Top Loan Producer by Number.
SquareOne Interiors SquareOne Interiors moved to a new showroom in Kansas City’s West Bottoms. Owner Courtnay Bradley cuts the ribbon at a Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting event in November. SquareOne Interiors is a 2015 25 Under 25 honoree.
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50 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2019
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