Lee’s Summit landed three of the Top 10 Small Business of the Year Awards for 2007 from the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Congratulations to LSEDC Board Director Flip Short and his LSEDC Pacesetter Investor company ViraCor Laboratories, who took home the prestigious 2007 Mr. K Award during the Greater Kansas City Chamber’s Top 10 Small Business Awards Ceremony.

Joining ViraCor in the Top 10 were two other Lee’s Summit businesses: Bennett Packaging, led by LSEDC Advisory Board Member Kathy Bennett, and First Community Bank, led by LSEDC Advisory Board Member Don Olson.

The firms were judged based on their growth, employee relations and commitment to the community. 

This years Executive Committee members will be:

• Chairman: Jon Ellis, President and CEO, Paradise Park

• Vice Chairman: Roger Meyer, President, Meyer Company

• Secretary: Dr. George Pagels, President and CEO, Saint Luke’s East Lee’s Summit; Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer, Saint Luke's Health System

• Immediate Past Chairman: Nancy Blackwell, Attorney, Chinnery Evans & Nail

Three new Board Members have been elected as well:

• Daren Fristoe, President, The Fristoe Group

• Jo Anne Gabbert, President and CEO, Adams-Gabbert & Associates

• Jeffrey Smith, Senior Vice President, Hawthorn Bank

Daren Fristoe

Jo Anne Gabbert

Jeffrey Smith

Many thanks to outgoing board member Dan Rexroth, President and CEO of John Knox Village. Since Dan was term-limited out, he has been asked and has agreed to continue serving LSEDC by returning to the Advisory Board.

For a complete list of LSEDC investors and Board members, click here.

As usual, not all hoped-for legislation passes in any one session, but two laws will help local competitiveness:

1.     Missouri Quality Jobs. The budget cap was raised to $30,000,000 on this program that encourages the creation of new high-quality jobs in Missouri. In Lee’s Summit, your LSEDC has assisted four local companies to receive $4 million worth of incentives. Another $2 million is in the pipeline if other projects pan out this year.

2.     Chapter 100s. This mechanism helps offset expensive personal property taxes for manufacturers’ machinery and equipment. The General Assembly enhanced the program this year by adding sales and use tax exemptions for personal property leased or sold by a political subdivision.

Lee’s Summit remains a great place to create jobs and build a business. According to our latest VIP Business and Expansion Report, 64 interviewed firms said they saw Lee’s Summit as the city where they wanted to stay and build their business. They also ranked city services and workforce attributes favorably.

These firms have created 714 new jobs in recent years and will need 989,472 square feet of new space in the near future.

Many thanks to the volunteers of our VIP Team who made calls on behalf of the LSEDC.
(pictured right)

Dean Whittaker, a thought leader in economic development, recently published an article in his newsletter based on a speech he heard by Dr. William Baggett, President of the International Center for Leadership in Education.

Dr Baggett made several observations about the state of education in the United States.

• Our 19th-century teaching methods are a challenge for the students from the 21st century. The appropriate use of technology is critical to engaging students and preparing them for a technological society.

• The skill gap between what is taught in school and what students need in the work place and in their personal lives is growing. In particular, entry level positions for most jobs now require a higher level of reading skill than is currently being taught in our schools Dr. Daggett pointed out that globalization, technology, and demography are the three major factors impacting education today, and that it needs to be rigorous and relevant.

• Our students will be competing with those of India and China, countries with a much longer school day (8 1/2 hrs.) and school year (239 days).

• The latest government mandates do little to allow teachers to do their best for their students. “No Child Left Behind” enforces specific requirements on what is to be taught and how it is to be taught, resulting in little or no flexibility for the teacher to tailor the lesson plan to the needs of the students. Four to 5 years of college are necessary due to requirements of this program.

• Through funding from the Gates Foundation, The Center for Education Leadership has studied the 25 top-performing schools in the United States.

• The top performing schools focus on applied knowledge, making subjects relevant and meaningful.

• The top schools have integrated curriculum with teachers preparing joint lesson plans.

• the more art in the curriculum, the better the schools performed.

• It was not the most affluent schools that performed the best.

• High performance schools taught reading in content areas rather than as a separate subject.

• Dr. Baggett stated that the education system will not change until the pressure to change exceeds the resistance to change. Among the highest performing schools, the pressure to change most often came from the business community and not the schools. Achieving equity and excellence in our schools is very difficult to do.

A recently released MERIC research report provides an overview of Missouri's eight targeted industry clusters identified by the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The report "Looking to the Future: Missouri Targeted Industry Clusters" combines economic analysis of historical employment data, projections, mapping, current and future trends, discussions of Missouri's strengths and industry highlights. The target industries are: agribusiness, automotive, defense/homeland security, energy , finance, information technology, life sciences, transportation/logistics.

Click here to link to the report.