GOING NORTH NEWSLETTER JAN-FEB 2014 ISSuE 132 320 ARmOuR Rd, SuITE 220, NKC, mO 64116 816-472-7700 WWW.NKCBuSINESSCOuNCIL.COm

NKC FirstLook

Presidents Level Sponsors

“Thank You” to Sponsors

Thank you to the many businesses which were so gener-ous in supporting North Kansas City Business Council events and programs during 2013. Please

take time to look at the two insert sheets (front & back) with this news-letter listing the many sponsors who helped make 2013 a successful year for the North Kansas City Business Council. You may see the name of your business or the name of neighbor businesses.

The mere existence of some of these events – and certainly the financial success of these events – would not be possible without generous, involved sponsors.

Major events conducted by the North

Kansas City Business Council include:• Mickey Finn Scholarship Golf Classic – fundraiser at Tiffany Greens in early June; a portion of proceeds supports three scholarships• The Big Event Holiday Reception & Auction – annual fundraiser in early December• Winter Wonderland Christmas Tree Decorating Contest – trees sponsored by businesses• Triple Play Team Fun Night – team competition in bowling, billiards and miniature golf at AMF ProBowl in North Kansas City in late August• Monthly Membership Luncheons – January through November

Other events include:• First Friday Coffees – hosted by members• Business After Hours – hosted by members• Ribbon-cuttings – hosted by members• Young Professionals events

• Business Focus Forums – addressing current important business issues• NKC-Connect networking events – informal networking opportunities

In addition, the North Kansas City Business Council is represented and active with the following organizations and initiatives:

• City of North Kansas City Branding Committee• City of North Kansas City Centennial Committee – completed in 2013• Clay County Economic Development Alliance• Clay County Economic Development Council – Strategic Planning Initiative• Clay County Tourism Board• Northland Center for Advanced Pro- fessional Studies (Northland CAPS)• Economic development activities aimed at sustaining and improving the economic health of North Kansas City

Rich Groves

Comments from the executive Director, Rich Groves

The North Kansas City Business Council has the special opportunity to host a stimulating and informative presenta-tion by Dr. Chris Kuehl, Managing Director – Armada Corporate Intel-ligence, at a Business Focus Forum on Tuesday morning, January 14, 7:30 a.m. The event will be held at American Inn’s Kennedy Room.

Members and non-members are wel-come, but reservations will be required. Please contact Jennifer@nkcbusiness-council.com if you would like to attend.

Chris Kuehl is a co-founder of Armada Corporate Intelligence, a company cre-ated in 1999 to provide strategy founda-

tion, competitive intelligence, business analysis and economic forecasting for corporate clients. Armada’s clients include YRC Worldwide, TranSystems, Spencer Fane Britt and Browne, KPMG and Hallmark International, among others.

Chris is the editor and primary writer for several publications:• Business Intelligence Briefs – a daily distributed through Chambers of Commerce throughout the U.S. focused on US economic and business issues• Strategic Intelligence Briefs – a daily distributed through World Trade Cen-

ters and international business organi- zations focused on global economic and business trends• Fabrinomics – a bi-weekly industry analysis produced by the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association• Daily industry analysis and assess- ment for clients such as TranSystems and YRC Worldwide

He holds a Masters Degree in Soviet and East European Studies, a Masters in East Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Economics from the University of Kansas. He has been on the faculty of universities in the U.S., Hungary, Esto-nia, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan.

eConomIC oUtLooK PResentAtIon BY DR. CHRIs KUeHL

North Kansas City MasterPlan Update

Updating the City’s Master Plan is an opportunity to set course for long-term community and economic devel-opment projects and strategies, with input from as many residents and business owners as possible. A consul-tant selection committee is currently interviewing planning consulting firms to assist with this project. The goal is to have a consultant selected in January and to begin on the project in earnest later this winter.

There is strong interest in the Kansas City area about the possible economic development impact of the 2-mile street car line under construction between Crown Center and the River Market. It is expected to be in operation by mid-2015. There is also interest in North Kansas City about the study currently being conducted jointly with the City of Kansas City about the feasibility and cost of a possible northward extension into North Kansas City.

The first public meeting on the Northern Extension of the streetcar was held on November 21. Ninety-four attendees were all very engaged, providing excel-lent feedback on the project. The consul-tant team, which has also been studying potential streetcar extension routes south of the river, commented that this was the best attended and most engaged meeting they have been a part of for any potential extension route. The feedback that was gathered at this meeting has been used to develop evaluation criteria and has been incorporated into the route analysis.

The consultant team is currently in the thick of technical analysis of the bridge crossing. The engineers have deter-mined that it is technically feasible for the Heart of America Bridge to carry

the streetcar in a dedicated lane on the bridge. Now, the analysis will begin looking at whether this is a good choice, both in terms of streetcar operations and for the other traffic on the bridge. The team is also putting together informa-tion on a potential streetcar bridge as an alternative to using the Heart of Ameri-ca Bridge.

In addition, the team is analyzing potential routes for the streetcar exten-sion through Northtown. Based on the input from the public meeting, the team is adding Armour Road to their initial analysis, along with Burlington and Swift. The analysis is looking at the impact of the streetcar along each route, including traffic and parking impacts as well as economic development potential.

The next public meeting will present the results of the analysis that is underway and provide an opportunity for further community input. That meeting will be held in February. Another energetic and engaged group is anticipated. In advance of that meeting, share your thoughts about routes and financing strategies at http://ideas.northrailkc.com/ . Additional information about the project is available on the project website at www.northrailkc.com.

NKC-Connect Referral Partners

The new NKC-Connect Referral Partners group began meeting in November. For the next few months, there will be two gatherings a month – one in the late afternoon (5 p.m., 2nd Tuesday) and one in the morning (7:30 a.m., 4th Tuesday), at different locations.

Participants can expect to meet oth-ers who believe that getting to know more about other businesses is a good way to increase your own business. Attendees should be prepared to share a very short description of their business and to briefly describe what a good referral would be as well as to share referrals when a trust level is attained.

You can find information about meet-ing locations using either the group’s Linked-In or Facebook pages or Busi-ness Council website www.nkcbusi-nesscouncil.com. January dates and locations are Tuesday, January 14, 5:00 p.m. at Chappell’s Restaurant & Sports Museum (back room) and Tuesday, January 28, 7:30 a.m. at Aunt Mary’s Cookies.

The City of North Kansas City engaged a Lee’s Summit firm, candid marketing & communications, to evaluate its current brand perceptions and develop a relevant brand position and creative treatment that embraces the feeling of the City, while capturing the essence of everyone in the community. Once the branding is complete, a com-prehensive marketing strategy will be developed to ignite excitement around the brand for a variety of target audiences. The brand is slated to roll out in early 2014.

A community brand is defined as the view of what people see and say about the at-tributes of its residents and businesses. A community brand has the right mixture of attributes, both tangible and intangible, that create value and influence. A commu-nity’s brand helps consumers (residents, businesses and visitors) distinguish it from other cities in the marketplace.

A brand is more than a logo. It’s a promise you make (and keep) to everyone about the values of the community. The logo is the outward, visual expression of the brand. So that expression or logo should embody the best of the brand attributes. And, with a strong integrated market-ing and communications plan, the brand will come to life in marketing materials, promotions, online and in other communi-cation outlets.

Two different surveys have been conduct-ed to attract input from residents, business owners, employees and visitors to North Kansas City in addition to a number of interviews and other research sources to obtain a good understanding of current perceptions about North Kansas City. It will be exciting to see what will emerge as the composite perception about North Kansas City and how North Kansas City should be identified through its brand in the future.

BRAnDInG UPDAte

stReetCAR stUDY UPDAte

Once again, the streets of downtown North Kansas City were decorated with attractive Christmas trees. This Christ-mas season enhancement would not be possible without the generosity of the many business sponsors and the support of the City’s Municipal Services team that put the trees and lights in place, kept them watered and removed them after the holidays.

The participation this year was amazing: 40 business spon-sors. Ten of the participants had never been involved before. Four businesses on Burlington participated as well. The event was spiced up with friendly competition by three City departments with trees near City Hall: the Fire department, the Police department and City Hall staff. Candid, LLC

which is leading the branding initiative also sponsored a tree.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the impartial judges declared the following winners:

• Best “Business” theme: AXEL Americas• Best “Traditional”: Tnemec Company• Best “Jazz Up the Holidays” theme: Maxus Properties• Best on Burlington: KC Booth• Best Overall: North Kansas City Hospital

Plaques were presented to the winners at The Big Event Holi-day Reception & Auction, with “Jazz Up the Holidays” as its theme, on December 5.

Best “Business” theme: AXEL Americas

Best “Traditional”: TnemecCompany

Best on Burlington: KC Booth Best Overall: North KansasCity Hospital

Each year the Business Council gives an award to a business that has provided exceptional support for the Business Council and to a Board member whose support has been exceptional. This year the winners were Innovative Networks, owned and operated by Jason Crowley, and to Tom Hershewe, CPA.

Innovative Networks distinguished itself by taking the initia-tive to propose and then to donate a complete replacement and upgrade of the Business Council’s computers, internet access and data backup. This enabled the Business Council staff to have up-to-date, dock-able laptops, each with a 20 inch moni-tor, keyboard and mouse. In addition, Innovative Networks set up a system so that all documents are accessible through the internet and then put the proper software on home comput-ers to be able to access almost anything from home that could be accessed in the office. Additionally, smart phone calendars and e-mails were synchronized with office software so that any change visible in the office was also visible on the smart phone. All data, whether entered remotely or in the office, is instantly backed up using “cloud” technology. Innovative Networks also provides backup support and online remote service when

problems arise. They also coordinated a seamless relocation of internet and computer service when the Business Council moved to a new address in July. The Business Council is very appreciative of Jason Crowley and his company, Innovative Networks, for their initiative and investment in the Business Council.

CPA Tom Hershewe, one of the newest Board members, has consistently vol-unteered to help with numerous Busi-ness Council events and has repeatedly demonstrated a love of North Kansas City. He served as the coordinator of the Centennial 5K Run and Walk in 2012. Tom serves on the Program Commit-tee and the Budget Committee of the Business Council. He has also taken the initiative to find excellent speakers to feature in Business Focus Forums providing useful business information for Business Council members.

Tom Hershewe (left), receives the Director of the Year Award.

CHRIstmAs tRee DeCoRAtInG WInneRsCHRIstmAs tRee DeCoRAtInG WInneRs

InnovAtIve netWoRKs AnD tom HeRsHeWe, CPA WIn AWARDs

LICENSE BuREAu HAS RETuRNEdA new missouri department of motor Vehicles license bureau has opened in North Kansas City.

It is located at 2421 Burlington, Suite 3B, next to the El Chupacabra mexican Grill & Cantina.

NKC Business Council320 Armour Road, Suite 220North Kansas City, MO 64116

exeCUtIve LeveLsPonsoRs

UPCoMiNg EvENTSFirst Friday Coffee – Fri, Jan 3, 7:30 a.m. – Chiropractic Kinesiology Clinic, 420 Armour

Business Focus Forum – Tue, Jan 14, 7:30 a.m. – American inn – program pre-sented by Dr. Chris Kuehl, Armada Executive Intelligence

NKC-Connect Referral Partners (afternoon gathering) – Tue, Jan 14, 5:00 p.m. – Chappell’s Restaurant & Sports Museum, back room

Business After Hours – Wed, Jan 15, 4:30 p.m. – Express Employment Profes-sionals, 1901 Swift

Monthly Membership Luncheon – Thu, Jan 23, 11:30 a.m. – Black on Burling-ton, 1327 Burlington (parking in the back – access from 13th Ave)

NKC-Connect Referral Partners (morning gathering) – Tue, Jan 28, 7:30 a.m. – Aunt Mary’s Cookies

First Friday Coffee – Fri, Feb 7, 7:30 a.m. – location tbd

NKC-Connect Referral Partners (afternoon gathering) – Tue, Feb 11, 5:00 p.m. – KC Smokeshack BBQ

Business After Hours – Wed, Feb 19, 4:30 p.m. – location tbd

NKC-Connect Referral Partners (morning gathering) – Tue, Feb 25, 7:30 a.m. – location tbd

Monthly Membership Luncheon – Thu, Feb 27, 11:30 a.m. – Black on Burling-ton, 1327 Burlington (parking in the back – access from 13th Ave)

NEw MEMBERSWelcome to the following businesses that have joined the North Kansas CityBusiness Council in the past few months:

Above & Beyond Catering • The Franklin Method/Sarah BreedloveArkema Innovative Chemistry • Black on Burlington Urban Event Space

Central Plains Trading Company • Chiropractic Kinesiology ClinicExecutive Asset Realty Group • First Baptist Church • Harvest Productions

Massco Maintenance Supply • Meyerkord & Russell Trial AttorneysMissouri Credit Union Association • Northland Physical Therapy

O’Dell Service Company • Steven R Fuller, Attorney • TSYS Merchant Solutions

This amazing program is gaining momentum with two more career strands to be added in the next school year in addition to the current two. This year, Cerner Corporation is hosting the Computer Technology class and Holland 1916 is hosting the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering class at its Liberty Heartland Meadows facility. New classes next year will be Healthcare Technology at North Kansas City Hospital and Global Business/Entrepre-neurship at a location to be determined. The number of students is expected to grow from 28 this year to more than 100 next year.

A major breakthrough occurred when Donna Deeds, Director of the Blue Valley CAPS program, agreed to become the new Regional Director of the Northland CAPS program. This will enable the Northland CAPS pro-gram to benefit from the experience Donna gained taking the Blue Valley program from its infancy to its very successful current status with approximately 1,000 students engaged in eight primary strands and involving 74 business partners.