Latest Stories
KCMO offers FAQ on its prospective Airbnb, Homeaway regulations
On Monday, the City of Kansas City, Mo. released newly-proposed rules on how it may regulate home-sharing services like Airbnb and Homeaway. City officials are planning to introduce the proposed ordinance at the Kansas City Planning Commission on June 6. After that, the proposal will head to the Kansas City Council, where it will likely…
Airbnb tells KCMO ‘go back to the drawing board’ on new proposed regulations
Airbnb and Homeaway hosts in Kansas City, Mo. are likely to see a set of new regulations for their properties soon. After more than a year of culling public input, the City of Kansas City, Mo. has drafted a proposed ordinance on how to regulate local home-sharing services like Airbnb and Homeaway. The proposal would…
KCultivator Q&A: Big-hearted prankster Robert Manigold on opera singing, empathy and Weird Al
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a new, lighthearted profile series we’re kicking off to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Check out our feature on Prep-KC CEO Susan Wally and community builder Donald Carter. If you live or work in downtown Kansas City, you’ve likely seen Robert Manigold. The “Ambassador of Awesome”…
Events Preview: Innovation Exchange, Verge KC
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? Feel free to add it to the FWD/KC calendar for increased exposure. Once your event…
KC nonprofit leader will advise FCC committee on broadband
The leader of an area nonprofit focused on making Kansas City a digital leader will be offering his broadband expertise to a Federal Communications Commission committee. KC Digital Drive managing director Aaron Deacon was recently appointed to a group within the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. Deacon’s group — Competitive Access to Broadband…
Bringing grub to KC food deserts, Rollin’ Grocer to expand impact after contest win
While he takes pride in his roots, Priest Hughes said it saddens him to see a staple of life — fresh food — become so difficult to attain in parts of Kansas City. Over the course of a decade, Hughes has noticed several grocery stores in his neighborhood close at an alarming rate. Purchasing fresh,…
Truck-sharing app Bungii hauling early success, eyeing expansion
Less than a year after its launch, Kansas City-based truck-sharing app Bungii is gaining significant traction. In addition to expanding its platform from only Kansas City to include Lawrence, Bungii has tapped hundreds of users that temporarily need a truck to haul their stuff. Led by two recent college graduates, Ben Jackson and Harrison Proffitt, Bungii’s on-demand…
Kauffman Foundation: National startup activity continues to improve
National startup activity grew slightly in 2016, a consecutive three-year improvement that reached pre-Great Recession levels, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. However, in the long-term view startup activity is still in decline when compared to the 1980s, the 2017 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity found. Victor Hwang, vice president of entrepreneurship at the…
Kauffman report: KC startup momentum builds for 3 years running, improves national rank
It’s not just a feeling. Momentum in Kansas City’s startup community continues to grow, according to new data from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Kauffman Index of Startup Activity found that for the third consecutive year, entrepreneurial activity in the Kansas City metro has grown. The index — which presents entrepreneurial trends nationally, at…
KC-based Make48 invention contest to become national TV show
Kansas-City based invention competition Make48 is becoming a nationally-televised program in September. The inaugural season of Make48 will be featured on more than 200 public television stations via American Public Television, reaching about 70 percent of U.S. households. Founded in 2015, Make48 challenges inventors to build a product over a weekend. For the show, however,…
