U.S. Engineering Company and partners BNIM, JE Dunn Construction, and Mark One Electric recently received the Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship at the 32nd Annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The celebration was Dec. 5 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which was a focal point for the night.

The four companies worked together to build the Kauffman Center. In a video introducing the award, event co-chair Bill Gautreaux talked about the four companies:

“Collaborating on the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is where social entrepreneurship all came together for these four companies. BNIM brought their leadership in the sustainability movement, which dates back to a 1989 presentation at the AIA National Conference. U.S. Engineering brought creativity and caring for the public, which is evident in their youth mentorship program. Mark One brought their problem solving abilities, which are visible all over our metro area neighborhoods. And JE Dunn brought their focus on culture, which continues to grow through their active employee owners. As the project teams for these four companies came together, they transformed a single sketch into deep thoughtfulness on important issues that ultimately transformed the community.”

Moshe Safdie, who was the Kauffman Center architect, was named the International Entrepreneur of the Year. Sandy and Christine Kemper received the Regional Entrepreneurs of the Year award. UMKC student Chad Feather was honored as Student Entrepreneur of the Year

The program was sponsored by the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at UMKC. All proceeds from the event directly benefit the student and community programs at the Bloch School’s Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.