Raising the Stakes
Raising the Stakes It would be hard to imagine a more high-powered industry-specific assembly than the one arranged by Ingram's Magazine's for its Industry Outlook on the subject of regional transportation. The assembly was hosted by the law firm of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, which co-sponsored the event along with the engineering firm of Burns & McDonnell. Chairing the January 31 event were Senators Kit Bond of Missouri and Pat Roberts of Kansas. Some 40 area leaders representing organizations with a stake in regional transportation issues and opportunities participated. Although there was much candid talk about the challenges the industry faces--a good deal of it was news from Washington--there was also extensive discussion of the transportation opportunities unique in the Kansas City area and in the states of Missouri and Kansas.
Centrality
"We're very fortunate to be in the center of the United States," said Dave Ruf, CEO of Burns & McDonnell. This assumption went largely unchallenged: Kansas City's centrality offers the city an intrinsic advantage. "We market Missouri's central location all the time," noted Phil Tate of the Missouri Dept. of Economic Development. "More than 40 percent of the national market is within 500 miles of us." Kansas City Aviation Director Russ Widmar added that the emergence of the just-in-time concept in distribution likewise augers well for Kansas City. "This [concept] is best served from the middle." "From a trucking standpoint," affirmed Jeff Zook, West Region Public Affairs Manager of United Parcel Service, "you can get to any point in 2 or 3 days."
Series Sponsors
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Participants Include:
(seated, left to right)
George Hendon, Federal Aviation Administration
Mike Walker, United Parcel Service
Missouri Senator Kit Bond
Mokhtee Ahmad, Federal Transit Administration
Kansas Senator Pat Roberts
Dave Ruf, Burns & McDonnell
(2nd row standing, left to right)
Phil Estes, TranSystems Corporation
Allen Masuda, Federal Highway Administration
Henry Hungerbeeler, Missouri Dept. of Transportation
Russ Widmar, Kansas City Aviation Department
Warren Erdman, Kansas City Southern
Jeff Zook, United Parcel Service
Lorie Whitaker, Kansas City SmartPort
Mark Huffer, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority
Terry Heidner, Kansas Department of Transportation
Sen. Harry Wiggins, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin
Ken Hoffman, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin
Joel Cerwick, Burns & McDonnell
(Back row standing, left to right)
Ollie Gates, Missouri Transportation Commission
Phil Tate, Missouri Dept. of Economic Development
Kevin Harden, Black & Veatch
Rich Hardt, Yellow Corporation
Tom McKenna, Kansas City Aviation Department
Bob Riordan, Black & Veatch
J.D. Stokes, Jackson County Public Works
Tom Hoenig, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Sabin Yanez, Missouri Dept. of Transportation
Col. Tim Daniel, Missouri Homeland Security
Harold Stones, Office of Sen. Pat Roberts
David Warm, Mid America Regional Council
Ken Miller, North America’s Superhighway Coalition, Inc.
David Eaton, MBC Monterrey, Mexico
Joe Sweeney, Ingram’s Magazine
Michelle Sweeney, Ingram’s Magazine
Mike Hut, M.J. Harden Associates