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Wesley Hamilton

Entrepreneurial inspiration: How a wheelchair freed Wesley Hamilton

Editor’s note: Kansas City fitness and community advocate Wesley Hamilton offered four inspirational tips for entrepreneurs, illustrated by his own remarkable experiences overcoming adversity. Two bullets pierced Wesley Hamilton’s back, confining him to a wheelchair, but freeing his mind, the Kansas City adaptive athlete said. “I found that being shot by someone I never knew…

Wendy Guillies, Kauffman Foundation

Show ’em KC hustle! 1 Million Cups needs you to beat Fargo (Video)

Nice shirts. Clever designs. The perfect mix of whimsy and irreverent wordplay. They’d fit in well among the Kansas City apparel scene. Except for one glaring snag: They’re brewed in Fargo. Yeah. That Fargo. And if you don’t want to see them on the backs of KC’s 1 Million Cups team, you’ll make plans to…

Events Preview: KC Women in Technology, BetaBlox demo day

There are a plethora of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter, or curious community member — we recommend these upcoming events for you. Are you hosting a relevant community event? Add it to the KCSourceLink Calendar for increased exposure. Email info@kcsourcelink.com for assistance. 2017 KCALSI…

Meet Techweek KC’s 2017 LaunchKC winners

After evaluating a lineup of 19 tech startups from across the country, judges awarded eight companies each a $50,000 LaunchKC grant — and one received a grand prize of $100,000. The popular grants contest awarded the non-dilutive grants following the live pitch competition at Techweek Kansas City. In its third year in the City of Fountains,…

John Gordon Jr., BoysGrow

BoysGrow teaches urban youth entrepreneurship through farming

BoysGrow, a mentoring program that teaches urban Kansas City boys entrepreneurship through hands-on agriculture, isn’t successful based on what the teens harvest, John Gordon Jr. said. It’s all about the soft skills they learn on the South Kansas City farm. “These boys are young,” said Gordon, founder of BoysGrow, noting the two-year program accepts students…

Hyperloop One zooms past Kansas City-St. Louis route

The prospect of traveling from Kansas City to St. Louis in 23 minutes recently zipped past the Show Me State. Hyperloop One — a tech firm that created a system propelling vehicles at speeds of about 760 miles per hour — announced Thursday its four winning U.S. routes, cutting Kansas City from a list of 11 semifinalists….

Techweek’s future of transportation: ‘Don’t let anything stop you from starting’

Transportation and mobility technology are good examples of the hidden talents of the Kansas City tech community, Darcy Howe said “We have many more mobility companies in Kansas City than you might think, which is a pleasure,” said Howe, KCRise Fund managing director, moderating Wednesday’s Techweek panel. Discussing cars, trucks, roadways and the future of…

1 Million Cups embarks on huge national expansion effort

The entrepreneurial events series 1 Million Cups — a national program born in Kansas City and grown by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation — has set the ambitious goal to expand to 500 communities by the end of 2018. “We’re looking forward to keeping the magic that we’ve already created with 1 Million Cups on…

Techweek KC

4 Techweek takeaways: KC can’t escape ‘cowtown’ (and shouldn’t try)

Kansas City shouldn’t run from its “cowtown” label, Techweek KC presenters said Wednesday. “We can celebrate agriculture, and we can also be hip and metropolitan,” said Kimberly Young, president of the KC Animal Health Corridor. Sitting aloft the rooftop deck at Travois in the Crossroads, a panel of experts gathered an audience interested in learning…

Clyde McQueen

Tips for overcoming experience gap, building a diverse workforce

When Ariel Banks graduated from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 2014 with a chemical engineering degree, she felt qualified and eager to jump into her career. Unfortunately, Banks spent nearly two years without any luck in finding a job. She found herself being asked time and time again, the dreaded question: “What is…