Latest Stories
Former Army intelligence analyst deploys expertise, entrepreneurship to the Market Base
Editor’s note: The following is part of a three-part series spotlighting U.S. military veterans who also are Kansas City entrepreneurs. Hustle runs deep for Jannae Gammage, she said, looking back on the one thing that’s been uniquely hers since childhood: entrepreneurship. “My first business was at 14,” said Gammage, founder and CEO of The Market…
Startup veterans hope to save community banks from fintech ‘feeding frenzy’
The future of small business lending has arrived — and it’s being built by a team of Kansas City tech veterans, at a critical time for the industry, said Hugh Khan. “Small financial institutions are dying; they’re going away. Since the Great Recession, 40 percent are gone,” added Khan, founder and principal of Highploom. “They’re not…
5 ways to diversify your hiring pipeline (Hint: it starts with admitting you’ve fallen short)
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Stephanie Campbell is an operations and communications leader at LEANLAB Education in Kansas City. A few months back, I put the last period at the end of my hiring project plan and felt content. I had set out to completely redesign the way…
Farm-to-wineglass: Big Mood Natural Wines talks sustainable drinking — ‘Why stop at food?’
It’s never the wrong time to drink wine, said Richard Garcia. “We have a wine for every time of the day,” said Garcia, who owns and operates Big Mood Natural Wines with his friends, Jamie and Liz Zoeller. “Someone came in the other day asking about breakfast wines, and we absolutely have several on the…
How an elastic team turned an early tip about face masks into SewKC’s saving grace
Editor’s note: The following is the third in a series of stories about Kansas City fashion companies putting their own creative spin on the often-utilitarian face mask. As demand for face masks surged this spring, a massive and sustained influx of traffic and orders at SewKC crashed the Crossroads creatives’ online retail engine — forcing the…
Married to collaboration: SewKC couple stitches meaning into each hand-sewn design
Michele and Johnny Dawbarn’s symbiotic studio space in the Crossroads allows the always-evolving creative duo to do more than finish each other’s sentences. It stitches ideas to passion, threading a common mission through their businesses, they said. “When you sew-” Johnny began. “You bring two things together,” finished Michele, co-founder of SewKC with her husband….
Doctor-turned-marketer aims to help healthtech founders communicate the science behind their startups
Great founders and scientists aren’t always great marketers and vice versa, Dr. Meghan Burns said, detailing the COVID-era launch of her latest startup and its potential to help healthtech companies navigate a critical time for messaging and awareness. “There is a lot of value that a marketer with an understanding of science can add to…
Donnelly College in KCK partners with EPA to support student research, job training
Recognized as the most ethnically diverse college in the Midwest, Donnelly College is continuing to serve its primarily first-generation and minority students through a partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Stoothoff said. “The real goal is for our first-generation college students to have a pathway from what they are learning in the classroom to…
How two hungry vegan sisters went from making queso to their own storefront on Holmes
Arvelisha Woods and India Monique just wanted to style hair and eat nachos, the duo said, breaking into laughter. “It all started with being hungry,” Monique recalled, with Woods emphasizing the “hungry.” The sisters behind Mattie’s Foods went on a fast in 2015 as part of their mission work. They took what they loved the…
Overland Park startup partners with Cosentino’s for time-saving automation in KC grocery stores
As a way to compete and thrive against major retailers like Walmart and Safeway, independent grocers are turning toward software that automates manual tasks — resulting in reduced errors and increased efficiency, John Epperson said. Such software exists because Epperson, co-founder of Overland Park-based Retail Software Solutions Group, saw a gap in the market and…
