Latest Stories

At 13, he begged his mother to let him cook; now this Blue Valley teen runs a creperie on wheels

Last Christmas, Karizma Nola and his family took a trip to Colorado where they came across the most unforgettable crepes, he recalled. This holiday season, Nola has a spatula in hand as he shares his own culinary passion with Kansas City.  “I’ve always thought about being an entrepreneur; I just didn’t expect it to happen…

Scott Ford, Pepper

KC startup Pepper secures deal to create new IoT platform with investment from Comcast

The merging of a homegrown IoT startup’s tech and a corporate innovator’s existing smart property management system is expected to accelerate growth for Kansas City-built Pepper, said Scott Ford. The companies on Wednesday announced Pepper and Notion — Comcast’s insurtech business unit — had joined to create a new IoT and smart home platform that…

A KC family created Wish-Bone Italian Dressing for its fried chicken restaurant; it became an iconic American staple

Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter. For more stories like this one, subscribe to Hungry For MO on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. In 1948, Phillip Sollomi debuted an Italian vinaigrette at his…

New hard cider brewery in Crossroads plucks inspiration from family farm, Midwest fruit industry

Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by CityScene KC, an online news source focused on Greater Downtown Kansas City. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for the weekly CityScene KC email review. Russ John of Brick River Cider Co. has a modest goal for his new place in the East Crossroads….

Don’t fixate on the ‘quiet quitting’ trend; focus on poor performers who aren’t even doing the minimum

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Jennifer Libby is a district manager with human resources provider Insperity’s Kansas City office. Click here to read more from this contributor. Employee performance is top of mind for many business owners. Team management has become more challenging as of late with the…

Flocking back for the holidays: How this third-generation plant nursery keeps a custom Christmas tradition growing

Christmas is a time to spruce things up at Family Tree Nursery, Jesse Nelson shared. And the business has kept a number of holiday customs through the years since Nelson’s grandfather, Ron, opened the venture in 1964. One such tradition: flocking — or the process of spraying Christmas trees with a mixture of cellulose, cornstarch…

How a Worlds of Fun data internship shaped this teen’s cookie cutter subscription box business

Every cutting-edge business idea has a season, said Alex Santoro, baking the details of his 3D printing venture: a subscription box that delivers a set of Kansas City-made holiday-themed cookie cutters — and showcases the teen’s enterprising ambitions. When he turned 18 in August, the Lee’s Summit West student and Worlds of Fun intern celebrated…

EquipmentShare nonprofit’s holiday-time gift: No-cost mammograms for 50 community members

COLUMBIA, Missouri — An employee-led foundation affiliated with one of Missouri’s top startups is helping offer free mammogram sessions for up to 50 uninsured individuals in the Boone County area where rapidly-scaling EquipmentShare calls home. The holiday-timed give-back is a partnership between the EquipmentShare Foundation, the Columbia/Boone County Health Department and JCB, the world’s largest…

HERImpact $50K pitch competition returning March 8; Here’s how KC women entrepreneurs can apply

Women business owners and social entrepreneurs in Kansas City are encouraged to compete this spring for up to $50,000 in a Shark Tank-style funding event aimed at investing in women’s ambitions to start and scale local businesses. “Expanding access to capital and mentorship is critical to women’s success as they start their own businesses,” said…

Startland enters new chapter with leadership transition, momentum for news, education programs

A leadership change at Startland is an opportunity for growth within the organization’s dual marquee programs — both of which have evolved rapidly since their inception as ecosystem-building efforts in Kansas City, the organization’s interim CEO said. Business operations for Startland News and its sister program, Startland Education, are now being steered by the two…