Cerner

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beautyfromashes
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Cerner

Post by beautyfromashes »

Neal Patterson, CEO and co-founder of Cerner, passed away from cancer a few days ahead go. He has a strong legacy for helping the metro as a whole but did very little to promote the urban core. Does a new leader at one of our largest employers change this? Will we see more done by the company to bring jobs and human activity back downtown?
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Re: Cerner

Post by brewcrew1000 »

I don't think they will change this at all, i remember a quote by another Cerner like company moving here a few years ago say something like "Downtown Buildings" do not fit the office type/environment of health software companies or something to that affect
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Re: Cerner

Post by earthling »

Many companies say they want large floor plates, but there are two massive lots prime for developing hirise with large floor plates - 8th/Central area and East Village. It's also about parking. It's cheaper to get thousands of spaces in greenfield burbs than building mega garages. Until KC gets better metro transit, drawing large companies downtown will continue to be a challenge.
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Re: Cerner

Post by nomadcowatbk »

brewcrew1000 wrote:I don't think they will change this at all, i remember a quote by another Cerner like company moving here a few years ago say something like "Downtown Buildings" do not fit the office type/environment of health software companies or something to that affect
how many software developers are in dowtown SF or Seattle? they all seem to love suburban office parks
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Re: Cerner

Post by pash »

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Last edited by pash on Thu Aug 10, 2017 3:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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WSPanic
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Re: Cerner

Post by WSPanic »

Maybe now that Patterson has passed on, we can finally make all of Cerner campuses pedestrian-only euro villages.

...sorry. Wrong thread.
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Re: Cerner

Post by NorthOak »

I spoke with someone from Cerner this week at lunch. I know the guy pretty well.
He is a former MO politician, lobbyist and is now with Cerner.
He lives in Belton, I won't mention his title but he is a C level player and reps Cerner nationally and internationally.

I mentioned the idea of Cerner doing something big downtown and the slight possibility that the 87th St campus not being fully built out. He actually bristled and was offended. He then went on to trash downtown, the city of KCMO and said Cerner will never, ever do anything downtown from his perspective. He mentioned how there was discussion with Cleaver (yeah way back in the 90's) and Cerner working with the city doing something downtown. He claims that Cleaver repeatedly blew them off as "small potatoes" and completely dismissed them. Not a single incentive or help was offered, not even a possible location for further discussion. He said Cleaver came across as a complete novice and local "Boss" idiot. He went on to say it all made sense looking back as Cleaver knew little about business. He had scammed a low-interest Govt loan under the guise of inner city revitalization, didn't pay taxes, the car wash eventually went bankrupt, etc, etc...

I asked him about now...."what about today?" "It's a different city, different downtown, different leadership."
I mentioned how millennials seem to want an urban experience and lifestyle over the burbs, etc.
He said they had obviously developed relations with the city again and had made a significant investment in KCMO.
He claims he has not heard, nor has had any discussion with a single person at Cerner in having any interest at all in downtown. Granted, this guy was still clueless about downtown, urban life, amenities, etc. But there seems to be a real bias against downtown that was ingrained long ago. Cerner itself seems pretty childish to hold a grudge from back in the 90's.
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Re: Cerner

Post by beautyfromashes »

^ Disappointed to hear the wholly lack of interest in DT. For a forward-thinking company, seems kind of short-sighted. Of course, I tend to agree with the assessment on Cleaver. I really don't understand how he gets so much credibility in this town. I can't think of a single large project that he championed that much helped the city and he gets a street named after him and a Congressional seat. Smh
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Re: Cerner

Post by KCMOJoe89 »

NorthOak wrote:I spoke with someone from Cerner this week at lunch. I know the guy pretty well.
He is a former MO politician, lobbyist and is now with Cerner.
He lives in Belton, I won't mention his title but he is a C level player and reps Cerner nationally and internationally.

I mentioned the idea of Cerner doing something big downtown and the slight possibility that the 87th St campus not being fully built out. He actually bristled and was offended. He then went on to trash downtown, the city of KCMO and said Cerner will never, ever do anything downtown from his perspective. He mentioned how there was discussion with Cleaver (yeah way back in the 90's) and Cerner working with the city doing something downtown. He claims that Cleaver repeatedly blew them off as "small potatoes" and completely dismissed them. Not a single incentive or help was offered, not even a possible location for further discussion. He said Cleaver came across as a complete novice and local "Boss" idiot. He went on to say it all made sense looking back as Cleaver knew little about business. He had scammed a low-interest Govt loan under the guise of inner city revitalization, didn't pay taxes, the car wash eventually went bankrupt, etc, etc...

I asked him about now...."what about today?" "It's a different city, different downtown, different leadership."
I mentioned how millennials seem to want an urban experience and lifestyle over the burbs, etc.
He said they had obviously developed relations with the city again and had made a significant investment in KCMO.
He claims he has not heard, nor has had any discussion with a single person at Cerner in having any interest at all in downtown. Granted, this guy was still clueless about downtown, urban life, amenities, etc. But there seems to be a real bias against downtown that was ingrained long ago. Cerner itself seems pretty childish to hold a grudge from back in the 90's.
“In our conversations with Cerner, the CEO (the late Neal Patterson) was focused on a suburban development,” Schulte said. “He didn’t see his organization interested in downtown. He wanted parking and wanted to be to his suburban home in 15 minutes.”

https://cityscenekc.com/developers-conf ... o-tighten/
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Re: Cerner

Post by DaveKCMO »

that thinking didn't end with patterson...
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Re: Cerner

Post by flyingember »

I like how he basically said the decision made was self-centered, that him getting home was a key decision, not picking the location that served the business/workers best.
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Re: Cerner

Post by brewcrew1000 »

I don't know if I really see any current business leader in this community moving downtown, i think KCMO will only be able to attract companies that are located in more Progressive areas/expensive areas or a new CEO takes over one our current companies come from a big city that has seen what moving downtown does to your talent pool.

Take the company BATS, its a great company that just seems like it would fit perfect Downtown, since they work with Wall Street Firms and probably want to schmooze with them but the person that started that company is a church going man and lives out in Lenexa, so he probably has the same mindset as Patterson.

I truly think we have a better shot of getting getting the numerous Insurance companies HQ in downtown Des Moines or companies like Kewit, Conagra, Union Pacific in Omaha relocating to downtown KCMO then we do with our current powerhouse companies like Cerner, Garmin, Black and Veatch and I think its kind of sad because Cerner, Garmin and Black and Veatch have a large talent pool of young/professional/high paying workforce.
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Re: Cerner

Post by earthling »

^Generally agree. It's still a challenge for downtown to attract even under 1K local employers when CEO wants to live in distant burbs. And free endless parking in the burbs! Forget about over 1K employers unless a branch office of outsider companies - or the Feds.
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Re: Cerner

Post by KCtonic »

I won't name names, but FWIW, one of the inside candidates mentioned in the KCBJ article to replace Patterson actually does live downtown.
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Re: Cerner

Post by WoodDraw »

Has Cerner, or their principals, ever invested anything downtown? Or in the urban core?
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Re: Cerner

Post by beautyfromashes »

Only thing I can think of is Sporting Innovations. With all they have influenced out of the city, including moving the American Royal to the speedway, I'd say they have been a net negative contributor to DT and the urban core.
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Re: Cerner

Post by WSPanic »

WoodDraw wrote:Has Cerner, or their principals, ever invested anything downtown? Or in the urban core?
Does the Sporting KC HQ and No Other Pub count?
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Re: Cerner

Post by WoodDraw »

WSPanic wrote:
WoodDraw wrote:Has Cerner, or their principals, ever invested anything downtown? Or in the urban core?
Does the Sporting KC HQ and No Other Pub count?
I don't know enough about the business behind either of those to say anything. If anyone else done, feel free. Soccer obviously is very urban, and most supporters groups go downtown.

I still wish Sporting KC was on the river.
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