the skinny News from the Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council October 2019, Q1
Saint Luke’s East unveils cutting-edge technology pg. 8
Message from the President The 2019-2020 fiscal year is starting off strong. The LSEDC celebrated several major events in the first quarter including an official truce in the “border war” between Missouri and Kansas, as well as major investments in our city. In this edition of the skinny, you’ll be introduced to Lexi, Saint Luke’s East’s newest and most-advanced surgical robot. Lexi allows Saint Luke’s East to expand its offerings of non-invasive procedures, furthering the care it can offer patients in Lee’s Summit and the surrounding areas. Construction crews are busy helping Lee’s Summit grow. Mid-Continent Public Library is making progress on a new branch, IBC is nearly finished with its new Lee’s Summit Headquarters, Summit Homes broke ground on a new community and HCA Midwest Health - Lee’s Summit Medical Center has started construction on a new medical office building. We are excited to see the collaboration among our investors on many of these projects. We thank you, our investors, for your continued support in our mission to support the Lee’s Summit business community.
Yours Truly,
Events
Did You Know? GEHA serves more than 2 million federal workers and retired military members in the U.S.
GEHA was the subject of the LSEDC’s Investor Spotlight in September. The Advisory-level event gave investors an inside look at GEHA’s new strategic partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs and the company’s goals for the future.
Did You Know? The federal government employs nearly 3,000 people in Lee’s Summit!
LSEDC President Rick McDowell and Director of Business Development Tina Chace represented the Eastern Jackson County Development Alliance at the 2019 Society of Industrial and Office Realtors event in Kansas City,
Page 2 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
More than 350 applicants attended a job fair that the LSEDC co-hosted with the federal government in September. LSEDC’s marketing efforts helped reach more than 87,000 people and generated more than $20,621 worth of media coverage - for FREE.
Citizens Bank & Trust Adds a New Local Partnership with Summit Bank of Kansas City Summit Bank of Kansas City merged with and into Citizens Bank & Trust in August, 2019. The merger will significantly expand the bank’s products, services, and local presence. Citizens Bank & Trust was founded in Chillicothe, MO in 1889, and is now headquartered in Kansas City, MO with banking offices throughout Northwest Missouri and Leawood, KS. Former Summit Bank President and now Citizens Bank Executive Vice President Rick Viar said he recognized early that Citizens Bank & Trust strongly embodies the same values as Summit Bank of Kansas City. “When we weighed all of the pluses and minuses of a potential partnership with CB&T, this merger was an excellent strategic fit for our bank and shareholders.” said Viar. “Roger Arwood, CB&T CEO, has ideally positioned his team for strong, controlled, safe growth. We liked that.” Before the merger, Summit Bank of Kansas City was a $50 million institution. With Citizens Bank & Trust’s substantial size and regional footprint, there are many new opportunities for local customers including trust services, wealth management, expansion of its SBA lending, and treasury management services. The bank has also increased its lending capacity allowing it to serve larger businesses than it could prior to the merger. “We are now here to compete,” said Viar. Senior Vice President Rob Binney said that despite the greater size of Citizens Bank & Trust, it feels like a comfortable community bank. Binney said Summit Bank could not have found a better match. “Part of what the SBKC team had built over the years is a personal, local culture,” said Binney. “When we joined the Citizens group and quickly realized they are also deeply involved in their communities, we knew it was a good fit for us.” Viar said that he is confident the merger with Citizens Bank will enable his local team to better serve existing customers and easily accommodate new business. “I’m very pleased we agreed to move forward with Citizens’ great team,” said Viar. “I cannot imagine going in a different direction.”
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 3
30th Anniversary Brings New Growth for Summit Christian Academy Summit Christian Academy is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2019, coinciding with a major expansion for the school. SCA was founded in 1989 after a pair of mothers set out to form a community, faith-based school. Until that point, Christian schools in Lee’s Summit had been part of individual church ministries. SCA brought a new concept, bringing several area churches and partners together as one. In its first year, SCA opened its doors to 32 students. LSEDC Board Member Linda Harrelson enrolled her children the following year. “Best decision we ever made. It was really a life-changing decision for our family,” said Harrelson. Harrelson soon joined the school board, where she served for seven years. As a board member, Harrelson helped with everything from marketing to land acquisition. Eventually an opportunity came to take the Head of School role. Harrelson, who was the owner of several ice cream shops at the time, did not immediately jump at the opportunity. After feeling called to the position, Harrelson went back to school for her master’s degree in education. In 1999 she became Head of School. In her 20 years at SCA, Harrelson has seen students go on to the military, 4-year institutions and even Ivy League Colleges. As proud as she is of those accomplishments, Harrelson said after all this time, she is most touched by the SCA families. “You see lives changed, families changed. It’s amazing how it’s impacted much more than just a kid,” said Harrelson. “To see all that play out, but most importantly, see them really grounded in who they are, their faith.” In the 30 years since its founding, SCA enrollment has swelled to more than 830 students, some of whom are second generation SCA students. Even Harrelson’s own grandchildren now attend SCA. Enrollment is so high that sometimes classes spill over to the adjacent church, but a new addition will help with that. SCA is in the process of adding an 11,000-square-foot secondary classroom wing and a 60-car parking lot. The new classroom will feature technology upgrades and white board walls. “A lot of the trend in education is the collaborative classroom and the white board walls will allow for that collaboration. Kids can jump up, take notes, similar to the collegiate and corporate environments that they will be learning and working in,” said Director of Development Sarah Coats. Preparing students for their future careers is engrained into the strategy at SCA. Harrelson said SCA begins offering students hands-on experiences and soft skills training from a young age. Faculty Page 4 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
also devote special attention to providing opportunities for students to be challenged in a controlled, emotionally-safe environment. Harrelson said she believes adding faith to the curriculum helps students keep a positive mindset and strive to do their best. “When there’s a bit of structure and calm around them, they just get past some of that noise and go straight to what’s really important,” said Harrelson. “Our theme for this year is called ‘For a Purpose’ and isn’t that what we want our kids to understand? That they’re on this earth for a reason and how important that is.”
Summit Chrisitan Academy is currently constructing a new 11,000-square-foot classroom wing.
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 5
Principal Engineers, Adam O’Kane & Amanda Bush joined LSEDC as Benefactor-Level Investors in July.
Leigh & O’Kane Makes New Home in Lee’s Summit The Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council welcomed several new investors in the first quarter. One of them is Leigh & O’Kane. The structural engineering firm was founded more than 30 years ago in Kansas City. In 2017, Owners Amanda Bush and Adam O’Kane took over the business and moved operations to Lee’s Summit. Leigh & O’Kane works both as a primary engineering consultant and as consultants to area engineers and consultants throughout the Kansas City
area. Its services include buildings, bridges, infrastructure and special inspections. Leigh & O’Kane’s extensive portfolio includes work at the Kansas City Zoo, KC Live!, Bartle Hall Conference Center, and the University of Missouri. Currently, Leigh & O’Kane is working on the parking structure and bridges for the new single-terminal KCI. As a woman-owned business, Leigh & O’Kane was able to access Missouri Department of Transportation projects through
Page 6 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
an on-call contract with the Bridge Division. Most recently, their work with MODOT has included a variety of bridge work in rural Missouri. Bush and O’Kane, both Lee’s Summit residents, moved the business and its staff of 12 to an office near I-470 and Douglas in 2018. While part of their decision was driven by the location of their homes, the partners say that was not the only benefit. “It’s a good location to the highway, it was financially
competitive versus staying where we were,” said Bush. “Our employees, even if they don’t live in Lee’s Summit, it’s easy to get here from the highway. There’s lots of good restaurants for lunches and business meetings, so we just liked the location.” O’Kane agreed, adding that it is still just as easy to get to sites and clients in downtown Kansas City. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been a sacrifice at all,” said O’Kane “It’s much nicer, much more convenient for us.” Now that Leigh & O’Kane is settled in its new office, Bush & O’Kane have begun to get involved in community organizations.
“It’s not something that we had done previously as a firm,” said O’Kane. In early 2019, they joined a business development network, where they met Allan Bush of Alpha and Omega Geotech, who prompted them to learn more about the LSEDC. Leigh & O’Kane is already rekindling old connections through the organizations. O’Kane attended the LSEDC Annual Meeting in July, where he ran across a former business acquaintance. Architecture firm GLMV recently became LSEDC investors as well. While Leigh & O’Kane had previously worked with GLMV, the firms had lost touch. Since running into members of their team, O’Kane has reached out to strengthen
the old bond. “It’s [the LSEDC] already making new connections in this group,” said O’Kane. “There’s a lot of possibilities.”
Fast Facts
• Structural Engineering & Consulting • 50% Woman-Owned • Specializes in commercial buildings, event spaces, parking structures and bridges • Headquartered in Lee’s Summit
Welcome our new investors!
• General Contractor • Founded in 1979 • Specializes in commercial, multifamily, renovations, warehouse and trade centers • Headquartered in St. Louis, MO
• Architectural Design Firm • Founded in 1919 • Specializes in aviation, event centers, government buildings, commercial spaces, health care centers, zoos and aquariums • Headquartered in Kansas City
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 7
Lexi Brings New Capabilities to Saint Luke’s East
Hospital staff demonstrate Lexi’s capabilities to LSEDC President & CEO Rick McDowell and Chair Chip Moxley. Page 8 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
In September, Saint Luke’s East debuted its newest, mostadvanced surgical robot. The da Vinci Xi®, nicknamed Lexi, is a more advanced version of the technology already available at the hospital. While the older versions will still provide quality operations, the new upgrade will give surgeons at Saint Luke’s East the capability to conduct more varieties of minimallyinvasive procedures. Surgical Services, Nurse Manager, Whitney Huddleston said Lexi will allow Saint Luke’s East surgeons to conduct a variety of colorectal, bariatric and gynecological procedures that they would not have been able to perform with older versions of the robotic technology. It also allows patients to go back to their day-to-day routines with less recovery time than traditional procedures. “We have been very much anticipating her arrival, so we are very excited to have this technology here,” said Huddleston. Lexi comes with four arms, an important distinction from the older models. The higher number of arms gives the surgeon access to more areas of the patient’s abdomen. The arms are more flexible and have an increased range of motion compared to previous versions. The screen that surgeons use to see the patient offers up to 10 times magnification, allowing for more precision than the surgeon could achieve with just the
naked eye. “It’s kind of like going from a standard TV to a high definition TV, so you’re really able to see better,” said Rachenda Rockwell, a Clinical Sales Representative from the surgical equipment company, Intuitive. The arms are also longer to accommodate for higher body mass indexes and Lexi has an arsenal of updated tools to attach to the arms. The bed that accompanies Lexi will be able to move with the robot for greater efficiency. To perform a surgery using Lexi, the surgeon first makes small incisions and positions the arms of the robot appropriately. The surgeon then uses highly-agile controls that follow natural wrist movement. The surgeon simply moves the control as they would move their hands and the arms on the robot follow their motions. Lexi’s arrival comes in the wake of two other additions to Saint Luke’s East in the same month. The hospital unveiled two new operating suites. The new operating rooms were constructed as part of a $10 million expansion in 2018, but only recently were completed for use. Saint Luke’s East is planning more investments in 2019 including new radiology equipment, gastroenterology instruments, dialysis bays and emergency room renovations. LSEDC President & CEO Rick McDowell said he is impressed
by Lexi and all of the new additions coming to Saint Luke’s East. “The investment in innovation by Saint Luke’s East proves how committed the Saint Luke’s Health System is to our community and to keeping patients well,” said McDowell. In addition to helping patients have a better experience and recovery time, Huddleston said Lexi and the other improvements at the hospital will help attract top surgeons and medical staff to Saint Luke’s East. “This XI platform does things that our current [previous] platform cannot do… having that ability just draws surgeons here, also draws staff here,” said Huddleston. “Knowing that we have the latest and greatest technology is always a great attraction tool and retention tool.” Many of the Saint Luke’s East surgeons have already used the da Vinci Xi® machine at other hospitals within the Saint Luke’s Health System, so there is not expected to be a delay for training before the machine is used for surgeries.
Moxley and McDowell learn about Lexi’s magnification capabilities
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 9
Lee’s Summit Stakeholders Stay Ahead of Changes at ED 101
In August The Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council hosted several key stakeholders for an informational presentation on the evolving industry of economic development and how to best position Lee’s Summit for the future. The LSEDC Board, Lee’s Summit City Council, Lee’s Summit Planning Commission and Lee’s Summit Development Center attended ED 101 with Janet Ady. Ady is a site selector and place marketing consultant who has worked with more than 400 economic development organizations through her firm, Ady Advantage. Ady explained that while there is no single definition of economic development, the industry is evolving to cover more topics than ever before.
The traditional elements include what Ady calls the “three legs of the stool”: business retention/ expansion, recruitment and start-up. While none of those elements have lost importance, Ady said that now economic development also must expand its scope to also focus on equity, economic mobility and quality of place. “Economic development is ensuring that your kids or your grandkids, depending on how old you are, have an opportunity to live and work where you are. They may not choose to, but there is an opportunity for them to do that,” said Ady. According to Ady, one of the most significant preparations a city can make to ensure that it is competitive for business is for
Page 10 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
the stakeholders of development to agree on priority objectives and how best to achieve them. “There’s more aspirations here than can be realistically achieved so you have to focus in on what those most important elements of economic development are,” said Ady. The Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council is currently working concurrently with the city on a new strategic plan, which will align with the city’s objectives. Ady said that type of alignment is what will make Lee’s Summit stand out from the crowd. Ady also advised paying close attention to which businesses have already made Lee’s
Summit home. While many economic development organizations spend effort in attracting new business, Ady said the majority of communities she works with get 80-90 percent of their new jobs and investment from business expansions. “If you’re doing good in a place and you find the workforce good and the policies good and the environment good, doesn’t it make sense? You’re gonna grow there and expand there,” said Ady. “Your business retention and expansion program is your best defense against someone else’s recruitment program.” Ady advised expanding incentive policies to include existing businesses. But she warns incentives alone are not sufficient in retaining or attracting new businesses. Maintaining relationships, site-readiness and ease of doing business are also driving factors that may mean more to some businesses than cost.
“A lot of companies, they only do one expansion or relocation in a generation and if they pick the wrong place, they could go out of business. It’s that highrisk for the company,” said Ady.
chance of success in the economic development environment.”
The risk factor is what has caused the definition of economic development to expand. Now, economic development organizations must also focus on business development, talent development and placemaking. Assistant City Manager Mark Dunning said the added requirements make it important for communities to see economic development as a team effort.
“We are fortunate to have a community that is committed to creating a united front in attracting and retaining businesses,” McDowell said. “By being organized and united, Lee’s Summit has an automatic advantage over its competitors.”
“With the expanded threepronged approach to economic development, there are roles that many stakeholders other than economic development professionals play in expanding and retaining businesses within a community,” said Dunning. “The greater the alignment of the vision and values of the community across the stakeholder groups, the better
LSEDC President & CEO Rick McDowell agreed.
Despite the varying nuances in attracting and retaining businesses, Ady said most importantly, communities should keep in mind that it is a long game. “We’re not talking about the next quarter or the next year or ‘how many projects do you have today?’” said Ady. “We’re talking about, how is the work that you’re doing today going to fundamentally transform this community so that it can be successful and viable for the next generation.”
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 11
Meet Your New Chairman: Chip Moxley
Chip Moxley, President of Tingle Flooring took over as LSEDC Chair in July.
The LSEDC Board of directors is under new leadership. In July, Chip Moxley took over as Chair after nearly a decade of involvement in the organization. Moxley is the President of Tingle Flooring, a flooring distribution company that operates in seven states. Tingle Flooring started as W.C. Tingle in 1946. A few years later, Moxley’s father joined the company and stayed with the business for nearly 50 years. Despite his family roots, Moxley’s path to Tingle Flooring was not a straight line. The first nine years after he graduated from the University of Missouri Moxley worked as an accountant for major firms
including PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. In 1989, Moxley left accounting to join Tingle Flooring. At the time, the company only operated in Western Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, but demand quickly blossomed and Moxley was faced with the challenge to scale up or risk losing one of his major vendors. Tingle Flooring adapted to add offices in Denver and St. Louis. In 1999, Moxley moved the company from North Kansas City to Lee’s Summit. “I couldn’t be more delighted now 20 years later in this area that I’m in because having 470 and be able to get into town or
Page 12 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
back out of town really works great,” Moxley said. “I think it works better from this side than about any side of the city [Kansas City Metropolitan] myself.” The company now has added a new business, Summit Floor Supply, which specializes in in industrial clients. There are 140 employees between the two businesses with approximately ¾ of those employees in Lee’s Summit. The first few years after arriving moving the business to Lee’s Summit, Moxley was too busy with his business to join the LSEDC or other community organizations, but eventually he saw a need for his business
and the community that he felt he could help with. “As things settled down, I felt like the EDC was a very important organization for us to be involved with because at that time a lot of our efforts were dedicated toward infrastructure,” Moxley said. Moxley said businesses, the EDC and the city united forces to make major improvements to Independence Avenue, allowing Tingle and other businesses to use the road for semi-trucks. However, Moxley acknowledges that over time, the EDC has become much more multifocused. “The EDC is just a really top notch organization to be part
of not only for great networking locally, but you get a ringside seat to what’s going on around the community,” said Moxley.
new, developable properties perhaps coming on the market that we can see that type of development occurring.”
As Chair, he hopes to increase Lee’s Summit’s competitiveness in attracting new business through strides in developing certified-ready sites and buildings. He is hopeful new opportunities, such as the approximately 4,200 acres of land from Property Reserve Inc., could be a turning point.
Moxley is also looking forward to the LSEDC’s upcoming strategic plan. Moxley says through the process, it is important for the LSEDC to look for opportunities to compliment the city’s strategic plan.
“The community is well-known. It speaks for itself in many respects. But if you’re in a hurry and you need 100,000 squarefeet of warehouse space, you can’t get it today in Lee’s Summit,” Moxley said. “My hope is that we have an opportunity with some of the
“It’s certainly a goal of my own when we do go through the strategic plan to identify which of those objectives we can best participate along with the city to accomplish those goals,” Moxley said.
Tingle Flooring moved from North Kansas City to Lee’s Summit in 1999
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 13
LSEDC Investors Learn Recipe to the “Secret Sauce” With nearly three decades in the site selection business, Kate McEnroe has seen a thing or two. The owner of Kate McEnroe Consulting got her start at AT&T implementing site selector recommendations. From there she went to Fantus, one of the first site selection consulting firms. After nearly a decade, she decided to start a consulting business of her own. The majority of McEnroe’s career has been spent representing corporate entities, but in the past few years, McEnroe has begun offering her expertise to communities as well. McEnroe said that along with the opportunity to have a larger impact in more communities, part of what drew her to working with communities was a frustration with marketing that was missing the mark and the awareness that she had something valuable to add. “I have a lot of respect for the energy and the money that is spent to market to and service the site selection community,” McEnroe said. “I have a lot of
ideas of how that energy and money could be better spent.” At the Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council’s Annual Meeting, McEnroe shared her recipe for the “secret sauce” to help communities bettermarket themselves for business. Some of the key ingredients were telling personal stories, involvement from stakeholders and finding a niche. McEnroe said when it comes to networking, it is important to be intentional. Rather than a generic get together, McEnroe said it is important for stakeholders to be activated to connect people that can benefit from one another. “I’m talking about with a specific, purposeful outcome. It’s more workshopping than networking,” McEnroe said. Now more than ever, though, McEnroe said it is vital for Economic Development organizations to convey to prospects that they have an understanding of the labor market dynamics and an ability to help overcome labor issues.
Page 14 | Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council
Because the competitive conditions, McEnroe said it is important to address the issue head-on with data-backed narratives and anecdotes instead of generic publicopinion surveys. “If that’s what you’re engaged in people will believe that you don’t understand the problem or that you’re trying to sweep the problem under the rug,” McEnroe said. “You have to meet people now at a higher level of sophistication in being able to talk about the workforce.” McEnroe says when it comes to Economic Development organizations there are two key factors to keep in mind, the process and the product. The process starts with forming a relationship with the private sector and developing a deep understanding of who is in the community and what they are doing. “They’re going to be ones that are going to be sort of the canary in the coal mine to tell you if something is a challenge
for you,” McEnroe said. “Also, really understanding who is in your community and what they’re doing, that’s also something that an outside researcher cannot go and get from a database.”
that memorable if you’re saying the same thing as everyone else,” McEnroe said.
First, she makes sure the message is factual. Then she looks to see if the organization truly understands the business As far as the product, McEnroe needs of who they are trying said there are certain things that to reach by supplying relevant data. But McEnroe said good will always be part of the equation, including available design and effective data sites and workforce solutions. visualization is also important. But as a site selector, she is “Does it feel like I’m looking at a looking for something else too. template that just has a “I try to figure out how different color scheme on it or is it actually memorable?” said memorable it is. Things aren’t
McEnroe. McEnroe said she has seen her share of tactics, from mass emails and letters to the more cutting edge virtual reality glasses, but what makes a community stand out is not the novelty of their delivery. Through the years, the communities that have made a meaningful impression on her have been those that offered a human connection to highlight the specifics of what makes their community unique.
LSEDC Annual Meeting Awards The LSEDC held its Annual Meeting July 10, 2019. The event was sponsored by Saint Luke’s East hospital. Several Lee’s Summit companies and business leaders were recognized at the event for their contributions to the city’s economic environment.
Bud Hertzog, a founding member of the LSEDC, was granted the LSEDC Lifetime Award
Hawthorn Bank | BOOST Award HCA Midwest Health - Lee’s Summit Medical Center | Largest Job Creation
Polytainers, Inc.| Top Gun Award
Tim Paulson | LSEDC Champion Mid-States Distributing |Largest Capital Investment
Machelle Riffe | Leadership Award
Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council | Page 15
Save the Date
2019-20 Board Members Chip Moxley Chairman Tim Paulson Vice Chair Todd Haynes Secretary Larry Hillier Treasurer Machelle Riffe Past Chair Bill Baird Mayor Steve Arbo City Manager Emily Miller Superintendent, LSR-7 Will Coates Board Member
October Hump Day Happy Hour
Wednesday, October 16th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm Llywelyn's, Downtown Lee's Summit (back room)
Linda Harrelson Board Member Clint Haynes Board Member
November
Mike Lally Board Member
Hump Day Happy Hour
John McDonald Board Member
December
Dan Rexroth Board Member
Holiday Party
Heidi Thummel Board Member
Hump Day Happy Hour
Michael VanBuskirk Board Member
Wednesday, November 20th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm Llywelyn's, Downtown Lee's Summit (back room)
Wednesday, December 4th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Longview Mansion Wednesday, December 18th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm Llywelyn's, Downtown Lee's Summit (back room)
Loren Williamson Board Member
