The 22nd Annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner recognizes entrepreneurs, their achievement, and the inspiration they impart.

Cara Wallingford was one of nearly 900 people who attended the 22nd Annual Entrepreneur of the Year awards dinner on October 8, hosted by the Bloch School at UMKC and the Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

She was one of only a few who actually met one of the International Entrepreneurs of the Year, Kate Spade, who with Andy Spade (not in attendance) forms the dynamic duo behind designer brand kate spade NEW YORK. Their line of handbags, beauty products, shoes, babyware, eyeware, tableware, stationery, sheets, and wallpaper was recently bought by Liz Claiborne from Neiman Marcus for $124 million.

And Wallingford, a UMKC junior who plans to major in sociology and minor in business, was possibly the only person at the dinner to walk away with an autograph, a nudge of encouragement—and Kate Spade’s personal contact information.

Wallingford and her best friend Annie Lane dream of starting their own fashion business. The two girls have known each other since second grade—and fashion, in some form, has always been in their sights. In sixth grade, they launched a minibusiness selling bracelets and necklaces to fashion savvy fourth graders, and later at St. Teresa’s Academy, Kate Spade’s own alma mater, the two teenagers found a passion for snowboarding.

Their love for fashion and snowboarding collided when Wallingford and Lane started volunteering for Boarding for Breast Cancer and decided to pitch t-shirt designs for the next ESPN Winter X Games. Their dream of a fashion business that caters to hip, edgy young women has begun to look like a reality.

Meeting Kate Spade—a Kansas City native, alumna of St. Teresa’s, and fashion guru—that, says Wallingford, was validation.

“When you’re in school and you have these dreams, they seem impossible,” says Wallingford. “But when see somebody who has had the exact same dreams go from exactly where you are, well, then you realize it is possible.”

But it wasn’t just the call of Kate Spade that sparked Wallingford’s excitement. Wallingford also welcomed the chance to hear from other local entrepreneurs who have turned their dreams into entrepreneurial realities.

“Attending the dinner as whole was really educational,” she says. “When you’re starting a business, you’re starting from nothing. Seeing people who’ve started there and made it all the way to the top is inspirational. It’s a kick forward.”

In addition to Kate and Andy Spade, the awards dinner celebrated the following entrepreneurs who are helping to grow Kansas City business and communities:

Regional Entrepreneur of the Year: L. William Zahner, CEO of A. Zahner Co.

A. Zahner Company is a 110-year old architectural and artistic metal fabrication firm. The company engineers, fabricates and installs metal on projects across the United States. Zahner received an Honorary AIA from the American Institute of Architects and the Copper Metal Award in Milan, Italy. 

Marion and John Kreamer Award for Entrepreneurship in Volunteer Community Service: Byron G. Thompson Family

This banking family is known for its support of civic causes, including such organizations as the Brain Injury Foundation of Greater Kansas City, Child Advocacy Services Center, Inc., the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, and Midwest Research Institute. 

Student Entrepreneur of the Year: Steve Timperley

Timperley crowned his MBA in entrepreneurship and marketing at the Bloch School when his team took second place in the 2007 New Venture Challenge Competition. Working with IP owner Kirkland Gates, they developed a business plan for Tencap Tennis, an algorithm that creates a handicap system for the tennis industry. Today, Timperley heads Tencap Tennis from the UMKC Student Business Incubator at 4747 Troost.

For more information about the Bloch School’s Entrepreneur of the Year, past and present, go to www.bloch.umkc.edu/eoy.