The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce will hold the first community update on the progress of The Chamber’s Big 5 in early 2012. That announcement follows a preliminary meeting of the Champions for each of the Big 5. The meeting was called by Chamber Chair Frank Ellis (Swope Community Enterprises).

“I am not surprised by the progress our Big 5 Champions have made,” Ellis says. “There is a reason why these individuals were asked to help lead this effort. They are tremendous business and civic leaders and ultimately they understand the important role they play in making sure the Big 5 comes alive.”

Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Heeter agrees. “Everybody has their plans well underway,” he says. “The Champions are bringing their groups together and developing their strategic plans. We’ve all been pleased with the outpouring of support we’ve received on all of the initiatives.

“We pledged that the Big 5 process would be open, transparent, and informal. So we plan to hold quarterly updates on the Big 5,” Heeter adds, “with the first scheduled update set for January 12, 2012.”

Here is the status of each of The Chamber’s Big 5 (in no particular order):

• The World’s Symposium on Animal Health - Champion: Gary Forsee, former President, University of Missouri System; former Chairman & CEO, Sprint.
  • Working on project organization, including budget.
  • Discussing branding and target date for the symposium.
  • Late summer 2013 seems a likely timeframe.


• The Urban Core Neighborhood Initiative - Co-Champions: Terry Dunn, President & CEO, JE Dunn Construction Group; Brent Stewart, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Kansas City.
  • Going down three tracks: poverty, health and safety, and education.
  • Preliminary team assembled, including representatives from the Civic Council, University of Missouri – Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, and others.
  • Project manager hired.
  • Target area to be finalized next year.
  • Neighborhood residents to be partners in this effort.


• The Making of America’s Most Entrepreneurial City - Champion: Peter deSilva, Chairman & CEO, UMB Bank.
  • Additional co-chairs for this initiative: Carl Schramm, Kauffman Foundation; Leo Morton, UMKC; Cliff Illig, Cerner; and Michael Helmstetter, PhD, MRIGlobal.
  • Currently formulating program structure.
  • Considering the hiring of a project manager.
  • Will lean heavily on the Bloch School of Management and Kauffman Foundation for this initiative.
  • Major announcement regarding the Bloch School and University of Missouri – Kansas City scheduled for early December 2011.
• The KC Regional Translational Research Initiative - Champion: Dr. Patrick James, Sr. Managing Partner, Quest Diagnostics; Chair, KC Area Life Sciences Institute.
  • Work group assembled and meeting; Kansas City Area Life Sciences coordinating.
  • Working on financial model.
  • Involved in discussions: DST, Stowers Institute, and Kauffman.
  • Workshop on translational medicine conducted by Brookings Institute.
  • Under consideration: develop a new Translational Research Institute to be housed in its own building.


• The New UMKC Downtown Conservatory - Champion: Leo Morton, Chancellor, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
  • First step underway – a feasibility study of the project.
  • Study results to be released early 2012.

Contact:
Pam Whiting
(816) 374-5481
pamw@kcchamber.com

Lauren Wells
(816) 374-5460
lwells@kcchamber.com