Corporate Stories

Mayor Sly James teases Amazon headquarters announcement

An enigmatic message from Kansas City Mayor Sly James is stoking intrigue regarding the area effort to land Amazon’s second headquarters. At about 7 a.m. Wednesday, James tweeted, “I’ve been busy online shopping. Find out why at 3 p.m.” The message included a photo of James surrounded by Amazon boxes. I’ve been busy online shopping….

Cerner

Cerner ‘call for innovation’ hopes to bring brand to life alongside KC startups

One of Kansas City’s largest employers is looking for help from the smaller firms in its backyard. Health IT giant Cerner Corp. is looking to collaborate with startups and entrepreneurs to feature their innovative custom furniture, properties or experiential design elements for a coming conference. If selected, each startup’s work would be featured in front…

Smart City

Smart city leader: Can technology predict deadly shooters before it’s too late?

A smart city is a safe city, Herb Sih said. And technology can help. “If you don’t have safety, you don’t have anything,” said Sih, managing partner at Think Big Partners, one of the key collaborators in Kansas City’s $15.7 million public-private Smart City initiative. Having grown up in St. Louis, Sih said he has…

Applications open: Sprint Accelerator dialing into ag tech, IoT with 2018 cohort

Investing in startups isn’t just about providing needed capital, Doug Dresslaer said. As the Sprint Accelerator gears up for its fifth year, Dresslaer, managing director of the program, said the accelerator’s 2017 cohort — the first since its move toward establishing corporate partnerships and pivot away from Techstars — proved industry relationships themselves create tremendous value….

Techweek KC

4 Techweek takeaways: KC can’t escape ‘cowtown’ (and shouldn’t try)

Kansas City shouldn’t run from its “cowtown” label, Techweek KC presenters said Wednesday. “We can celebrate agriculture, and we can also be hip and metropolitan,” said Kimberly Young, president of the KC Animal Health Corridor. Sitting aloft the rooftop deck at Travois in the Crossroads, a panel of experts gathered an audience interested in learning…