Archives for December 2019

It’s Business Drive Time^® in Kansas City

Kansas City is jumping. Businesses are doing well. Companies are expanding. New organizations are finding their beginnings in the city. Employers hiring. They are looking for great people, and they are finding them in Kansas City! And Kansas City is developing a prominent spot on the national map.

The city is racing on all cylinders.

A recent study by the Hoover Institute ranked Johnson County, Kan., the key suburban county of the Kansas City metro, as one of the most prosperous counties in the nation. https://bit.ly/2EmCBmq Kansas City is feeding off that vibrancy, and the city’s future is as bright as it has ever been.

Kansas City is on the Move!

What is that secret sauce that makes Kansas City unstoppable? What makes Kansas City a great place to live and work? Why is it an attractive metro to own and run a company? Kansas City has become a hotbed for innovative new companies, new technologies and new business growth. We will discuss why!

Alpha Board Leaders: We are addressing these topics and more in the Kansas City segment of our Alpha Board National Business Leadership Tour. We are featuring a select group of area professionals as a part of the national tour. Join us as we showcase Kansas City leaders and newfound Kansas City growth! www.AlphaBoardTour.com

The national Alpha Board Tour is featuring some of the hottest markets across the nation. We’re reviewing the cities where business leaders, families and companies truly want to live. Fresh Octane^® cities like, Kansas City, Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix-Scottsdale, Nashville, Dallas, Austin and Raleigh-Durham all have a number of things in common. They are vibrant and growing. They are great places to locate businesses. Technology companies are thriving, plentiful and welcome in each city. And their livability indices far exceed the livability and affordability ratings of their coastal peer cities.

Alpha^® Driven Growth: As a part of our tour, we’re looking for the finest drivers to help us tell the best business stories! If you are distinguished business owner, CEO advisor, a noted business development professional or a recognized leader in the Kansas City region (or another Fresh Octane City,) we’d love to include your story in our national tour! To learn more, call Dave Anderson at 612 810-4000; email Dave@AlphaBoard.com.

About Alpha^® Board

Alpha Board is CEO power hub and National Business Leadership Exchange™ for leaders of high growth companies.

Alpha Board is designed to enhance the reputation, learning and market reach of CEO’s, Alpha Grade™ executives and the companies they lead. The Alpha Board Tour includes a series of regional industry visits throughout the U.S. This will involve news interviews, company visits and a market study on the topics of leadership, tech development, business growth and new product innovation. Other Alpha Board programs feature national speakers, executive exchanges, corporate profiles, leader roundtable discussions and open-house events at leading companies. Alpha Board works incollaboration with NeuVision Group, a 20-year-old new business development firm, as well as local,regional and national participants throughout the U.S.Past efforts have benefited owners across the U.S., and gained the attention of noted business media outlets throughout two continents. More information about Alpha^® Board, NeuVision^® Group and the Fresh Octane^® Tour can be found at www.AlphaBoard.com.

Business Drive Time^® Kansas City Freedom Bank and Kurt Knutson

8:03 pm By Dave Anderson

We recently began a series of interviews with Kurt Knutson, founder, chairman and CEO of Freedom Bank of Overland Park, Kansas, the largest suburb in the Kansas City metro area.

Today’s topic is a discussion about “Why Kansas City.” Why are business leaders and leading businesses in Kansas City so driven? What is it about the Kansas City region that makes it a great place to live, work, raise a family and grow a business?

Kurt has a bird’s eye view of Kansas City, and views the city from a variety of perspectives:

A leader, CEO, business owner and business founder
A member of the Kansas City and Johnson County communities
A vision of Kansas City and also significant experience and ties to other markets
A community and commercial (business owners’) banker/lender
A mentor and advisor to business owners and young banking professionals
A volunteer and leader of statewide organizations
The founder and CEO of a local charity

In addition to viewing Kansas City as a CEO and business banker, Kurt sees through the lens of a husband, father and member of the community.

Kurt chose Kansas City as a career destination out of college. He considered Kansas City, Minneapolis and Chicago as solid locations for him to start his career. Here are some of his considerations, beginning in 1982 and now through the eyes of a seasoned Kansas City business leader.

A Business Builder City

Why is the Kansas City metro a great place for small businesses? Small businesses are the ultimate driver of the majority of job growth in the U.S. economy. Kansas City is no exception. The Kansas City metro is an excellent small business city. And, we cannot evaluate the area’s business community without also discussing why the Kansas City region is a great place to live, work and raise a family.

“Kansas City is a very diverse community. It’s not heavily reliant on one industry which was important to me. We have a few large companies, but it’s not a Fortune 500 type of town. It’s a privately held business town. That diversification to me is really important. It provides stability. The ups and downs aren’t as steep. That to me is something I was looking for at the time.”

A Culture and Business Climate to Foster Thousands of Small Companies Around a Few Larger Companies

There is a healthy, growing interaction effect between the thousands of smaller companies and a number of larger companies. Both the large and small companies are well diversified across a variety of industries. Thus, the city is not only free from dependence on one giant employer, but also is less affected by national economic cycles. Kansas City’s diverse, non-coastal, small business economy typically serves as an economic buffer to some of the impacts and shocks of national economic volatility.

“The smaller businesses have really done well around the larger companies in town.”

“You’ve got a heavy amount of industry that calls upon our local businesses to support them. We also know it isn’t the concentration (within one industry) that we need. We (KC, as a community) need to be diversified, and not be subject to the whims of any one particular company.”

A Great Place to Live and Raise a Family

Kansas City is undoubtedly a wonderful place to raise a family. That alone makes for a great economic development engine. Overland Park, the largest Kansas suburb, consistently ranks among the top in the nation for raising a family. https://bit.ly/2WUTYmT Quality of life, broadly defined, is one of the most attractive and important growth factors for the region. The public-school systems on the Kansas side of the metro are a significant economic driver. The three major districts are Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission and Olathe.

“We moved here Johnson County (Kan.,) because we had kids and we were looking for those great school districts to have our kids go through. I see the growth of the county dependent on the excellence of the school districts we have here. That has happened. It continues to happen. Johnson County is the economic driver of the state, and the school district is really the economic driver for Johnson County. That’s what keeps the growth going and keeps the community so vibrant.”

A melting pot of people for everywhere, keeping the city engaged, open-minded and vibrant.

In addition to a firm foundation of Kansas City area natives, Kansas City, Mo. and especially Johnson County are home to people who moved here from around the country and around the world. The diverse population, combined with a family friendly culture and a lower stress city, keeps the business population vibrant, engaged and open to new ideas.

Because of its livability and centralized location, the KC metro is home to regional offices of many of the country’s most notable employers. Even when local employees are offered subsequent transfers to other communities, many have fallen in love with the Kansas City area and choose to stay.

“The people that you come across in town are from all over. Everybody is very accepting and welcoming. That creates a positive environment. Wherever you’re coming from, it’s an environment that’s conducive to somebody coming in from the outside, and being able to grow a business here.”

Freedom Bank – Banking on Kansas City Businesses

We will continue to follow progress at Freedom Bank as our business tour of the Kansas City area continues. Kurt and his team at Freedom Bank represent all that is right with the Kansas City area and Kansas City business, and we’re excited to continue our journey of following the progress of stand-out business owners in the Kansas City area and beyond.
For more information about Freedom Bank services, contact Kurt Knutson via email at kknutson@ibankwithfreedom.com. You may call the bank at 913 563-5600, or visit them on the web at www.IBankWithFreedom.com.

Portraits of Leadership Series – Kurt Knutson

7:50 pm By Dave Anderson

Kurt Knutson – Freedom Bank, Overland Park, Kan.
Founder, Chairman and CEO

It’s Business Drive Time^® in America, and we’re on a national business leadership tour. We are speaking with some of the finest leaders across America’s top growth industries. We are fielding a national market study, developing news stories and creating a video series about leading growth cities, industries, companies and people.

We recently sat down with Kurt Knutson of Freedom Bank in Overland Park in Overland Park, Kan., a growing suburb of in the Kansas City metro. Kurt is a respected CEO, a CEO advisor and business founder. Freedom Bank is one of the most well-managed business owner banks you will find. In addition to business banking insights, Kurt has provided valuable insights on what is required to foster growth of privately held companies.

The $180 million bank was founded by Kurt in 2005 after more than 20 years of prior commercial banking and finance experience. Freedom Bank is a new kind of bank, dealing exclusively with small to medium-sized privately held companies. Freedom Bank’s lending services focus on business term loans, working capital lines of credit and owner-occupied business real estate loans.

The bank’s mission, the portfolio of services and even the contemporary headquarters building were developed around the unique needs of business owners. Freedom Bank’s personalized level of services mirror what was once the norm in banking. This single-location, community bank with a visible, respected leader is something Kurt experienced firsthand as he grew up in the Midwestern town of Waterloo, Iowa, home of John Deere Tractor Works www.deere.com.

In addition to Freedom Bank, Kurt worked with his investor group to create a Founders Club and a Freedom Bank Foundation. Associated activities help to cultivate ongoing business friendships and professional connections for all involved. Freedom Bank hosts quarterly in-house events and an annual charity golf tournament. Kurt and his team select worthy local causes each year to receive the tournament proceeds.

Kurt also established a Freedom Bank banking and corporate finance training institute. The Freedom Bank Institute offers young professionals a taste of career opportunities in business banking. The institute provides student internships and training to promising young professionals on the subjects of banking, credit analysis and corporate finance.

Kurt is active in the business and banking community across the region. He is a member and past chairman of the Kansas Banking Board within the Office of the State Bank Commissioner. Kurt is an active member and chairman elect of the Kansas Bankers Association www.ksbankers.com, and is a member of KBA’s federal affairs committee. Kurt is on the board of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce www.kansaschamber.org, and a corporate board member of Clements Worldwide, a leading supplier of insurance solutions for expatriates and international organizations.

Kurt began his career as a regional sales manager at Russell Stover Candies before entering commercial banking. Prior to founding Freedom Bank, Kurt held senior and executive level banking positions serving customers locally, regionally and nationally. Prior banking experience includes Enterprise Bank, UMB Bank, Bank of America, Johnson County Bank and Bankers Trust. Kurt received his degree in marketing from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. www.uiowa.edu

For business loans in the Kansas City region, you can reach Kurt and Freedom Bank at www.IBankWithFreedom.com

“Kansas City on the Move^®” – Sheila Ost

10:49 am By Dave Anderson

Sheila Ost – Advanced Insurance Planning Consultant
Target Insurance Services

Sheila Ost of Target Insurance Services is Kansas City “business connected.” She has collaborated with privately-held Kansas City companies and their owners for more than two decades and has cultivated a network that is nearly unmatched among area business professionals.

Our discussion with Sheila provided us with great insights on some of the most inviting features of the region. It helped us understand why Kansas City is an attractive destination for individuals, young professionals, families, business owners and companies.

Sheila is a life-long member of the community. She grew up and continues to live in Johnson County, Kansas, a popular and affluent suburban county of the Kansas City metro http://www.jocogov.org/. Johnson County is a major driver of jobs and economic growth in the Kansas, Missouri and Kansas City regions.

By the nature of her job, her professional skills and her tenure in the marketplace, Sheila is well-versed on the people, companies, dynamics and growth of the Kansas City area. She also provided extensive insights into the culture of living in Johnson County and the metropolitan area. Sheila travels often and is familiar with how Kansas City compares to peer cities throughout the nation.

Sheila is well-known and highly-regarded in the Kansas City business community. Through Target, she directly provides insurance and other benefits solutions to the business owners and employees of privately-held companies throughout the area. Products include life insurance, long-term care coverage, disability income, Medicare Supplement, and others. Furthermore, by listening and asking questions, Sheila can craft long term plans for selling or transferring their businesses.

Sheila also partners with benefits agencies, property/casualty professionals, attorneys, wealth managers and financial planning firms to provide education. In addition to the previously mentioned solutions, she provides products and services such as buy/sell, key man instruments and more to their clients.

Sheila received her degree in business from Kansas State University, and along with her husband Ed, are parents to two future doctors.

To learn more about the services that Sheila and Target Insurance provides to families, businesses, employees and business owners, visit www.targetins.com.