News Stories
Spring in the face of ‘doom and gloom’: KC Can Compost grows green infrastructure while expanding its own footprint
The market for commercial composting services goes well beyond restaurants hoping to dispose of food scraps — a welcome discovery for Kristan Chamberlain, who saw such specialized demand disintegrate in 2020 amid a pile of bad news for struggling eateries. Today, KC Can Compost has helped divert more than 1.4 million pounds of waste from…
Pink Lipps hits Target, putting KC cosmetics line in 41 retail markets where Black shoppers bring green
There’s no glossing over it, Kenyata Gant said. Black-owned businesses are thriving in the Midwest — and big box retailers are taking notice. “I couldn’t believe it,” recalled Gant, owner of Pink Lipps Cosmetics, announcing the Kansas City-based cosmetics startup’s acceptance into 41 nationwide Target stores. “I would always say how I would love to…
College student develops investing app for teens with $500K pre-seed confidence boost
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. LINCOLN,…
I can do that (better): How a home laser engraver burned a handcrafted apparel line — now sewn across KC — into reality
Family man Brett Jackson wears his evolution as a serial entrepreneur as proudly as the Kansas City-love engraved on his line of custom leatherwork, hats and apparel, he said. “The desire to continue to create propelled me into wanting to create physical items and tangible things,” said Jackson, a nationally recognized graphic designer and video…
Deploying tech to today’s American warfighter: FirePoint taps startup space to help modernize military
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. Modern…
