The 47th Annual Gala honoring the Outstanding Kansas Citian!

George Guastello is President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Station Kansas City, a historical landmark and civic asset renovated and reopened to the public in 1999.  He is responsible for operation, management and development/growth of the Station and surrounding property it owns.  Guastello oversees a staff of over 50 and manages an annual budget of $20 million.  The Station features a science center, planetarium, rail museum, national traveling exhibits, one of the region’s largest giant screen 3D movie theaters, live theater, shops, restaurants and offices.  A bi-state cultural sales tax, the first of its kind in the country, funded nearly half of the $250 million renovation.

Guastello has amassed noteworthy accomplishments in many endeavors from association management to economic and community development.  He is a respected, results-oriented, area leader with over 30 years of demonstrated organizational impact and success.

Prior to joining USKC, Guastello served as President and CEO for the American Royal Association for 6 years, focusing attention on youth and education, celebrating the region’s rich agricultural heritage through competition, education and entertainment, and boasting one of the largest combined livestock, horse show, rodeo, and barbecue competitions in the country.

Previous employment includes Vice President Marketing and Business Strategy, Starlight Theatre Association. While at Starlight, he created awareness for the theatre’s new $10 million stage and achieved all-time high season attendance levels of over a quarter million people coupled with record season ticket subscription sales backed by 28,500 subscribers.  Guastello served as Senior Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Development for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce for nearly a decade. In his position with the Chamber, he rebranded and repositioned the Chamber in conjunction with authoring the first seed capital legislation in the State of
Missouri for investment tax credits for Small Business investors.  He was also employed as Assistant Vice President of Commercial Banking at Commerce Bank Kansas City, N.A.

Guastello is a member of the Ability KC Board of Directors, Kansas City Streetcar Authority Board of Directors, KC STEM Alliance Advisory Board and Powell Gardens Board of Directors. He has served on the Boards of the Boys & Girls Club, Cristo Rey Kansas City, Rockhurst High School, Kansas City River Trails, KCMO Central Industrial District, and Johnson County Parks and Recreation Theater in the Park.  He currently retains a number of professional memberships in prestigious organizations.

Guastello, a native Kansas Citian, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration in Finance, both from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

He has garnered numerous awards, including the 2015 Non-Profit Professional of the Year from Non-Profit Connect and inclusion in 435 Magazine’s “KC’s 50 Most Powerful People” listing.  Other awards include the 2006 Alumni Legacy Achievement Award from the University of Missouri at Kansas City; 2005 Recipient of Hospitality Leadership Award from the Greater Kansas City Hotel Association and the 2003 Brick by Brick Leadership Award from the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City.