Area Business Leaders Converge in Support of Entrepreneurship

In what may prove to be a landmark forum, twenty-six area leaders of small- and minority-owned businesses converged Wednesday, May 26 at

The Contract Studio in Kansas City's Crossroads District for an engaged discussion of the future of entrepreneurship and its role in the landscape of the region's business community.

The forum was a part of Ingram's ongoing Industry Outlook series, an effort the magazine undertakes to offer concise examinations by leaders of their respective industries. As always, one could not help but walk away without a sense of optimism and opportunity. In this effort, the strategy to position the greater Kansas City area as the Entrepreneurial Capital of America was discussed with a strong sense of enthusiasm.

Sponsoring the session were the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Ameristar Casino, whose representative Troy Stremming served as chair.

This was the first time in the four year history of Ingram's Industry Outlook series that the light was shone on small business with a particular focus on its salient subsets: minority-business and women-owned business. Although there were some interesting divisions among these groupings, and even within them, participants found enough commonality of purpose to establish some larger and potentially groundbreaking themes.

Participants Include:
(front row, left to right)

Gail Worth Wilson
Gail's Harley Davidson
Diane Seif
Regulatory/Clinical Consultants Inc.
Laura Lee Jones
LionShare Marketing
Bucky Brooks
First Scout Realty Advisors
Marna Courson
CCI Public Relations & Marketing
Robbin Reynolds
Sound Products, Inc.
Nancy Neighbors
Neighbors Construction

(middle row, left to right)
Carol Meierotto
Meierotto's Midwest Jewelry
Cindy Maude
Callahan Creek
Jeanette Prenger
ECCO Select
Connie Suss
Bijin Salon & Day Spa
Lori Kravets
Missouri Women's Business Center

(back row, left to right)
Dot Lybarger
Dot's Office Products, Inc.
Michelle Sweeney
Ingram's Magazine
Lisa Miller
The Contract Studio
Troy Stremming
Ameristar Casino
Chris Lopez
Mid-America Sign Contractors
Carlos Ledezma
Cable-Dahmer Chevrolet
Daryl Williams
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Glen Richardson
Strickland Construction Company
Mike Sigsbee
School Solutions, Inc.
Marianne Hudson
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Lonnie Scott
Minority Suppliers Council
Diane Forgy
Overland Limousine Service