Lee's Summit Economic Development Council

Officers & Executive committee
Nancy Blackwell, Chair
Attorney, Chinnery Evans & Nail
Nancy is an attorney practicing in the areas of Estate Planning, Business Law, and Real Estate
with the law firm of Chinnery Evans & Nail, P.C. in Lee’s Summit. She is a member of the
Missouri Bar, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce,
Lee’s Summit Education Foundation Board, John Knox Village Board and Foundation Board
and other organizations. Nancy is a lifetime resident of Lee’s Summit, a graduate of Lee’s
Summit High School and was once selected Outstanding Young Woman in Lee’s Summit.
Ted Murray, Immediate Past Chair
CEO, Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group
Ted became CEO of Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group in 2005 and has been president
of its predecessor companies since their inception in 1984. He has been in the commercial
real estate business in Kansas City since 1977, bringing a vast amount of experience in
commercial real estate development, brokerage and consultation. Since 1984, Ted has
developed over 1.2 million square fee of commercial property in the Kansas City area. Many
of his projects have won prestigious awards including the Commitment to Kansas City Award
for Twentieth Century Tower from the Kansas City Corporation for Industrial Development
and the Cornerstone Award for the Hewlett Packard Building from the Kansas City Economic
Development Council. Ted is a member of the International Council for Shopping Centers
and the Urban Land Institute. He is a mentor with the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring
Program. Ted is a past president of the Main Street Development Corporation and has served
on the Board of the UMKC Bloch School of Business Administration.
Jon Ellis, Vice Chair
PResident And CEO, paradise Park
Jon has been President and CEO of Paradise Park, Inc., since 1991. He recently oversaw a
38,000 sf expansion of the facility to include new attractions, activities and special event areas.
The Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce voted Paradise Park its 1998 Small Business of the
Year. Jon is active in numerous community organizations, having served as Chairman of the
Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, President of the Lee’s Summit Educational Foundation,
Chairman of the Fundraising Committee of the International FarmHouse Foundation, and Co-
Chair of the Powell Gardens Harvest Gardens Capital Campaign. He is also a Board Member
of the Lee’s Summit Hospital Foundation and Jackson County Extension Service, and a
member of the Lee’s Summit Noon Rotary Club and the Lee’s Summit Optimists Club.