Best Accounting Firm
Although most of the major competitors in this category are international, Ingram's readers judge them by the quality of service they deliver in Kansas City. Back on top this year with the Gold is the consistently strong Downtown Kansas City office of KPMG. Also located Downtown, Deloitte & Touche breaks into the "Best Of" list this year with a solid second place finish for the Silver. Springfield-based BKD with offices in Kansas City and ten other mid-Continent states--earns the Bronze.
Best Advertising Agency/ small
Veteran Kansas City marketers Pasquale Trozzolo and Becky Blades joined forces just last year to form what is now the Trozzollo Communications Group. The resulting synergy proved attractive enough to earn top Gold honors for the firm in this new and useful category. Led by managing partner Steve Ward, the "W," the downtown Kansas City-based CHRW Advertising agency, broke through to nab the Silver. Meers Marketing Communications, which specializes in creating brands and awareness, earned the Bronze.
Best Advertising Agency/ large
Winning the Gold award has become close to routine at the Plaza-based Bernstein Rein. Bernstein Rein is the largest advertising agency in Kansas City and, according to ADWEEK, one of the top 50 full-service agencies in the country. The fact that the Winn-Dixie Stores have recently chosen Silver-winner VML as their agency of record should help keep this enterprising firm high in the rankings for the near future. Barkley Evergreen & Partners has a lot of the latter. The firm boasts of 275 "partners," holds a downtown location that was once a shoe factory, and now has the Bronze award.
Best Architectural/ Design Firm
No stranger to this category wins the Gold--the Kansas City-based HNTB Corporation has established an enviable level of respect in the marketplace. HNTB attributes its 90 years of success to integrity, technical excellence and quality work, on time, on budget and to the client's satisfaction. Gould Evans Goodman makes its annual presence felt--this time at the Silver level. The Bronze this year goes to HOK Sport + Venue + Event. This distinctively named firm is one of several that has helped make Kansas City the stadium design capital of the world.
Best Bank
Highly public transitional challenges have not stopped Ingram's readers from designating UMB Bank as Kansas City's best. Winning the Gold for the fifth straight year, UMB has developed a strong regional and even national reputation for its solidity and strength. Commerce Bank, now approaching its 140th year as a Missouri tradition, again scores the Silver medal. Under the prudent leadership of executive Mick Aslin, Gold Bank continues to solidify (and strengthen) its Kansas City regional presence with a Bronze.
Best Corporate Citizen
No amount of space in this magazine, let alone this brief paragraph, can do justice to the top three contestants in this category. Among them, just through the jobs they provide, these firms support the equivalent of a city the size of Topeka. Hallmark Cards has been the defining Kansas City company for at least the last half century. The largesse that the company and the Hall family has shared with the city is legendary. Silver winner Sprint does not have the legacy of a Hallmark. But in its willingness to support the downtown arena project, among others, Sprint has shown its embrace of the Kansas City spirit. Founded in 1924 and still family owned, the Bronze-winner J.E. Dunn Construction--and its parent company, Dunn Industries--have literally built most of what is new and significant in Kansas City and much of what is old.
Best Employer
Not surprisingly, Hallmark Cards also wins the Gold as best employer. For the ninety years of the company's existence, Hallmark has pioneered the domain of creating an accommodating and attractive work environment, and its employees are altogether happy to tell you the same. No institution in Kansas City works harder at keeping its work force satisfied than Silver-winner Saint Luke's Hospital. In the healthcare world, given current shortages, this is a necessity, but at Saint Luke's it is also a tradition. The Cerner Corporation expects a lot from its employees, but it gives a lot as well, enough to earn the company a Bronze.
Best Exhibit Hall
As is appropriate, the area's largest exhibit hall, Bartle Hall Convention Center, was also named the best by Ingram's readers. The Gold-winning facility commands eight city blocks in downtown Kansas City. Topped by its distinguishing "sky stations," the Convention Center includes H. Roe Bartle Hall, with nearly 400,000 square feet of space; the stunning three-story Conference Center; Municipal Auditorium, and Barney Allis Plaza. The Silver goes to the new Overland Park Convention Center just south of I-435, and the Crown Center Exhibit Hall takes the Bronze.
Best Hospital / Medical Center
Repeating as winner of the Gold is Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City. The glory of winning the Malcolm Baldrige Award last year is still reverberating throughout the community. Unlike other award competitions, the Malcolm Baldrige Award has a lasting effect on the quality of an institution. Shawnee Mission Medical Center has also prospered since it and Saint Luke's decoupled, and this year earned the Silver. This hospital is high on the list of the most preferred for obstetrical care. Bronze this year goes to KU Medical Center, which has made great strides, particularly in its research capabilities.
Best Financial Services Firm
This is a tightly contested category in a city that has emerged as Mid-America's Money Management Capital. American Century Investments, founded by Jim Stowers jr., takes the Gold. Launched in 1958 as a small, single-style mutual fund manager, American Century has emerged as a multi-disciplined, global asset management firm offer-ing diverse investment vehicles and employing some 2,000 people. Ingram's readers have rewarded Waddell & Reed Financial with the Silver. The nearly 70-year-old firm has served as the incubator for much of Kansas City's successful enterprise in the field of money management. As testament to its successful repositioning as a full-service financial provider, H&R Block earns the Bronze.
Best Commercial Contractor
J.E. Dunn Construction pockets still another Gold in a category it all but owns. This 80-year-old general construction firm, the largest in Kansas City, is one of five professional construction companies in the ever-expanding J.E. Dunn Group. J.E. Dunn Construction prides itself on providing the best possible value to its clients on projects of all types. With more than 50 years construction experience in the Midwest and a diverse portfolio of projects, Taylor Kelly Construction grabs the Silver. McCown Gordon Construction finds itself in the Ingram's winners circle for the second straight year as it receives the Bronze.
Best Commercial Realtor
Created in 2003 by the combination of two leading commercial real estate entities, the Gold-winning MC Lioness Realty Group prides itself on the quality of its corporate and investment real estate and facilities services throughout the region as well as its commitment to providing innovative services and solutions. Zimmer Real Estate Services was founded some 55 years earlier than MC Lioness and has been a stalwart presence ever since. The ambitious downtown Kansas City firm wins the Silver. Block & Company remains a readers' favorite as it repeats in the top three and secures the Bronze.
Best Ground Transportation
Most Ingram's readers are not aware that Gold-winning Carey Limousine of Kansas represents just one of 480 locations in the world's preeminent company, Carey Worldwide Chauffeured Services. They just think it's the best limou-sine and town car service in a highly competitive local industry. The Johnson County-based Overland Limousine Service earns the Silver, and the KC-based KCI Shuttle aka Kansas City Transportation Group earns the Bronze.
Best Health Club
Prairie Life Center holds on to the Gold once again. The Johnson County-based health club offers pilates and personal fitness evaluations, as well as aerobic classes and weight training at two convenient locations. 24-Hour Fitness on the southern end of Ward Parkway, which is as around-the-clock energetic as its name implies, dashes off with the Silver. The venerable YMCA of Greater Kansas City runs away with the Bronze.
Best Home Builder
The repeat winner of the Gold is Provence Homes by John Lober. Lober and his staff have earned a reputation for meshing the formal and informal with intricately blended details. Better yet, they bring a can-do spirit to the French-influenced homes they build and have invested their brand with an air of workmanship and beauty. The Silver goes to the Acuff Rhodes Group. A local builder for more than 40 years, Acuff Rhodes is now embarked on the dazzling and ambitious Shoal Creek Valley project. The perennially strong J.S. Robinson Fine Homes ties with Aristocrat Homes for the Bronze.
Best Meeting/Conference Facility (Large)
The 412-room Sheraton Suites-Overland Park, located in the heart of the College Boulevard business corridor, earns the Gold in this com-petitive category. Being adjacent to the Overland Park Convention Center makes the critical difference. The Bartle Hall Convention Center, discussed in depth earlier, secures the Silver in this category. And the nearby Marriott Hotel Downtown Kansas City, with its 946 rooms, 37 suites and easy access to the Bartle complex, more than merits the Bronze.
Best Law Firm
No category is more competitive than this one. The Gold this year goes to Shook, Hardy & Bacon, an international law firm currently in its 115th year. With 11 offices strategically located throughout the world, SHB has settled in to its brand new headquarters in the Crown Center complex. The always respected and competitive Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin law firm snags this year's Silver. Blackwell Sanders has offices throughout the Midwest as well as in Washington and London. Founded in 1873, Bronze winner Lathrop & Gage may well be the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi River and still represents its first-ever client, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.
Best Long Term Care Facility
John Knox Village of Lee's Summit rules in this category. With more than 2,000 Golden-agers in residence, John Knox Village could win the Gold on sheer avoirdupois. The "village" is a veritable city unto itself. In addition to a full range of activi-ties, John Knox offers a full continuum of care. Claridge Court in Prairie Village combines casual, carefree living with the conveniences of having everything comfortably close at hand and wins the Silver. The well-appointed Bishop Spencer Place in Westport offers many of the same services but is located in the heart of Kansas City.
Best Shopping Center or District
Kansas City's oldest planned shopping district--the Country Club Plaza--remains the best loved. With the enclosed mall in decline, and the so-called Life Style centers on the rise, this thriving Highwoods Properties classic and Gold award winner has come full circle in renewed popularity. Eighty years the Plaza's junior, the North-land's spanking new Zona Rosa captures the Silver. Leawood's swank Town Center Plaza, the Bronze-winner, makes this category a sweep for Life Style centers.
Best Spa
Bijin Salon & Day Spa of Prairie Village repeats as the winner of the Gold. Bijin has much to recommend it, including a commitment to exceeding client expectations, a focus on the needs of the individual customer, and a relaxed and enjoyable ambiance. The stylish and always popular Mario Tricoci Salon & Day Spa, located in Leawood and on the Country Club Plaza, wins the Silver. The granddaddy of all local spas, The Elms Resort & Spa in Excelsior Springs, captures the Bronze. Past guests of this 116-year-old establishment include FDR, Jack Dempsey and Al Capone.
