EDCKC

2018 LaunchKC winners

KCMO turns to entrepreneurs for new ideas on budget support; Advocates to rally at work sessions

Raised voices and a commitment to civic engagement earned entrepreneurs an additional $350,000 in city support for the 2019 budget year and a second attempt is about to begin, explained Rick Usher.  “It really goes back to when the resident work sessions started in 2018,” Usher, KCMO assistant city manager for entrepreneurship and small business,…

Summer Trep Series

OHUB x KCUP set to debut ‘18th & Vine Summer Trep Series’ for black, Latinx startup builders

The first spoke of Opportunity Hub’s arrival in Kansas City debuts July 19 with a new monthly event series dedicated to business builders from black and Latinx communities. “This is a celebration of unity, creating a healthier ecosystem within Kansas City, Missouri,” said Jamilah Jones, a business development officer at the Economic Development Corporation of…

David Hensley, Bar K Dog Bar

People’s Choice startup Bar K Dog Bar planning new locations across the Midwest (and beyond)

After less than a year serving Frisbees and drinks along Kansas City’s riverfront, Bar K Dog Bar has a treat for two other Midwest markets: plans to expand the premier pet experience space to St. Louis and Oklahoma City. “Our ultimate goal is to be in five markets in the next three years and 10…

Drew Solomon, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City; and Rodney Sampson, Opportunity Hub Kansas City

Atlanta-based Opportunity Hub announces plans for KC minority accelerator

Opportunity Hub is about building strength in numbers, said Rodney Sampson, a feat that can only be accomplished in Kansas City through inclusive and intentional ecosystem building. “The bottom line is that it takes everybody to be a stakeholder at some level,” said Sampson executive chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based OHUB. “The thesis of a…

Lisa Tamayo, Scollar Collision

Tenacious Scollar CEO to international investors: Look me in the eyes and try to tell me ‘no’

With a year of hustle well under way, you can’t break Scollar’s stride, Lisa Tamayo said as she prepares to take the stage in front of a 25,000-plus person crowd May 20 at the Collision tech conference in Toronto. “[I believe] 15,000 people applied to present a pitch and they whittle that down to 60…