Your Chamber at Work - March 28, 2022

FROM THE KC CHAMBER'S PRESIDENT AND CEO

The Board of Police Commissioners of Kansas City, Missouri, has begun the search for a new Chief of Police, following the announcement of the retirement of Police Chief Rick Smith.

Given KCMO’s high rate of violent crime, this is a critical decision facing our community and we believe the community has both the right and the obligation to express its opinion regarding that decision.

To that end, the KC Chamber and 15 other local organizations are collaborating to hold a series of “Listening Sessions” throughout the city to allow residents to share their vision for the qualities they’d like to see in KCMO’s next Chief of Police. The six sessions are in all parts of the community – from north to south. To facilitate discussion, the West Side session will be bilingual (Spanish and English) and the Northeast session will be multilingual. To register for any one of those sessions, please click here. The first session will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Northland Neighborhoods, Inc., 5340 NE Chouteau Trafficway, KCMO.

For those unable to attend any of the sessions, we’ve also posted an online survey to generate additional feedback. You’ll find the survey here.

The Listening Sessions are patterned after a similar and successful process used by the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce during that city’s search for a new chief.

Most of the organizations that comprise our coalition are business organizations. Some may ask why so many business organizations are involved in this effort. The answer is simple: the high rate of violent crime affects our employees, our companies, our quality of life, as well as our community’s ability to attract and retain businesses.

We have two goals for this process: to determine the qualities that the community feels will be most valuable in the next police chief, and to strengthen community trust between Kansas City area residents and the KCMO police department. We plan to report our findings from the Listening Sessions to the Board of Police Commissioners.

The Chamber is very pleased to be a part of this significant coalition of organizations. Those organizations include:

• Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Kansas City
• Black Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City
• Civic Council of Greater Kansas City
• Downtown Council
• Getting to the Heart of the Matter
• Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
• Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce
• Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City
• Hispanic Economic Development Corporation
• KC Common Good
• Northeast Chamber of Commerce
• Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Prospect Business Association
• South Kansas City Alliance
• South Kansas City Chamber of Commerce

DEADLINE AHEAD: NOMINATE ACES BY APRIL 1

Who are the unsung heroes of diversity in your organization? Ace Award honorees are not c-level executives, but may be nominated by them. Aces understand that growing diversity in your organization will have a positive effect on culture, creativity, and the bottom line. Nominate candidates for the Ace Awards by April 1. The Awards will be presented on July 20 at the KC Chamber’s POWER of Diversity Breakfast to 3 outstanding employees who are putting in the work to increase diversity in their company and their community. Nominate here. CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Evergy, and Hallmark are the 2022 Presenting Diversity Sponsors; Cornerstone Diversity Sponsors are American Century, Bayer, Kauffman Foundation, JE Dunn, Lockton, REACH Healthcare Foundation, Saint Luke’s Health System, T-Mobile, and Waddell & Reed.

BRING YOUR JOBS, MEET GREAT WORKERS

On April 15, you can meet your new neighbors who want to work hard for you and provide a good life for their families. Welcoming KC is presenting a traditional job fair to connect employers with jobs to immigrants and refugees, a critical workforce population. We’re now seeking businesses in any industry with jobs to fill. In addition to meeting our partners who will bring the potential employees to this event, you can learn about the supports available from resettlement agencies and interpreters. The April 15 job fair will be held in person at the North Kansas City YMCA, 1999 Iron Street, North Kansas City, MO from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Partners on this event include Catholic Charities of NE Kansas, Jewish Vocational Services of Kansas City, Della Lamb Community Services, and North Kansas City YMCA. Reach out to Jessica Gall, jgall@kcchamber.com, for more information or you can sign up for the job fair here. Welcoming KC’s overall sponsor is REACH Healthcare Foundation. Pillar sponsors of Welcoming KC include Commerce Bank, CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Hallmark, and Polsinelli.

MEET THE CANDIDATES, APRIL 21

It’s time for the first event of the 2022 Small Business Celebration! Join us in-person in the Grand Plaza at Union Station on April 21 as the candidates for Small Business of the Year, Legacy Award, Emerging Business Award, Equity Award, and Weida Award for International Small Business gather expo-style to show you their products and services. Be there at the Candidates’ Showcase, presented by American Century Investments, from 5-7 p.m. Admission is $10 and includes food, drink tickets, and parking. Register here. This event will also mark the start of Honeywell Fan Favorite voting. It’s a good time for sure, and a great way to learn more about and show your support for some of the region’s best small businesses. 2022 Small Business Programming is presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and Evergy. Our CEO Sponsor is Honeywell. Our Candidates’ Showcase Presenting Sponsor is American Century Investments. Our Top 10 Announcement Presenting Sponsor is UMB Bank. Our Top 10 Reception Presenting Sponsor is Bank Midwest. Our Awards Luncheon Presenting Sponsor is Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Our Executive Sponsor is CommunityAmerica Credit Union. Our Partner Sponsor is H&R Block. Our Associate Sponsors are Arvest Bank, Country Club Bank, Enterprise Bank & Trust, Mazuma Credit Union, Menlo and US Bank. Superstar Sponsors are Startland News and FastSigns.

NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKING AT BISON STATE BANK

The experts at Bison State Bank can help you make your best financial decisions. Get to know them on April 8 at the next Neighborhood Networking. The bank is located at 9201 Ward Parkway, in Kansas City, MO. We’ll be there from 8:30 to 10 a.m. for coffee and networking. It’s free for KC Chamber members and $15 for non-members. Register here. The KC Chamber’s overall networking sponsors are Delta Dental and Mazuma Credit Union; Neighborhood Networking sponsors are Bardavon Health Innovations, Kansas City Current, and Unbound.