Four local businesses repped the Kansas City area on Fortune's inaugural ranking of the nation's most innovative companies.
According to the magazine's methodology, the new list highlights 300 companies based on three equally weighted categories:
- product innovation — evaluates a company's products and services through an analysis of its intellectual property portfolio and a survey of experts.
- process innovation — reviews all processes of a company, including sourcing, production, marketing, sales and support, through a survey of employees and experts.
- innovation culture — measures how a company fosters a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity internally and allows teams to implement new ideas through surveys with employees and experts.
Fortune and Statista, a Hamburg, Germany-based consumer data and market research firm, surveyed "thousands of employees and experts, including management consultants, patent attorneys, recruiters, and HR experts" between Aug. 16 and Dec. 23.
Here's a look at the four locally based companies that made the cut:
- No. 71: The University of Kansas Health System (Kansas City, Kansas)
- No. 74: H&R Block Inc. (Kansas City)
- No. 122: Burns & McDonnell (Kansas City)
- No. 227: Academy Bank (Kansas City)
"Innovation is the lifeblood of transformation and I'm proud that our culture, which fosters new ideas and risk taking, is being recognized," Jeff Jones, CEO of H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), said in a Wednesday release. "New services and technology that enhance our clients' experiences are a key focus as we stay true to our purpose to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere."
Three of the four Kansas City-area businesses on Fortune's ranking also appeared on a recent Forbes list of the nation's best large employers.
In 2022, Fast Company ranked another Kansas City-based business, Populous, as the No. 1 most innovative company in architecture. The firm ranked No. 32 on that magazine's overall list of the world's 50 most innovative companies.
Returning to the new Fortune ranking, here's a look at the component rankings for 11 Missouri companies and one Kansas business that made the new innovative companies list:
Four of the companies above also ranked on the most recent Fortune 500. They are:
- No. 26: Centene
- No. 199: Emerson Electric
- No. 279: O'Reilly Automotive
- No. 303: Jones Financial (Edward Jones)
H&R Block ranked No. 741 on the extended part of the Fortune 500.
