Opinion Stories

Arredondo: Our education system is creating an army of unemployable people

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in the commentary are the author’s alone.  I have good and bad news. The good news? There are more than 5,700,000 jobs available in the United States as you read this — the most jobs available at any time in the history of our country. The bad news? As of 2012,…

Former U.S. Labor official Chris Lu: KC can teach Trump how to create jobs

Editor’s note: Chris Lu served as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor during the Obama Administration, and he is now a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia Miller Center. The opinions in this commentary are the author’s alone. For all of Donald Trump’s bluster about his job creation abilities, this week will provide one of…

Melissa Roberts: How an Olathe hate crime affects your tech business

Editor’s note: The opinions in this commentary are the author’s alone. In the startup world, outside the Facebook echo chamber, it can be hard to see how political trends impact your business. I understand why. When you’re struggling to weed through the constant churn of working the problem, identifying a new problem and working that…

Analysis from binge watching six-months of 1 Million Cups KC

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Every Wednesday morning in over 100 communities nationwide, two entrepreneurs present a six-minute profile of their companies to a diverse audience, followed by 20 minutes of open Q&A. Last July, I binge-watched 1 Million Cups Kansas City’s 51 presentations from January 1 to…

Tough love: Blooom CEO Chris Costello offers advice to KC investors

Editor’s note: Chris Costello is the CEO and co-founder of Blooom, a financial tech startup based in Leawood, Kan., that recently raised a $9.15 million round. All opinions expressed in the commentary are the author’s alone. I am happy to report that Blooom is fresh off its successful Series B round of funding. The round…