SoftBank Corp. has agreed to appoint a U.S. government-approved “security director” to the wireless phone company’s board to address national security concerns. It made the unusual commitment to several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, as it presses for federal approval of its agreement to buy 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion.
It was a safe bet that Cerner Corp. would once again lead the The Star’s rankings as the region’s top-performing public company. Cerner, the nation’s second-largest company that helps hospitals and doctors’ offices convert paper files into computerized medical records, is in a sweet spot. Other top-ranked companies here do business in areas that have an edge: energy, rail transit and online government services.
The already-hefty pay packages of many public-company executives bulged last year, thanks to higher values of their company stocks. Million-dollar base salaries – as paid to Cerner Corp. CEO Neal Patterson (pictured) and Waddell & Reed Financial CEO Hank Herrmann – are only the beginning. For most of the bigger-company CEOs, stock awards, options and “non-equity incentive” compensation dwarf their base pay.
More than three years after it closed, Westport mainstay The Corner Restaurant has been resurrected in the same spot but with new owners, a new decor and new menu. Executive chef Natasha Sears said the kitchen uses many local vendors, and makes about 90 percent of the menu from scratch on-site.
Oak Park Mall said it has signed local fast-casual chain Ingredient for its food court. Menu items include salads, grilled sandwiches, soups, wraps and panini, burgers, and gourmet pizzas.
A new survey of the oldest baby boomers finds that more than half already are fully retired, confounding predictions that they would work longer.
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will close its two Australian auto plants, ending production in the country in 2016, amid soaring manufacturing costs and plummeting sales.
Centric Projects, a commercial general construction firm, and HighTower Group, a commercial furnishing company, will move in August to the former Western Blue building at 1814 Main St.
The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce recognized the real estate company as its 2013 Small Business of the Year and winner of the Mr. K Award, named after the late Ewing Kauffman, founder of Marion Laboratories and original owner of the Kansas City Royals.
Reaction to my last column allowing that the advocates of a new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport might have a decent case was certainly bracing. Most of the more than 100 callers, emailers and kansascity.com commenters batted me roundly about. But many others allied themselves with the single-terminal advocates.
After fully hashing out pros and cons, Kansas Citians may want to stick with the old flame. To carry the day, new-airport advocates will have to heavily restack the deck of arguments in their favor. That’s what’s going to be required to toss over a 40-year love affair.
