CommunityAmerica Credit Union gave back $8 million to its members, or an average of nearly $100 to every member household, the credit union's largest annual dividend ever. The $8 million dividend is $1 million higher than last year, which was the previous record. It's the fifth straight year the Lenexa-based credit union returned at least $5 million to its members and the 21st straight year it issued a dividend. "As CommunityAmerica continues to experience local success, so do our members," CommunityAmerica…

This story is part of Year in Review, which looks back at the biggest news, most influential people and top photos of 2016. Read more Year in Review articles here. Garmin International Inc. continued to build its wearables offerings in 2016, as the Olathe-based company (Nasdaq: GRMN) bulked up its fitness and outdoor sectors. Automotive — the company's largest segment and first foray into GPS technology — continued its slump during the year. Here's a recap: Fitness growth Garmin's fourth-quarter…

The developers of Westgate, a $130 million mixed-use project at the southwest corner of 118th Street and State Avenue, will be requesting tax-increment financing during the Jan. 23 meeting of the Bonner Springs City Council. The project, which lies adjacent to the land the American Royal Association wants to develop into a $160 million complex and just a few blocks west of the Kansas Speedway, is being developed by Triple R Properties LLC, a Leavenworth-based partnership involving Jerry Reilly and…

After a year of turmoil (Brexit, the U.S. presidential election, etc.), about two-thirds of the public companies in the Kansas City area have seen their stock prices appreciate. With just days to go before the end of 2016, the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to flirt with the 20,000 mark for the first time in history (as of noon CST Tuesday, it was at 19,957). And while that's a sign of investor confidence nationally, it's not very reflective of the kinds of companies we are surrounded by…

One of Kansas City's top ice cream shops has served its last scoop. Murray's Homemade Ice Cream, which typically closes for a few months during the winter, is closed for good this time, The Pitch reports. Equip-Bid.com, a local auction site, is helping to sell the ice cream shop's equipment in a sale that ends at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Westport establishment, 4120 Pennsylvania Ave., had been around since 1984 and offered a different variety of homemade flavors each week. An Equip-Bid representative…

Crick Camera Shop, 7715 State Line Road in Kansas City, will soon join a roll of other full-service photography shops to have closed in the last couple of decades. According to The Kansas City Star, co-owners Bill Thomas and his sister-in-law Dana Crick decided to close the store on Jan. 7. Crick Camera has been operating since 1946. "We'd thought about selling instead of closing, but never found anyone qualified enough to buy it," Thomas told the Star. "It's a specialty industry, and you need…