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.”
Just funded: Four KC groups split $41K in first awards from KCSourceLink initiative
A regional effort launched by KCSourceLink has funded its first cohort of organizations that are tackling gaps in Kansas City’s entrepreneur ecosystem — prioritizing collaborations that remove barriers to business growth for founders typically underrepresented within resource allocations.
Kemper Family backs Endeavor as global entrepreneur network deepens its Heartland ties
A Kansas City banking executive is joining the board of Endeavor Heartland through a collaboration that sees UMB Bank and the Kemper Family Foundation investing in Endeavor’s mission to scale entrepreneur-led innovation and economic growth from within the region.
Capital flows from relationships; this VC wants investors building them, not mining spreadsheets
Unlike the growing wave of AI startups promising to transform investing itself, one Midwest-built software platform launched by an industry insider focuses on a much narrower problem for VCs: organizing the steady stream of quarterly updates, financial metrics, documents and communications that arrive from portfolio companies.
Taking note: After sharing 20,000+ letters, the writing is clear; everyone’s carrying a burden
Kasim Hardaway developed Take What You Need, a public, interactive installation of 40 different letters that he wrote — labeled with phrases like “to the one who doubts their own worth” or “to the one who needs to let go” — inviting passersby to choose the letter that speaks best to them at that moment in their lives.
Your new favorite pizza-and-cocktail spot has two house rules: Be social; don’t kill the vibe
Serial entrepreneur Brian Roberts is back in the building where he began his brick-and-mortar journey, opening an aperitivo and cocktail bar — Social House — just a few yards away from the original Black Pantry retail space in Midtown’s Tower East neighborhood.
Early feedback: KC wants east-west streetcar line to 18th & Vine, transit leaders report
A possible KC Streetcar extension to the 18th & Vine Jazz District is gaining momentum as city leaders and residents work to shape what could become Kansas City’s first high-capacity east-west transit line. Questions about funding remain a leading consideration.