Successes- KMK Consulting

Your skill as a consensus builder was the key to moving forward… As I have come to trust you for an impartial perspective on the complex issue of economic development, so have many other members of the Spokane community. This process could not have come along without that trust. You are talented as both an advocate and mediator… Your wealth of experience and keen sense of intuition was particularly useful for our situation.

Jim was consultant and partner that helped us pull it all together- we are convinced he is the best in his field… Jim McGraw became a part of our family. He speaks of we. He refers to us. He initiates our programs. He has gained the confidence and credibility of all the business community as being part of us.

C.R. “Bob” Bell
President (retired)
Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce
Omaha , Nebraska

I want you and others to know that this organization is richer in many ways because of our long association with you… I have been particularly impressed by your ability to see each situation as more than just a copy of a situation in another community, while at the same time bringing to bear the experience of many… Your structural and procedural recommendations are working. Some of the most important are working because of your skill in consulting with volunteer leadership.

Your wise counsel, tenacity, professionalism and commitment all contributed to what I know will be a most successful organization. More than anything, I think the efforts of the Alliance were successful because Jim McGraw cared about the outcome. Unfortunately, such cannot be said about too many people in the professional service business today… Any measure of success we have had, however, should largely be attributed to the personal attention of Jim McGraw and your sensitivity and commitment to his community. You helped set our sites at the highest levels. You provided the right combination of leadership, coaching, and badgering to get the job done.

You are the unsung hero. Much of our success is due to you, and without your guidance, counsel, and persistent hard work we clearly would not have achieved our current successes.

I want you to know how much I appreciate the considerable time and effort you and the KMK Team have dedicated to this effort in Charlotte . We could not have made this progress without your guidance and counsel… On behalf of Jim Hance, Ken Thompson, and Ed Shelton, please know we deeply appreciate and value our friendship and look forward to working with you again in the future.

Jim is an exemplar of the highest ethics and integrity in personal and business life… Jim is gifted with the ability to create vision and strategy as well as develop specific plans to achieve the goals of his projects… Jim has set the standard for the modern business civic organization in the United States … Jim’s engagement in any project assures its success, and a pleasant and memorable experience as well.

One of the smartest things we've ever done at the Partnership was hiring you as our consultant to undertake this daunting challenge. Your role as consensus builder, architect, strategist, funding guru and overall confidant made a huge difference in this entire endeavor. The BNE simply would not have happened without you.

Thank you for the great work that you do on behalf of so many throughout this land. I hope that we will continue to stay in touch. Please let me know if I can be of assistance in any way. My best to you and your family.

I would like to once again thank you for the impetus and formation of the Greater Rochester Enterprise. On behalf of our community, we owe you a huge thank you… The result of your impetus and contribution are omnipresent throughout the Greater Rochester community.

Against all odds, you were a catalyst for bringing the business and political community together in recognition of the need to re-market our region, and then raise a budget to do so… If you can make it happen here in Western New York , you can make it happen anywhere.

I am moved to tell you that OEDB simply would not have survived without your knowledge, tenacity, caring and skillful mentoring… At times, you believed in us more than we believed in ourselves… So Jim, because of your leadership, careful guidance and determination, I feel confident that OEDB and what it represents for Oahu and the state will prevail. Thank you again for all that you have done for us, you will always be a special part of our community.

You were invaluable in helping us learn from other communities, organize a structure that would work for us and gain confidence to get started. We would probably still be talking about doing something if we had not ha your assistance.

Your experience, guidance, advice, organization and professionalism, not to mention your attention to every detail, reminds me that without your involved contributions, I’m not certain we would have been successful in filling the President/CEO vacancy at Downtown Cincinnati, Inc… You endorsed and committed to the principle of absolute integrity and in doing so reinforced your value and the value of KMK.

Thank you so much for all that you did on the 3CDC search! It is a real pleasure working with you. Your level of professionalism and experience are outstanding! I know that we will work on things together in the future and I look forward to that.

On behalf of the Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge and the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership, Inc. I would like to thank you for the outstanding job KMK Consulting did for us on the Leadership Assessment & Organizational Structure Analysis. Not only was the work of the highest professional quality, you also saw our situation from a client’s perspective and performed the work in a tightened time frame to meet our specific needs… We could not have done this analysis alone and appreciate the sophisticated and challenging work of KMK Consulting in forming our strategic analysis.

Jim McGraw and his expert team of development consultants were extremely valuable in assisting the City in its redesign and staffing of key economic development functions… Jim McGraw and KMK did an outstanding job for the Mayor’s Economic Development Task force and have my highest accolades for the assiduous and professional way they worked with a diverse group of community and governmental representatives.

You played an absolutely critical role in facilitating the creation of a new economic de3vlopment initiative together with the associated fundraising program that has launched the Baton rouge Area chamber on a path to assured success. The tangible vibrancy that has emanated from these efforts will be self-sustaining, and our future is so much brighter. I can only offer the highest commendation for you professionalism and competence during this very important endeavor.

I feel like we’ve been a great team and that through your professionalism, hard work, dedication, caring and compassion we’ve achieved something of which others only dream. You must be very proud of all the work you’ve done this year and in the past to build the Tampa Bay Partnership and grow the Tampa Bay region.

You would be very pleased at how Advantage Carolina is coming along. It appears to have real staying power, and has made a real difference in the community. It was due to your efforts in getting it off the ground and on the right footing.

KMK Consulting has been an invaluable resource for many years to the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and our regional economic development initiative, the Cincinnati USA Partnership

Your abilities as a consensus builder, advisor, and advocate were essential to the successes of the Task Force. Throughout the entire process, you maintained the utmost level of professionalism… thanks again for all your hard work and commitment to the Task Force and the City.

We would not have had the great year had it not been for your significant contributions.

Jim effectively worked with us to rally the support. Bring together the private and public sector, and set a course for success. He continued to play a key role as advisor and confidant as we initiated our marketing plans… Jim’s commitment was unsurpassed. In more than 15 years in economic development, and having worked with a number of consultants, never before have I met a consultant who is so dedicated and passionate about the community he is working with… His guidance and leadership played a significant role in building a solid foundation that will help the Buffalo Niagara region achieve its goal.

I am certain that without KMK Consulting’s outstanding influence our community would not have realized the achievement that it did… with your guidance, we far exceeded our financial goal of $15 million… and perhaps as important as the financial success, you have led us through a strategic process that has created an avenue for the business leadership within Central Florida to become more involved in the future growth of the EDC and the region… You should be proud of the Accelerate 2008 accomplishments… we certainly are. We will call on you for advice and continue to consider KMK Consulting our partner.

The revenue base is at an all time high with unprecedented investor satisfaction and, most importantly, outstanding programic results… From a pure fundraising perspective, our Campaign exceeded all of our expectations. In addition to an unprecedented margin over goal in the history of our organization, we also now have reversed the public private funding ratio where we now enjoy 60% of MOEDC’s funding from the private sector… Our biggest success in our relationship with you and KMK Consulting has been the creation of the Governors Council… The leadership it has provided inside MOEDC and in the region has been fantastic… The level of your professionalism and your dedication to our community and our organization is in a class by itself. You delivered more than you promised. You were first class in everything you did.

Your group acted extremely professionally, exceeded its goals and helped our new management team stretch to do things and create new relationships which we never thought were possible. You are to be particularly congratulated for pushing hard and helping us to think outside the box.

Please accept my thanks and congratulations for a job well done. As you know, we were anxious to revamp the operational design of our Board of Directors in order to provide a structure aimed at achieving strategic goals. This is truly a daunting task for any organization, given the public-private nature of our organization, especially complex. Despite the difficulties, you and your staff performed with exceptional skill and style. The quality of your research , guidance and collective wisdom is tremendous and I am proud to extend my sincere admiration for the quality of your organization… You guidance and participation kept us on track so that we were able to receive approval of the new governance concept within about 6 months after launching the process, despite having 4 hurricanes in the middle of this complex task… We could not be happier with the outcome of this project, and remain grateful for your efforts.

KMK Consulting company has been a spectacular help to Baton Rouge , putting together a strategy that reinvented and refined our Chamber. You followed up on that role by helping us raise an amount of working capital that exceeded by significant numbers anything we had ever achieved in the past. You added to this achievement by helping the Chamber find and recruit an extraordinary senior management team… KMK provided the critical intellectual capacity and emotional energy to salvage a Chamber that was in disarray. You helped convert it, in record time, into the most influential civic group in our community. We are deeply indebted to you for this amazing portfolio of work.

It has been a pleasure to work with you and the great team there at KMK. You have assembled a talented, dedicated, and professional group of economic development experts. It is a great group of professionals working for the betterment of the community. I am very thankful for your help and support these past 3 years.

For those organizations who might consider using KMKC, I am pleased to lend my endorsement… I worked with the management of KCADC and KMK Consulting to significantly increase corporate funding to support KCADC’s expanded mission of attracting new business to our region. KMK earned the respect of management, the Board of Directors and KCADC’s member businesses as it set out the plan and led the capital campaign. The results achieved were significantly beyond expectations and left us well positioned for years to come.

You are simply and absolutely the best there is - and it shows in each and every one of your clients!!

We have successfully passed the goal set for the Campaign to Win… KMK deserves a big piece of the credit for making that happen. Your insights into our program, both strengths and weaknesses, your strategic approach to accountability and goal setting, and your knowledge of what is occurring in competitive markets were critical to our success. Finally, I have personally enjoyed working with the KMK team and have learned from the team. I believe I am today a better CEO as a result of the time we worked together.

On behalf of the Baton R ouge Area Chamber, I want to thank you for an outstanding sjob in overseeing the search for our head of Economic development. Your firm’s insight’s, contacts and professionalism helped us attract some great candidates as well as the ultimate find in Dave Wood. Throughout the process both you and Jim Benedict were invaluable to the committee and to me its co-chair. As you know there were a lot of bumps in the road, but you guys handled it so well and so professionally. What would we have done without you. I know that as we look back 5-10 years from now, we will remember that the best decision we made was to bring you guys on to help us in the process of building a better Baton Rouge .