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.”
Makeup lover bringing bespoke lipstick shop to Overland Park with glossy girl-to-girl gamble
Viktoria Volosin came home from a girls’ trip to Dallas with a business idea she couldn’t shake after discovering a shop where customers could make their own lipstick and lip gloss — an offering she hadn’t seen in Johnson County. “There was just such good girl-to-girl conversation,” said Volosin, a self-proclaimed “huge makeup lover” who…
She’s using tech to rewrite the blueprint handed to girls; here’s what Maliha Khan told those who said ‘You can’t’
“I can have the career, I can have the married life, I can have the kids,” the founder and CEO of Khanect the Dots said. “And more importantly, I feel like it’s not just about me. I’m a walking representation of that for other girls, not just my own.”
How an AI tool is capturing seniors’ memories before aging, dementia delete them
A new voice companion platform — designed for the quiet hours when seniors might feel the most socially isolated — captures life stories that might otherwise be lost, said David Hensley, leaning on AI as a tool for engaging loved ones with endless patience, curiosity and conversation.
KC ranks No. 11 among Midwest startup hubs; why it needs its own big news day to get VCs’ attention
Investors are looking for more big outcomes — from billion-dollar valuations to IPOs — and plentiful startups in the pipeline behind them, said Victor Gutwein, delivering the verdict on Kansas City for his firm’s 2026 ranking of Midwest startup cities. Cues from KC’s most competitive neighbors could help it move up the list, he added.
Ten Parks Project reveals next site targeted for Mallouks’ $30M investment in accessible play
Planners of a new inclusive playground in Westwood could receive as much as $3 million to transform the space as part of an initiative to create a fully accessible park within 10 miles of every Greater Kansas City family.
FireBoard Labs completes $622K Kansas City expansion, scaling to meet demand for its smart tech
An entrepreneur-driven reinvestment project in the heart of metro is expected to help an innovative, Kansas City-built IoT firm expand its footprint and grow the company’s advanced smart home and temperature sensor technology, said Ted Conrad, noting the urban core was the best place to let the concept cook.