Category29_KCBJ_July by Russell Gray

pitching away:

A Kauffman program helps entrepreneurs refine their pitch and make connections.

the it factor: Lessons, a little luck drive KC

Technology In Depth | 11

tech firm’s development. Growth Strategies | 17

VOL. 30, NO. 46

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012 $3.95

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

| inside |

Polsinelli expands Plaza Vista lease By Steve Vockrodt | Staff Writer

470

dream team:

Big Lee’s Summit project takes shape with A-list of developers. | 3

Polsinelli Shughart PC has expanded its lease to take up most of the remaining space in Plaza Vista and is looking for still more space. The Kansas City law firm amended its lease for its new headquarters in Plaza Vista, which is set to open next year at 48th Street and Roanoke Parkway. Polsinelli tacked on a 23,000-square-foot

floor that was meant to be a multitenant floor and about 17,000 square feet on a lower-level floor. Dave Harrison, president of Plaza Vista developer VanTrust Real Estate LLC, said the remaining 20,000 square feet of the Harrison 25 0,000-squarefoot office tower is being mar-

“Then they don’t have to get a short-term tenant in that space.” Polsinelli also has issued a request for proposals for an additional 30,000 square feet. Chase Simmons, a real estate lawyer at Polsinelli, said the additional space will house administrative functions. Polsinelli, a Country Club Plaza-based firm by origin, won’t

keted for a high-end restaurant facing Roanoke Parkway and additional office or retail space on the lobby level. Tiffany Lyman, a broker at RED Brokerage LLC, is marketing the space. Polsinelli Chairman and CEO Russell Welsh said the firm had been eyeing additional space within Plaza Vista based on anticipated growth. “It made sense to get it leased and built out now,” Welsh said.

SEE lease | 30

Failed bids buy problems Squabbles

can obstruct view of TV

People who financed ventures by Wood, PCI take to area courthouses

weighty issue:

One of the area’s biggest medical practices buys a weight-loss clinic. | 3

Advertisers’ patience will depend on options By Alyson Raletz | Staff Writer

stumbled, she substituted her janitorial company, PCI Building Services Inc., as the buyer. That didn’t work out either, leading to a lawsuit filed by PCI against Kansas City Power & Light Co., which put the building on the market after acquiring Aquila’s local operations. The case ended in April with Wood’s company and partners losing all the earnest money they put up, about $600,000. Undeterred by the first swing and miss, Wood and PCI tried last year to buy Ten Main Center, a 20-story office tower at 920 Main St. The deal

Sales representatives at KMBCTV and KCWE-TV scrambled to keep advertisers out of the dark this month when a dispute with Time Warner Cable Inc. resulted in a roughly weeklong blackout. Station officials kept in close contact with media buyers like Allisyn Wheeler, director of channel strategy at Meers Advertising, and offered to honor any advertising What blocked does commitments once a a gigabit deal was reached with mean in Time Warner Cable. “They wanted to everyday life? KC keep the waters as waits to calm as possible,” see. | 4 Wheeler said. In an era of increasing Internet-based TV options, local station blackouts can make it all too easy for savvy viewers and advertisers to embrace alternatives, she said. And that can affect the bottom line. “If the network signal is not on cable over a period of time, it

SEE problems | 30

SEE TV | 31

newsmaker:

Darren Bonawitz, president and CEO of 1102 Grand LLC. | 8

The list:

Web development | 6

russell gray | KCBJ

The Dioscese of Kansas City-St. Joseph now owns the former Aquila Corp. headquarters. By paul koepp | staff writer

Brenda Wood’s attempt to buy the landmark New York Life building in 2010 raised eyebrows — and questions. Now, some of the people she turned to for help in financing that deal and other ventures are going to court to get answers. Wood said the deals are simply investments gone bad. A relative unknown on the downtown real estate scene, Wood at first represented Commercial Proprietors of America LLC in a deal to buy the building — the former Aquila Inc. headquarters at 20 W. Ninth St. — for $11.4 million. As that bid

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BIZBEAT Business leads Classifieds

2 21-26 28

News

3-10

OPINION

PEOPLE On the Move

GROWTH Strategies

17-19

The List

IN Depth

11-15

Week on the web

6 10

| kansas city business journal

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012 kansascitybusinessjournal.com

An inside look at local business from the Kansas City Business Journal’s blog. For more on these items and posts throughout the week — and to join the discussion online — go to our home page: kansascitybusinessjournal.com Alyson Raletz – Staff Writer

Brian Kaberline – Editor

Technology

Government

Analyst: Don’t let Sprint subscriber gains fool you

Story lambastes GSA’s KC office for cooking classes

Sprint Nextel Corp. is expected to report beefed-up subscriber numbers for its main wireless platform, but analyst Craig Moffett warned July 23 to read between the lines. Many of those customers probably will come from Sprint’s phasing-out of its Nextel network — a source of postpaid subscriber growth that has a limited life span. Factoring out capturing the exiting Nextel customers, Moffett said, means that in the first quarter Sprint had the smallest gain in postpaid customers on that platform since 2009.

An investigation by CNN turns up the heat on the General Services Administration’s Kansas City offices for extravagant spending, including a cooking class that cost more than $3,300. The office held a series of team-building classes at The Culinary Center of Kansas City, paying more than $20,000 for nine classes dating to 2007.

Paul Koepp – Staff Writer

David Twiddy – Staff Writer

Legal Services

TIF tiff floods Missouri Court of Appeals

Transportation

On July 17, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, heard arguments about whether a business park development near the Mississippi River in St. Charles County should be eligible for tax increment financing. The city of St. Peters, which sits in a floodplain, constructed a 4.5-mile levee at a cost of $131 million, assuming that TIF revenue would finance bonds for the project. The Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, a conservation organization, has challenged the plan for a dozen years. Its attorney argued that far from establishing blight — a requirement for TIF — periodic flooding actually deposits the soil that makes farming there possible. But the city’s attorney, Mike White of White Goss Bowers March Schulte & Weisenfels PC, said the decay of the farms’ pre-existing levees made rehabilitation appropriate.

KC Council members, law firms give to streetcar effort A group of Kansas City elected officials, law firms and an engineering firm are providing most of the financial backing for a campaign to create a special taxing district downtown for a potential streetcar line. According to financial disclosure forms filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission, a political action committee named Connect KC raised $23,000 through the end of June. About 550 downtown voters are casting ballots in a mail-in election on whether to create the district. The district encompasses the proposed 2.2-mile streetcar route on Main Street.

| People index |

Brock | 14

Long | 5

| Companies index |

Ciancialo | 4 Fitzsimmons | 3

Small | 7

Welsh | 1

Do they think you have money to burn?

Allen, Nate

Maddox, Mike

Ator, Gregory

Mader, Chuck

Bell, John

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Brock, Annie

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Cianciolo, Jim Cushman, Cameron

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Pfaff, Jeff Pierson, Monica

Devine, Jim

Rhodus, Bret

Dillon, David

Richards, Doug

DiPasquale, Sandy

Rohlfs, Robert

Dunkman, Andrew

Rooks, Bonnita

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Ruhe, Thom

Fitzsimmons, Tom

Sakhai, Cyrus

Foster, Rodney

Schaffer, Tim

Gabbert, Jo Anne

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Short, Phillip

Harrison, Dave

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Hopkins, Mellissa

Housh, Tedrick

Jahner, David

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Smith, R. Pete

Sobek, Ruth

Somervell, Bill

Swetnam, Greg

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The Kansas City Business Journal (ISSN 1530-8170) is published weekly, except semiweekly the fourth week of December by the Kansas City Business Journal, 1100 Main St., Suite 210, Kansas City, MO 64105, 816-421-5900. The single-copy price is $3.95, plus tax, except for the Book of Lists issue, which is $65, plus tax. This newspaper is sold at different locations with varying sales tax rates. The subscription rate for one year (52 issues) is $105, two years (104 issues) is $204 and three years (156 issues) is $205 plus tax, for Kansas and Missouri residents. Periodical postage paid at Kansas City, Mo. The Business Journal is an equal opportunity employer. Postmaster: Send address changes to: 1100 Main St., Suite 210, Kansas City, MO 64105.

106 W. 11th St. LLC 1 1102 Grand LLC 8 11 4 First Names LLC Arsalon Technologies LLC 14 Best Buy 16 BH Properties LLC 5 Block Real Estate Services LLC 1 BNIM Architects 3 Caregiv 11 Carondelet Health 7 Cavern Technologies 14 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 7 Cerner Corp. 13, 17 Ceva Biomune 10 Commercial Proprietors of America LLC 1 Comprehensive Logistics Inc. 5 Conferency 11 CrossFirst Bank 3 Dow Kokam 4 DST Systems Inc. 3 Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center 4 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation 11 Executive Hills Inc. 1 Exergonix Inc. 4 14 Faith Technologies Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 3, 10 First State Bank of St. Charles 10 Frank Ancona Honda 10 GBA Architects Engineers 3 GE Capital Bank 10 Google Inc. 4, 8 Graves Bartle Marcus & Garrett LLC 5 Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce 17 H&R Block Inc. 17 Hallbrook Office Center 10 Hallmark Cards Inc. 10 Hearst Television Inc. 1 Heartland Bank 3 Kansas City Area Transportation Authority 10 Kansas City Internal Medicine 3 Kansas City Power & Light Co. 1 Kansas City Terminal Railway Co. 5 Kansas Department of Commerce 10 Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner 3 Karbank Real Estate Co. 5 Kauffman Laboratories for Enterprise Creation 11 KCK Board of Public Utilities 4 KCNext 8

KCTV KCWE-TV Kessinger/Hunter & Co. LC

1 1 10

KMBC-TV

KSMO-TV

Lammers Consulting Group Inc.

Lathrop & Gage LLP

Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council

Leggette Brashears & Graham Inc.

LilyPad EV LLC

MC Realty Group

McDowell Rice Smith & Buchanan PC

McQuain Dehardt & Rosenbloom PC

Meers Advertising

Mercantile Bancorp Inc.

Meredith Corp.

Metcalf Bank

Metropolitan Energy Center

Midwest Retirement Solutions LLC

Milbank Manufacturing Co.

Missouri Hospital Association 7 Motovox

Newport Television LLC

NodeKC

Ozburn-Hessey Logistics LLC

PCI Building Services Inc.

Polsinelli Shughart PC

Pulaski Bank

Quality Technology Services

Razorback Rail Services Inc.

RED Brokerage LLC

RED Development LLC

RED Legacy LLC

Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corp. 4 Softek

Sovereign Partners LLC

St. Mary’s Medical Center

Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP

The University of Kansas Hospital

Tibi.tv

1, 4

Time Warner Cable Inc.

1, 4

Tricension University of Kansas VanTrust Real Estate LLC Wainwright Industries Inc.

17 1 1, 3 5

Weight Management Medical Center

Zimmer Real Estate Services LC 5

kansas city business journal |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Lee’s Summit project boasts strong team MC Realty, VanTrust, RED join the effort By Steve Vockrodt | Staff Writer

Short

A Lee’s Summit mixed-use project transformed from a concept to a development in motion with the addition of a development team that includes some of Kansas City’s better-known real estate names. On July 19, the Lee’s Summit City Council selected Happy Valley

Properties to develop 77 acres of city property. The land, near View High Drive and Interstate 470, could become a western gateway for Lee’s Summit. Happy Valley Properties, formed by ViraCor Laboratories founder Phillip “Flip” Short, owns 55 acres adjacent to the city’s land. Joining Happy Valley Properties is MC Re-

alty Group, the real estate development and investment arm of DST Systems Inc. MC Realty brought in VanTrust Real Estate LLC. Formerly known as Caymus Real Estate LLC, the company has been involved in a number of high-profile projects including the Plaza Vista project in Kansas City. Also on the team is RED Legacy LLC, an affiliate of RED Development LLC that principal Dan Lowe

leads. RED Development was the developer of Legends Outlets Kansas City in Wyandotte County and the SummitWoods Crossing and Summit Fair projects in Lee’s Summit. BNIM Architects and GBA Architects Engineers also are on the development team. Short’s proposal sounded lofty when he ran it by the Lee’s SumSEE team | 31

Sale of bank takes a turn due to FDIC By paul koepp | staff writer

dave kaup | KCBJ

Claudia Darnell (left) and Dr. Monica Pierson (right) now have joined CEO Lori Mallory as part of Kansas City Internal Medicine.

Practice takes on heavy subject KCIM acquisition seeks to treat weight as a condition not just a symptom by david twiddy | staff writer

With obesity at the heart of many health problems, Kansas City Internal Medicine added a weight-loss team to work alongside its clinicians. Earlier this month, the metropolitan area’s largest independent physician practice acquired Weight Management Medical Center, an Overland Park-based practice that provides doctor-supervised weight-loss programs. Made up of Dr. Monica Pierson and Claudia Darnell, who has an extensive education background, the center is expected to give KCIM a more thorough approach to solving patients’ health issues, CEO Lori Mallory said. “Weight loss, in general, is a major preventative health care focus,” Mallory said. “We were wanting to find a way to do that in the best way possible.” KCIM physicians have received certification as being part of a “medical home,” a relatively new patient-care model that stresses a coordinated-care plan dealing with the patient’s immediate health issues and long-term risks.

“I think it just demonstrates to patients our commitment to prevention strategies,” Mallory said. “We know that weight loss is something that a lot of people face.” Pierson started the Weight Management Medical Center with Darnell 13 years ago after seeing many overweight children in her pediatric practice. She said that joining the much larger practice will allow the center to expand and do things it couldn’t before because of its small staff. “Probably one of the biggest barriers of us not having enough patients is that we’re fee-for-service and have had to be for 13 years,” she said. “We tried playing the insurance game ... and we’re not expert coders.” Mallory said that Medicare now reimburses obesity treatment as part of the federal health reform law and that private insurance companies increasingly are looking at paying for treatment. Pierson and Darnell said they’ll be able to team with 25 physicians through referrals to expand their particular brand of weight-loss regimen,

which de-emphasizes dietary changes in favor of greater planning of water intake, moderate exercise, and fruit and vegetable consumption. They said physicians are seeing the need to treat weight loss not as a symptom, but as a separate health condition. “It’s the first line of treatment for hypertension, high cholesterol, sleep apnea,” Pierson said. This is KCIM’s first acquisition since it bought Internal Medicine Rheumatology Associates, a three-physician practice, in April 2008. There’s been an industrywide move toward consolidation to better weather the coming changes to medical reimbursement policies and health care quality measurement. But Mallory said this addition was more of a tweaking of KCIM’s brand. “Traditionally, medical groups have focused on sick care and not well care,” she said. “So it’s an intentional effort to send that message across the community.” davidtwiddy@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2204 | Twitter: @dtwiddy71

CrossFirst Bank thought it had a good fit in April when it announced a deal to buy troubled Heartland Bank. They were the only two banks based in Leawood, and CrossFirst was poised to snap up deposits and good commercial loans while some problem assets would spin off to Heartland’s parent company, Mercantile Bancorp Inc. in Quincy, Ill. But regulators pulled the plug July 20 when the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner closed Heartland, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced that Lee’s Summit-based Metcalf Bank would buy Heartland’s branches in Leawood’s Town Center Plaza and near the Country Club Plaza and most of its $110 million in assets. “We’d been working on it since last fall,” CrossFirst CEO Mike Maddox said. “We were hopeful our transaction would go through right up until the end.” Mercantile planned to merge its stronger Illinois bank with Heartland and a Florida affiliate, The Royal Palm Bank of Naples, Fla., which, like Heartland, had severely depleted capital reserves. But banking experts said Maddox the FDIC may have feared that Mercantile did not have enough cushion to absorb the affiliates’ bad assets without a fresh capital injection. Sources with knowledge of the situation said a Mercantile shareholder offered to commit an additional $2 million in capital. When the FDIC countered by requesting $4 million and a personal guarantee from the shareholder not to let Mercantile’s leverage ratio dip to less than 8 percent, the deal fell apart. The Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner referred questions to the FDIC, which referred them back to the state office. Kansas banks must maintain at least a 2 percent leverage ratio to stay open. “We were just one piece of the puzzle,” Maddox said. “We obviously weren’t privy to all the stuff that was going on. ... The FDIC were the only people who understood the whole picture. I trust SEE BANK | 30

4 | kansas city business journal JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012 kansascitybusinessjournal.com

KC waits to see just what a gigabit means for daily life By Alyson Raletz | Staff Writer

As details surface of Google Inc.’s ultra-fast Internet network, Kansas Citians are on their way to discovering how gigabit speed will affect their lives. Immediate implications at home will be faster video downloads and an increase in streaming quality. Time Warner Cable Inc. officials have contended that the average Internet consumer doesn’t need 1 gigabit of speed to experience video quality. Best Buy recommends having at least a 20 megabit-per-second connection for high-definition quality. But the CIO of Tibi.tv, a Kansas City Internet-based TV advertising business, said he feels the drag on local speed in

CHECK OUT our website for breaking coverage of what Google calls a big news announcement his living room, which is connected to Time Warner’s wideband with speeds as high as 50 Mbps. Doug Richards notices quality issues at night, when his increasingly plugged-in family challenges the connection. Richards, his wife and two children routinely use their smartphones, tablets and other devices while watching streaming online content on their TV. “There’s hiccuping and skipping,” he said. Google’s speed also should greatly enhance file-sharing capabilities and hasten download speeds for massive files,

ranging from architectural blueprints to extensive legal documents. Robert Rohlfs, a registered geologist in North Kansas City, saw the 10 Mbps vs. 1 gigabit difference in the spring after his business won a raffle from the LiNKCity fiber-optic data network. “With the 10 (Mbps) service, when downloading an extra-large file I would have time to get up and refill my drink cup,” said Rohlfs, who works at the fiveemployee branch of environmental consulting firm Leggette Brashears & Graham Inc. “With the gigabit service, (it was) just enough time to take a sip.” The gigabit service — free for a month to the raffle winner — was similar to what LiNKCity can offer residents, though the

raffle extended only to businesses. Mellissa Hopkins, LiNKCity marketing manager, said the publicly run network plans to watch demand during Google’s promotion before deciding whether to offer 1-gigabit residential service. Google won’t offer business Internet initially in Kansas City, Mo., or Kansas City, Kan., but Google will make the network available to smaller businesses as it passes them, public officials said. The KCK Board of Public Utilities is interested in connecting to the service to enhance its smart grid, a new digital, interactive utility network, BPU spokesman David Mehlhaff said. araletz@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2234 | Twitter: @AlysonRaletz

Electric vehicle growth puts charge in KC training program By Alyson Raletz | Staff Writer

A local trainer is one of a handful of electricians who has helped shape a national curriculum for installing electric vehicle charging stations. Jim Cianciolo, training director of the Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Center in Kansas City, traveled to Michigan on July 25 to help roll out the training nationwide after running a local yearlong pilot. The Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program, known as EVITP, is a new certification from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities division.

The effort sprung out of projections that the electric vehicle market would increase and that demand would rise for specially trained electricians to avoid public safety issues, Cianciolo said. “It will put an extreme load on the electrical grid if these aren’t installed by highly qualified people,” he said. Older charging stations Cianciolo drew 120 volts at a slow rate (about what a toaster draws), taking much of a workday for a car to get a full charge, he said. Newer chargers deliver

480 volts at a much faster rate, filling up cars within 15 minutes. Kelly Gilbert, Metropolitan Energy Center’s transportation coordinator, said the electrician program is a good fit for the local electric vehicle industry. Kansas City was chosen as one of five national pilots in 2011 because of the many area companies connected to the industry, including Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corp., Dow Kokam, Exergonix Inc., Milbank Manufacturing Co., LilyPad EV LLC and Motovox. After eight months of development, the spring class graduated 20. LilyPad CEO Larry Kinder, who has

lectured at the training center, said the program helps address growing demand for electric vehicle expertise. LilyPad has built 33 charging stations in the area since starting in 2010. It already has built 22 total stations this year, compared with 20 in all of 2011. Kinder said the EVITP program will be a key hiring tool. “Anyone can hang their shingle out and say they’re an electrician,” he said. “But we want to make sure that when we hire electricians for charging stations, they know what they’re doing.” araletz@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2234 | Twitter: @AlysonRaletz

Survival rates at NCI Cancer Centers are 25% better than at other cancer centers. That can mean everything. National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers lead this country’s effort to cure cancer. The University of Kansas Cancer Center is now among a select few in the country, and the region’s ﬁrst, to be named an NCI-designated Cancer Center. Each NCI Cancer Center serves the needs of the community by excelling in research and treatment, giving patients greater access to leading-edge options and the most promising discoveries. Put the power of academic medicine to work for you. Call 913.588.1227 or visit kucancercenter.org.

A D V A N C I N G

T H E

P O W E R

O F

M E D I C I N E

kansas city business journal |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Logistics company expands into entire KCK warehouse By Steve Vockrodt | Staff Writer

Comprehensive Logistics Inc. signed a deal to lease an entire warehouse in Kansas City, Kan., two years after coming to the city. The General Motors Corp.’s Fairfax Assembly Plant supplier, based in Youngstown, Ohio, now occupies all of a 517,000-square-foot warehouse distribution center at 5300 Kansas Ave. The property, in the Turner Industrial District, listed for $3.50 a square foot. BH Properties LLC, a Los Angelesbased landlord, owns the property.

Comprehensive Logistics’ KCK operations receive, sort and repackage parts from more than 130 suppliers to the GM assembly plant in Fairfax. When it opened in 2010, it had about 40 employees and took up a little less than half of its present warehouse building. The building also had housed other third-party logistics providers, including Wainwright Industries Inc. and OzburnHessey Logistics LLC. Mark Long, a senior vice president with Zimmer Real Estate Services LC who represents BH Properties, said Comprehensive Logistics’ lease is the

largest GM supplier footprint in Kansas City that he is aware of. Long said Comprehensive Logistics’ new lease also marks a change in terms. “It went from being a series of one-year leases, and now we have a long-term lease,” he said. Long Comprehensive Logistics also has leased an additional 120,000 square feet next door to its main local warehouse to meet its expansion plans. Jack Allen, a vice president with Kar-

bank Real Estate Co. who represents Comprehensive Logistics, said the company chose to stay in the Turner Industrial District because of the short distance from its main customer. “The proximity to General Motors is their key issue,” Allen said. “But trying to find a building that fits them was fairly hard, and where they are works for expansion.” Company officials were unable to respond to specific questions about their expansion in Kansas City by press time. svockrodt@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2206 | Twitter: @st_vockrodt

KCT Railway lawsuits add new wrinkles By paul koepp | staff writer

One of the partners in Razorback Rail Services Inc., the company tied to allegations of wrongdoing at Kansas City Terminal Railway Co., contacted law enforcement in June 2010 to voice his suspicions of a criminal conspiracy, according to a court filing. John Bell doesn’t say what prompted him to go to investigators in the affidavit he submitted July 19 in U.S. District Court in Kansas City. He is one of the original shareholders who formed Razorback in 2006. KCT sued Razorback in April, alleging that its partners conspired to divert KCT money to personal projects while the company was a vendor for KCT, which manages train traffic through the area. In a companion lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court, KCT made similar allegations against former presidents Chuck Mader, who was fired in February, and Bill Somervell, who preceded and hired Mader. The railroad says Mader was a silent partner in Razorback, a claim he has denied. On July 23, the judge for that suit denied Mader’s motion to allow him to sell two apartment buildings he owns in Union Hill. KCT obtained a writ of attachment to protect its interest in those properties, which it contends Razorback renovated using railroad money. Mader bought the buildings for $330,000 in 2007 and had a buyer lined up to pay $601,000 for them. He sought $15,000 of the net proceeds, with the rest going into an escrow account pending the resolution of legal matters. In his affidavit, Bell said he discussed Razorback’s ownership with Mader in March 2011 “at the specific direction of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office.” Bell’s attorney, Bob McQuain of McQuain Dehardt & Rosenbloom PC, said he does not know what illegal activity his client observed. A July 19 filing from Razorback asks a federal judge to dismiss KCT’s racketeering claim and to order the two companies into mediation. Graves Bartle Marcus & Garrett LLC represents KCT. pkoepp@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2211 | Twitter: @pbkkc

Sam Pepper Regional President, Commercial Banking Enterprise Bank & Trust

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“Offering practical courses to help business leaders succeed… that’s right at the core of what we do.” “We want your business to succeed, whether you bank with us or not.” Over the past decade, more than 9,000 business owners and their senior executives have attended Enterprise University classes. It’s a measure of their commitment, and ours, to their companies’ success. To join them, visit EnterpriseBank.com/eu.

| The list |

| kansas city business journal

July 27-August 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Top Area Web development firms (ranked by 2011 revenue for web design and development services) Rank 2012 2011

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 8. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 1. 3. 4

none

5. 7. 9. 8.

10.

none

11.

none

13. 12. 15. 16. 19. 14.

none none

21. 17. 20. 22.

COMPANY

VML

250 Richards Road, Kansas City, MO 64116 www.vml.com 816-283-0700

MMGY Global

4601 Madison Ave., Kansas City, MO 64112 www.mmgyglobal.com 816-472-5988

web design & development revenue 2011 2010 web design $125,000,000 $103,100,000 $17,494,759 $16,661,675

application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services

Intouch Solutions Inc.

strategy, graphic $16,727,258 layout, other $12,100,794 design services

Digital Evolution Group

application $10,804,638 development, strategy, $6,752,457 graphic layout

10975 Benson St., Suite 200, Overland Park, KS 66210 www.intouchsol.com 913-317-9700

10801 Mastin Blvd., Suite 130, Overland Park, KS 66210 www.digitalev.com 913-498-9988

Bernstein-Rein

4600 Madison Ave., Suite 1500, Kansas City, MO 64112 www.bernstein-rein.com 816-756-0640

BKV Inc.

10561 Barkley St., Suite 200, Overland Park, KS 66212 www.bkv.com 913-648-8333

In10sity Midwest

105 E. 5th St., Suite 202, Kansas City, MO 64106 www.in10sity.net 888-483-2383

Aspect Software Inc.

7501 College Blvd., Suite 105, Overland Park, KS 66210 www.aspect.com 978-905-3617

Trabon Strategic Technology Group 420 E. Bannister Road, Kansas City, MO 64131 www.trabongroup.com 816-276-2500

7strategy

117 N. Cooper St., Olathe, KS 66061 www.7strategy.com 888-231-3062

Sullivan Higdon & Sink Inc.

2000 Central St., Kansas City, MO 64108 www.wehatesheep.com 816-474-1333

Muller Bressler Brown

11610 Ash St., Suite 200, Leawood, KS 66211 www.mbbagency.com 816-531-1992

Keyhole Software

8900 State Line Road, Suite 455, Leawood, KS 66206 www.keyholesoftware.com 913-530-4193

Mersoft Corp.

9300 W. 110th St., Building 55, Suite 350, Overland Park, KS 66210 www.mersoft.com 913-871-6200

AdventureTech Group

7450 W. 130th St., Suite 320, Overland Park, KS 66213 www.adventuretechgroup.com 913-402-9600

Salva O’Renick

1810 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO 64108 www.uncommonsense.com 816-842-6996

Digital Lagoon

9121 Bond St., Overland Park, KS 66214 www.lagoon.com 913-888-3468

$8,870,000 $7,759,000 $8,500,000 $8,200,000 $5,200,000 $5,200,000 $5,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $4,900,000 $3,800,000 $3,457,680 $2,766,230 $2,351,295 $2,564,212 $3,061,480

application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services

web development e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion

CEO Neal Sharma nsharma@digitalev.com

full-service advertising agency with specialities in branding; strategy; media planning & buying; digital marketing; web development

President Steve Bernstein stevebernstein@bradv.com Chairman Robert Bernstein

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

develops Microsoft-based solutions such as customer portals, dashboards & mobility solutions; applies unified communications technologies to streamline customer-company interactions

General Manager John Luddy

software design & development, IT consulting

CEO Tim Trabon President Greg Deitch gdeitch@trabonsolutions.com

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other new sites, redesign, site expansion, other new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion new sites, redesign, site expansion

Internet Builder Consulting

application $1,311,652 development, strategy, $1,811,223 graphic layout, other design services application $1,300,000 development, strategy, $1,030,000 graphic layout, other design services

web design, search engine optimization & Internet marketing for companies from large multinational corporations to traditional brick-and-mortar small businesses

President Rasvir Mustan

full-service advertising agency

Managing Partner Randall Mikulecky Managing Partner Lynell Stucky

design, programming, hosting, electronic marketing, search optimization software development firm providing consulting, education & custom development services website design, SEO, social media, web applications, portal development with backoffice integration; mobile, cloud, e-commerce, database & line-of-business solutions

President Doug McDaniel doug.mcdaniel@ adventuretechgroup.com

brand development, UX-centered website development, digital channel optimization, GoToMarket strategic development, content marketing programs

CEO Mark O’Renick

web design & hosting, marketing, application development, search engine marketing, video production, large format printing

President Jordan Gershon jgershon@lagoon.com

a content development & marketing services agency

CEO Cameron Bishop cbishop@ ascendintegratedmedia.com

Tricension

application $1,104,500 development, strategy, $710,700 other design services

Clickfarm Interactive Inc.

application $1,036,000 development, strategy, $650,000 graphic layout, other design services

inQuest Marketing

strategy, graphic $1,007,369 layout, other $770,035 design services

new sites, redesign, site expansion

marketing & strategic planning for all media, traditional & Internet

application $990,531 development, strategy, $926,000 other design services

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

technology business consultants, website development, managed hosting services

application $966,026 development, strategy, $638,500 graphic layout, other design services

new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

strategy, project management, programming, design, Flash, content management, email solutions, e-newsletters, SEO, portals, blogs, social media, technical consulting, display advertising, online lead generation

Level Five Solutions

7301 W. 133rd St., Suite 301, Overland Park, KS 66213 www.levelfivesolutions.com 913-400-2014 222 W. 20th St., Kansas City, MO 64108 www.tricension.com 816-533-7272 1527 Locust St., Kansas City, MO 64108 www.clickfarminteractive.com 816-698-5054 9249 Ward Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64114 www.inquestmarketing.com 816-994-0994

CyteWorks Inc.

P.O. Box 554, Lee’s Summit, MO 64055 www.cyteworks.com 816-272-5246

GlynnDevins Advertising & Marketing 11230 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210 www.glynndevins.com 913-491-0600

COO Jim Brown, jbrown@ mbbagency.com; Phil Bressler, chief client service officer, pbressler@mbbagency.com Managing Partner Chris DeSalvo, cdesalvo@keyholesoftware.com; Managing Partner David Pitt, dpitt@keyholesoftware.com CEO Ron Sloop resloop@mersoft.com Director of Mersoft Interactive Pamela Potts

specializes in .Net & related Microsoft enterprise development resources

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

website development & hosting, social marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), mobile websites, programming, consulting, virtual tours, photography interactive development firm with core strengths in user experience & enterprise architecture; help companies solve problems through research, strategy, design & technology business technology consulting firm that partners with clients to help diagnose, develop & deploy enterprise application solutions digital marketing strategy, execution, design & development on a variety of web & mobile platforms

Top Area web design and development firms ranked by number of local employees.

Employees

1. VML

547

2. Intouch Solutions Inc.

267

3. Bernstein-Rein

216

4. Aspect Software Inc.

150

5. MMGY Global

125

6. Digital Evolution Group

103

7. Ascend Integrated Media

8. BKV Inc.

9. Sullivan Higdon & Sink Inc.

10. 7strategy

11. Trabon Strategic Technology Group

12. Salva O’Renick

13. Keyhole Software

14. Mersoft Corp.

15. Level Five Solutions

15. Tricension

17. Digital Lagoon

18. Internet Builder Consulting

19. AdventureTech Group

19. CyteWorks Inc.

21. Clickfarm Interactive Inc.

21. GlynnDevins Advertising & Marketing

21. In10sity Midwest

24. inQuest Marketing

notes:

Firms provided information in response to questionnaires. Ties are listed alphabetically. NA = not applicable, not available or not answered.

Internet & Technology Expert Robert Jackson rjackson@builderconsulting.com CEO Dave Berck dave.berck@levelfivesolutions.com CEO Mike Lammers Mike.Lammers@tricension.com Chief Creative Officer Brett Wacha, brett@clickfarminteractive.com; Chief Technology Officer Brandon Worrell, brandon@clickfarminteractive.com Partner Brian Olson brian@inquestmarketing.com Partner Dave Wilson dave@inquestmarketing.com Managing Partner Duane Blankenship, duane@cyteworks.com Managing Partner Robb Washeck, robb@cytworks.com Principal Jim Glynn jglynn@glynndevins.com

Originally Published July 27, 2012 | compiled By Jonna Lorenz | Research director | jlorenz@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2213 | Twitter: @KCBizResearch Information about commemorative plaques, reprints or Web permissions can be obtained from the Kansas City Business Journal’s designated partner, Scoop ReprintSource, at 800-767-3263 or www.scoopreprintsource.com. No other company offering similar services is affiliated with the Business Journal.

re-ranking the list:

Company

full-service digital consulting; expertise in targeted digital direct marketing & eCRM, integrated ecommerce, social media, enterprise collaboration, Web content management, analytics, mobile development

Vice President Jon Ellison jon.ellison@in10sity.net

application $1,339,000 development, strategy, $1,253,000 graphic layout

106 W. 11th St., Suite 1430, Kansas City, MO 64105 www.InternetBuilderConsulting.com 816-842-7774

CEO Faruk Capan faruk.capan@intouchsol.com

website design, content management systems, e-marketing, SEO

Ascend Integrated Media

7015 College Blvd., Suite 600, Overland Park, KS 66211 www.ascendintegratedmedia.com 913-344-1401

CEO Clayton Reid creid@mmgyglobal.com Chairman Don Montague dmontague@mmgyglobal.com

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

$1,700,000 $1,589,000

marketing agency specializing in travel & hospitality

CEO Rick Skaggs rick.skaggs@bkv.com

application $2,000,000 development, other $2,100,000 design services $1,950,000 $1,700,000

CEO Jon Cook Global Chairman Matt Anthony

digital & direct-response agency generating measurable results for clients

application $2,200,000 development, strategy, $2,000,000 graphic layout, other design services

application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services application development, strategy, graphic layout, other design services

top local executive(s)

global digital marketing agency dedicated to delivering creative solutions at the intersection of marketing & technology; engineers digital experiences, social media & mobile marketing

new sites, redesign, digital integration for health care marketing site expansion

e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other e-commerce, new sites, redesign, site expansion, other

$2,300,000 application $1,100,000 development, strategy

general business description

Future lists: August 3, Multitenant Industrial Facilities August 10, Manufacturers August 17, General Contractors August 17, Electrical Contractors August 24, Management Consultant Firms August 24, Women-Owned Businesses August 31, Accounting Firms

Congratulations o n

m a k i n g

The List from

kansas city business journal |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012 kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Area hospitals see little progress in readmission rates by david twiddy | staff writer

Area hospitals have made relatively little progress in curbing the number of Medicare patients returning for treatment only weeks after being discharged. According to numbers the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released July 19, about one in five Medicare patients in Kansas City admitted for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia had to return for treatment within 30 days during a three-year period from July 2008 to June 2011. That mirrors the national average. Compared with the previous threeyear period of July 2007-June 2010, area readmission rates for heart attacks and pneumonia inched upward, and the rate for heart failure remained steady. In October, federal officials plan to begin penalizing hospitals that have an excessive number of readmitted patients, which some experts say offers a good measure of a hospital’s quality of care. A 2010 CMS study found that readmissions cost Medicare $17.5 billion in inpatient spending in that year alone. Some hospital officials differ on the usefulness of readmission numbers, noting that they have little control of whether patients take their medication once they leave or schedule checkups to see whether treatment is working. “There’s probably a baseline of patients that no matter what actions a

hospital may take may end up being readmitted,” said David Dillon, a spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association. But hospitals are taking steps to cut back on readmissions, partly to stave off potential cuts to funding — starting at 1 percent this year and maxing out at 3 percent in 2015 — but also because fixing the problems that bring patients back improves their outcomes. For example, Carondelet Health recently did a three-month pilot project to expand the education and follow-up given to patients admitted for congestive heart failure and reduced readmissions from 20 percent to zero among the pilot population. Annette Small, CEO of St. Mary’s Medical Center, said the program will expand to include more patients and disease conditions. “If we can give them tools to be successful, they’ll have a better chance of staying healthSmall ier and not back in the hospital,” Small said. A separate measurement of how often Medicare patients admitted for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia are dying within 30 days of admission showed the area average declining for heart attacks but increasing slightly for heart failure and pneumonia.

CHARTING THE HOSPITALS

Here are the area hospitals that scored highest and lowest for the rate of Medicare patients admitted for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia who either die within 30 days or have to be readmitted within 30 days of discharge, as measured by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The rate of readmissions will take on added significance in the fall, when federal officials begin reducing reimbursements to hospitals with excessive numbers of readmitted patients. Figures cover July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2011.

HEART ATTACK

• 30-day readmission Highest: Tie, Liberty Hospital and Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, 22.6% Lowest: Saint Luke’s South Hospital, 18.1% National average: 19.7% • 30-day mortality Highest: Olathe Medical Center, 18.4% Lowest: Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, 12.5%

National average: 15.5%

HEART FAILURE

• 30-day readmission Highest: Truman Medical Center-Hospital Hill, 27.7% Lowest: Centerpoint Medical Center, 22.1% National average: 24.7% • 30-day mortality Highest: Centerpoint Medical Center, 14.5% Lowest: North Kansas City Hospital, 8.9% National average: 11.6%

PNEUMONIA

• 30-day readmission Highest: Lee’s Summit Medical Center, 21.6% Lowest: St. Joseph Medical Center, 17.1% National average: 18.5% • 30-day mortality Highest: Research Medical Center, 15.4% Lowest: Liberty Hospital, 8.2% National average: 12%

davidtwiddy@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2204 | Twitter: @dtwiddy71

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8 | kansas city business journal JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012 kansascitybusinessjournal.com

| NEWSMAKER |

Up close: Darren Bonawitz Darren Bonawitz is a prominent innkeeper of sorts as CEO of 1102 Grand LLC, one of the area’s only Internet carrier hotels. By providing a neutral port to Internet carriers and companies craving access, the 26-story downtown Kansas City operation has been lauded as an efficiency tool that has boosted Internet connectivity for businesses. Bonawitz, a self-proclaimed information technology geek, has emerged as another type of connector in what he describes as often-unsocial tech circles in Kansas City. In 2006, Bonawitz helped launch quarterly tech happy hours that evolved into KCNext to promote the area’s IT sector. It was a group that would play an active role in luring Google Inc.’s ultra-fast Internet plans. With more than 400 people showing up to events, it has grown into one of the area’s largest professional networking groups. But this unlikely social butterfly craves solace that only two-hour-plus late-night drives can provide. The mind-clearing rituals helped earn him a citizen’s award when he provided police with necessary information in the investigation of a robbery he witnessed on one of his nightly meanderings. On reconciling technology with sociology: I’ve always been a bit of an outlier when it comes to the technology folks. I am not nearly as technical as most of the folks out there. I’ve got a background in network engineering and electrical engineering, but even going through college it was pretty evident to me that I was very different than the other engineers. I knew I was never suited for a lab coat. I was never going to be a good research developer, and my GPA can prove that. Even at that point, I was very active and engaged in student organizations and the leadership side of the college of engineering. ... I’ve always liked straddling the fence between the technology and the business side. I’ve been entrepreneurial since I was little. My college roommates, a couple of them always said you may be the least engineer of all of us, but you may end up being the one who’s most successful just because I was different. And sometimes different is good. On connecting the tech community: Technologists are stereotypically going to be introverted people, but at the same time if you put them with their like-minded peers they have a common set of topics to visit about. If you are at a general networking event with a wide range of demographics and start talking about the latest news in routers or what is the latest hot trend in the world of firewalls, unless you like blank stares as a return conversation, they’re not good topics. But if you’re around somebody who happens to be a Web security person, it’s a good conversation. And we’ve long contended from the very first day of launching 1102 Grand, we have a saying that routers don’t do business with each other, people do. So at the end of the day, you have to connect the people in order for the routers and the switches and everything to do what they need to do. There isn’t a deal unless there’s a personal connection. On balancing 1102 Grand and KCNext during the recruitment of Google:

We (1102 Grand) are carrier neutral. That’s one of the hallmarks of a carrier hotel. We want all the carriers and service providers. And so we had to be careful about appearing to take sides of a certain carrier provider. We felt that was more of a community-driven effort than for something like 1102 Grand. At the same time, the extent of our involvement in that process was reaching out and letting people know we were available to field questions. The (request for information) that they had to complete was extensive and covered a lot of different areas and involved a lot of different people’s time and intellectual property, so we basically made ourselves a resource. ... We made sure people were aware that 1102 Grand existed, that it’s something that differentiated us versus most of those 1,100 other cities that were competing — they didn’t have an entity, organization or facility like 1102 Grand. And that if they understood what we did and what that could potentially mean to a network like Google, it could help them separate themselves from the pack, but we were just one piece of the puzzle. I never want to take credit for something that we didn’t do ourselves. On the tech community’s reaction to Google’s emphasis on fiber to the home and not businesses: In my opinion, it’s their network, their money. They should be able to connect to whoever they wish. I can say we field a tremendous number of requests from people trying to figure out how to con-

Darren Bonawitz Company: 1102 Grand LLC Title: President and CEO Started: 2005 Education: Studied electrical engineering with an emphasis in communication systems at Kansas State University

nect to Google, and these are all businesses. There’s definitely a lot of interest in people wanting to connect to Google, I think from both a commercial and personal level. On the so-what factor of Internet connectivity: 1102 Grand provides the facility where the carriers and service providers can make the connections back and forth with each other happen that need to happen in order for cellphones to work the way they’re supposed to, for emails to go through and Internet pages to load. Everything that people do from a communication

standpoint, there are connections happening behind the scenes that no one knows about. ... A simple analogy is if I use Sprint as my cellphone carrier, and you use Verizon, at some point those two networks have to connect, otherwise I can only talk to Sprint customers and you can only talk to Verizon customers — and we’re that building in the region. Having 1102 Grand drives down network costs for the providers, which means they can offer more competitive pricing to customers. On whether Google is a client: No comment. Alyson Raletz

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GE plans Merriam call center

GE Capital Bank is opening a call center in Merriam and plans to hire 150. The bank leased 25,000 square feet in a building near 67th Street and Interstate 35, where GE Capital Retail Bank has a commercial location. The call center will begin operations in the fall, handling customer service functions, according to a Kansas Department of Commerce announcement. A GE Capital spokesman said that hiring begins the week of July 30 to get staff in place to start operations in the fall; it will continue after that point. Commerce Department officials would not discuss incentives, citing unsigned agreements that preclude public disclosure. Steve Vockrodt

Pulaski: Bank raided office

In a July 24 court hearing, Pulaski Bank fleshed out its claims that First State Bank of St. Charles orchestrated a corporate raid on Pulaski’s Overland Park mortgage office. Pulaski seeks a temporary restraining order to block former employees from using what it says are trade secrets taken from the bank, including loan databases. About 35 employees, mostly loan officers, moved from Pulaski to First State Bank in recent weeks to help it set up a local mortgage operation. That followed the resignation of about half of Pulaski’s loan officers in May 2011. An affidavit from Jill Underwood, a loan officer who stayed at Pulaski, lays out the timeline of the past several months, including several meetings to discuss benefits, pay, client databases and First State Bank’s plans. FSB even held a photo shoot for a publicity blitz. The trade secrets claim “is an attempt to bootstrap into a noncompete that doesn’t exist,” said Tedrick Housh, a Lathrop & Gage LLP lawyer for FSB. Paul Koepp

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Hallbrook Office Center plans to add third building The owners of Leawood’s Hallbrook Office Center are ready to build a six-story office building if they can find a user to take up about half its space. Work will start on Three Hallbrook Place once it gets a lease with a tenant that will take up at least about 75,000 of its 165,000 square feet. The planned building would be a LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) structure at the southwest corner of College Boulevard and State Line Road. Hallbrook’s owners, which include a number of trusts related to the founding family of Hallmark Cards Inc., have seen success with

TV owner sells stations for $1B

Kansas City-based Newport Television LLC has a $1 billion deal on its screen. The TV broadcasting company said July 19 that it has agreed to sell 22 of its stations to Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc., Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and Cox Media Group. The deals, which need regulatory approval, are expected to close in the fourth quarter. That’s a big chunk of Newport’s holdings, and it’s looking to sell five more stations. Currently, it owns or operates 29 stations, with 27 more distributed as digital multicast streams, making a total of 56 stations in 20 U.S. markets. The deals are the result of a strategic review to maximize value at Newport, CEO Sandy DiPasquale said in a release. Private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, based in Providence, R.I., owns a majority stake in Newport. Suzanna Stagemeyer

the two existing Hallbrook Office Center buildings, which are 95 percent leased. “We have the ability to do some covered parking,” said Greg Swetnam, director of office brokerage for Kessinger/Hunter & Co. LC, who represents Hallbrook’s owners. “It just depends on what somebody wants.” The first two Hallbrook buildings were built on a speculative basis. Two Hallbrook Place opened at the onset of the recession, and Hallbrook’s owners held their line on lease rates. The building sat empty for about two years, then had an influx of new leases. Steve Vockrodt

feet of bio-safety level 2 lab space and 15,000 square feet of office space. Ceva has 230 employees in the metro area, including 50 who were added in the past 18 months, and plans to add 25 to 100 during the next year and a half. David Twiddy

Frank Ancona Honda seeks TIF

courtesy of Ceva

Ceva Biomune officials sign the ceremonial first beam at the Lenexa site of the company’s $7 million R&D renovation.

Ceva starts $7M expansion

Ceva Biomune has begun construction of a $7 million expansion of its R&D facility in Lenexa. Ceva, which develops animal health vaccines, held a groundbreaking ceremony July 20. The yearlong project will enlarge the company’s current 2,200 square feet to include 18,000 square

The owner of Frank Ancona Honda in Olathe wants tax increment financing to help support the renovation and expansion of the dealership. The Olathe City Council plans a Sept. 18 public hearing to consider the incentive for the $5.9 million project. The TIF district would capture increases in property taxes to reimburse the developer for certain project costs that benefit the public. The city expects TIF to generate a little more than $1 million for the $5.9 million project. The project would expand the showroom, pave 240,000 square feet of new

With your Android, BlackBerry or iPhone, text “SCANNER” to 41411 to download and install the Scanlutions scanner software. Use the scanner on the QR code at right to sign up for our free, daily e-mail updates from kansascitybusinessjournal.com Follow the KCBJ on twitter @ http://twitter.com/KCBizjournal surface parking and make infrastructure improvements. Steve Vockrodt

Ex-FDIC examiner is guilty

A former bank examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was found guilty July 20 of charges connected with a Lee’s Summit mortgage fraud scheme. A federal jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City found Rodney Foster guilty of participating in a conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. Foster and co-conspirators used stolen names and Social Security numbers to apply for mortgage loans, prosecutors said. Foster could get five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000. Brian Kaberline

KCATA gets $2M for upgrades The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority has received more than $2 million in federal grants to upgrade equipment at its headquarters and improve its inventory system. The authority received three grants, the largest two providing $776,000 to replace a 35-year-old HVAC system at KCATA’s headquarters with a more energy-efficient system and $648,000 to replace or renovate aging elevators there that better accommodate people with disabilities. A final $600,000 grant will go to improve KCATA’s transit asset management system, which will evaluate all of the agency’s buses, building, benches and shelters. David Twiddy

IN DEPTH

Technology

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

in two Weeks | Banking

kansas city business journal |

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Julie Denesha | KCBJ

Aaron Sloup, CEO of Lantern Software Inc., asks a question at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Each Wednesday morning, the foundation is host to company startup pitches, part of a program called 1 Million Cups.

Pouring forth

1 Million Cups hopes to fill entrepreneurs with focus By Alyson Raletz | Staff Writer

arren Cauthon stepped to the front of a room filled with entrepreneurship experts one month into his technology startup’s short

tenure. He had six minutes to explain the business model of Conferency, a mobile Web application that provides an interactive schedule manager for conference-goers. With the clock ticking, he discussed the recognition Conferency was receiving to a crowd of 45 at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, but he confessed to frustration about getting more

conferences to latch onto the format. “I’ll be honest — I’m new to this,” Cauthon said on a Wednesday morning in July. “I’m just kind of jumping in.” His presentation was part of 1 Million Cups, a program that brings together entrepreneurs weekly at the Kansas City headquarters of the Kauffman Foundation. The informal meetings started in the spring as a way for Kauffman employees to meet and offer advice to area startups. The Wednesday morning meet-ups, which have grown from a sprinkling of people to crowds of 50 to 60, are emerging as a key venue for the Kansas City tech startup scene. The pitch-

ing companies stem mainly from the tech sector, attracting outside advisers, serial entrepreneurs and wouldbe entrepreneurs to the weekly mix. The effort initially was an experiment of sorts for

Julie Denesha | KCBJ

Darren Cauthon of Conferency outlines plans for an interactive schedule manager for conference-goers at a Wednesday pitch session.

SEE pouring | 12

Platform preachers: A group gathers monthly to extol the virtues of Node.js and expand its use | 13 Two Cents: Local tech experts discuss the recent power failure that knocked servers out of the cloud | 14 Make the connection: How to hook your Internet to the TV (or is it the other way around?) | 15

12 | kansas city business journal

| in depth: TECHNOLOGY |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

POURING: It’s not just advice — post-pitch connections are equally as vital FROM PAGE 11

Kauffman Laboratories for Enterprise Creation, an educational arm of the foundation. These meetings fill a gap in the local entrepreneurial environment, said Thom Ruhe, Kauffman’s vice president of entrepreneurship. “It’s a social function that provides a safe harbor for startups,” Ruhe said. “There are no investors here. It’s essentially an open mic night to test the material.” But creators now are devoting lots of energy to 1 Million Cups, hoping to expand the idea locally and roll out an en-

trepreneurship education model nationwide. The foundation devotes itself to the research, education and promotion of entrepreneurship on a global scale. The 1 Million Cups initiative pairs with a new endeavor by Kauffman Labs, which traditionally has focused on national educational efforts tailored to industry sectors, Ruhe said. Kauffman Labs now is pursuing more geographically based efforts, starting in the Kansas City area. Ruhe and his entrepreneurship team started with a simple concept. Each week, two young companies make their pitches. Afterward, employees ask ques-

tions and critique the business models. The only incentives are access to feedback from those who study and work with startups for a living and the opportunity to network with like-minded people. Seconds after Cauthon’s pitch on Conferency, attendees launched in with questions. Who was its main customer? Had Conferency thought about providing a rating system on conference sessions? How will Cauthon grow the business? “That’s why I wanted an opportunity like this. To be honest, we’re not sure,” Cauthon responded. “All I can say right

now is we see an opportunity.” Cameron Cushman, a Kauffman manager in entrepreneurship, said the most important part about 1 Million Cups is what happens when the pitches are done, making the connections a key goal of group creators, who are tracking participants and attendees, as well as conducting follow-up with the companies. Jeff Pfaff still is sifting through the connections he made from his pitch earlier this year for Caregiv, a Kansas City startup that uses TV-based video and patient monitoring for senior citizens. “I had eight people come up to me after my pitch and say they wanted to use Caregiv,” Pfaff said. “I’m still following up with them, and they’re now my beta customers.” As Cauthon stepped down from his presentation, Nate Allen recalled sitting in the same hot seat several weeks before when he pitched his new company, 4 First Names LLC, a data visualization studio. He said the scrutiny helped him become a 1 Million Cups regular. “I like to hear what other startups are doing,” Allen said. “Just knowing who is doing what in town helps you make a connection.” araletz@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2234 | Twitter: @AlysonRaletz

MAKING THE PITCH

Startup owners may be geniuses at the technology behind their business idea, but they also must become experts in plugging the concept in front of a room of strangers. Investing in a high-quality business pitch could pay off in dollars from outside investors or valuable feedback from mentors and advisers. After sitting through roughly 600 startup pitches in his lifetime, Thom Ruhe, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s vice president of entrepreneurship, shared some of the mistakes he’s seen through the years, along with his tips on making a good first impression. DON’T: Lead a presentation with a great product or service, then rely on audience members to figure out how that product solves problems in the market. DO: Clearly articulate the need in the market you are serving. Start with the problem, then tell the audience how you are fixing it or making it better. DON’T: Lead with the assumption that you are unique. This puts credibility at risk for the rest of the presentation. DO: Understand the competitive landscape. DON’T: Go in cold. Know the material. Confirm that an Internet connection will be available. DON’T: Leave the audience hanging. DO: Close with clearly articulated next steps. Be specific about investment and other needs.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

MANAGING TECHNOLOGY

Interested in presenting at or attending the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s 1 Million Cups pitch events? When: 9 a.m. Wednesdays Where: Kauffman Foundation headquarters, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110 Phone: 816-932-1000 Internet: 1millioncups.com Email: info@kauffmanlabs.org Twitter: @1MillionCups

| in depth: TECHNOLOGY |

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KC group tries to create a bigger platform for Node.js system By Alicia Stice | Staff Writer

If you use it for work and still want to experiment with it when you get home, it’s probably worthy of group discussion. That’s the conclusion Andrew Dunkman came to earlier this year when he helped form NodeKC, a monthly gathering focused on Node.js, a software system that the group’s members use for fun projects at home — and increasingly for projects at work. Node.js, a relatively new platform, lets users run JavaScript on a server instead of a Web browser. It runs more efficiently than other systems that developers can use because it responds to events, such as data loading off a hard drive. “As a developer, you can get a lot more performance out of cheaper computers and cheaper hardware without the painful side of writing fast code,” said Dunkman, a software developer at Softek Solutions Inc. For group members, the meet-ups offer a chance at brainstorming and hearing about how others have used Node. js. Because it’s still new to the technology scene, the meetings allow the group to explore new avenues. “It’s difficult to find other people who are interested in it, let alone work with it,” said Mike Hemesath, a senior software engineer at Cerner Corp. At Softek, Dunkman worked on a team that used Node.js to develop Illuminate, a program that allows doctors to quickly search for patients’ radiology records, including lab results and X-ray images. The

University of Kansas Hospital is among the facilities using Illuminate. “We don’t necessarily have time to hunt, peck and scroll around and look for records,” said Dr. Gregory Ator, KU Hospital’s chief medical information officer. The program lets doctors more easily search for radiology records stored in different systems. It also gives them the option to narrow the results they get by searching by patients’ names, along with an indication of whether a disease was present in the case. KU Hospital is working with Softek to develop similar programs for other types of medical records, Ator said. Although NodeKC members often use Node.js for professional projects, the fun usually continues when they get home. One member developed a program to manage his meat smoker, for example. “Engineers can be really passionate about what we do,” Hemesath said. “Even though we code all day, there’s still niches in our field we can find very interesting.” As for his work at Cerner, Node.js plays a less central role for Hemesath than it does for Dunkman. At this point, Cerner’s engineers mostly experiment with it on internal projects, but it could become more important down the line, especially as it grows in popularity. “I think as more people get interested in it, more and more tools will be built around it,” Hemesath said. astice@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2226 | Twitter: @aliciastice

courtesy of Andrew Dunkman

Ed Saipetch, senior technical director at Joyent Inc., presents at a gathering of NodeKC at Snow & Co. NodeKC meets monthly to discuss Node.js.

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| in depth: TECHNOLOGY |

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| Two Cents | For millions of Internet users, June’s storms and the resulting power failures had effects that reached far beyond the East Coast. For periods of time, people couldn’t use websites such as Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest. This is what some local tech experts had to say about the storm that exposed data storage issues for these websites:

Amazon’s response to this event was that the storm caused Amazon’s (Web services) to lose primary power and backup generator power to a portion of a single availability zone. It is critical to verify the hardened infrastructure footprint and shake hands with the provider you’re trusting. Lack of transparency in the cloud equals loss of revenue. Annie Brock, vice president of sales and business development, Arsalon Technologies LLC

In Kansas City, there are quite a few areas where power lines are underground, which reduces the number of potential issues. When choosing a data center site, it is critical that the power companies’ uptime history be taken into consideration. Cavern Technologies is fortunate to have power from two separate power substations and have six generators to back that up. Most importantly we have Kansas City Power & Light’s ability to provide stable power that has led to years of constant uptime. Other important lessons would involve discussions on data replication, hot site fail over and/ or load balancing. Brent Jeffries, senior network engineer, Cavern Technologies

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The loss of cloud computing services ... demonstrates that data storage across the country is at risk, particularly wherever the power generation infrastructure is being compromised for profit. More people are demanding more power from our aging infrastructure, and we can no longer live without mobile phones, computers, tablets and a myriad of other electronic appliances. Power companies are no longer regulated public utilities and have trimmed or cut staff in response to management’s mission for ever-higher profits to appease shareholders. With less staff, including crews in the field, power companies are simply not prepared to handle massive simultaneous failures.

What the recent outages have shown is that availability is critical. Major websites are expected to be up 24/7, and the consequences of outages are significant. As a result, data center customers have to understand the role and accessibility of the data, and plan accordingly. Replication solutions allow the data to be distributed to many different places so that an outage in one location will not adversely affect the availability of the data. Customized replication solutions can be suited to fit the needs of the application. In the event of an outage, a company with a good business continuity plan would be able to bring up their systems in another location and continue business as usual.

David Jahner, regional vice president, Faith Technologies Inc.

Joe Hayes, director of storage, Quality Technology Services LLC

| in depth: TECHNOLOGY |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

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Welcome to the 21st century Marrying the Internet with television offers viewers on-demand online video content that can replace or supplement cable and satellite TV. Most modern TVs easily can handle the transition from little screen to computer screen. It’s the user who requires a change of mindset — forgoing traditional channels and programming schedules for websites and point-and-click availability. When it comes to the logistics, you have options.

? Clearing your lap

Watching Netflix, YouTube and other online video content is as simple as connecting your laptop to the big screen. You’ll still be able to do anything you would do on your laptop. What you’ll need: • TV — High-definition TVs are recommended for picture, but standard-definition TVs work, too. • Speed — High-speed Internet connection (10 megabits per second (Mbps) or higher for high-definition). • Cables — Choose one of the following after checking the connections on your TV and laptop):

- HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) provides the best picture quality for HD TVs. - DVI (Digital Video Interface) has high quality for HD TVs but needs a separate audio cable for sound. - VGA (Video Graphics Array) connections are used frequently on computers and highdef TVs, but also need an audio cable. - S-Video cables provide moderate picture quality for standard-definition TVs. • Converter to match laptop connection with the TV input if necessary. What to do: • Connect cable to TV, then turn on TV. • Select correct TV input, such as HDMI,

as if selecting a DVD player. • Adjust laptop’s resolution to clear up a fuzzy picture. (Go to “control panel,” then “display settings.”)

Thinking inside the box

Free yourself from the laptop altogether by using a built-in Internet-ready TV, or smart TV, which lets you surf the Web without a computer (though some still require a keyboard). What you’ll need: • Speed — High-speed Internet connection (Best Buy recommends 20 Mbps or more). • Modem/router — Make sure it’s of high

quality to avoid streaming interruptions. Connection options: • Ethernet cable — Provides fastest, most secure connection from modem/router to smart TV. • Powerline ethernet adapters — Use Ethernet connection and electrical outlet to create a home network, enabling multiple smart devices. • Wireless adapters — These are needed for Wi-Fi-ready smart TVs to connect to wireless networks. It’s best for eliminating wires but not optimal for video streaming Sources: Best Buy; TopTenReviews.com; Geek.com

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| in depth: TECHNOLOGY |

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Vickie Cackler Lisa Garney Patti Grozdanich Jean Hansen Geri Higgins Darcy Howe Kim Isenhower Kimberly Jones Elaine Koch Cynthia Laffey Jamie Clayman Loud Melanie Mann Valerie McCaw Paula Porsch Sandy Price Sandy Sampson Tami Schademann Theresa Schekirke Rachel Smith Marga Spangler Shannon Stites Janet Thompson Julie Wellner Andrea Wickerham Susan Witcher

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Bridal Extraordinaire LMG Construction Services LLC UnitedHealthcare Consultants in Gastroenterology PC Portfolio Kitchen & Home Merrill Lynch Nationwide Transportation & Logistics Services Inc. Seyferth Blumenthal & Harris LLC Bryan Cave LLP Inlanta Mortgage Clayman Promotional Group Mann Development Co. LLC VSM Engineering LLC Porsch Financial Group Sprint Hays Cos. of Kansas City BATS Global Markets Inc. Samson Dental Practice Management LLC Smith Coonrod Mohlman LLC First National Bank Ernst & Young The Cottonwood Group Wellner Architects Inc. The National Center for Drug Free Sport Inc. Faultless Laundry Co.

Join us as we celebrate the 25 honorees of Women Who Mean Business at the 13th-annual awards luncheon

Friday, August 24, 2012 Registration begins at 11 a.m. Ballroom doors open by 11:30 a.m. Sheraton Overland Park

Reserve your seat by August 17.

Register online at www.kansascitybusinessjournal.com/event or http://bizj.us/b45e7 Questions? Please contact Christine Davis at 816-777-2218, or cdavis@bizjournals.com.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For information or to advertise in the supplement, contact your sales representative or Stacie Prosser at 816-777-2225.

Growth

Strategies

SALES ACADEMY | Hal Becker says be careful about when and where you break out your elevator speech | 19

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Kate McKinney

Social Media Matters Kiran Ross

Games offer strategies to go for gold

he 2012 Olympic Games in London already are being called “the social media Olympics”— and for good reason. These games will be the most closely monitored and written about in history, fueled in large part by the data streams coming from millions of fans and athletes using social media. During the previous summer games in Beijing, Facebook boasted approximately 100 million users. Fast-forward to 2012: The social networking behemoth is flirting with 1 billion users. Similarly, although close to 6 million people were on Twitter in 2008, about 600 million are registered users now. As businesses, we can take cues from the near-Herculean efforts by the International Olympic Committee and apply them to companyspecific social media plans. Sensing a groundswell of social media activity, the IOC launched the Olympic Athletes’ Hub, a search engine-style website conSEE SOCIAL | 18

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7:15 a.m.-9 a.m. The General Services Administration is having its monthly small business networking breakfast at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City. The cost is $18 for reservations made before noon on Thursday, Aug. 2, or $20 at the door. Make reservations online at www.gsa.gov/r6smallbusiness. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m. Central Exchange South, 6201 College Blvd., Overland Park, is having its Leadership Forum. It is free for members and $30 for nonmembers, including a continental breakfast. Reservations and prepayment required. Visit www.centralexchange.org for reservations. For more information, call 816-471-7560. See a complete calendar on Page 21.

Dave Kaup | KCBJ

Mike Lammers is the CEO (left) and Scott Thompson is the CIO for Tricension.

Figuring IT out

Tricension grows by learning its lessons, having a little luck By Alyson Raletz | Staff Writer

n information technology company that spun out of layoffs at a large Kansas City employer learned to play as a team and invest its time wisely after a brush with celebrity. Lammers Consulting Group Inc., which does business as Tricension, ranks No. 16 on the Kansas City Business Journal’s list of Fastest-Growing Area Businesses, achieving 66 percent revenue growth since 2009 and reaching $1.3 million in 2011. It projects $1.5 million this year. “Our approach is way different than a typical tech company,” Tricension CEO Mike Lammers said. Tricension’s story begins with endings for Lammers and his business partner, Scott Thompson, Tricension’s CIO. They had worked for several years at H&R Block Inc., winning various industry awards for crafting a Web servicesbased client acquisition system in 2005. Two years later, Lammers and Thompson were laid off in a sweeping round of job terminations on the heels of thenCEO Mark Ernst’s resignation. The two

decided to create an outfit, crafting IT solutions for businesses. By February 2008, they opened their next chapter, Tricension, taking any tech consultant job they could get as they learned to conduct business without the protection of a Fortune 500 company. Tricension had no services niche, no target audience, no defined customer strategy. That put the company in “survival mode,” Thompson said. One of its first clients — and now one of its longest-running clients — came when Tricension answered a Craigslist ad for a software developer in 2008. An optometrist wanted to convert his old medical records to a modern system. The software Tricension devised for him now has been licensed to more than 70 other practices. That makes Craigslist one of Tricension’s best business decisions. The first year brought in $393,000 in revenue, mainly a result of exhausting personal networks. In another life, Lammers was one of Cerner Corp.’s first employees. He was its first medical technologist, working there from 1984 to 1999. Early on, Tricension attracted easy money from startups that liked doing business with a fellow young company.

With an office in the River Market — Tricension now is in the Crossroads Arts District — it fit the neighborhood’s startup vibe. The young companies couldn’t afford to manage IT solutions alone, so they turned to Tricension for the heavy lifting. But the less-established clients proved unstable, often folding or unable to keep coming back for businesses as they experienced financial problems. At the same time, Tricension was forming a habit of employees individually taking on smaller projects. The company shifted to a more teamoriented approach after Lammers landed an airplane seat next to actress Jessica Biel’s father, Jon Biel, who ran the nowdefunct Make the Difference Network. The philanthropic social network, which connected donors and businesses with nonprofits and charities, was gaining lots of attention with the Biels family and Justin Timberlake as supporters. But it had functionality issues, lacking basic features such as the ability to consistently upload photos and accept donation payments via PayPal, Thompson said. The in-flight meeting resulted in TriSEE TRICENSION | 18

| Growth Strategies |

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TRICENSION: ‘We’re not a good fit for the one-and-done,’ CEO says FROM PAGE 17

cension taking over management of the website, giving the company some star power, with the ability to show other clients a track record that included a highprofile website. Lammers said the project created validation for the staff, who no longer had to talk “about what we used to do.” Instead of assigning the Make the Difference Network work to one or two employees, the office worked as a whole on it, pouring in more resources. The method paid off, persuading Lammers and Thompson to switch to team projects permanently. Make the Difference Network also was one of the first of a new type of Tricension client: one that regretfully picked another company the first time around. “We have built a fair amount of our work through second-in, rescue-recovery projects,” Lammers said.

As the significance and scope of projects grew, Tricension also developed a strategy of taking on only clients with the potential for a long-term relationship. It would stomach losses on first-time projects to capture future work. Lammers said Tricension has turned away customers looking for a one-time IT vendor. “We’re not a good fit for the one-anddone,” he said. In 2011, the seeds that had been slowly planted mushroomed into larger projects, particularly in financial services and health care, he said. Corporate downsizing has spawned a lot of entrepreneurs, said Jo Anne Gabbert, project manager for the Greater Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce’s Big 5 initiative to make this “America’s most entrepreneurial city.” These entrepreneurs get a crash course in the legalities of setting up a business, paying taxes and human resources issues, among others. Sales and marketing

typically fall by the wayside, she said. A lot of people left Sprint Nextel Corp. and H&R Block, “but their network was within those walls,” Gabbert said. When Lammers sought out Gabbert as a mentor, she said she encouraged him to have a goal of attending one networking event or community meeting a week to help generate business leads. This was no simple task. “When I approached him with getting out of the office and networking — he almost cringed,” she said. “Honestly, Mike’s kind of shy, and it wasn’t one of the easiest things for him to get out there and be the face of the company.” Lammers has made it a point to take her advice, but he’s also learned to delegate: In 2011, Tricension hired Bret Rhodus as vice president of solution sales, tasking him with the role of community relations and involvement.

Lammers Consulting Group Inc. Description: An information technology consulting and software development company — doing business as Tricension — that focuses on content management, intelligence, process optimization and other custom solutions Top executive: CEO Mike Lammers Revenue: $1.3 million (2011) Employees: 16 Headquarters: 222 W. 20th St., Kansas City, MO 64108 Telephone: 816-336-1050 Internet: www.tricension.com Email: info@tricension.com Twitter: @Tricension

araletz@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2234 | Twitter: @AlysonRaletz

SOCIAL: Olympics approach offers guidelines for a more athletic presence FROM PAGE 17

necting fans to the hundreds of social networking streams of athletes and events on Twitter and Facebook. “The Athletes’ Hub has already compiled the Twitter and Facebook feeds of over 2,000 Olympians, and over 100,000 people have visited the

site,” Mark Adams, IOC director of communications, said in a statement. The desired result is a new approach to a truly “social” Games with a more dynamic, engaging experience for Olympic athletes and fans around the globe. Businesses take note: Providing a “dynamic, engaging experience” is

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a good thing for which to strive. To this end, it’s important to have a social media plan in place, and having a “hub” isn’t a bad idea. Think about your goals: Know exactly where you want to send people once they’ve landed on one of your social media properties. Is the ultimate goal to have them visit your website? A customized tab on your Facebook page? An e-commerce site? Consider connecting your online communities in a hub; this can be as simple as placing live Facebook and/ or Twitter streams on your website. You’ll want to be sure to provide opportunities for readers to visit each one of your properties; your website should display the Facebook and Twitter icons and offer links to other properties. It’s not all wine and roses for the IOC. A common issue businesses face is having effective social media rules in place and then monitoring social networks. In a nutshell: How do you get employees to mind their p’s and q’s while online? You must set clear rules, expectations and consequences from the beginning. Social media policy is your friend, and employees are human. “It’s not a perfect world,” Sir Clive Woodward, director of sport for TeamGB, said in a BBC interview. “TeamGB is over a thousand people. It’s not only athletes; you’ve got coaches and support staff. The chances of somebody saying something that’s a bit out of line is probably pretty high. But we’re trying our best to educate. That’s all you can do — you can either shut the door and pretend it’s not there and keep your fingers crossed, or you can really go down the education route.” In this case, the “education route” meant having TeamGB produce an instructional video for athletes warning about the risks “loose” tweeting could have on their reputations. Businesses might take TeamGB’s lead. A light, yet pointed approach often is best when communicating expectations for social media use. We’ve referenced corporate policies set forth

by Southwest Airlines and JetBlue, both fitting this mold. “One of my favorite sayings when speaking to athletes is, ‘How do you want to be remembered?’” Woodward added. “They’re role models 24/7, and they’re role models when they’re on Twitter.” Athletes also will need to be mindful of strict IOC guidelines about what they can and can’t post, particularly when it comes to videos and images from within Olympic venues, which isn’t allowed. The main reason the IOC has such strict rules in place is to stop companies (which don’t put any money back into the sport) from making money off Olympic athletes. The IOC has embraced social media’s immediacy, and businesses can do the same thing. We’ve previously examined how the power of social media can be harnessed to publicize and promote sales events and specials, provide useful information and even handle some customer service issues. In addition to allowing fans to follow athlete and sports social networking streams from the site, it also facilitates regularly scheduled live question-and-answer sessions with athletes. Another component of the Athletes’ Hub is the Olympic Challenge, a game that will award points to Facebook users who correctly predict the winners of various Olympic events. If you are navigating the social media waters and still trying to wrap your arms around what makes for good content and conversation, you might consider visiting the Olympic Athletes’ Hub. You undoubtedly will see great (and not so great) examples of real online conversation, peppered with questions, answers, spirited discussion and friendly competition. Go USA! Kate McKinney and Kiran Ross | McKinney and Ross own K2Media. You can email them: info@k2mediakc; follow them on Twitter: @k2mediakc; or friend them on Facebook: K2Media.

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

| Growth Strategies |

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kansascitybusinessjournal.com

| SALES ACADEMY |

Don’t let your elevator speech out at every floor

have an idea, and you heard it here first. My next book is not even written yet, but I have the title. In fact, the whole book is going to be written around the title. Typically, the publisher names the book (the author loses those rights when he signs the contract and gives the book to the publisher) and has the final word in this matter. Not in this case! As a matter of fact, the book is the title, so if they want the book they have to want the title as well. Are you ready for the title? It is going to offend some people, and I know that I am going to get letters or emails from some of you. Oh, I will be considerate and respond, but I will just be “polite” and really go through the motions to get back to you because I will not budge on my opinion here. Remember, no emails or letters because I don’t care. Here’s the title: at Your “Elevator speeches service are CRAP — take the escalator.” Yep, that is the Hal book. I am guessBecker ing it will be around 100 pages or so with cute little cartoons to spruce it up (like my other books). I am so tired of hearing all this nonsense about “elevator speeches” when it makes no sense in the world of sales. It is basically “verbal vomiting.” Yes, you heard me correctly: It is throwing up all over the customer or client. Use your elevator speech in a commercial or on TV if you want to get all your stuff out in 30 seconds — it has nothing to do with selling. It is like going on a blind date and in the first minute of meeting that new person, you incessantly talk about yourself and what you can do for the other person. How dumb is that? Yeah, sure, that will lead to a second date or a longterm relationship. Why would you do that on a business date? That is what it is. Sure, it’s a different kind of date — during the day rather than the evening, and professional rather than personal — but you still are trying to persuade someone to like and trust you. Don’t puke all over your date. Instead, why not try to ask some questions and find out a little about this new person? People like to be around good listeners — not someone who does all the talking. Let me make this real clear: Marketing and selling are different. You are not a TV commercial or even an infomercial. You are in sales. Your role is to find out and ask, not tell, tell and tell more. When you walk out of a prospect’s or customer’s office, does the person know everything about you, or do you know all you should about the

other person? Whether you’re a pro salesperson or one who is new and in the learning process, I hope you go with the latter. Now don’t get me wrong. I think there is a time and place for the “elevator speech,” but it’s not in the first meeting or even on the elevator. I think the other person would rather talk about himself or herself if you had asked a couple of thoughtprovoking questions. Believe me, this is more enjoyable than listening to you go on and on

about your company or yourself. Always say, “What would I want if I was meeting someone for the first time?” I especially love how professional businesses such as law firms or accounting firms embrace this notion. Many of these companies nationwide have hired marketing people to help attract business through the sales process. I do not want to hear about all they have done. I want to know what they can do for me. Many companies hire a marketing

person and put them in the role of sales training. That is like hiring football coach to teach music therapy. They don’t go hand in hand. So instead of going to your destination too quickly and trying to “pitch them,” slow down, take the escalator, enjoy the ride, take in the view, and build a relationship along the way. It will mean a much more productive and fruitful ride. Hal Becker | halbecker.com. Becker is an author and trainer in sales and customer service.

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your

indispensAble

Calendar Wednesday, Aug. 1, 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m. Central Exchange South, 6201 College Blvd., Overland Park, is having a Marketing Roundtable session, providing resources and support to those finding it difficult to earn money while marketing themselves to bring in new clients. It is free for members and $30 for nonmembers, including a continental breakfast. Reservations and prepayment required. Visit www.centralexchange. org for reservations. For more information, call 816-471-7560. Wednesday, Aug. 1, 7:30 a.m. The Shawnee Chamber of Commerce is having its summer networking event at Edward Jones-Keith Winterhalter, 5725 Nieman Road, Shawnee. Go to www.shawneekschamber.com for more information. Wednesday, Aug. 1, noon-1:15 p.m. Central Exchange South, 6201 College Blvd., Overland Park, is presenting “Women and Leadership: You Can’t Kill all the Men” with Chris Becicka of HCap International and Rich Delaney of 20/20 Marketing. They will discuss the differences between leadership styles and how gender strengths impact success and failure. It is free for members and $35 for nonmembers, including lunch. Reservations and prepayment required. Visit www.centralexchange. org for reservations. For more information, call 816-471-7560. Thursday, Aug. 2, 7 a.m. The Prospectors Club is having its weekly meeting at the Overland Park Marriott, 10800 Metcalf Ave. For more information, contact Bryan Rapp at 913-441-7800, or visit www.prospectorsclub.com. Thursday, Aug. 2, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Central Exchange Downtown, 1020 Central St., is presenting “America’s Creative Crossroads KC’s Mobile Apps Visionary” with Augie Grasis, founder of Handmark, who will share his vision on becoming a leading developer and distributor of mobile applications and services. It is free for members and $20 for nonmembers, including lunch. Reservations and prepayment required. Visit www.centralexchange.org for reservations. For more information, call 816-4717560. Thursday, Aug. 2, noon. The Downtown Kiwanis Club is having its weekly lunch meeting at the Golden Ox, 1600 Genessee St., Kansas City. For more information, contact Ed Redhair at 816-9206800. Friday, Aug. 3, 7:15 a.m.-8:30 a.m. Plaza Rotary is having its weekly meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel Rooftop, 401 Ward Parkway, Kansas City. Elizabeth Usovicz will present “Plaza Rotary in Malawi, Part 2.” Go to kcplazarotary.org for more information. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7:15 a.m.-9 a.m. The General Services Administration and co-sponsors are having their monthly small business networking breakfast at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City. The cost is $18 for reservations made before noon on Thursday, Aug. 2, or $20 at the door. Make reservations online at www.gsa.gov/ r6smallbusiness. Call the GSA at 816-926-7203 for more information, or email business.counseling@ gsa.gov. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7:30 a.m. Blue Valley Rotary is having its weekly meeting at Blue Valley Academy, 7500 W. 149th St., Overland Park. Go to bluevalleyrotary.org for more information. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m. Central Exchange South, 6201 College Blvd., Overland Park, is having its Leadership Forum, providing support to individuals with real-life leadership issues within their organizations. It is free for members and $30 for nonmembers, including a continental breakfast. Reservations and prepayment required. Visit www.centralexchange. org for reservations. For more information, call 816-471-7560. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. UMKC Small Business and Technology Development Center, 4747 Troost Ave., Kansas City, is having its FastTrac New Venture for Dislocated Workers. The FastTrac has five sessions, the others being on Aug. 14, 21 and 28 and Sept. 4. Cost is $595. For more information, call 816-235-6428, or email Carmen DeHart at dehartc@umkc.edu. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. The Inventors Club of Kansas City is having its annual invention contest and expo at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City. For more information, visit www. inventorsclubofkc.org/invention-contests.

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F OR

READER’S GUIDE

A ND S A L E S

COURT LISTINGS

The Business Leads is a collection of information gathered from Kansas City-area courthouses, government offices and informational Web sites. We gather these public records so you can build your business. No matter what business you are in, you can gain a competitive edge by reading the Business Leads. Find new and expanding businesses and new customers. Find out the area’s commercial and residential hot spots. Find clues about the financial condition of your vendors, customers or competitors. Listings for each category may vary from week to week because of information availability and space constraints. To buy lead information for Kansas City and more than 40 other markets, call 877-593-4157, or see bizjournals.com/leads. The information is available on disk or via e-mail and arrives earlier than the published version. Listings for each category may vary due to information availability and space constraints. * Indicates listings are not available for this week.

Bankruptcies

Lawsuits Filed

Court judgments

Mechanic’s Liens

Federal Tax Liens Filed

Federal Tax Liens Released

State Tax Liens Filed

State Tax Liens Released

PROSPECTING ENTRIES New Businesses

New Corporations

REAL ESTATE LISTINGS Sales/Leases

Real Estate Transactions – Commercial 25 Building Permits – Commercial

Building Permits – Residential

ON THE MOVE Featuring:

EVENT LISTINGS Calendar

b us i n e ss

Accounting, architecture/engineering, 21

Weekly. Business Network International groups meet weekly in the Kansas City area for referral networking. Only one person per profession may join a chapter. Go to www.bnikc.com to find locations and times, as well as which chapters have room in which categories.

SALES/LEASES

Sales/leases lists who is taking leases and who is making leases. These are gleaned from releases from commercial property managers and real estate firms. Furniture Deals leased 66,089 square feet at Hawthorne 40 Shopping Center, 14121 W. U.S. Highway 40, Kansas City. Scott Jerwick of LaSalaSonnenberg represented the landlord. Modern Pool Management leased 4,016 square feet at Blue Ridge Annex Shopping Center, 12500 U.S. Highway 40, Independence. Scott Jerwick of LaSala-Sonnenberg represented the landlord. Paul Mitchell/The Source leased 1,500 square feet at Cherokee North Shopping Center, 8932 W 95th St., Overland Park. Scott Jerwick of LaSalaSonnenberg represented the tenant. Uncommon Threadz LLC leased 1,600 square feet at Deer Creek Shopping Center, 6920 W. 135th St., Overland Park. Scott Jerwick of LaSalaSonnenberg represented the landlord. Jason Courtney leased 2,100 square feet at Library Shops, 9633 W. 87th St., Overland Park. Scott Jerwick of LaSala-Sonnenberg represented the landlord. Herbalife leased 1,600 square feet at Library Shops, 9553 W. 87th St., Overland Park. Scott Jerwick of LaSala-Sonnenberg represented the landlord. SVS Vision leased 2,040 square feet at Hawthorne 40 Shopping Center, 14125 E. U.S. 40 Highway, Kansas City. Scott Jerwick of LaSala-Sonnenberg represented the landlord. Prairie Star Associates LLC bought Mansions at Canyon Creek from Wintergreen Real Estate Holding LLC at 9550 Zarda Drive, Lenexa. Rod Jones and Ted Murray of Colliers International represented the seller. Ravinder Thota bought a 115,000-square-foot shopping center from Sabal Financial at 68016859 Longview Road, Kansas City. Drew Quinn of Colliers International represented the seller.

banking, construction

Wise El Santo bought 27,750 square feet from Himoinsa USA Inc. at 16210 W. 110th St., Lenexa. John Stafford and Ed Elder of Colliers International represented the seller. Bruce and Cathy Hodges bought 15,000 square feet from Pop Enterprises LLC at 6801 Hedge Lane Terrace, Shawnee. Kimberly Tranbarger, John Stafford and Drew Quinn of Colliers International represented the seller, and William Rodgers of W. D. Rodgers & Co. represented the buyer. Howell Street Partners LLC bought 12,500 square feet from Builder’s Steel Co. at 1120-11241130 Howell, North Kansas City. John Delzer of Colliers International represented the buyer, and Paul Fogel of Karbank & Co represented the seller. GN Pierce LLC bought 12,000 square feet from JER Investments LLC at 1380 S. Enterprise, Olathe. John Stafford of Colliers International represented the buyer, and Matthew Severns of Kessinger Hunter represented the seller. Dixie M. Williams Trust bought 11,210 square feet from John and Judy Warren LLC at 1211 S.E. Broadway, Lee’s Summit. John Delzer and Cameron Duff of Colliers International represented the seller, and Dana Williams of Sterling National Real Estate represented the buyer. Dri Duck Traders Inc. leased 55,104 square feet from MEPT Kansas Commerce Center LLC at 15618 W. 99th St., Lenexa. Tom Haverty and Ed Elder of Colliers International represented the tenant, and Phillip Algrim of NAI Capital Realty represented the landlord. Suture Express leased 48,000 square feet from Meritex Inc. at 17501 W. 98th St., #11-40, Lenexa. Tom Haverty and John Stafford of Colliers International represented the landlord, and Tracey Mann of Zimmer Co. represented the tenant. Murphy Warehouse leased 46,000 square feet from Zimmer Realty Co. at 1240 Quebec St., North Kansas City. Doug Hedrick of Colliers International represented the tenant, and David Zimmer of Zimmer Realty Co. represented the landlord. JE Dunn leased 15,000 square feet from Meritex Inc. at 17501 W. 98th St., #38-47, Lenexa. Tom Haverty and John Stafford of Colliers International represented the landlord. Universal Guardian Inc. leased 11,379 square feet from ADC-CCM Missouri Partners LLC at Northpointe Circle I, 7505 N.W. Tiffany Springs Parkway, Kansas City. Evan Warwick and Phil James

leads

of Colliers International represented the landlord, and Michael VanBuskirk of Zimmer Real Estate Services represented the tenant. International House of Prayer renewed its lease of 10,924 square feet from ELDO W.R.M.S. dba Oddball Salvage at 12051 Grandview, Grandview. Doug Hedrick of Colliers International represented the landlord. PPG Industries Inc. renewed its lease of 6,912 square feet from ELCA Properties Inc. at 2604 N.E. Industrial Drive, North Kansas City. Doug Hedrick of Colliers International represented the tenant, and Matt Brown of Brown & Co. represented the landlord. CMS Mechanical Services LLC leased 4,268 square feet from Kansas Industrial #1 at 14843 W. 95th St., Lenexa. Tom Haverty of Colliers International represented the landlord. RTS Water Solutions leased 4,402 square feet from Tuf Flight Industries Inc. at 9240 N.W. 63rd St., Parkville. Doug Hedrick of Colliers International represented the landlord. TD Bar LLC leased 3,150 square feet from CP Deer Brook Plaza LLC at 1167 N.E. Rice Road, Lee’s Summit. Mark Arensberg of Colliers International represented the landlord. Pizza Bella leased 3,036 square feet from The Village at Mission Road Farms LC at 107th and Roe Avenue, Overland Park. Doug Weltner and Mark Arensberg of Colliers International represented the landlord. Pickleman’s Gourmet Café leased 2,920 square feet from the Curators of the University of Missouri-Kansas City at 5050 Oak St., Kansas City. Kimberly Tranbarger of Colliers International represented the tenant, and Hilary Murray of Copaken-Brooks represented the landlord. Orange EV LLC leased 2,304 square feet from CRP Holding A-I LLC at 608 N.W. Platte Valley Drive, Riverside. Cameron Duff of Colliers International represented the tenant, and Scott Cordes of Block & Co. Inc. Realtors represented the landlord. Eliot Management Group LLC leased 2,154 square feet from Board of Trade Investment Co. at 4800 Main St., Kansas City. Pat Coppinger and Matt Stover of Colliers International represented the landlord, and Gib Kerr of ReMax Commercial Solutions represented the tenant. Redwood Trading LLC expanded its lease to 2,137 square feet from Board of Trade Investment Co. at 4800 Main St., Kansas City. Pat Coppinger and Matt Stover of Colliers International represented the landlord. Lacy & Co. renewed its lease of 1,805 square feet from Board of Trade Investment Co. at 4800 Main St., Kansas City. Pat Coppinger and Matt Stover of Colliers International represented the landlord. The Irish Crystal Co. renewed its lease of 1,642 square feet from Shoppes of Deer Creek Woods LLC at 7108 W. 135th St., Overland Park. Kimberly Tranbarger of Colliers International represented the landlord. Kansas City Trading Group Inc. leased 1,286 square feet from Board of Trade Investment Co. at 4800 Main St., Kansas City. Pat Coppinger and Matt Stover of Colliers International represented the landlord.

BANKRUPTCIES

Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code involves liquidation of assets; Chapter 11 provides protection from creditors while a business reorganizes; Chapter 13 covers small organizations. DISTRICT OF KANSAS KANSAS CITY DIVISION CHAPTER 11 CIP Investment Properties LLC, 8200 E. Thorn Drive, Wichita 67226; Assets, $10,000,001 to $50,000,000; Debts, $10,000,001 to $50,000,000; Major Creditor, not shown; Attorney, Mark Stingley; case #12-21952, July 17, 2012. WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI KANSAS CITY - WESTERN DIVISION CHAPTER 11 North Kansas City Management Inc., 400 S. Platte City Way, Kearney 64060; Assets, $1,125,641; Debts, $1,446,663; Major Creditor, BLC LLC, $1,136,644; Attorney, Bradley D. McCormack; case #12-42912, July 17, 2012.

| Business Leads |

22 | kansas city business journal

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

LAWSUITS FILED

The following are civil suits filed in the county clerk’s office against businesses and business owners for amounts greater than $10,000. Information is listed by case and case number. JOHNSON COUNTY Suzann Lynn Maloney/David Rayl v. E. Denver Vold/Vold & Morris LLC, other, case #12 CV 05329, July 5, 2012. Joseph J. Zoucha v. Kristine Gish Herron MD/ Heather Fowler NPC/Nephrology Associates MD PA/Bradley D. Connett MD et al., medical malpractice, case #12 CV 05332, July 5, 2012. Design X Studios LLC dba Riverkey Creative v. Baker Image Group LLC, other, case #12 CV 05333, July 5, 2012. Monica Caballero/Veronica Caballero v. Medevac Medical Response Inc., other, case #12 CV 05342, July 5, 2012. Emil Debrabander v. AE Enterprises Corp., other, case #12 CV 05344, July 5, 2012. Adam Leon v. Steven V. Banes/Whiteway Inc. dba Excel Linen Supply, automobile tort, case #12 CV 05420, July 9, 2012. Peoples Bank v. Robert Tabone/Quality Motors Inc., other, case #12 CV 05430, July 9, 2012. Commerce Bank v. Milburn Medical LLC, other, case #12 CV 05432, July 9, 2012. Jeff Strait/Laura Bauer/Darrell Strait v. CEC Entertainment Inc. dba Chuck E. Cheeses, other, case #12 CV 05468, July 10, 2012. PKc Construction Co. v. Polar Bear Mechanical Inc., other, case #12 CV 05471, July 10, 2012. Jessica A. Glenn v. Robert L. Vernon/O’Reilly Automotive Stores Inc., automobile tort, case #12 CV 05540, July 11, 2012. Bishop Rink Holdings LLC v. CIMCO Refrigeration Inc., other, case #12 CV 05546, July 11, 2012. United Stationers Financial Service v. American Midwest Technologies, case #12 LA 06193, July 5, 2012. 135th & Q LLC v. Village of Overland Pointe LLC, other, case #12 LA 06196, July 6, 2012. Commerce Bank v. LLJ Enterprises LLC, other, case #12 LA 06211, July 9, 2012. Edelman Lyon Co. v. Drinkalot LLC dba Top Cellar Select, other, case #12 LA 06217, July 9, 2012. Cross Midwest Tire Inc. v. New Century Enterprises LLC, other, case #12 LA 06221, July 10, 2012. Weber Carpet Inc. dba Joes Carpet v. Kincaid Properties LLC, other, case #12 LA 06223, July 10, 2012. Ryder Truck Rental Inc. v. Big Picture Productions Inc., other, case #12 LA 06224, July 10, 2012. Hardman Wholesaler LLC v. Advantage Component Systems Inc., case #12 LA 06225, July 10, 2012. Capital One Bank NA v. WJV Enterprises Inc./ William J. Van Buskirk, case #12 LA 06243, July 10, 2012. Sandstone Creek Apartments LLC v. 3 S Network Inc., real estate, case #12 LA 06251, July 10, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Abraham Trucking Inc., case #12 LA 06317, July 11, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Alladdin Towing aka Alladdin Towing and Transport LLC aka Alladdin Towing and Transport aka Aladdin Towing, case #12 LA 06318, July 11, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Amazing Grace Trucking Inc., case #12 LA 06320, July 11, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Hope Health Care Inc., case #12 LA 06321, July 11, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Pue Trucking LLC, case #12 LA 06322, July 11, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Stery Trucking Ltd., case #12 LA 06326, July 11, 2012. Imperial PFS Corp. v. Stonebriar Properties LLC, case #12 LA 06327, July 11, 2012. JACKSON COUNTY Anna C. Patterson v. Earl Cobbins Sr./Cobbins Car Center LLC, other, case #1216 CV 16872 CC, July 5, 2012. John Heegn v. Schindler Elevator Corp., personal injury, case #1216 CV 16878 CC, July 5, 2012. Carmen Crosdale v. Medve Group Inc. dba Park at Westridge, personal injury, case #1216 CV 16900 CC, July 5, 2012. Barbara Ridley v. Blue River Rehabilitation Center LLC, other, case #1216 CV 17166 CC, July 9, 2012. Alicia Paige v. Midwest Division-RMC LLC dba Research Medical Center/Jason Mlnarik/ Iftekhar Ahmed et al., personal injury, case #1216 CV 17186 CC, July 9, 2012.

Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association v. Hope Properties LLC/Silver State Financial Services Inc. dba Silver State Mortgage/ Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, other, case #1216 CV 17196 CC, July 9, 2012. First Response Inc. v. New Pershing LLC, breach of contract, case #1216 CV 17237 CC, July 7, 2012. Regina Lane v. Windbury Group of KC Inc. dba Grubb & Ellis/The Windbury Group/ Central Parking System of Missouri Inc./ Whelan Security Co., other, case #1216 CV 17344 CC, July 10, 2012. Katherine Zahner v. Kenneth Wacker/HP Distribution LLP, personal injury, case #1216 CV 17390 CC, July 10, 2012. Lisa M. Sutherland v. Jason Sanchez DDS et al., personal injury, case #1216 CV 17413 CC, July 10, 2012. Patrick McInerney/Lisa Pelofsky/Angela Wasson-Hunt et al. v. Sharon Goin-Reed/CVS Pharmaceuticals/Target Corp. et al., other, case #1216 CV 17512 CC, July 11, 2012. D. Stanley Hite/Sydney Hite v. Consolidated Wealth Management LLC/Scott Osborne/ Heartland Capital Advisors LC, property damage, case #1216 CV 17537 CC, July 10, 2012. Design Mechanical Inc. v. Insco Industries Inc., contract, case #1216 CV 17554 CC, July 11, 2012. Binh Pham v. Santa Fe Hollow LLC, personal injury, case #1216 CV 17561 CC, July 11, 2012. Architectural Glazing Professionals Inc. v. AGS and Handrails Corp., contract, case #1216 CV 17604 CC, July 11, 2012. Richards Building Supply v. Modern Residential Concepts Inc./Wallace Stine, breach of contract, case #1216 CV 17629 AC, July 5, 2012. Bronson McClain v. Country Investments Inc., property damage, case #1216 CV 17738 CC, July 10, 2012. CP Deer Brook Plaza LLC v. MTC of KC LLC dba Bullseye Bar & Deli, contract, case #1216 CV 17854 CC, July 5, 2012. CLAY COUNTY Jacob Schrader v. Silver Eagle Auto, other, case #12CY CV 07459 CC, July 6, 2012. PLATTE COUNTY Lakiesha Rena Orr v. Creekstone Management LLC/Barry Crossings Owner LLC, personal injury, case #12AE CV 02216 CC, July 5, 2012.

COURT JUDGMENTS

The following are judgments issued by the county court’s office involving businesses and business owners. Information is listed by case and case number. JOHNSON COUNTY Siux Inc. fka Universal Premium Acceptance Corp. v. R.A.M.M. Group LLC nka Enclosed Auto Transport LLC, $5,781, plaintiff, case #12 LA 04586, July 6, 2012. Adkins Systems Inc. dba Valpak of Greater Kansas City v. Admiral Home Concepts LLC, $10,550, plaintiff, case #12 LA 04849, July 6, 2012.

FEDERAL TAX LIENS FILED

The following includes federal tax liens of $5,000 or more filed against local businesses with the county recorder. Information is listed in this order: name of business, address, amount, type of lien, date. JOHNSON COUNTY Nicholas P. Link Construction/Nicholas P. Link, 4410 W. 63rd Terrace, Prairie Village 66208, $18,871, (941/6721), Book/Page 201207 003265, July 10, 2012. Mustang Landscaping LLC, 13617 W. 109th St., Lenexa 66215, $8,649, (940/941), Book/Page 201207 003267, July 10, 2012. Gameco Inc., P.O. Box 515, Olathe 66051, $13,439, (941), Book/Page 201207 003256, July 10, 2012. Little Learners Inc./Marjorie M. Seele, 18740 Cedar Niles Road, Gardner 66030, $17,987, (941), Book/Page 201207 003263, July 10, 2012. Cortis Management Inc., 11184 Antioch, No. 234, Overland Park 66210, $114,045, (6721), Book/ Page 201207 003174, July 10, 2012. Packaging Systems Inc., 879 N. Jan Mar Court, Olathe 66061, $15,100, (940/941), Book/Page 201207 003209, July 10, 2012. McGuires Smokehouse LLC, 16693 W. 151st St., Olathe 66062, $9,622, (940/941), Book/Page 201207 003210, July 10, 2012. Best Building Service Inc., 10002 W. 129th St., Overland Park 66213, $47,611, (941/1120), Book/ Page 201207 003173, July 10, 2012.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY Hmong Manufacturing Co. Inc., 1900 Osage Ave., Kansas City, KS 66105, $39,520, (941), Book/ Page 2012 R 09552, July 10, 2012. JACKSON COUNTY Meineke of Grandview Inc./Meineke Car Care Center, 12020 S. 71 Highway, Grandview 64030, $12,622, (941), document #2012 E 0072515, July 9, 2012. Haake Foundations Inc., 10029 E. 63rd Terrace, Raytown 64133, $42,492, (940/941), document #2012 E 0072516, July 9, 2012. Luevano Hart Construction LLC, 6817 Stadium Drive, Suite 312, Kansas City 64129, $11,479, (941), document #2012 E 0072693, July 9, 2012. Women of Unity Inc., 1734 E. 63rd St., Suite 300, Kansas City 64110, $8,361, (940/941), document #2012 E 0072694, July 9, 2012. United Credit Services LLC, 507 Walnut St., Kansas City 64106, $15,877, (941), document #2012 E 0072697, July 9, 2012. Superior Land Title LLC, 2978 Grand Ave., Kansas City 64108, $15,898, (941), document #2012 E 0072700, July 9, 2012. D&S Callahan Construction Inc., P.O. Box 463, Independence 64051, $8,480, (941), document #2012 E 0072707, July 9, 2012. JDS Auto Service Inc., 625 S.E. Central Drive, Blue Springs 64014, $17,157, (941), document #2012 E 0072713, July 9, 2012.

Experiencia Inc., P.O. Box A3614, Chicago 60690, $40,539, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073094, July 9, 2012. MJB Motels LLC, 3300 N.W. Jefferson, Blue Springs 64015, $17,979, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073097, July 9, 2012. River Market Pottery Inc., 201 S. Wyandotte, Kansas City 64113, $66,709, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073102, July 9, 2012. W&J LLC, 6200 Troost Ave., Kansas City 64131, $29,747, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073105, July 9, 2012. West Co. Inc., P.O. Box 645, No. 101, Exton, PA 19341, $20,110, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073106, July 9, 2012. CLAY COUNTY The Printing Gallery Inc., P.O. Box 300288, Kansas City 64130, $11,876, (Sales/Use), document #2012 025001, June 27, 2012. PLATTE COUNTY Buddhakc LLC, 8741 N.W. Prairie, Kansas City 64153, $10,104, (Sales/Use), document #S 022990, July 10, 2012. Metro Mechanical Services Inc., $5,333, (Withholding), document #S 022997, July 10, 2012.

STATE TAX LIENS RELEASED

CLAY COUNTY

The following includes released tax liens of $5,000 or more filed against local businesses. Information is listed in this order: lien payer, address, amount, date.

Fun Park Investments Inc., 7300 N.E. Parvin Road, Kansas City 64117, $46,236, (941), document #2012 024639, June 25, 2012.

JACKSON COUNTY

FEDERAL TAX LIENS RELEASED

The following includes released liens of $5,000 or more filed against local businesses with the county recorder. Information is listed in this order: lien payer, address, amount, date. WYANDOTTE COUNTY Kansas City Railcar Service, 1147 S. 14th St., Kansas City, KS 66105, $74,805, (941), Book/Page 2012 R 09554, July 10, 2012. JACKSON COUNTY Optimation Inc., 300 N. Osage Second Floor, Independence 64050, $348,259, (940/941), document #2012 E 0070480, July 2, 2012. Sandmoen Enterprises Inc., 7748 Troost Ave., Kansas City 64131, $40,588, (941), document #2012 E 0072525, July 9, 2012. Sandmoen Enterprises Inc., 7748 Troost Ave., Kansas City 64131, $15,862, (941), document #2012 E 0072527, July 9, 2012. Eveasons Inc., 6902 Prospect Ave., Kansas City 64132, $11,203, (940/941/CIVP), document #2012 E 0072531, July 9, 2012. O’Brien Glen Properties Inc., 601 N.W. O’Brien Road, Lee’s Summit 64063, $27,690, (1120), document #2012 E 0072716, July 9, 2012.

Garozzos II of Independence Inc., 12801 E. U.S. Highway 40, Independence 64055, $5,830, (Sales/ Use), document #2012 E 0071708, July 5, 2012. Garozzos II of Independence Inc., 12801 E. U.S. Highway 40, Independence 64055, $5,041, (Sales/ Use), document #2012 E 0071709, July 5, 2012. Acme Brass Custom Plating Inc., 1315 Tracy, Kansas City 64109, $8,492, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0072743, July 9, 2012. A Zeregas Sons Inc., (address not shown), $12,735, (Withholding), document #2012 E 0072975, July 9, 2012. Oyata Enterprises Inc., (address not shown), $8,337, (Withholding), document #2012 E 0072979, July 9, 2012. The Getaway - N LLC, 1331 S.W. U.S. Highway 40, Blue Springs 64015, $6,461, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073057, July 9, 2012. Kajeet Inc., 3100 Cumberland Blvd., No. 900, Atlanta, GA 30339, $9,825, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073061, July 9, 2012. Kajeet Inc., 3100 Cumberland Blvd., No. 900, Atlanta, GA 30339, $8,049, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073062, July 9, 2012. Sika Corp., 14201 Botts Road, Grandview 64030, $23,732, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073073, July 9, 2012. PLATTE COUNTY

STATE TAX LIENS FILED

Quad Graphics, 205 N. Michigan Ave., No. 2660, Chicago, IL 60601, $63,314, (Sales/Use), document #S 022989, July 10, 2012. W2007 Inns Realty LLC, 6011 Connection LLC, Irving, TX 75061, $6,728, (Sales/Use), document #S 023014, July 10, 2012.

JOHNSON COUNTY

NEW BUSINESSES

The following includes tax liens of $5,000 or more filed against area businesses with the county recorder. Information is listed in this order: name of business, address, amount, type of lien, date.

The Tavern at Mission Farms LLC/Lakeside Tavern, 10551 Mission Road, Shawnee Mission 66206, $7,118, (Withholding), Book/Page 201207 003613, July 10, 2012. Once Construction Inc., 7215 W. 162nd Terrace, Stilwell 66085, $14,494, (Withholding), Book/Page 201207 002919, July 9, 2012. American Gutter & Sheet Inc., 1465 N. Winchester, Olathe 66061, $5,616, (Withholding), Book/Page 201207 003618, July 10, 2012. Getz Color Graphics Inc., 8244 Nieman Road, Shawnee Mission 66214, $7,440, (Withholding), Book/Page 201207 002917, July 9, 2012. Backyard Kids LLC, 1000 Ternes Drive, Monroe, MI 48162, $6,840, (Withholding), Book/Page 201207 003614, July 10, 2012. JACKSON COUNTY Blayneys of Westport Inc., 421 Westport Road, Kansas City 64111, $9,849, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073087, July 9, 2012. Emergency Medical Services Inc., 920 Main St., Kansas City 64105, $10,916, (Sales/Use), document #2012 E 0073092, July 9, 2012.

New Businesses/Licenses lists new and renewed occupational licenses in the area. The entries are obtained from local municipalities. For more information, contact the cities listed. WYANDOTTE COUNTY KANSAS CITY Ediardo’s Taqueria, 305 N. Seventh Trafficway, Kansas City, KS 66101, accommodation-food services. KC Burgers, 1101 Kansas Ave., Kansas City, KS 66105, accommodation-food services. Central Lawn and Garden, 6435 Sloan Ave., Kansas City, KS 66104, admin. support-waste mgmt. 4 Seasons Cleaning, 2137 S. 50th St., Kansas City, KS 66106, admin. support-waste mgmt. Johnny Paints Houses, 441 N. 83rd Terrace, Kansas City, KS 66112, construction. Envois El Aguila LLC, 751 Central Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101, finance and insurance. H&A Auto Repair & Detail, 139 S. 18th St., Kansas City, KS 66102, other services not public. Modifield By KC LLC, 728 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66103, other services not public.

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

| Business Leads |

kansas city business journal |

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

A W A R D S Transforming business through technology The Kansas City Business Journal’s ImpacT Awards program recognizes individuals and teams in the Kansas City area for projects that have improved their companies’ internal operations, efficiency and financial performance through the use of new or existing technology. The program highlights the crucial role of technology in advancing business in Kansas City by honoring the people who implement it.

Call for nominations

Deadline for entries is Aug. 24. Enter yourself, your team or nominate others for consideration at www.kansascitybusinessjournal.com/nomination.

Presented by:

Recognition may be given in the following categories: • Top-line Growth • Cutting Expenses • Efficiency • Client Interface

Presenting Partner:

• Security • Environmental Impact

Who is eligible?

Silver Sponsor:

Contributing Sponsors:

Individuals or teams involved with the implementation, structure or strategy of technology at for-profit companies or nonprofit organizations in the Kansas City area (Jackson, Cass, Clay, Ray and Platte counties in Missouri; and Johnson, Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas). Entrants may be CIOs, CTOs, technology officers or other individuals or teams who have made significant contributions to their companies’ use of technology. Note: Entrants from companies with corporate headquarters outside of the metro area are eligible as long as the entrant is located at the local office.

How are honorees recognized?

Honorees will be recognized at an awards luncheon on Nov. 5 and in a special supplement to the Kansas City Business Journal. Scan this code with your smartphone to nominate.

Questions? Please contact Christine Davis (cdavis@bizjournals.com or 816-777-2218). Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Contact Stacie Prosser (sprosser@bizjournals.com or 816-777-2225).

24 | kansas city business journal

| Business Leads |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Lupita Boutique, 1030 Central Ave., Kansas City, KS 66102, retail trade. Paqueteria La Guaralulu, 919 Sandusky Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101, transportation-warehousing.

NEW CORPORATIONS

New Corporations lists new businesses in the area. The entries are obtained from local municipalities. For more information, contact the cities listed. KANSAS Whole Home Cleaners LLC, 20040 Edgerton Road, Edgerton 66021. Johnson County Roofing LLC, 723 N. Cottonwood, Gardner 66030. DMS Consulting Inc., 332675 W. 171st St., Gardner 66030. Panoplia Bible Church, 330 W. Jefferson, Gardner 66030. Hawkeye 1 LLC, 18956 W. 117th Terrace, Olathe 66061. Hawkeye 2 LLC, 18956 W. 117th Terrace, Olathe 66061. Insurance Claims & Negotiations LLC, 130 N. Cherry St., Olathe 66061. TV Products & More Inc., 1327 S. Fountain Drive, Olathe 66061. A&M Cleaning Services Inc., 944 N. Pine St., Olathe 66061. Nyumba Ya Mumbi Welfare Organization Inc., 319 N. Overlook St., Olathe 66061. Far West Resources LLC, 1009 N. Crest Drive, Kansas City, KS 66061. Virtual Drive LLC, 804 N. Meadowbrook Drive, Suite 134, Olathe 66062. Fast Freddy Records LLC, 16110 S. Matt Court, Olathe 66062. Vu Foods LLC, 17373 W. 156th St., Olathe 66062. Pierson & Pierson LLC, 13641 S. Sycamore Drive, Olathe 66062. Homeowner Advocate Association, 119 N. Parker St., Suite 201, Olathe 66062. James D. Bell CPA LLC, 12715 S. Hagan Court, Olathe 66062. Mancini Enterprises LLC, 12620 W. 145th St., Olathe 66062. DSM Web Enterprises LLC, 16813 Goddard St., Overland Park 66062. A&E Properties LLC, 11839 W. 147th St., Olathe 66062. A/R Home Improvements Of Olathe LLC, 17663 W. 156th St., Olathe 66062. Ellis Chiropractic & Laser Center LLC, 703 N. Webster, Spring Hill 66083. Wilshire By The Lake LLC, 16637 Riggs, Stilwell 66085. Apostolic Assembly Of The Faith In Christ Jesus Inc., 815 Ohio Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101. Cocoliso’s Barbershop LLC, 1201 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66102. T. Willie Waterfowl LLC, 1000 Central Ave., Kansas City, KS 66102. Starving Artist Lounge LLC, 2847 S. Roe Lane, Kansas City, KS 66103. Starving Artist Performing Arts Group Inc., 2847 S. Roe Lane, Kansas City, KS 66103. Pro Custom Coatings & Properties LLC, 2934 N. Webster, Kansas City, KS 66104. Restaurante: Tierra Caliente LLC, 2512 N. 20th St., Kansas City, KS 66104. S.O. Faith Properties LLC, 2622 S. 73rd St., Kansas City, KS 66106. Sycamore University Kansas Campus, 3000 S. 55th St., Kansas City, KS 66106. Matrix Op-Tec LLC, RR 4837 Oliver Court, Kansas City, KS 66106. Quality Home Installations LLC, 10940 Parallel Parkway, Suite K-365, Kansas City, KS 66109. Hollex Avenue LLC, 1222 N. 133rd Terrace, Kansas City, KS 66109. Church Of Wisdom Within, 10940 Parallel Parkway, Suite K-401, Kansas City, KS 66109. Floyd Co. LLC, 8015 Nebraska Ave., Kansas City, KS 66112. Dewitt Jones & Associates Inc., 7833 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, KS 66112. Xtreme Strength & Kettlebell Inc., 7010 Stearns, Shawnee 66203. Appclatter LLC, 8010 Conser, Suite 4272, Overland Park 66204. Residential Rental Income Fund LLC, 7227 Metcalf Ave., Suite 201, Overland Park 66204. Diana Fiddick Inc., 6407 W. 83rd St., Overland Park 66204. Meadowlark Asset Management LLC, 7227 Metcalf Ave., Suite 201, Overland Park 66204. Fair & Square Roof Repair LLC, 6416 W. 83rd St., Overland Park 66204. J&J Nails & Hair LLC, 5432 Johnson Drive, Mission 66205. Steven Squared LLC, 1901 W. 47th Place, Suite 103, Westwood 66205.

MMN International Benefits Consulting LLC, 5427 Johnson Drive, No. 372, Mission 66205. Forexdata.com LLC, 8340 Mission Road, Prairie Village 66206. Robert Schroeder LLC, 3513 W. 92nd Terrace, Leawood 66206. Kansas Leukemia Cup Inc., 8010 Stateline Road, Suite 155, Leawood 66206. KC Ad Girls LLC, 3012 W. 90th St., Leawood 66206. Joe Houston LLC, 4407 Oxford Drive, Prairie Village 66208. Golem Group LLC, 12874 W. 109th St., Overland Park 66210. Granger Properties LLC, 9225 Indian Creek Parkway, Suite 1100, Overland Park 66210. Boots Off LLC, 7300 W. 110th St., Suite 700, Overland Park 66210. Directech Systems Of KC LLC, 11220 Nieman Road, No. 302, Overland Park 66210. NDJJS Ltd. LLC, 10801 Mastin Blvd., Suite 130, Overland Park 66210. Acceleration Asset Management LLC, 11040 Oakmont, Overland Park 66210. People Power Counseling Coaching & Consultation Services LLC, 11100 Ash, Suite 100, Leawood 66211. Pro Builders LLC, 5360 College Blvd., Suite 200, Overland Park 66211. Home Sweet Home Services LLC, 4601 College Blvd., Suite 170, Leawood 66211. CB Other Holdings V Inc., 4601 College Blvd. Suite 200, Leawood 66211. Chicago Investments LLC, 11115 Ash St., Leawood 66211. Susan Warden Therapy LLC, 10965 Granada Lane, Suite 102, Overland Park 66211. TBC Of Canada LLC, 5360 College Blvd., Suite 200, Overland Park 66211. Toro Investors IV GP LLC, 11300 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 310, Leawood 66211. Tortoise Energy Independence Fund Inc., 11550 Ash St., Suite 300, Leawood 66211. Sailing Club Properties LLC, 7199 W. 98th Terrace, Overland Park 66212. Synergy Health Savings Administrators Inc., 10901 Granada Lane, Overland Park 66212. Media-App Inc., 10561 Barkley St., Overland Park 66212. PLC Ltd.com Inc., 9936 W. 121st St., Overland Park 66213. DDS Installation LLC, 12460 Craig St., Overland Park 66213. Elite Fitness LLC, 13221 King St., Overland Park 66213. Unconventional Resource Services 1 LLC, 12605 Nieman Road, Overland Park 66213. Under The Sun LLC, 7400 W. 130th St., Suite 130, Overland Park 66213. Ortho Innovations LLC, 13401 W. 125th St., Overland Park 66213. Will B. Sunday LLC, 8773 Larsen St., Overland Park 66214. Computer Solutions & Exchange LLC, 7791 Quivira Road, Lenexa 66214. Maintenance Home Service LLC, 9315 Nieman Road, Overland Park 66214. Nick’s Italian Pizza LLC, 7820 Quivira Road, Lenexa 66214. Baron Realty LLC, 12922 W. 93rd St., Lenexa 66215. High Peaks Investment I LLC, 11289 Strang Line Road, Lenexa 66215. Skradski Funeral Home & Crematory LLC, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa 66215. Cieli Blu LLC, 9331 Alden St., Lenexa 66215. Sybran Communications Inc., 11257 Strang Line Road, Lenexa 66215. Christy Family Properties LLC, 13883 W. 57th St., Shawnee 66216. Blicha Online Enterprises Inc., 7029 Red Oak Court, Shawnee 66217. Encouragence LLC, 135 Lakeshore Drive S., Lake Quivira 66217. ACT Holdings LLC, 19312 Midland, Shawnee 66218. Reese-Braswell LLC, 21007 W. 60th Terrace, Shawnee 66218. RSL Leasing Inc., 15850 Santa Fe Trail Drive, Lenexa 66219. Chavey Enterprises LLC, 17409 W. 84th St., Lenexa 66219. Team Phil Foundation, 15500 W. 113th St., Suite 200, Lenexa 66219. Speedway Investments LLC, 9709 Sunset Circle, Lenexa 66220. World Compute Grid Inc., 9423 W. 147th St., Overland Park 66221. Birdiewear/Eaglewear LLC, 14300 Antioch Road, Overland Park 66221. Evolution Soccer LLC, 11730 W. 135th St., No. 15, Overland Park 66221. Anderson Transportation LLC, 7111 W. 151st St., Suite 283, Overland Park 66223.

Goldman Creative LLC, 6009 W. 153rd, Overland Park 66223. B4HIM Media LLC, 6600 W. 155th Place, Overland Park 66223. MMIT Expert LLC, 7515 W. 144th St., Overland Park 66223. Timestamp Technology LLC, 6240 W. 135th, Suite 200, Overland Park 66223. All Star Automotive LLC, 13841 S. Pembroke Drive, Leawood 66224. Elite Embroidery LLC, 4824 W. 143rd Terrace, Leawood 66224. Meinlow LLC, 22705 W. 44th St., Shawnee 66226. Amerihealth LLC, P.O. Box 13438, Overland Park 66282. MISSOURI JACKSON COUNTY Cables And Bytes LLC, 605 N.E. Second St., Blue Springs 64014. Buccaneers Baubles And Bones LLC, 501 N.W. 39th St., Blue Springs 64015. Show Nuff Entertainment LLC, 965 S.W. Clark, No. E, Blue Springs 64015. Missouri Political & Legislative CommitteeCWA-MO Inc., 3321 Juanita Drive, Buckner 64016. Anthony Cox Enterprises LLC, 107 S.W. Eagles Parkway, Grain Valley 64029. Exceptional Experience Home Healthcare LLC, 13525 Lowell Ave., Grandview 64030. S.C. Powell And Associates LLC, 6709 E. 133rd, Grandview 64030. United Recovery Industries Auto Salvage LLC, 16500 T.C. Lea, Independence 64050. D&D Networks LLC, 221 W. Lexington, Suite 400, Independence 64050. Linda Hicky & Associates Inc., 10601 E. 35th Terrace S., Independence 64052. Marshall’s Painting LLC, 1302 Dodgion Ave., Independence 64055. Ernest B. Hall Jr. MD LLC, 107 S.E. 291 Highway, Lee’s Summit 64063. JP Williams LLC, 3209 S.E. Second St., Lee’s Summit 64063. BLF Levin LLC, 684 S.E. Bayberry Lane, Suite 101, Lee’s Summit 64063. Oberhelman Missouri A LLC, 684 S.E. Bayberry Lane, Suite 101, Lee’s Summit 64063. Oberhelman Missouri B LLC, 684 S.E. Bayberry Lane, Suite 101, Lee’s Summit 64063. Rivkin Missouri LLC, 684 S.E. Bayberry Lane, Suite 101, Lee’s Summit 64063. Catalyst Construction Group LLC, 912 S.E. Seventh St., Lee’s Summit 64063. Fyndera Change Management And Consulting LLC, 800 N.E. Vanderbilt Lane, Lee’s Summit 64064. Marinan Properties LLC, 800 N.E. Vanderbilt Lane, Lee’s Summit 64064. Farmstead 51 LLC, 1406 S.W. First St., Lee’s Summit 64081. Trinity Caregiving LLC, 1708 S.W. Napa Valley Drive, Lee’s Summit 64082. American Home Services LLC, 1159 S.W. Arbor Fair Drive, Lee’s Summit 64082. One Twenty LLC, 40 S.E. 30th St., Lee’s Summit 64082. Medicloud Mobile Solutions LLC, 200 N.E. Missouri Road, Suite 298, Lee’s Summit 64086. Synergy Global Systems Inc., 200 N.E. Missouri Road, Suite 298, Lee’s Summit 64086. On Time Auto/Tires LLC, 211 N.E. Timbercreek Drive, Lee’s Summit 64086. United Polynesian Organization, 507 N.E. Tudor Road, Apt. 4, Lee’s Summit 64086. Chance International, 507 N.E. Tudor Road, Apt. 4, Lee’s Summit 64086. The Potts Law Firm LLP, 908 Broadway, Third Floor, Kansas City 64105. Mag Nres Holdings LLC, 1010 Walnut, Suite 500, Kansas City 64106. NRES Management LLC, 1010 Walnut, Suite 500, Kansas City 64106. SIA NRES Holdings LLC, 1010 Walnut, Suite 500, Kansas City 64106. East 85th LLC, 1 Petticoat Lane 1010 Walnut, Suite 500, Kansas City 64106. First Line Medical Solutions LLC, 2029 Burlington St., Suite 100, North Kansas City 64106. Zimri Development Group LLC, 117 E. 29th St., Kansas City 64108. C&I Productions LLC, 1800 Baltimore, Suite 450, Kansas City 64108. Art & Frame Warehouse KS Inc., 2015 Grand Blvd., Kansas City 64108. Arts KC LLC, 2015 Grand Blvd., Kansas City 64108. OM SAI RAM Inc., 2345 Grand Blvd., Suite 2800, Kansas City 64108. Solan D’Paul LLC, 3826 Locust St., Kansas City 64109. Steve Jones Investments LLC, 5536 Troost Ave., Kansas City 64110.

Dogfish Apps LLC, 4339 Genessee St., Kansas City 64111. St. Catherine’s Properties LLC, 4420 Madison Ave., Kansas City 64111. Stockyards Brewing Co. LLC, 330 W. 47th St., Suite 250, Kansas City 64112. Brush Creek LLC, 4727 Jarboe, No. 106, Kansas City 64112. Brush Creek Partner LLC, 4727 Jarboe, No. 106, Kansas City 64112. Peaceful Practices LC, 6155 Oak St., Suite B, Kansas City 64113. WRSJR LLC, 622 W. 85th Terrace, Kansas City 64114. Ziles Creative LLC, 808 W. 72nd St., Kansas City 64114. Ez Moves LLC, 8080 Ward Parkway, Suite 310, Kansas City 64114. JTL Companies LLC, 9201 Ward Parkway, Suite 200, Kansas City 64114. JTL Real Estate Partners LLC, 9201 Ward Parkway, Suite 200, Kansas City 64114. Nonsuch 3 LLC, 222 W. Gregory Blvd., Suite 217, Kansas City 64114. B&AC Corp., 2839 E. Ninth St., Kansas City 64124. DJB Realty LLC, 1601 Bellefontaine, Kansas City 64127. Shout, 1622 Cypress Ave., Kansas City 64127. Hands Of Comfort Inc., 4232 E. 53rd Terrace, Kansas City 64130. Superior Tow Service Inc., 4232 E. 53rd Terrace, Kansas City 64130. Vehicle Appraisal Service LLC, 1441 E. 104th St., Suite 100, Kansas City 64131. Soluno LLC, 5512 Appleton Ave., Raytown 64133. K.C. License & Title Services Inc., 7601 E. 67th St., Kansas City 64133. Kansas City Thundercats, 9041 E. 51st Terrace, Kansas City 64133. Power Up Electric LLC, 4702 Ridgeway Blvd., Kansas City 64133. K&G Enterprise LLC, 10302 Hillcrest Road, No. 27, Kansas City 64134. Onyx Art Media & Co. LLC, 10504 Manchester Ave., Kansas City 64134. Dynamic Unity Associates LLC, 10806 Bennington Ave., Kansas City 64134. Synergy Ancillary Services LLC, 11305 Hickman Mills Drive, Kansas City 64134. Stiggz Smokes LLC, 10531 Mersington Ave., Kansas City 64137. Nightline Trucking LLC, 11800 E. 77th Terrace, Raytown 64138. Precision Maintenance Floors And Decorative Concrete Inc., 8725 Cambridge, No. 1072, Kansas City 64138. KC Marching Falcons, 9227 Farley Ave., Kansas City 64138. Affordable Complete Home Solutions LLC, 14214 E. 95th Terrace, Kansas City 64139. K&G Distributing Inc., 13315 Walnut St., Kansas City 64145. CLAY COUNTY Eventus Plastikos LLC, 12422 Plattsburg Road, Kearney 64060. Home On Main LLC, 818 N. Grove, P.O. Box 1235, Kearney 64060. Jaudon Entertainment LLC, 105 W. Kansas, Suite A, Liberty 64068. Kuhlman Conflict Solutions LLC, 1433 Duncan Drive, Liberty 64068. Huey’s On The Square Inc., 2 N. Main, Liberty 64068. Handy Camel LLC, 2 S. Main St., Liberty 64068. Northland Rental Properties LLC, 15760 N. Mount Olivet Road, Smithville 64089. Countryshire Acres Exchange Co. LLC, 104 Armour Road, North Kansas City 64116. Restoration By Day LLC, 1440 Iron St., North Kansas City 64116. KC Smokehouse BBQ Inc., 104 N.E. 72nd St., Suite J, Gladstone 64118. Alpenglow Eco Clean LLC, 1612 N.W. 67th St., Kansas City 64118. H.G. Bingham & Associates Enterprise LLC, 7406 N. Hickory St., Kansas City 64118. Regas Enterprises LLC, 2900 Brooktree Lane, Suite 100, Gladstone 64119. Animal Clinic Of Antioch Annex LLC, 5418 N.E. Antioch Road, Kansas City 64119. Constructing Kansas City LLC, 8033 N. Elmwood Ave., Kansas City 64119. The Smile Box LLC, 11 N.E. 95th Court, Kansas City 64155. Radiant Touch Therapy LLC, 1500 N.E. 92nd Terrace, Kansas City 64155. David Krupka Insurance Agency LLC, 10226 N.E. 103rd Terrace, Kansas City 64157. PLATTE COUNTY Warlen Property & Management LLC, 4100 N.W. 75th St., Kansas City 64151.

| Business Leads |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansas city business journal |

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

Sacred Spirals Of Venus Rising, 7735 N.W. Roanridge Road, No. A, Kansas City 64151. Humble Home LLC, 6014 N.W. Highway 9, Suite B, Parkville 64152. Energize Fitness LLC, 6413 Augusta Place, Parkville 64152. RL Construction Enterprises LLC, 6840 N. Berkley, Parkville 64152. T Cubed Consulting LLC, 10234 N. Avalon Ave., Kansas City 64154. Studio Euphoria LLC, 10308 N. Shelby Ave., Kansas City 64154. Zhan Xue Inc., 8501 N. Cosby Ave., Apt. 30, Kansas City 64154. Aviation Global Inc., 8522 N. Beeman Ave., Kansas City 64154. Bonedog’s BBQ LLC, 8105 Little Platte Road, Edgerton 64444.

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS COMMERCIAL

The following includes transactions filed with the county recorder. Information is listed in the following order: seller’s name, buyer’s name and address, property address or description and price. JOHNSON COUNTY Hidden Creek LLC to James Engle Custom Homes, P.O. Box 3300, Olathe 66063, part of Lot 3 Prairie Brook Villas, Book/Page 201207 001491. Tianbo Xu/Zhenxu Tang to Stone Financing LLC, 16260 N. 71st St., Scottsdale, AZ 85254, Lot 23/Block 13 Green Meadows, Book/Page 201207 001510. 5400 Merriam LLC to Abell Holdings LLC, 14609 W. 78th St., Lenexa 66216, all that part of the S.W. quarter of the S.E. quarter of Sec. 1/ Township 12/Range 24, Book/Page 201207 001526. Martha H. Carter to Home Rehab LLC, Lots 104/105 Shawnee Place, Book/Page 201207 001537. Hidden Creek LLC to James Engle Custom Homes, part of Lot 6 Prairie Brook Villas, Book/ Page 201207 001662. Polo Fields OP LLC to Roeser Homes LLC, P.O. Box 24165, Overland Park 66283, Lot 82 Polo Fields, Book/Page 201207 001688. Ross A. and Jeanne M. DeHaan to Stone Financing LLC, 16260 N. 71st St., Scottsdale,

AZ 85254, Lot 22/Block 34 Oak Park, Book/Page 201207 001803. John L. Menghini Sr. to Prairie Star Partners Inc., P.O. Box 24122, Overland Park 66223, Lot 8 Siena, Book/Page 201207 001951. Mary C. Hilding to Robert Schroeder LLC, the S. 1/2 of Lot 14 Chandler Place, Book/Page 201207 002146. Home Free LLC to Zumastar Holdings LLC, 12550/12552/12635 S. Constance St., Olathe 66062, Lot 21/Block 1/Building F/Lot 22/Block 1/Building F/Lot 27/Block 3/Building G, Book/Page 201207 002369. Souvenirs LLC to Zumastar Holdings LLC, 12511/12520/12522 S. Constance St., Olathe 66062, Lot 5/Block 2/Building B/Lot 9/Block 1/Building C/Lot 10/Block 1/Building C, Book/Page 201207 002371. Legacy LLC to Zumastar Holdings LLC, 15057 W. 126th St., Olathe 66062, Lot 19/Unit 54 Blackbob Court Apartments, Book/Page 201207 002373. Legacy LLC to Home Free LLC, 14898/14928/14938 W. 126th St., Olathe 66062, Lot 9/Unit 15/Lot 8/Units 11/12 Blackbob Court Apartments, Book/Page 201207 002375. Legacy LLC to Souvenirs LLC, 14948/14958/15038 W. 126th St., Olathe 66062, Lot 8 Units 9/10/Lot 6 Unit 1 Blackbob Apartments, Book/Page 201207 002377. James Engle Custom Homes LLC to Hidden Creek LLC, 14819 W. 95th, Lenexa 66215, part of Lot 5 Prairie Brook Villas, Book/Page 201207 002464. Leabrooke Ventures LLC to Summit Custom Homes LLC, 40 S.E. 30th St., Lee’s Summit 64082, Lot 221 Leabrooke, Book/Page 201207 002505. Prairie Point Homes LLC to LDH Construction Inc., 15500 Parkhill, Overland Park 66221, Lot 79 Prairie Point, Book/Page 201207 002688. Marci G. Stenberg/Mark Stenberg to WOW! Properties Inc., 12721 Woodward, Overland Park 66223, all of Lot 43 Blue Valley Hills, Book/Page 201207 002705. Darren Scott Lull to Milestone Properties LLC, 2026 Condolea Drive, Leawood 66209, Lot 18/Block 6 Prairie Hills, Book/Page 201207 002776. Johnson County Real Estate LLC to Milestone Properties LLC, 2026 Condolea Drive, Leawood 66209, Lot 2/Block 2 Wycliff, Book/Page 201207 002777.

Cornerstone Bank to CB Other Holdings Inc., 4550 Belleview, Second Floor, Kansas City 64111, Lot 8 Metcalf 211, Book/Page 201207 002862. Bank of America NA to Benchmark Properties IX LLC, 7500 Blue Blvd., Raytown 64138, all of Lots 197 and part of Lots 193/194 Leawood, Book/Page 201207 002865. Hidden Creek LLC to James Engle Custom Homes, Lot 22 Prairie Brook Villas, Book/Page 201207 002986. Riverview Land Development Co. to Don Julian Builders Inc., Lot 32 Riverview, Book/Page 201207 003539. PW Holdings LLC to 8000 LLC, 8000 Lee Blvd., Leawood 66206, part of Lots 67/68 Leawood, Book/ Page 201207 003875. Austin Meadows LLC to Prieb Homes Inc., P.O. Box 4557, Olathe 66063, Lot 108 Austin Meadows, Book/Page 201207 003962. Leabrooke Ventures LLC to Rodrock Homes of Johnson County LLC, 9550 Dice Lane, Lenexa 66215, Lots 206/207/212/220/225 Leabrooke, Book/ Page 201207 004003. Michelle R. Wilson aka Michelle Bird/Daniel Raymond Bird to DMB Real Estate LLC, 12516 Linden St., Leawood 66209, Lot 1/Block 19 except the E. 7 ft. thereof Cherokee Hills, Book/Page 201207 004116. Federal National Mortgage Association aka Fannie Mae to Suwin LLC, P.O. Box 7612, Overland Park 66207, Residential Unit 39 Building 2 Gramercy Place Condominiums, Book/Page 201207 004196. Lenexa Lots LLC to Lifestyle Home Builders LLC, Lot 62 Gran Villas at the Reserve, Book/Page 201207 004198. WYANDOTTE COUNTY Federal National Mortgage Association to Lenexa United Investments LLC, The E. 61 feet of Lot 8/Block 8 Mount Panorama, Book/Page 2012 R 09354. Kave Inc. to Autozone Development Corp., 123 S. Front St., Third Floor, Memphis, TN 38103, Lot 4 Bonner Springs Pointe II, Book/Page 2012 R 09378. Randy Thomas to Atlas Property Group LLC, Tract II/Lot 28 Wyandotte Park/Tract II/Lot 4/Block 29 Highland Crest/Tract IV/Lot 102 Crestview Homes/Tract V/Lot 156 Coronado Hills/Tract VI/

Lot 8/Block 11 Stony Point Heights Tract VII/Lot 20/Block 2 Monte Cristo/Tract VIII/Lot 7 Maxwell, Book/Page 2012 R 09382. US Bank National Association ND to PAG Investment LLC, 6701 N. 71st St., Overland Park 66204, Lot 121 Indian Woods, Book/Page 2012 R 09459. Stacy L. Henak nka Stacy L. Nester/Randall B. Nester to CityScape Properties LLC, the N. 15 feet of Lot 46 and all of Lot 47/Block 4 W.A. Bunker’s Park, Book/Page 2012 R 09478. JACKSON COUNTY SBC REO LLC to Hawley Properties LLC, 5740 Grand, Kansas City 64113, Lot 41/Block 3 Bernard Place, Book/Page 2012 E 0071194. Enloe Holdings Inc. fka Construction Plastic of Missouri Inc. to Soigne Properties LLC, 5720 Clare Road, Shawnee 66226, Tract I/the S. 62 feet of the N. 80 feet of the E. 101 feet of Lot 2 Waverly Place, Book/Page 2012 E 0071239. Eric Lee Enloe to Soigne Properties LLC, 5720 Clare Road, Shawnee 66226, Tract III/the W. 26.5 feet of Lot 11 and the E. 40 feet of Lot 12/Block 1 Park Manor/Tract IV/Lot 13 and the W. 5 feet of Lot 12/Block 1 Park Manor, Book/Page 2012 E 0071240. Enloe Real Estate LLC to Soigne Properties LLC, 5720 Clare Road, Shawnee 66226, Tract II/Lot 27 Vogle Park, No. 2, Book/Page 2012 E 0071241. MoreKC1 LLC to Bella Prospects LLC, 28 W. 270 Timber Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, the W. 30 feet of Lot 49 and the E. 7.5 feet of Lot 50 Blenheim, Book/Page 2012 E 0071406. Jerry W. and Beverly A. Buck to Swisher Enterprises LLC, 321 N. Locust St., Gardner 66030, Lot 16 Tract A Bryberry Walk, Book/Page 2012 E 0071414. Lone Summit Bank to JMS Assets LLC, 300 S.E. Wilson, Lee’s Summit 64063, Lot 6 Northwest Commerce Development, Book/Page 2012 E 0071425. Taj Mahal Investments LLC to Glowbalize Real Estate Management LLC, 4341 Central, Suite 2300, Kansas City 64112, the E. 1/2 feet of Lot 4/ all of Lot 5 and all of Lot 6 except the E. 60 feet of Basye Terrace, Book/Page 2012 E 0071488. Donella D. Amrine/Ralph E. Grimes to Nevaeh Homes LLC, 8601 E. 96th Terrace, Kansas City 64134, Lot 607 Robandee, Book/Page 2012 E 0071492.

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| Business Leads |

26 | kansas city business journal

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

The Western Missouri-Kansas Chapter of Invites you to attend the twenty-third

Development Day 2012 Development Day 2012 will feature exhibitors that include real estate developers and property owners; city, county and state economic development groups; architects; contractors and other organizations connected with the commercial and industrial real estate business. This event promises opportunities for the formal and informal exchange of information on industrial and office real estate issues. September 20, 2012 5:00 - 7:30 p.m. Kansas City Marriott Downtown

For more information call Development Day co-chairman, Mike Mitchelson, SIOR at CBRE michael.mitchelson@cbre.com 816.968.5807 Sponsors

Mad Mac Investments LLC to MoreKC1 LLC, 814 Main St., Grandview 64030, Lot 15/Block 7 Mozier Place, Book/Page 2012 E 0071497. Falcon Built LLC to American Real Estate Investments LLC, 7425 Washington St., Kansas City 64114, the S. 40 feet of Lot 29 and all of Lot 3 and the N. 25 feet of Lot 31/Block 2 Highgate, Book/Page 2012 E 0071503. William A. and Pamela J. Jeffries to Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, P.O. Box 419037, Kansas City 64141, part of the N.W. 1/4 of the N.E. 1/4 of Sec. 12/Township 50/Range 30, Book/Page 2012 E 0071517. Judith P. and Ronald L. Hubbard to Morgan Pilate Properties LLC, 926 Cherry St., Kansas City 64106, Lot 25 and the S. 36 feet of Lot 26/Block 15 Smart, Book/Page 2012 E 0071542. Fannie Mae aka Federal Mortgage Association to R&W Realty LLC, 3801 S. Grand Ave., Independence 64055, Lot 25 Osage Manor, Book/Page 2012 E 0071553. Marion Ridge Storage LLC to WC Kansas City Storage LP, 1122 S. Capital of TX Highway, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78746, Tract 1/all of Lot 1 Bannister Square Business Center/Tract 2/all of Lot 6/7 Bannister Square Business Center/Tract 3/ appurtenant easement for ingress and egress, Book/Page 2012 E 0071632. Federal National Mortgage Association aka Fannie Mae to Stewardship Investments LLC, 7215 Troost, Kansas City 64131, Lot 7 Kempinger, Book/Page 2012 E 0071778. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. to Prime Group LLC, 151 S. 18th St., Suite E., Kansas City, KS 66102, the S. 37.5 feet of the N. 79 feet of Lot 10/ Block 6 Minerva Place, Book/Page 2012 E 0071817. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. to UFO of America, 4837 Nara Vista Way, No. 101, Las Vegas 89103, Lot 5 Orchard Crest, Book/Page 2012 E 0071829. MoreKC1 LLC to Bella Prospects LLC, 28 W. 270 Timber Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, Lot 15/Block 7 Mozier Place, Book/Page 2012 E 0071866. MoreKC1 LLC to Bella Prospects LLC, 28 W. 270 Timber Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, all of Lot 7 Rose Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0071893. Loc Van Nguyen/Bay Thi Le/Nixson Taing et al. to LDN LLC, 4600 Madison, Kansas City 64112, Lots 1/2 Hickman Mills Corner Annex, Book/Page 2012 E 0071917. Nobuco LLC to KC Capital LLC, 1410 E. 82nd Terrace, Kansas City 64131, all that part of Lot 70 Orchard Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0071991. Birchview Partners LLC to Woods of Somerset Partners LLC, 804 N. Meadowbrook Drive, Suite S-102, Olathe, KS 66062, Tract 1/Lot 2 Nomda Center/Tract 2/a tract of land situated in the S.W. quarter of Sec. 8/Township 47 N./Range 33 W., Book/Page 2012 E 0072051. American Real Estate Investments LLC to Bright US Holdings LLC, 5860 E. Osage Ridge Lane, Columbia 65201, Lot 431 except the northerly 4 feet thereof Kirkside, Book/Page 2012 E 0072053. David M. Przybylski to LTR Investments LLC, 10812 Newton Ave., Kansas City 64134, Lot 260 Ruskin Village, Book/Page 2012 E 0072069. Regions Bank dba Regions Mortgage to Federal National Mortgage Association, 14221 Dallas Parkway, Dallas 75254, Unit 8139-102 Building D Executive Holmes Estates, Book/Page 2012 E 0072070. MoreKC1 LLC to Bella Prospects LLC, 28 W. 270 Timber Lane, West Chicago, IL 60185, Lot 17/Block 2 Ontario, Book/Page 2012 E 0072122. Jeffrey D. Knize/Maricar Simbulan Knize to KC Capital LLC, 1805 Bur Oak Drive, Liberty 64068, Tract 1/all of the S. 25 feet of Lot 71 and all of the N. 335 feet of Lot 72 Englewood View/Tract 2/Lot 121 Englewood View, Book/Page 2012 E 0072245. Paul D. Katekaru to Amstar Investments LLC, 1617 S.E. Brome Circle, Lee’s Summit 64063, all of Lot 886 except the Southwesterly 21 feet and all of the Southwesterly 26 feet of Lot 887 as measured along the front and rear lines thereof Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0072296. Jerry W. Walker to CityScape Properties LLC, 33500 Lexington Ave., De Soto 66018, Lot 1018 Far View Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0072502. PHH Mortgage Corp. fka Cendant Mortgage Corp. to Federal National Mortgage Association, 14221 Dallas Parkway, Dallas 75254, Lot 15 Stoneridge, Book/Page 2012 E 0072504. Bernice L. Watson to Gardner Capitol Investments LLC, 1231 W. 62nd St., Kansas City 64113, Lots 11/12 except the S. 20 feet of Lot 12/Block 5 Moreland Place, Book/Page 2012 E 0072722. Jeffrey and Laura Forster to Fonteinstad 4 LLC, 3500 Saddle Ridge Drive, Independence 64057, Lot 153 Village Fair, Book/Page 2012 E 0072734. Three South Partners LLC to Summit Custom Homes LLC, 40 S.E. 30th St., Lee’s Summit 64082, Lot 39 Eagles Ridge, Book/Page 2012 E 0072807.

Three South Partners LLC to Summit Custom Homes LLC, 40 S.E. 30th St., Lee’s Summit 64082, Lot 9 Eagles Ridge, Book/Page 2012 E 0072886. Federal National Mortgage Association to Harbour Portfolio LP, 8214 Westchester, Suite 635, Dallas 75225, all of Lot 12 except the W. 69 feet thereof and the S. 12.5 feet of the E. 116 feet of Lot 11 Fairland Park, Book/Page 2012 E 0072888. Federal National Mortgage Association to Harbour Portfolio VII LP, 8214 Westchester, Suite 635, Dallas 75225, the E. 110 feet of Lot 18 except the S. 160.5 feet thereof Lucas Estate, Book/Page 2012 E 0072889. Excel Bank to Black T-Shirt LLC, 1112 Montana Ave., No. 247, Santa Monica, CA 90403, Lot 4 except the W. 70 feet thereof and the W. 20 feet of Lot 3/Block 18 Laurel Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073077. Joyce and Curt Boston/Cindy and Dan Foster et al. to MoreKC1 LLC, 814 Main, Grandview 64030, Lot 938 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073144. Barton and Laurel Oaks to Kansas City Home Doctor Inc., 4618 E. Eighth St., Kansas City 64124, the W. 30 feet of the E. 60 feet of the S. 1/2 of Lot 34 except that part in alley Bloomfield, Book/Page 2012 E 0073168. MoreKC1 LLC to R1 TBG LLC, P.O. Box 1810, Parker, CO 80134, Lot 10/Block 12 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073205. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #3, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 491 Ruskin Hills, Book/Page 2012 E 0073253. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #3, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 22/Block 13 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073263. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #1, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 256 Ruskin Hills, Book/Page 2012 E 0073273. Lake Ridge LLC to Summit Custom Homes LLC, 40 S.E. 30th St., Lee’s Summit 64082, Lot 48 Mill Creek of Summit Mill, Book/Page 2012 E 0073299. Lake Ridge LLC to Summit Custom Homes LLC, Lot 83 Mill Creek of Summit Mill, Book/Page 2012 E 0073319. Three South Partners LLC to Summit Custom Homes LLC, 40 S.E. 30th St., Lee’s Summit 64082, Lot 36 Eagles Ridge, Book/Page 2012 E 0073326. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #2, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 8 Stomp Gardens, No. 3, Book/Page 2012 E 0073328. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #2, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 16/Block 19 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073336. Federal National Mortgage Association aka Fannie Mae to ARF 3 LP, P.O. Box 1127, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, Lot 43 Graymont, Book/Page 2012 E 0073358. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #1, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 12/Block 15 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073359. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #2, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 267 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073389. Peaceful Homes LLC to GSPH Holdings LLC #1, 310 W. 106th St., Kansas City 64114, Lot 3/Block 3 Ruskin Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073464. Gloria McClain to La Sha Consulting Inc. LLC, 5916 Prospect, Kansas City 64130, Lots 173/174 Prospect Vista, Book/Page 2012 E 0073494. Bear Legend Properties LLC to American Real Estate Investments LLC, 2205-2207 Askew Ave., Kansas City 64127, the N. 8 feet of Lot 67 all of Lot 68 and all of Lot 69 except for the N. 6 feet thereof Folsom Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073502. Bear Legend Properties LLC to American Real Estate Investments LLC, 2121-2123 Askew Ave., Kansas City 64127, all of Lot 72 except the N. 18.50 feet and all of Lot 71 except that part of said lots in Askew Ave. Folsom Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073503. Bear Legend Properties LLC to American Real Estate Investments LLC, 2209-2211 Askew Ave., Kansas City 64127, the N. 10 feet of Lot 65/all of Lot 66 and the S. 17 feet of Lot 67 Folsom Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073504. Bear Legend Properties LLC to American Real Estate Investments LLC, 2201-2203 Askew Ave., Kansas City 64127, the N. 6 feet of Lot 69 and all of Lot 70 Folsom Heights, Book/Page 2012 E 0073519. Green Mountain Finance Fund II LLC to Banks Enterprises LLC, 5146 Wabash, Kansas City 64130, the S. 28 feet of Lot 34 and the N. 14 feet of Lot 33 Missouri, Book/Page 2012 E 0073529. David Michael Wagener/Adrienne L. Wagener to ARF 3 LP, P.O. Box 1127, Redondo Beach, CA 90278, the N. 22.40 feet of Lot 6 and the S. 32.95 feet of Lot 5/Block 3 Edgewood Park, Book/Page 2012 E 0073535. Lonnice L. Locke/Velma and Leroy Cooper et al. to JMLBR Funding LLC, P.O. Box 480693, Kansas City 64131, the N. 40 feet of Lot 18/Block B Ridgeland, Book/Page 2012 E 0073552.

| PEOPLE ON THE MOVE |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kan sas ci ty busine ss jo urn al |

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

The Kansas C ity Business Journal invites you to share news of new employees or promotions. If you would like to submit a photo with your item, electronic photos must be in color, no less than 300 ppi and JPGS or TIFS. Because of space and layout considerations, photos are not guaranteed to run. Submit your People O n The Move online at www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/potm/form.

ac c ounting Sharon Latimer has been promoted to partner at RubinBrown. Previously, Latimer was manager.

the design and implementation of energy reduction strategies, as well as renewable energy solutions for new and existing facilities.

Architects. Porter will focus his time on enhancing Hollis + Miller Architects’ relationships in the N orthland area for both the K-12 and commercial focus areas for the firm.

Ar c hitec tur e/ engineer ing

Lauritsen

Johnson Robert Johnson has joined Shafer Kline & Warren Inc. as senior project manager. Johnson has joined the development services department. In addition to project management, he will be responsible for reaching out to communities and organizations through various forums and events and expanding SKW’s client base and service areas.

Brett Lauritsen has been promoted to associate engineer at Olsson Associates. Previously, Lauritsen was assistant engineer. Lauritsen is a member of O lsson’s Kansas C ity-Southland land development team. He started with the firm in 2005 as a student intern. He specializes in commercial site development projects, and site grading and drainage. He has also managed projects for local and national clients. O ther past work includes completing LEED-sustainable design and traffic engineering improvements.

Burks Vic Burks has joined Shafer Kline & Warren Inc. as senior planner. Burks leads Shafer Kline & Warren’s planning efforts with an extensive knowledge of comprehensive plans, development applications and economic development initiatives. He also is experienced in guiding communities through the development of annexation plans, revitalization efforts and other specialized planning services.

Loos Eric Loos has joined DLR Group as electrical engineer. Loos is relocating from the firm’s Phoenix location. Loos is well versed in

Mark Johnson has joined BHC Rhodes as development services leader. Johnson’s immediate focus with BHC R hodes will be to use his depth of experience with business operations to enhance project processes and efficiencies for customers. Scott Barton has been promoted to design resource leader at Hollis + Miller Architects. Previously, Barton was project designer. Barton will oversee design and facilitate collaborative discussions pertaining to project design firmwide. He also will work with each of the partners to ensure that the team has a consistent app-roach to the design process to give each of the company’s clients a unique solution.

banking

Fox

Reynolds Dan Reynolds has joined Hollis + Miller Architects as project designer. Before joining Hollis + Miller Architects, he worked on residential and commercial projects with Scott Trettel Design-Build in Lawrence, Kan., as an intern. Greg Porter has joined Hollis + Miller Architects as project architect. Previously, Porter was project architect and project manager at WSKF

in C harlotte, N.C ., as an executive vice president and national sales director.

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Len Medley has joined Hawthorn Bank as assistant vice president. Medley comes to Hawthorn Bank with more than 13 years of banking experience, serving business owners and their families.

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William Fox has joined Bank of Kansas City as senior vice president/account manager IV. Previously, Fox was in commercial finance at GE C apital. Jim Cornelius has joined UMB Bank as president, institutional cash management. C ornelius is responsible for managing business operations and strategic direction, with an emphasis on new business. He brings 25 years of experience in financial services. Before joining UMB, he was employed with C apital Advisors Group

First National Bank is a Preferred SBA Lender.

Peterson Kent Peterson has joined Hawthorn Bank as market president. Peterson comes to Hawthorn Bank with more than 20 years of banking experience, with an emphasis on providing support for family-owned and operated businesses.

Constr uc tion

Wilson Beverly Wilson has joined JE Dunn Construction as manager of office services. Wilson will oversee the records management center, mail/shipping/receiving center and document processing center. She also will be responsible for copier/printer equipment, as well as managing the office supplies area. Dave Allison has joined Crossland Construction as chief administrative officer. Allison will hold a key executive management position and work closely with the C rossland family and the board of directors in providing strategic and financial leadership. He will have primary day-to-day responsibility for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all administrative and financialrelated activities for the company.

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28 | kansas city b

usiness journal

JULY 27 – AUGUST 2, 2012

AUCTIONS

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

More Mayo Real Estate Auctions

CONGRATULATIONS

2212 Chelsea Ave. KCMO 2 Bedroom Bungalow - Sells Regardless of Price

Susan Watson

5845 E. 16th St. KCMO 2 Bedroom Duplex - Sells Regardless of Price

OVER $2 MILLION IN SALES FOR JUNE 2012

1720 Rosedale Dr. KCKS 2 Bedroom Ranch - Easy Rehab

Bidding Ends July 31st

AuctionByMayo.com BID ONLINE NOW!

913.981.2820 SWatsonPruKC.com

KS: 913-390-9393 or MO: 816-361-2600

Overland Park’s Longbranch Ale House

GMJ Global Complete Asset Liquidation

PO#082512FUN-KCBJ (July 20, 27, Aug 03)_BW.indd 1

Office Furniture & Equipment

Online Only Auction - Everything must sell regardless of price! Ends Sunday, July, 29 2012 at 7 pm.

Plasma Televisions, Desk Top PCs, Printers, Scanners, Shredders, Flat Screen Monitors, Toshiba IP Phone System, Wooden Desks, Filing Cabinets, Conference Table, Chairs, Whiteboards & So Much More!

7/24/12 10:37 AM

Warehouse Equipment

Semi Trailers, Fork Lifts, Scissor Lift, Shelving, Shipping Crates, Power Tools, Ladders, Dollies, Hand Carts, BMW Promotional Products & Signage, Trade Show Displays, Unclaimed Freight & So Much More!

Online Bidding ends August 2nd

Complete business liquidation! Over 600+ lots of equipment from one of Overland Park’s famous restaurants. TV’s, bar equipment, Neons, patio furniture, full kitchen and pizza equipment. This place has it all!

Don’t miss the opportunity to own these items at YOUR price.

www.equip-bid.com

BID ONLINE NOW!

Come and preview all the equipment on Friday, July 27 from 2-4 pm.

a few inches can sell a lot of

squ are feet Call Stacie Prosser for more information,

816.777.2225

AuctionByMayo.com

KS: 913-390-9393 or MO: 816-361-2600

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

Staff Software Engineer IBM Corporation, Lenexa, KS. Ensure the quality and reliability of a data warehouse appliance. Design and develop tests for the appliance using an in-house testing framework. Maintain and enhance the in-house testing framework. Execute regression tests, analyze test failures and report defects in the appliance software and hardware. Report and enter defects found in defect tracking tool and assign proper severity and priorities. Participate in regular scrum meetings for status update and negotiate with development teams to fix test blockers. Improve the QA organization’s processes and best practices, including tooling and infrastructure used for writing/running tests and reporting results. Utilize the data warehouse appliance product, shell/perl/ python scripts, Software Development processes, Testing methodologies (white box/black box, unit, system, integration), and Project Management methodologies. Requires a Master’s degree or equivalent in Electrical/Electronic, Engineering or related (employer will accept a Bachelor’s degree and five years of progressive work experience in leiu of a Master’s degree) and one year of experience as a Staff Software Engineer or Software Engineer. 40 hours per week, 9:00am to 5:30pm. Send resumes to IBM, Box #A505, 71 Fifth Avenue, 5th Floor, NY, NY 10003.

Do you have what it takes to be part of a winning team?

The Kansas City Business Journal is looking for a dynamic, experienced sales professional to join our team. Qualified Professionals Will Have: • Creativity • Critical thinking skills • Consultative selling skills • A drive to produce revenue and develop new business If you are a sales professional with a positive attitude who thrives on high earnings for top performance, enjoys friendly competition in a strong team environment and thinks like an entrepreneur, we want to hear from you. Please send your resume to Stacie Prosser, sprosser@bizjournals.com, along with a cover letter explaining how you can contribute to the success of our team. Please include salary requirements.

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

Opinion

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Business Journal K A N S A S

C I T Y

Established 1982

1100 Main St., Suite 210 Kansas City, MO 64105 816-421-5900 Fax: 816-472-4010 e-mail: kansascity@bizjournals.com

Publisher: Joyce Hayhow jhayhow@bizjournals.com editorial Editor Brian Kaberline bkaberline@bizjournals.com Managing Editor Russell Gray rgray@bizjournals.com

| notebook |

Bloch is role model

n July 30, a large group of Henry Bloch’s friends will gather in the Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to celebrate his 90th birthday. In my judgment, we will be honoring not simply one of Kansas City’s very best, but also one of humankind’s very best. “Role model” is a term I have used many times in these pages. I always give it a lot of thought before using it. Never is it a more appropriate descriptor than in the case of Henry Bloch. He deserves it in so many dimensions of his being. Obviously, he is a business role model. With his late brother, Richard, he transformed the good idea of providing tax preparation service for the masses into an iconic nationwide business enterprise. In the philanthropic arena, role model is a decided understatement when it is applied to Henry. The GUEST Bloch School has catapulted the COLUMN University of Missouri-Kansas City’s business arm into a top-tier school. The Bloch Building at the Nelson Michael was correctly described in Time Braude magazine as “one of the best buildings in the world.” As a husband, Henry’s devotion to his beloved Marian should serve as a great example to men everywhere. He has taken amazing care of his wife throughout her long, debilitating illness. Many successful people are really very complicated. Precisely the opposite is true of Henry Bloch. What I admire so much about him is that what you see is what you get — and what you get is all good. During the 10 years I wrote this column on a weekly basis, I can’t tell you how many times he called to compliment me on an idea I had advanced. Kevin Barth told me that after his recent Business Journal interview, Henry was the first person to call and congratulate him on his forthright approach. Thoughtfulness is another of Henry’s superb qualities. Kansas City is so fortunate to have Henry Bloch call our town home for nine decades. Hopefully, he will continue to be a role model for all of us in so many ways for years to come. Michael Braude | lmbraude@aol.com. Braude is retired CEO of the Kansas City Board of Trade and a regular columnist for the Kansas City Business Journal.

Penn State penalties offer shot of perspective

n the gut-check, in-the-trenches, 110-percent, sudden-death world in which they live, it’s no surprise that sportswriters spared no hyperbole in reacting to NCAA penalties assessed against Penn State. The general assessment was that Penn State avoided the “death penalty,” or a complete suspension of the football program for a year, but in name only. The storied Nittany Lions may never again compete for a national championship. Several used the phrase “piling on” to describe the $60 million fine, ban on postseason play, reduction in scholarships, easing of player transfer rules and vacating wins to remove the late Joe Paterno from the record books as the winningest coach in majorcollege football. To which I say: Get real. The NCAA penalties will be painful to the football program, its coaches, players and fans. That’s what penalties are supposed to do. If you’ve read accounts of Jerry Sandusky’s child sex abuse victims, you saw examples of real long-lasting pain. And even a quick review of the Freeh report into the university’s handling of the situation shows that it would take a grand gesture to get the attention of people who so quickly dismissed reports of Sandusky giving boys bear hugs in locker room showers. A $60 million fine sounds tough, until you consider the big-money world of major college football. The NCAA figures the fine is just one year’s worth of revenue from the football pro-

gram — one year. Want a more local context? A group of anonymous Kansas City donors recently pledged $30 million to the University of Missouri to expand its football stadium (part of a $200 million plan to upgrade sports facilities). KU boosters passed the hat to raise $9 million to buy out the contracts of fired football coaches Mark Mangino and Turner Gill. OK, fine the school. But why tarnish the otherwise sterling reputation of Paterno by altering his win total and taking down a statue? I go back to this: The NCAA had to find a way to cut through the fog of football fandom. Football is a great game to watch and to play. It is not more important than basic human decency. We can — and many universities and fans do — enjoy the sport without making a mockery of the term “student-athlete,” without pretending that repeated concussions have no repercussions later in players’ lives, or acting as if talent should exempt players or coaches from the law. The legal and moral offenses in the Sandusky abuse scandal don’t add up to a blanket indictment of Penn State or college football. They are a tragedy and a reminder, with help from the NCAA penalties, that Penn State is an educational institution first and foremost and that when we talk of football coaches being larger than life, we should be well aware that it is hyperbole and not fact. bkaberline@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2208 | Twitter: @ BKaberline

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Kansas City Business Journal is a publication of American City Business Journals Inc., 120 W. Morehead St., Suite 400, Charlotte, NC 28202 Whitney Shaw, President and CEO Ray Shaw, Chairman (1989 to 2009) Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Business Journal Publications Inc., dba Kansas City Business Journal. Reproduction or use without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. Kansas City Business Journal is a Copyright Clearance Center registered publication.

| from the front | JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

30 | kansas city business journal

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LEASE: Law firm also shops for administrative office space near Country Club Plaza FROM PAGE 1

roam far beyond the historic shopping and office district for additional space. Welsh said the solicitation, issued through Block Real Estate Services LLC, seeks office space within walking distance of the Plaza. Ken Block, managing principal of BRES, said the administrative space requirement should be resolved by next summer. The firm should have plenty of options. A Cassidy Turley market report indicated that at the end of the first quarter, the Plaza submarket had a 20.1 percent overall vacancy rate and a 17.6 percent vacancy rate for Class A office space. The firm will consider keeping its administrative staff at its current headquarters in the Plaza Steppes building. Polsinelli’s lease for 125,000 square feet at Plaza Steppes expires next year. Even if Polsinelli keeps its administrative staff there, Plaza Steppes faces steep vacancy when the firm leaves for Plaza Vista. Still, it’s Class A office space in the heart of the Plaza. It’s also marketed by Executive Hills Inc., whose owner, Larry Bridges, is known as an effective and aggressive dealmaker for his office properties. “I would say if there’s one building in the Kansas City market that would lease first, it would be that one,” said Tim Schaffer, director of RED Brokerage, who added that it probably would lease within 12 to 18 months. “It’s a true Plaza address.”

What’s left at Plaza Vista? Now that Polsinelli Shughart PC has leased up most of the remaining space in the forthcoming Plaza Vista office tower, that leaves about 5,000 square feet that could go to a small office user. VanTrust Real Estate LLC also plans to lease additional ground-level space facing Roanoke Parkway for a high-end restaurant. The lobby level has room remaining for either a cafe or a retail store.

PCI’s general counsel, former Kansas City Councilman John Fairfield, could not be reached for comment. A filing in the foreclosure action estimated PCI’s 2011 income at $3.7 million. “PCI’s a good business. It put up collateral for the other real estate loans,” said Smith, who insisted that the collapse of the New York Life building purchase was due to a fraudulent lender, not to Wood. “She’s not responsible for a lot of this stuff.” Cyrus Sakhai, a principal with New York-based Sovereign Partners LLC, which bought Ten Main Center for $13.75 million in 2005, said he never put the building up for sale but has fielded several inquiries. He declined to discuss prospective buyers, though he acknowledged having discussions last year and said he’s familiar with Wood. Another business registration indicates PCI had its eye on a third prominent building in Downtown, the Mark Twain Tower. Fairfield was the registered agent and Wood the organizer in October 2010 of 106 W. 11th St. LLC, whose stated purpose was to buy the building, formerly home to the Continental Hotel and the Kansas City Athletic Club. pkoepp@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2211 | Twitter: @pbkkc

pkoepp@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2211 | Twitter: @pbkkc

PROBLEMS: Conflicts may hinge on loan/investment question foundered when AMC Entertainment Inc., which filled about a third of the downtown building, announced plans to move its headquarters to Leawood’s Park Place, said R. Pete Smith, a McDowell Rice Smith & Buchanan PC attorney recently retained by Wood. Wood and PCI are involved in at least six lawsuits filed this year, ranging from disputes about loans or investments in building deals to a foreclosure on property Wood owns in Bonner Springs: • Mitch and Michealle Mitchener sued PCI and Wood in Wyandotte County District Court in May, seeking repayment for four loans totaling $1.15 million. The money was intended to help PCI buy the two downtown office buildings and expand janitorial operations to school districts in St. Louis. PCI’s response to the suit says that it has repaid at least $244,000 and that the “loans” actually were at-risk investments. • In April, financial adviser Scott Penning sued PCI and Wood in Platte County Circuit Court after he wasn’t paid back for a 30-day $250,000 loan that was supposed to help close on a purchase of Ten Main Center. • Bonnita Rooks, a Blue Cross and

Blue Shield of Kansas City retiree, sunk her $95,000 retirement nest egg into a 10-day loan to PCI in April 2010 at an interest rate of 10 percent, thinking the New York Life building purchase was about to close. On June 27, she filed suit in Jackson County Circuit Court not against PCI, but against the investment advisers of Midwest Retirement Solutions LLC, who persuaded Rooks to make the loan. Midwest Retirement Solutions shared a building in Bonner Springs with a Re/Max branch run by Wood. • A suit filed June 7 in Wyandotte County District Court by Ruth Sobek seeks repayment for a $100,000 loan to PCI and Wood to help buy Ten Main Center, as well as a $171,000 promissory note that Wood personally guaranteed in March. • PCI is suing former employees who left to form their own company and is facing a foreclosure action in Wyandotte County from Farmers Bank & Trust. Smith said PCI will hand three Bonner Springs properties to the bank to resolve the foreclosure action. Wood said confidentiality agreements prevent her from discussing her business ventures in detail but said claims in the lawsuits are “not accurate.” “People tend to get sue-happy,” she said. “Lawsuits are not always true.”

FROM PAGE 3

the decision they made was the one that made the most sense.” Maddox said CrossFirst only found out its deal wouldn’t go through right before the FDIC closed Heartland. “It was all contingent on the FDIC approving the merger,” said Bob Monroe, a Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP attorney who represents CrossFirst. “The FDIC had to make a determination as to whether the sale of the Florida and Kansas branches and what was left of (the) Illinois (bank) would be viable institutions.” In comparison with the CrossFirst proposal, Metcalf Bank’s FDIC-assisted acquisition was much more straightforward. Metcalf will pay a 1.11 percent premium on Heartland’s deposits, and the FDIC agreed to cover 78 percent of the losses on Heartland’s $56 million commercial loan portfolio. The FDIC estimated that the transaction will cost its Deposit Insurance Fund $3.1 million. “Obviously, our bank was determined to be the least costly resolution for the FDIC,” Metcalf Bank CEO Tom Fitzsimmons said. “It was very smooth. The FDIC told us this was one of the easiest transactions, from an accounting standpoint, that they’ve experienced.” Fitzsimmons said the bank has learned how to navigate the FDIC process from prior experience. Metcalf, part of Jefferson City-based Central Bancompany, acquired the failed American Sterling Bank in Sugar Creek in 2009 and made an unsuccessful bid for First Bank of Kansas City the same year. It abandoned an attempt to buy Bank of Belton and subsidiary First Trust of MidAmerica at the end of 2011, after two years of regulatory delays. Generally, the potential acquirer of a failing bank proposes to pay a certain premium or discount for deposits and often offers to share losses with the FDIC. The goal is to minimize risk for the buyer while also making the deal palatable to regulators. This time around, Fitzsimmons said, Metcalf paid closer attention to the employees it was bringing on, holding a meeting the day after the deal was announced to introduce them to the company. “This is a traumatic experience for the employees,” he said. “When they go through a transaction like this, it’s very stressful. We wanted to retain as many as we could. We’ve picked up a good group of people.” Fitzsimmons said Metcalf hasn’t decided what to do with the two branches it acquired; Heartland owned its Leawood location at 4801 Town Center Drive and leased the Plaza-area office at 4417 Belleview Ave. Maddox said CrossFirst, which had plans to raise an additional $15 million to $20 million in capital in the second quarter, will continue to grow organically in the Kansas City market. It also plans to open a branch in Oklahoma City this year.

svockrodt@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2206 | Twitter: @st_vockrodt

FROM PAGE 1

BANK: Metcalf learns lessons from past FDIC deals

| from the front |

JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012

kansas city business journal |

kansascitybusinessjournal.com

TV: Broadcast networks lose some power, but still dial up largest audiences FROM PAGE 1

could have a really devastating effect on your ad rate,” said Max Utsler, an associate professor of broadcast journalism who teaches courses on the business of media at the University of Kansas. “That’s why these things never last very long — because the stations know that and, obviously, Time Warner knows the TV stations know that.” The disagreement between KMBC owner Hearst Television Inc., whose officials declined to comment, and Time Warner Cable is one of a series of standoffs this summer. Time Warner Cable’s contract with Meredith Corp., the owner of KCTV and KSMO-TV, expired July 25. KCTV officials didn’t respond to interview requests, but they used their station and website to warn of a blackout. A Meredith spokeswoman could not be reached for comment. On July 20, Viacom and DirecTV ended a nine-day impasse that cut off Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and other popular channels to subscribers. Dish Network Corp. dropped AMC Networks’ AMC, WE and IFC channels at the end of June. But viewers have more choices that allow them to bypass the local cable operator and satellite TV. They can access on-demand vehicles such as Hulu.com or Netflix, buy set-top boxes or use PlayStation game consoles to stream content. And, of course, they can always hook up an antenna to get local broadcast signals. The risk of losing viewers to Internet alternatives “is something we think about all the time,” Time Warner Cable spokesman Dave Borchardt said. He doesn’t think a station blackout heightens that risk. Targeted advertising poking fun at the Viacom-DirecTV dispute appeared during commercial breaks of the blocked networks’ shows on Hulu. It’s an example of how companies like

file | KCBJ

Diane Dixon, a master control operator at KMBC/KCWE in 2009, monitors broadcasts from the master control room.

Kansas City startup Tibi.tv are attempting to tap into the emerging trend of technology-enabled, targeted advertising. Tibi.tv offers a content-sensitive advertising engine for Internet-ready TV. Time Warner Cable attempted to enter the tech-enhanced advertising mix July 24, when it launched enhanced iTV in Kansas City, a pop-up-like interactive venture. “Traditional advertising works if you’ve got a big brand with a big message that doesn’t necessarily reach a lot of people,” Tibi.tv CIO Doug Richards said. “It’s basically just brand building.” Thirty-eight percent of U.S. households

have at least one TV that’s connected to the Internet, according to an April report from the Leichtman Research Group, which studies the entertainment, media and broadband industries. Although that number is growing, traditional TV has the upper hand. Broadcast TV also yields better primetime ratings than cable, said Utsler, who has done consulting work and research for the National Cable Television Cooperative Inc. in Lenexa. And for viewers devoted to a weekly program or regular sporting event, TV networks remain the primary outlet for real-time content. “While the prime-time network audi-

ence is only about maybe a half or a third of what it used to be, it still is where the big numbers are,” Utsler said. “If you’re trying to sell Pepsi-Cola, you’re better off doing a media buy on a (broadcast) network than on a cable network.” Meers Advertising’s Wheeler said advertisers thus far have been patient about station blackouts. Client education on the TV industry can go a long way in this regard, she said, but “if we start seeing this every single year with the same stations, that’s when you’ll see a lot of churn and upset.” araletz@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2234 | Twitter: @AlysonRaletz

TEAM: Addition of high-quality office space is a welcome notion in city with little inventory FROM PAGE 3

Happy Valley Properties project area

NW View H ig hD r.

470

Chipman Rd.

E 109th St.

470 Heavy hitters

Here are the players on the Happy Valley development team: MC Realty Group LLC GBA Architects Engineers Spectrum Consulting Group LLC BNIM Architects VanTrust Real Estate LLC RED Legacy LLC Solar Link US Inc.

mit City Council in January. It includes retail, housing, entertainment venues, a youth soccer complex and, perhaps most important, Class A office space. “It’s a lot more than an idea,” said Jim Devine, CEO of the Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council. Short has plans for the development that could exceed 250 acres. “I’m kind of shaking my head,” he said. “Even though I started the project three years ago, I didn’t dream back then how large this was going to be.” Lee’s Summit officials are considering how to incorporate the city’s holdings into the project. “At this point, we’re going to sit down with them to enter into some kind of an agreement for a joint development of their property and ours,” said Brian Scott, deputy city manager for Lee’s Summit. Details about tenants and specific users for what’s being called View High Green are scarce. Short said there won’t be much certainty until a development agreement is struck. That almost certainly will include city incentives. Plans for a youth sports complex are meant to tap into demand for new soc-

cer and lacrosse facilities in the Kansas City area, with an eye to replicating the success of the Overland Park Soccer Complex. Retail demand in Lee’s Summit has been strong with the development of Summit Woods Crossing and Summit Fair. However it turns out, the new office space would be a welcome arrival for a city largely bereft of office inventory. “We have office deficit disorder here,” Devine said. Lee’s Summit’s office stock represents about 1 percent of the inventory in the Kansas City area, Devine said, complicating prospects for the city to attract corporate interest. View High Green and the city’s annexation of Unity Village and its nearly 300 acres of land are its best prospects for new office development. “Now we’re kind of going to the next level — the Johnson County level — of major office parks that is going to require a regional mindset reset to make us not ignored and avoided,” Devine said. “Whatever the Unity annexation project or whatever this does will set the tone for the future of Lee’s Summit being a viable office location or not.” svockrodt@bizjournals.com | 816-777-2206 | Twitter: @st_vockrodt

32 | kansas city business journal JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 2012 kansascitybusinessjournal.com

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