EXECUTIVE TEAM

Executive Team

Cornerstone Companies Leadership

Comprised of industry-leading professionals specialized in their respective fields, Cornerstone professionals work together to collaborate and bring our clients the best possible tools to help them succeed.

Sam Bowlby

Founding Partner

“I come from an entrepreneurial family, and I’ve focused on serving the companies that I know and understand from the inside out.”

Sam is a founding partner and leads the firm’s specialty work in commercial insurance and risk management for the construction, distribution, manufacturing and property management industries, among others. He also heads Cornerstone’s talent recruitment and works on mergers and acquisitions. Sam’s expertise is in finding solutions for clients with complex needs.

Previously, Sam held leadership roles with a Midwest insurance firm, proving himself a high performer in the business. His entrepreneurial drive led him to join forces with the other leaders and form Cornerstone Companies in 2013.

Sam earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and finance from the University of Missouri. He resides in Lake Lotawana, Missouri, with his wife and three children. When he’s not working, Sam enjoys living the lake life, playing golf, raising kids, and spending time with his family.

Jonathan J. Twidwell

Partner / Director of Wealth Management

“Having a financial advisor who knows your overall business plan and has a big-picture view of your company makes a difference for our clients.”

Jon leads the Cornerstone Wealth Management business and joined the firm as partner in 2014. For corporate clients, he specializes in providing strategies for recruitment, retention, business succession, and tax management through qualified and non-qualified plans. For personal clients, he focuses on developing retirement income, estate plans and investment management strategies that are both cost and tax efficient.

Jon’s experience includes working as a CPA and tax attorney, as well as developing a business region for a Fortune 500 financial services firm. This combined experience gives Jon the knowledge to counsel clients with the big picture in mind. He’s an entrepreneur at heart and knows what it takes to build a business.

A native Nebraskan, Jon earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and finance from Creighton University and a Juris Doctorate from Creighton University School of Law.

Jon currently serves the Kansas City community as president-elect of the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas and as president of the board for Inclusion Connections, an Olathe nonprofit working to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities. He lives in Lenexa, Kansas, with his wife and four children.

David Parkhurst

Founding Partner

“To be a business owner is to live a life in service to your clients and to your team.”

As a founding partner, David leads the firm’s commercial insurance and risk management business. Growing up around his family’s manufacturing business, David knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur at a young age. He loves business like some people love sports.

David learned the commercial insurance business working with a leading Midwest insurance and benefits group. He specialized early in supporting the manufacturing and agribusiness segments. Today, David focuses on learning everything he can about a client’s industry so he can identify risks and provide recommendations for how to grow the business. He teamed up with the other leaders to start Cornerstone Companies in 2013.

David earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and restaurant management from Missouri State University. He is certified as a workers’ compensation advisor and is involved with many industry specific associations.

He resides in Sedalia, Missouri, with his family.

Gary S. Davis, J.D.

Partner / Director of Employee Benefits

“I look for creative ways to solve employee benefits challenges. It’s exciting to bring new technology and solutions to our clients. They may think they’re too small to get the latest and greatest. But we can deliver that.”

Joining Cornerstone as a partner in 2016, Gary leads the employee benefits practice and currently advises more than 50 clients throughout the U.S. He specializes in providing creative cost savings for group core benefit programs. With his law degree, he’s adept at consulting on human resource regulatory and compliance issues.

Previously, Gary led the employee benefits practice for the second largest employee benefits consulting firm in the Midwest. Before he specialized in benefits, Gary worked as an employment and labor law attorney for a large Midwest law firm.

Gary earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law. He shares his expertise by teaching continuing education classes on employee benefits, most recently for the Missouri Society of CPAs. He lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife and three children.

Shawn Byrne

Director of Surety Services

“I want to know as much as I can about a client’s business. The more we know about what they do and how they do it, the processes they use, how they operate, the better we can help that business.”

Shawn joined Cornerstone in 2019 to lead the Surety Services division. He specializes in assisting clients with surety bonds by taking a big picture approach. Shawn first learns as much as he can about a client’s business and then provides counsel on surety needs, as well as strategic planning, financial management, business succession planning, and risk management practices in order to maximize profitability.

Shawn grew up in Troy, Illinois, working for his dad’s residential construction company and for his grandpa’s dairy farm. He earned his degree in business administration and economics from McKendree College in Illinois. During his senior year of college, he ran his own roofing business.

Previously, Shawn gained 14 years of experience working in surety bonds for the largest surety company in the U.S. For the past three years, he managed that firm’s Kansas City region. His experience working with construction companies of all sizes gives him valuable perspective that he can apply to his counsel for Cornerstone clients.

He is active in construction industry organizations, including terms as president of the Kansas City chapter of the Association of General Contractors (AGC) and president of the Construction Leadership Council for the AGC of Kansas. He lives in Shawnee, Kansas, with his wife and two children.

Kurt Wallace

Agency Manager

“We’re here to serve the customer, and we can only do that with the best knowledge and the best service. Cornerstone has smart, energetic people who want to try new ideas and that’s refreshing.”

Joining the Cornerstone executive team in 2017, Kurt manages the firm’s day-to-day operations. He also oversees the Property and Casualty division and specializes in developing alternative risk programs for clients, such as Group Captive Insurance plans.

Previously, Kurt spent 10 years as Director of Insurance Operations for a regional agency that served clients in the manufacturing and construction industries. He has extensive experience on the insurance carrier side as well, which gives him a valuable perspective when advocating for clients.

Kurt earned a finance degree with a minor in accounting from Illinois State University. He enjoys a good round of golf and lives with his wife in Shawnee, Kansas. They have three sons and three grandsons.

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