Corporate Stories

Andy Stoll, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 2020 ESHIP Summit

ESHIP Summit: Data shows urgent question — Who isn’t starting a business?

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial sponsor of Startland News. This report was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. Inclusion is about fulfilling untapped potential, said Sameeksha Desai, detailing nationwide equity gaps in entrepreneurial ecosystem building. “A lot of the reason that we ended up in this situation is because…

Blake Miller, Homebase

Meet the No Coast winners: Homebase founder, Garmin lead 2020 KC tech honors

Tech is a team sport — a reality undefeated by COVID-19, the KC Tech Council said Wednesday, capping a two-day virtual No Coast ceremony that recognized the interconnectedness of Kansas City’s tech community with entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, education and policy. Among the first winners unveiled: veteran startup founder and CEO Blake Miller, whose Homebase.ai employs 25…

Hills Pet Nutrition research center groundbreaking in Topeka

Plug and Play accelerator gains another major animal health backer: Hill’s Pet Nutrition

TOPEKA — Hill’s Pet Nutrition is the latest company to throw its support behind a new, Topeka-based animal health accelerator.  “For over a century, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has been a cornerstone in the Topeka business community. They continue to be at the forefront of innovation and are a key driver in Topeka’s role in the…

Toby Rush and Carl Wasinger, Smart Warehousing

Veteran founder unboxes startup smarts as new CEO, eyeing logistics company as KC’s next billion-dollar biz

Toby Rush enjoys disrupting the status quo, he said, questioning market strategies with the startup sensibilities that made him one of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs. As the new CEO of Smart Warehousing — an established, Kansas City-based logistics and supply chain company — the veteran startup founder plans to apply the same innovation-focused lens to…

$100K in microgrants awarded across 23 struggling, but resilient minority businesses

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial sponsor of Startland News. This report was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. A COVID-era resiliency fund that quickly closed applications after receiving a deluge of response from entrepreneurs in need has awarded microgrants to 23 minority businesses on both sides of the state…