PPB January 2020

Council, was elected in 1995 and served in that capacity for 10 years. When the incumbent mayor decided not to seek reelection, he persuaded Gerlach to give it a try. He was elected mayor of Overland Park (the second-largest city in the Kansas City metro area) in 2005, the same year he served as PPAI board chair, and was elected to his fourth term in 2017. For Gerlach, it’s the means to achieve a long-held dream to improve his hometown (Leawood is a suburb of Overland Park). “It’s the town I grew up in; it was vibrant then and has continued to grow but some of it needs to be redeveloped and revitalized. People have asked me to go to higher levels—to run for governor or to go to Washington—but I can make more of an impact being mayor of a city. My goals were always to build the city into a nice enough place that my kids would want to live there. I’ve got them all back in the Kansas City area. Nowmy goal is to make it a nice enough place that my granddaughters will want to stay here, too.” Gerlach’s term as mayor runs through November 2021 and before then he will decide if he wants to run for reelection. He says he and his wife, Jill, have some other goals to consider, including travel and spending more time with their family. The couple have a son, Chris; two daughters, Jennifer and Katie; and two granddaughters with whom they enjoy weekends at their family’s lake house at Lake of the Ozarks in the southern part of the state. “We play board games, cards, go out on the boat—just simple things. Family is the most important thing to me,” he says. During his career, Gerlach has earned many accolades including the 2013 Ewing Kauffman Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and the 2012 NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award. In 2013, the Crescent Peace Society presented its Peace Award to Gerlach in recognition of his commitment and efforts to promote pluralism, understanding, tolerance and acceptance of religious and cultural diversity in Greater Kansas City. The Kansas City Business Journal also has listed him in its Power 100 of Kansas City’s Movers and Shakers and Ingram’s listed him among the 250 Most Powerful Business Leaders in the Kansas City Area. He also received the 2018 Arts Advocate award from ArtsKC and the Raindrop Award for Outstanding Public Service from the Dialogue Institute. “I don’t know if it was a competitive spirit propelled through professional basketball or his grounded foundation from his family or even [his involvement in] the Boy Scouts, which has driven him to this rarefied space,” wrote Lage in Gerlach’s nomination. “But what I do know is this humble giant has always achieved the big things in life and has an endless amount of giving towards others.” Asked what being inducted into the PPAI Hall of Fame means to him, Gerlach reflects for a moment. “It’s the highest honor I could receive,” he says with a smile. “We all receive various awards, but an award given by your colleagues, given for a job you’ve done all your life, is the ultimate award. It’s an honor. I view volunteering as getting more than I’m giving so I’m a little hesitant because I’ve already received plenty. I don’t think I’ve done anything different than other people—but I had a great team behind me to help accomplish things.” Always one to share credit for his successes, Gerlach also gives kudos to the PPAI staff for making it easy to volunteer. “You have to drive an industry and an association. Without a staff like PPAI’s, I don’t think this industry would be half as far down the road as it is. Do we have a ways to go? Yes. We still need to be recognized as more of an advertising medium, but we’ve made huge leaps forward and as long as we have a great staff it’s easy for members to donate their time.” Tina Berres Filipski is editor of PPB . (Far left) Gerlach is proudest of his family: son, Chris; daughters Katie and Jennifer, and wife, Jill. (Near left) He was elected mayor of Overland, Park, Kansas in 2005. FEATURE | PPAI’s Top Awards 34 | JANUARY 2020 |