It was established in 1988 by the Emporia State University School of Business, where it remains housed on the second floor of Cremer Hall.

[4] The induction ceremony was held on February 7, 1989, as part of a meeting of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Ramada Inn in Topeka.

The KBHF also has the ability to give special awards to Kansans for unusual service to businesses.

Recipients must be contemporary business leaders of Kansas and approved by a majority of KBHF board members.

[9] These people have been inducted as contemporary business figures:[20] As an example, the Carney brothers founded Pizza Hut in 1958 from their first outfit in Wichita, Kansas.