Woman-led Stories

Kiffany Bosserman, owner of Cottontale and Cookies and Creamery, speaks with Shakia Webb, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, during the Chamber's Small Business Showcase at Union Station

Entrepreneurs pack Union Station as Chamber showcases diversity of KC’s small biz scene

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. A diverse cross-section of Kansas City small business owners filled the Grand Hall at Union Station with energy and enthusiasm Thursday, Vicky Kulikov said, noting a significant…

Mary Shannon, Connectus Worldwide

Mary Shannon’s two words to describe the complexity of supplier diversity: Competitive advantage

Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity.  Don’t try to fake your way through diversity initiatives for optics, advised Mary Shannon, noting half-hearted commitment to efforts like supplier diversity — which…

Digital Sandbox Q1 2022 awardees: Dan Schwarzlander and Nick Bennet, VaccineAssist; Sean McIntosh and Sarah Steeby, Foothold Labs; Roger Ngo and Tam Tran, DataAppraisal; Lisa Cooper, Workplace Healing; Tyler Bolz and Will Strout, DataSource

Meet 5 new Digital Sandbox-funded startups poised as the next wave of KC innovation

A just-announced first-quarter cohort of startups are set to receive more than just $20,000 each in project funding from Digital Sandbox KC, said Jill Meyer, emphasizing the holistic support headed toward selected founders. “Early-stage funding is just one piece of the puzzle that helps our founders succeed and our startups accelerate toward commercialization and follow-on…

Kara Lowe, KC Tech Council

Kara Lowe taking KC Tech Council helm as longtime CEO Ryan Weber departs

The KC Tech Council will soon welcome a familiar face as its new leader, the organization announced Tuesday. Kara Lowe, the council’s longtime COO, will succeed Ryan Weber as CEO next month — putting her commitment to Kansas City’s tech sector on full display and allowing her contributions to the regions tech ecosystem to further shape…

Cara Hennessy, Sarah-Allen Preston, and Morgan Miller, afloat

Made in KC partners with afloat to provide same-day gifting of exclusive care packages

Kansas Citians can now get same-day delivery from the city’s largest local marketplace through afloat — a gifting app by one of the metro’s leading startups that allows community members to pick out and send neatly-packaged goods to their loved ones, said Sarah-Allen Preston. “We have always been huge fans of Made in KC, and…