News Stories

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaking at SXSW; photo by Channa Steinmetz/Startland News

Climate change innovation, leadership must be built at the local level, Buttigieg tells SXSW

Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. AUSTIN — The keys to solving climate change could already be in the ignition, Pete Buttigieg said, empowering a crowd of innovation leaders to sit in the passenger…

Alex Krause Matlack, Sit Foundry

Sit Foundry takes a stand for ‘lost art’ of upholstery amid fast furniture’s climate threat

Alex Krause Matlack is bringing what she teaches in the classroom to Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as she pursues Sit Foundry — an all-inclusive reupholstery design studio.  “In the first week of my Intro to Entrepreneurship class, I tell my students to go out into the world and take notice of the problems they face….

De-risking a dangerous job: How a window washing startup is raising the bar (and hose) with drones

It’s a nightmare to clean the windows of multi-story buildings, said Andrew Brain. “It’s incredibly unsafe for folks to be hanging on the side of buildings — and it’s incredibly expensive for them to be there. Insurance liability has gone up 300 to 400 percent. … I was thinking that there’s got to be a…

Callie England

Callie England’s latest venture has no name or website; When odds are you’ll die next week, you learn to prioritize, she says

Sometimes hypothetical questions become all too real, said Callie England, a serial entrepreneur who frequently posed a speculative query to herself and clients: “If you were going to die next week, what decisions would you make?”  It was a question she was forced to answer honestly in July 2021, when the veteran Kansas City startup…

Wingman Kitchen

Wingman’s twice-fried chicken flies south, finding its sweet spot in Johnson County

A pandemic-battered, Westport fried chicken restaurant is on the move, chasing new opportunities in Overland Park and frying up a second chance that could be the secret ingredient to franchise expansion, its owner said.  “Wingman is the food provider for the entire district,” said Duane Jordan, owner of a Wingman Kitchen franchise, detailing the restaurant’s…