News Stories

Sean Calderon and Zach Schneller, Oak Media; and Lisa Bledsoe, Tea-Biotics Kombucha

Young agency bottles digital savvy for startup where co-founder brewed booch

From booch bottler to boss, Zack Schneller isn’t forgetting his Tea-Biotics roots as he embarks on his own startup journey — which has him helping his former employer with an eCommerce emergence and social media scale up.  “We did a free trial for them, which happened to fall on National Kombucha Day,” Schneller, co-founder of Oak…

Wendy Guillies, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Kauffman leader at pitch contest: Listen to young people’s ideas, vision for the future

Editor’s note: The following is a student-written article written by one of 357 interns in CommunityAmerica Credit Union’s recent virtual innovation internship program. Lucia Umbreit is an incoming junior at Liberty High School. CommunityAmerica is a financial partner of STARTLAND, the parent organization of Startland News. Student teams made three-minute pitches to five Kansas City…

‘No words for that moment’ when winning pitch announced, says student competitor

Editor’s note: The following is a student-written article written by one of 357 interns in CommunityAmerica Credit Union’s recent virtual innovation internship program. Sydney Newton is an incoming junior at Shawnee Mission East High School. CommunityAmerica is a financial partner of STARTLAND, the parent organization of Startland News. As Chloe Chaffin pitched her team’s idea…

Beau Williams, Julep

Julep owner: KCMO liquor rules could drown bar-restaurants already struggling to reopen

As locally owned bars and restaurants start to reopen, a new threat to their success is emerging — city regulations designed in a pre-pandemic world.  “There’s a lot of unintended consequences from these mandated shutdowns that need to be addressed from a legal standpoint,” explained Beau Williams, owner of Julep Cocktail Club in Westport.  While…

Isaac Collins, Yogurtini; Photo courtesy of Amber Baudler and Jamsine Baudler at Stellar Image Studios

I’m black and a Plaza business owner — in that order; why a Main Street entrepreneur joined KC’s protests

Isaac Collins is exhausted, but he can’t sleep. His wife and mother are both worried about the 31-year-old community entrepreneur whose business is just blocks away from the scene of late-night mayhem and unrest following peaceful protests on Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza. But it isn’t rioters and looters that have Collins on edge, he…