(KANSAS CITY, Kan.) — Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities’ (BPU) General Manager Bill Johnson has been named to Ingram’s Magazine’s annual list of the 250 Most Powerful Business Leaders throughout the Greater Kansas City Region.
Each year, Ingram’s identifies the most influential executives out of the 2.8 million individuals in the metropolitan area, recognizing these persons as “power brokers who lead organizations that are attaining measurable levels of success and growth…while elevating the entire region’s commercial success, vibrancy and quality of life.”
Under Bill Johnson’s leadership, the BPU continues to be recognized as one of the top municipal utilities in the nation.
As detailed in the September 2021 Issue of Ingram’s, Johnson shared the challenges of operating the public utility during the pandemic including decreased revenues and increases on the costs of commonly used supplies which forced the utility to suspend or cut back a significant number of capital improvement projects. He added a key component throughout the COVID pandemic has been and continues to be the safety of BPU employees and the customers BPU serves.
He is a past president of Kansas Municipal Utilities and a current board member for the United Way of Greater Kansas City, as well as past board member of the Boys & Girls Club. Johnson is a member of the American Public Power Association (APPA), the Rocky Mountain Electric League (RMEL) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and past President of the Kansas-Missouri chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy.
Among his career-achievement awards, he has earned the distinguished “Black Achievers Award” from the Southern Christian Leadership Council and the “Black Man of Distinction Award” from the Friends of Yates. Most recently Johnson was named a recipient of the “2020 Industry Leadership Award” from RMEL and the 2021 “Mark Crisson Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award” from APPA.
Ingram’s is recognized as one of the top business publications in Kansas and Missouri. In its fifth year of recognition, this year’s 2021 Ingram’s 250 Class includes a wide variety of “power brokers and decision makers” including builders, educators, realtors, lawyers, developers, bankers, nonprofit heads, and elected officials, among others. Here is a direct link to this year’s publication: Ingram’s 250 September 2021 Digital Edition