Discover the stories shaping the future of Kansas City.
From emerging startups to the people making headlines, catch up on the latest in entrepreneurship and innovation across Greater Kansas City.
Black business advocate GIFT wraps holiday markets to close visibility gap for entrepreneurs
The holiday shopping season offers many retail-focused entrepreneurs a gift of their own, said Kharissa Parker, describing opportunities for emerging Black business owners to meet customers in-person at events like Kansas City G.I.F.T.’s Small Business Saturday Black Business Market.
How Polsinelli stepped onto the national stage without walking away from its KC roots
“We’re not just a national law firm that happens to have an office in Kansas City,” said Greg Kratofil. “We’ve been helping build this city’s technology ecosystem for decades while also building a national practice capable of representing some of the most innovative companies in the world.”
GEWKC returns to Union Station with maker fair, packed lineup of startup, small biz speakers
“Every year, we think we can’t possibly top the previous year; and yet every year, our attendees, speakers, makers and supporters blow us away,” said Callie England, director of GEWKC. “This event is one of the highlights of our year because it shows everything the Innovation Center and our partners do for entrepreneurs, all in one place.”
Sports-wellness tech cohort adds two more Kansas City companies in time for tip off
An intensive week of programming opened Monday at ShotTracker’s headquarters in Overland Park as a small cohort of founders — including two just-added Kansas City area innovators — began an immersive new experience led by Endeavor Heartland an Keystone Innovation District.
Hydrangea House grows into long-vacant, Tudor-style Brookside police and fire station
Mother-daughter duo Jessica Carpenter and Abigail Gaughan have been deep cleaning the 6,265-square-foot space — putting in new ceiling and floor tiles, upgrading plumbing, and hanging one-of-a-kind chandeliers. Three trucks of merchandise await, filled with homegoods and vintage and antique furniture.
‘Shark Tank’ is TV (not reality), founders say; Students urged to prepare for the grind, think like entrepreneurs
“You can work for the biggest company in the United States and can still be an entrepreneur within those walls of that company,” said Mathes, a namesake for the Mathes Innovation Center at William Jewell College. “So, if you want to be successful in whatever career you’re in, you need to at least think like an entrepreneur.”
How this KC-area college turned entrepreneurs’ ventures into a fast-growing MBA program
“People don’t want to study theory,” said Taras Polik, founder of London-based startup OneDay. “They can watch videos online on YouTube. They really want to do practical things with their own hands and learn this way.”
KC Tech Council’s plans for $4M Kauffman grant: ‘We don’t want to publish another workforce playbook that sits on a shelf’
Kansas City doesn’t have a broken tech pipeline, said Kara Lowe: the region is instead facing a talent connectivity problem. A just-announced $4 million project grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is expected to help the KC Tech Council plug that disconnect.
Century-old corner reopens as boutique hotel with echoes of art deco, hints of Disney history
Already a downtown landmark in its own right, a building near the Jackson County Courthouse that might’ve housed one of Walt Disney’s first art studios is now an 84-room boutique hotel that its redevelopers are calling a “labor of love.”
Kans(a)s Boy singer’s DIY creative journey pivots from Teen Vogue modeling to recording undercover
A silly TikTok about an old Craigslist car ad probably wasn’t supposed to be the thing that introduced music artist Kaleb Murray to a new audience. Then it pulled 2 million views.
Sneak peek: With new HQ’s opening inside the leather, take a peek at GolfTRK’s flagship scramble
The new location at 7068 Mission Road opens to the public Friday with eight performance bays and a 2,000-square-foot PuttView short-game space, making the virtual reality putting green the biggest PuttView experience in the entire United States.
New EDCKC leader wants entrepreneurs, city ready when KC’s next big break comes knocking
Kansas City finds itself at a critical juncture, said Andrea Bough, describing a region that in recent years has earned a spot on the national stage and now must keep pushing forward to truly capitalize on opportunities that could transform the city for generations to come.
Longtime workforce, philanthropy exec tapped to lead Great Jobs KC, ‘carry Mr. Kauffman’s vision’
A former Kauffman Foundation leader who helped design the KC Scholars program that ultimately would evolve into one of the region’s most successful workforce training initiatives is coming full circle — taking the helm as CEO of Great Jobs KC a decade after he helped launch its predecessor.