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THE BRUSH CREEK BULLETIN Volume 5, Issue 1 January 2003   TREADWAY TO BECOME CONDOS Treadway Hall, a former University of Missouri-Kansas City dormitory at 5401 Brookside Blvd., will undergo a $13 million to $18 million renovation to become The Crestwood condominiums. Closed since 1997, the 83 year-old building was originally the historic Brookside Hotel. The conversion is being led by printing executive Ralph Myers and architect Fred Truog. Their purchase, which the University of Missouri's Board of Curators approved in September, is to close by March 30 with pre-sales of the unit to begin next spring and construction to start next fall. Plans call for building more than 40 residential units, including eight penthouse units with extensive decks, with move-in anticipated in the summer of 2004. COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE To introduce Proposed MASTER PLAN CONCEPTS For THE BRUSH CREEK PARKWAY Sponsored by the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department and the BRUSH CREEK CORRIDOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN Sponsored by Brush Creek Community Partners WEDNESDAY, February 19 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. BRUSH CREEK COMMUNITY CENTER 3801 Brush Creek Boulevard For More information call The Parks and Recreation Department at 816-513-7625 Or Brush Creek Community Partners at 816-523-2991 PANEL CHARGES UMKC WITH BOLD LIFE SCIENCES AGENDA A blue-ribbon task force examining the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s role in the community’s emerging life sciences focus has underscored the university’s indispensable role as a partner in Kansas City’s move toward leadership in the nation’s life sciences enterprise. Since last summer, the UMKC Life Sciences Task Force studied the potential of the university achieving excellence in life sciences and the resources needed for it to be realized. The task force concluded that Kansas City’s own aspirations for developing significant strength in life sciences are reasonable and great progress toward the community’s goals can be made. The task force, chaired by Dr. William Danforth, Washington University chancellor emeritus, said the desired progress will require strong academic science centered at the university. This will depend on: strong scientific leadership, focus, resources, and “a commitment to work together with partners within UMKC and the greater Kansas City area to share ideas and resources for the good of the entire enterprise.” The task force projects effective implementation of its recommendations would require $115 million over the next ten years for research staff and equipment and $46 million in the next four years for building improvements. UMKC Chancellor Martha Gilliland called the report a framework for a ten-year growth plan for the university. The panel estimates the 50 new faculty members recruited for life sciences will generate $25 million a year in current dollars of external research funding. “This will lead directly to new jobs associated with increased research activity, and to increased tax revenue.” The report also finds that perhaps more significantly, “a higher level of life sciences research activity will serve to make the region more attractive for life sciences companies.” This can result in commercial activity that will arise from the spin off of technology and intellectual capital from university research,” the report said. “While it would be difficult to quantify the impact of this commercial activity, we note that the impact of the biotechnology industry on the U.S. economy is significant. The industry has been growing rapidly, more than tripling in size from 1992 ($8 billion in revenue) to 2001 ($28 billion in revenue). In 2001, U.S. biotechnology firms directly employed 179,000 workers, and those firms’ purchases from other companies and spending by their employees are estimated to have generated another 340,000 jobs. In Massachusetts alone, biotechnology companies employed over 30,000 workers in 2001. “If the Kansas City area is able to increase the level of its life sciences research in a meaningful way, the potential economic impact resulting from increased commercial biotechnology activity will not be trivial,” the task force concluded. President of the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute William Duncan said the institute is very supportive of the task force’s conclusions. The institute was created in 2000 by civic leadership to focus on capitalizing on Kansas City’s potential as an international forerunner in life sciences development. Its formation was spurred by the founding of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and the significant investment in life sciences research by Kansas Citians Jim and Virginia Stowers. “The funding recommendations are part of the overall life sciences initiative in Kansas City,” said Duncan. “Clearly it would be a huge shot in the arm for Kansas City if these recommendations are fulfilled. UMKC needs the community and the state getting behind this effort for that to happen.” In addition to Danforth, the task force included: Nobel Prize winner Dr. Phil Sharpe from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr. Robert Morantz, retired Kansas City neurosurgeon; Dr. William Neaves, president and chief executive officer of the Stowers Institute; and Dr. Steven Ballard, UMKC provost. NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR COMMUNITY EXCELLENCE The University of Missouri-Kansas City has established three Excellence in Community Engagement Awards. The awards are designed to accelerate progress toward UMKC’s goals of being a national leader in scholarship and creative activity; attracting, nurturing and developing responsible community leaders; and being an essential community partner and resource. The Chancellor’s Award recognizes UMKC faculty for outstanding engagement in public problem-solving and excellence in scholarship that addresses critical community concerns or leadership in academic service-learning. The award winner will receive a $5,000 cash award. The Provost’s Award recognizes an academic unit that has made engagement with the community a central aspect of its program’s approach to student learning and scholarship. The award winner will receive a $5,000 cash award to be used to enhance its engagement activities. The Center for the City Award recognizes a community-based organization for its leadership and exemplary partnership with UMKC toward the revitalization of Kansas City’s urban core. The award winner will receive a $1,000 cash award. Any person may nominate any UMKC faculty, academic unit or community-based organization. Nominations should be submitted to UMKC’s Center for the City before 5:00 p.m, February 15. The awards will be announced at Commencement in May. Contact The Center for the City at 816-235-6100 or check out its website at www.umkc.edu/centerforthecity for more information. COMMUNITY BUILDERS' PROGRAM OFFERS YOUTH OPPORTUNITY Six students received their general equivalency high school diploma last month from a program designed for youth who started going down the wrong path in life. Since Community Builders of Kansas City started YouthBuild-CBKC three years ago, its students have constructed tool sheds for Habitat for Humanity houses, remodeled two dwellings and built a house on 59th Street that will be sold through a drawing to a low-income family. Community Builders Vice President Chuck Gatson and Victor Martin, who was a counselor at Swope Parkway Health Center, saw the program as a way to address the problems of joblessness and lack of education. The Kansas City program helps people ages 17 to 24 by teaching them construction skills and providing them with education and counseling. Nearly all the program’s 14 graduates have been placed with construction companies, says Martin, who now serves as director of Youth Build-CBKC. Currently 19 students are enrolled in the program, which is modeled after YouthBuild USA, which began in 1978. The program is financed with federal grants and funds from the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Students are referred to the program through the Full Employment Council. MRI AWARDED CONTRACT OF HALF A BILLION DOLLARS The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded Midwest Research Institute (MRI), a five-year contract for up to $500 million. Through the award, MRI will provide engineering, chemical, and biological analysis research and development for the DOD's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. If the contract reaches its potential for MRI, the institute will add scientists and other technical staff in Kansas City. The contract was announced in December by U.S. Senator Kit Bond of Missouri. "I am excited about this great announcement for MRI and what it means for Kansas City," said Bond. "This is another signal that Missouri institutions are leading the effort in fighting the war against terror." "The work that will be done in Kansas City under this contract has the potential to save millions of lives in the event of a catastrophic event involving biological or chemical weapons of mass destruction," said Jim Spigarelli, MRI president and chief executive officer. MRI has more than 35 years of experience in the method development, analysis, testing, and safe handling of military chemical agent compounds. For additional information on MRI visit its website at www.mriresearch.org.   KCAI AMONG THE BEST The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) was recently named one of America’s Best Small Colleges® by Institutional Research & Evaluation Inc. KCAI is one of only two art schools and one of only eight Missouri schools to receive this honor. To be considered for the designation, a college must be an accredited four-year institution offering four-year degrees; offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services; and have had an entering freshman class in the fall of 2001 with a high school grade-point average and/or SAT/ACT score equal to or above the national average for freshman enrolling at institutions of enrollments at or under 1,000. KCAI is a private, independent four-year college of fine art and design. Founded in 1885, it is the oldest arts organization in Kansas City, Missouri. Institutional Research & Evaluation Inc. is an independent research and consulting organization specializing in the recruiting and retention of students for institutions of higher education. PARTNER UPDATES Rockhurst University is seeking comments from the public about the university in preparation for its upcoming evaluation by its regional accrediting agency. Rockhurst will undergo a regularly scheduled comprehensive examination this spring by a team representing the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The public is invited to submit comments related to the quality of the university or its academic programs by February 28 to: Public Comment of Rockhurst University, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, 30 North LaSalle St., Ste. 2400, Chicago, IL 60602. Dan Bradbury, director of the Kansas City Public Library since 1983, is retiring effective January 31. Bradbury, a member of the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors since 1999, is a native of Kansas City. Through his leadership, the library has combined commercial development with construction of a new, larger Plaza Library facility at a greatly reduced cost to the taxpayers. Ground was broken on the $70 million Plaza Colonnade last month; it is expected to open next year. The library system serves 260,000 residents through a Main Library and nine branches, two of which are located in the boundaries of the Brush Creek Corridor. Saint Luke’s Health System (SLHS) has announced introduction of two electronic innovations to improve patient care and customer service. Through a pilot program, eNATAL, an Internet-based care system, electronic prenatal records will be available in the exam rooms of two of the system’s community service clinics that serve uninsured and underinsured patients. Saint Luke’s clinicians plan to extend the program to other prenatal care clinics in the metropolitan area. SLHS has also announced it is the first health system in the area to offer online capabilities for consumers to check the status of their hospital and medical bills and make payments through eAccount Manager, available on the health system’s website. The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) has received a $5.4 million contemporary art collection aimed at advancing the study of how creativity occurs. The collection is a gift of the John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation of Kansas City. It includes various media including print, paintings, photography, sculpture, ceramics and furniture by internationally-recognized artists. All parts of the collection are available by request for tours and exhibitions nationally. More than two years ago UMKC and the foundation created a partnership to create a new kind of art center that allows students, artists and scholars to research and study. Ultimately the collection will be housing a facility at the site of the historic Freightways Building near the Volker campus overlooking Brush Creek. Several members of Brush Creek Community Partners were among the large group of organizations that created a web-based clearinghouse to offer housing program information and a searchable database of rental housing free to the community. The Kansas City Fannie Mae Partnership Office, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, UMKC, and the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance were among the more than 30 for-profit, not-for-profit and government agencies involved in funding or developing the website, which was launched last month. People seeking rental housing and property providers wishing to advertise their properties for free may access the service through any Internet-enabled computer by entering the Web address, www.socialserve.com, and selecting the appropriate link.   ROB GIVENS ENVISIONS THE SIGNS OF $UCCESS As President and Chief Executive Officer of Mazuma Credit Union and one of the newest members of the Brush Creek Community Partners Board of Directors, Rob Givens can tell you what signs of success would look like, and they wouldn’t be advertising payday loans or instant check cashing. When Givens joined Mazuma in August 2001, it was the second largest credit union in the Kansas City area with $250 million in assets, seven branch offices, 50,000 members and 160 employees. Mazuma has been an active BCCP member since 1999 and Givens was elected to its board last November. The BCCP membership is clearly more than a gesture. In 2002 Mazuma opened a branch on Blue Parkway in the FirstGuard building east of Troost. “That is now our second most active branch,” Givens said. The commitment is paying off for the credit union and the community. “Unlike a bank, we (the credit union) are a cooperative; we’re member-owned. We have an mission to do what’s in the best interest of our members.” Givens explained that means providing information and cost-effective financial services to the area. Rob Givens Providing education and access “I’m committed to educating our members and lifting them out of payday loans and check cashing and into mainstream financial services, so they can participate on an equal footing in the economics of the midtown area.” Givens is also chairman of the Payday Lending Alternatives Task Force on behalf of the Missouri Credit Union Association to provide input to Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell. With 16 years of credit union experience, he is committed to the philosophy of people cooperating to help each other, “especially where I can see it makes a difference in the community of the financially disadvantaged.” He brings the same approach — provide education and access to financial services — to the Brush Creek Corridor by making a financial counselor, paid for with grant money from Community Builders of Greater Kansas City, available to the midtown community. New and committed to Kansas City Although Givens grew up in St. Louis and went to school in Lawrence, he is new to, but “loving” Kansas City. He sees “there is tremendous potential to make this a wonderful revitalized area.” Givens added, “There are very talented people working toward positive outcomes, and I appreciate being a part of this work.” And he knows about different kinds of work. Givens spent 11 years in the U.S. Air Force as a navigator, accounting and finance officer and education officer. He has worked in private industry in marketing, software development and data processing. Before moving to Kansas City, he served as chief financial officer and president and chief executive officer of several credit unions in California and Nevada.