News Stories

Alley Gage, owner of Alley Gage Beauty, sporting a "Dolly Parton Vibes" tee; courtesy photo

How Dolly Parton’s sparkle lit the way for this entrepreneur’s outlook on self, the business of beauty

Alley Gage won’t say sorry for crying so hard that she needed to take off her lashes this week after learning about the death of entertainer-turned-business mogul Dolly Parton — her favorite glamour girl and an American icon. Parton wouldn’t have apologized either, the owner of Alley Gage Beauty said, noting the star never let anyone dull her sparkle.

2026 AltCap Your Biz finalists: Easton Koch, BONICEL DENIM; Béty Lê Shackelford, Hella Good Deeds; Wesley Hamilton, INCLŪSIV Wellness; Keliah Smith, Keliah Dyann Art & Paper; DeMarkus Paul, Legacy Service Company; Madeline Johnson, Missouri Kansas Queer Law; Arden Pearson, Missouri Kansas Queer Law; Fred Neis, Rescue ID; Zoe Mays, Scream Queens; Erica Murff, The BeVel Barber Lounge; Casie Murff, The BeVel Barber Lounge; and India Clark Stewart, Your Healing Touch

‘Going bigger than ever before’: Meet the star finalists vying for $60K in AltCap Your Biz prizes

Nearly a dozen small businesses are set to compete this fall for $60,000 in prizes, AltCap Your Biz organizers said Friday, announcing 10 finalists in the expanded pitch competition’s 11th journey to the stage with Kansas City entrepreneurs.

A "Live Music" sign in front of Chambre Coffee, the upper level of the 4010 Pennsylvania Ave. complex, directs customers to GreenHorn Bar & Grill; photo by Joyce Smith

Here’s how a rebooted Westport favorite plans to earn its ‘Best Burger in KC’ banner

Fans of Westport’s longtime Green Room Burgers & Beer and Westport Coffeehouse Theater feared new owners would “corporatize it,” subdivide the space, or even tear down the well-positioned corner for condos at the edge for the entertainment district. But after Matt and Tessa Ortiz experienced the scene as customers, they only wanted the neighborhood mainstay…

Private funds’ road to high-speed liquidity runs through KC; a new Nasdaq partnership sweetens the deal 

Brian King is building what many in finance have long struggled to figure out: a real way to sell alternative investments. And with a just-announced Nasdaq partnership, he’s leveraging infrastructure at scale to deliver even more options for investors.

Andrea Bough swaps city council seat for interim EDCKC exec role amid shakeup at eco devo agency

Moving a sitting city council member into the top leadership role at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City — even temporarily — will force a vacancy on the council, Mayor Quinton Lucas acknowledged Wednesday, as the EDCKC transitions Andrea Bough into the president and CEO position previously held by Tracey Lewis.