Description

Join us on Wednesday, October 7 for the 2026 Talent Connect Summit, featuring a keynote presentation by Mary Messner, Founder + CEO of Highline Creative Group. Mary reframes creativity as the entrepreneurial mindset organizations need to out-innovate competitors, build cultures people want to stay in, and win the future — no algorithm required.

Keynote Session

Creativity Unscripted | The Competitive Advantage No Algorithm Can Replace

The most urgent workforce question isn't which tools to adopt. It's what kind of thinking your organization is building. Mary Messner reframes creativity not as an artistic skill, but as the entrepreneurial mindset that drives innovation, deepens connection, and builds cultures people want to stay in. She names the invisible forces suppressing new thinking and equips leaders with practical tools to break the pattern, leaving audiences with a shared language, a clear framework, and the conviction that the future belongs to organizations willing to think differently.

Key Highlights

• Chamber Resources: The summit will feature an overview of the Chamber's resources related to workforce and talent.
• All in OP Talent Attraction Website: Attendees will receive an update on the Chamber's talent attraction website, "All in OP," aimed at drawing top talent to the Overland Park region.
• Curated Breakout Sessions: Six dedicated breakout sessions will explore workforce resources with dedicated AI, Workforce, and Small Business tracks, offering actionable tools and strategies for immediate implementation.

Schedule

8:00 am | Registration/Networking Breakfast

8:30 am | Opening Remarks and Education to Industry Alignment Presentation

9:50 am | Breakout Session 1

AI in Action: Early Adoption and Lessons Learned

Hear directly from SnapIT Solutions and N.O.vAIte, two companies helping business progress along the AI adoption curve, on what early integration into workforce and workflow actually looks like in practice. This session unpacks how each company approached getting started, from the first tools they tested to the internal shifts required to make AI part of daily operations. Attendees will leave with a grounded, practical view of what early AI adoption takes and where to focus first.

Keeping the Human Element in the Age of AI  

As AI tools become standard in every business, the companies that stand out won't be the ones with the most automation ... they'll be the ones that never lost the human connection. This breakout brings together business owners and leaders to explore where AI genuinely strengthens the customer  and employee experience, where it slowly erodes it, and how to build a strategy that keeps people at the center. Bring your real questions and your real experience; this session runs on the room's input as much as the conversation itself.

Employee Ownership: Building a Culture of Shared Success

As businesses compete for talent, employee ownership is emerging as a powerful tool not just for retention, but for building a culture where employees are genuinely invested in the company's success. This session features the Missouri Center for Employee Ownership walking through what employee ownership models look like in practice and the workplace culture shifts that come with them. Attendees will hear how ownership structures can strengthen engagement, loyalty, and long-term workforce stability, and what it takes to build that culture from the ground up.

11:05 am | Breakout Session 2

Scaling AI: Enterprise-Wide Adoption

As companies move past initial AI experiments, the real challenge becomes scaling it enterprise-wide, across teams, systems, and existing workflows. This session features leaders from WellSky, Bartlett & West, and the University of Kansas Health System sharing how they've moved beyond early pilots to build AI adoption into the fabric of their organizations. Attendees will hear what it takes to scale successfully, from cross-functional buy-in to the infrastructure and governance decisions that come with broader implementation.

HR for the non-HR Leaders

As your team grows, the HR questions don't wait. Hiring, classification, handbooks, terminations, compliance: get any of it wrong and the cost isn't just legal exposure, it's culture and trust. This panel brings together HR practitioners and experts to walk through the fundamentals every growing company needs to have in place, plus the trickier gray areas that trip up even well-intentioned owners. Walk away with practical guardrails you can put in place immediately.

Bridging Industry and Education Roundtable

Workforce pipelines start long before graduation, and the strongest ones are built through real collaboration between employers and educators. This roundtable brings companies together to share what's working, and what's not, in their partnerships with K-12 and postsecondary institutions, from internship pipelines to curriculum input to early career exposure. Attendees will leave with practical approaches they can adapt to strengthen their own connections with local education partners.

12:00 pm | Lunch & Networking

12:30 pm | Keynote Presentation: Mary Messner

1:30 pm | Event concludes

*If your company is an Opportunity Now Investor, please contact Serenity Wallace at SWallace@opchamber.org or (913) 766-7606. View investor list here.

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