UMB Financial CEO J. Mariner Kemper is featured in today's issue of USA Today -- along with his cousin, David Kemper -- of Commerce Bank.
Together, the two cousins run 2 of the top 3 banks in the United States based on Forbes Magazine's 2009 rankings (Bank of Hawaii is #1). Over the years, the two banks have made smart financial decisions that have kept them from being a part of the sub-prime mess that larger banks created over the past 3 years.
It's good PR for Kansas City -- and the strength of the financial institution has been good for Kansas City -- and the family's generous nature has been good for the city as well; helping fund a sports arena, public library improvements and a world class contemporary art museum.
It's just another example of how important strong local businesses are to the city.
Keep cheering for the monied class. They don't care about you.
Posted by: TKC | May 27, 2010 at 02:50 PM
Actually, for a lot of reasons they do. They give back to the local community. Both companies tend to use local vendors for their needs(which creates more jobs) vs shipping these jobs out of town, and my tax dollars didn't get used to bail them out of a hot-mess because they got involved in the subprime mess.
They don't care about me -- but KC is a better place because they are here.
Posted by: Brent | May 27, 2010 at 03:15 PM
This would be even better if the CEOs actually lived in Kansas City, instead of Denver and St. Louis. It's really cause for concern about keeping UMB and Commerce as local independent businesses when the few family members left aren't interested in living in the communities where the businesses are based.
Posted by: Eric Rogers | May 28, 2010 at 08:22 AM