Community Builders of Kansas City

Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC) was at a crossroads as an organization. CBKC had very early success as an impactful Community Development Corporation. In recent years, it had the benefit of a parent company that forgave debt and financed its operations and projects. It was when that parent company decided to cease operation that resulted in a harsh realization for CBKC: they needed to become more market driven and sustainable.

At that time, the current CEO was a master of managing debt, able to get the current real estate portfolio to perform well enough to manage critical operations. Nonetheless, the new issue of consistent and secure funding loomed, and different skill sets were needed from executive leadership.

SGA Strategies effectively engaged the board, staff and CEO simultaneously to facilitate succession planning and strategic planning. The result? A ceremonious retirement of the current CEO, the on-boarding of a new CEO and the completion of the organizations’ new strategic plan. This organizational transformation has resulted in over $45 million of new investments in the first 18 months of the new CEO’s tenure.

One of the SGA Strategies’ contributions was helping CBKC obtain an $800,000 Federal grant to acquire a closing grocery store. Had the store closed, there would have been a significant food desert for that Kansas City community.