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.”
Here’s how a rebooted Westport favorite plans to earn its ‘Best Burger in KC’ banner
Fans of Westport’s longtime Green Room Burgers & Beer and Westport Coffeehouse Theater feared new owners would “corporatize it,” subdivide the space, or even tear down the well-positioned corner for condos at the edge for the entertainment district. But after Matt and Tessa Ortiz experienced the scene as customers, they only wanted the neighborhood mainstay…
Private funds’ road to high-speed liquidity runs through KC; a new Nasdaq partnership sweetens the deal
Brian King is building what many in finance have long struggled to figure out: a real way to sell alternative investments. And with a just-announced Nasdaq partnership, he’s leveraging infrastructure at scale to deliver even more options for investors.
Andrea Bough swaps city council seat for interim EDCKC exec role amid shakeup at eco devo agency
Moving a sitting city council member into the top leadership role at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City — even temporarily — will force a vacancy on the council, Mayor Quinton Lucas acknowledged Wednesday, as the EDCKC transitions Andrea Bough into the president and CEO position previously held by Tracey Lewis.
Outdoor match: Missouri founder starts new journey, pairing users with the right gear to take a hike
A Missouri entrepreneur known for breaking down barriers is taking her next project on a hike out of stealth mode. Krista Peryer’s new online platform hacks her tech background and love of nature to pair users with their ideal outdoor equipment and apparel. It all comes back to the classic founder path, she said: Experience…
Private, encrypted documentation tool adds time stamp amid fog of confusion, founder says
Notarus keeps important moments — notes, photos, documents, and readings — in a private, tamper-evident timeline, especially useful for those who are co-parenting, caregiving, homeschooling, and on a sobriety journey. “Rather than simply storing individual events, it helps users understand what the accumulated record actually shows, without making diagnoses or unsupported conclusions,” said Jameson Huckaba.
Smart glasses at work: How employers using (or banning) the tech could face legal challenges
AI-enabled smart glasses take a step further than the traditional “body camera” surveillance footage, given the technology’s ability to retain and assess information, such as biometric information. That creates new concerns for employers who might want to implement the devices — or even keep them out of the workplace altogether, writes a team of attorneys from Polsinelli.