News Stories
State of the City: Mayor challenges startup community to be more inclusive in hiring
As a growing piece of Kansas City’s business fabric, the startup community should better reflect the diverse creative and tech talent working within the city, Mayor Sly James said Tuesday following his State of the City address. “There are a lot of entrepreneurs who, for example, make bow ties, who make clothing, who do things…
Predictive tech gives KCMO smart weapons in the fight against potholes, crime
Kansas City is tackling its pothole problem using technology that aims to predict where they’ll emerge next, city officials said. The proactive approach also is targeting Kansas City’s crime rate. Government officials from Kansas City, Missouri, shared details about their experience with smart, predictive technologies during a panel discussion Tuesday afternoon at the Smart Cities…
Investing in the arts earns KC designation as UNESCO’s only ‘City of Music’ in US
Landing on a United Nations agency’s City of Music list reflects more than Kansas City’s century-old link to American jazz, said Jacob Wagner. “This designation is a recognition of our investment and commitment to music, arts and creativity as a driver of urban economic development,” said Wagner, faculty director of the Center for Neighborhoods at…
PayIt exec departs to launch Australia-based OpenCities office in KC
An executive with Kansas City-based PayIt has departed the company to open an area office for another government tech firm. Previously head of local government solutions at PayIt, Luke Norris now is leading the Kansas City office of Australia-based OpenCities, which is a provider of website and digital services for governments across the world. “The…
Cooking class curator wins Google-backed Startup Weekend competition
Nine teams made it through Startup Weekend, but only one team earned the dough: PopChef, which cooked up a platform to sign up for interactive kitchen classes with local chefs. PopChef co-founders Zack Kern and Ruby Montoya were ecstatic to win the competition, Kern said. In addition to receiving an hour of consulting with Lesa…
