Tommy Felts
Editor-In-Chief, Startland News
Tommy is editor-in-chief for Startland News, a Kansas City-based nonprofit newsroom that uses storytelling to elevate the region’s startup community of entrepreneurs, innovators, hustlers, creatives and risk-takers.
Under Tommy’s leadership, Startland News has expanded its coverage from a primarily high-tech, high-growth focus to a more wide-ranging and inclusive look at the faces of entrepreneurism, innovation and business.
Before joining Startland News in 2017, Tommy worked for 12 years as an award-winning newspaper journalist, designer, editor and publisher. He was named one of Editor & Publisher magazine’s top “25 Under 35” in 2014.
Recent Stories by Tommy Felts
How an elastic team turned an early tip about face masks into SewKC’s saving grace
Editor’s note: The following is the third in a series of stories about Kansas City fashion companies putting their own creative spin on the often-utilitarian face mask. As demand for face masks surged this spring, a massive and sustained influx of traffic and orders at SewKC crashed the Crossroads creatives’ online retail engine — forcing the…
Married to collaboration: SewKC couple stitches meaning into each hand-sewn design
Michele and Johnny Dawbarn’s symbiotic studio space in the Crossroads allows the always-evolving creative duo to do more than finish each other’s sentences. It stitches ideas to passion, threading a common mission through their businesses, they said. “When you sew-” Johnny began. “You bring two things together,” finished Michele, co-founder of SewKC with her husband….
Rightfully Sewn acquisition stitches new path toward re-establishing KC as garment capital, Lapka says
Rightfully Sewn’s acquisition by a 109-year-old nonprofit with national reach means more contracts, more employees and more impact for the mission-focused fashion company, said Jennifer Lapka. “No shakeups, no drama. The brand, programs, and team will stay intact,” said Lapka, founder of Rightfully Sewn, which this week announced a merger with Kansas City-based Alphapointe. “We…
Big winner at the Pure Pitch Rally: the American dream (and 8 pitchers vying for more than $91K)
Seven months after launching her startup, Nomi Smith’s PMI Rate Pro already is integrated with the nation’s six private mortgage insurance providers — saving more than 2,000 hours for loan officers and more than $1 million for homebuyers, she said. Competing Monday on stage at the Pure Pitch Rally was another critical milestone, Smith told…
Stronger brew: Messenger blends coffee collective into its behind-the-scenes menu
As the smells of Ibis Bakery and roasting beans waft together at Messenger Coffee in the Crossroads, rising between floors of the spacious and vibrant corner cafe, the flavors haven’t changed since COVID-19 began — nor since the popular Kansas City roasterie joined a freshly launched coffee collective, said Isaac Hodges. It’s still steeped in…
Wiener Kitchen’s chef-driven, artisan eats: This time you’ll actually want to see how the sausage is made
The grill hasn’t gone cold for Overland Park-stuffed Wiener Kitchen, said Dave Derr, recalling his unexpectedly packed experience as a restauranteur amid a pandemic season squeezing many small businesses. “We’ve had more revenue at our store than pre-COVID, which is absolutely nuts,” he chuckled in near disbelief. Consumer habits rapidly changed during the onset of…
Letter from the editor: Help us Give A Start to KC innovators
Editor’s note: The following kicks off Startland News’ Give A Start — an eight-week donor campaign seeking reader support for the nonprofit newsroom. Click here to donate. It’s a big day. Startland News is launching its first-ever donor campaign — asking our readers to join in financially supporting a nonprofit newsroom that’s helped elevate Kansas City…
Passion on paper: How decades-old tech helped ink creative ownership for a trendsetting designer
Kevin Garrison stockpiles canisters of ink like he collects cans of limited edition SPAM flavors — feeding a passion for vintage-inspired design that overflows from his Waldo home studio. “Some men get to a certain age and go buy a motorcycle or boats, and I went out and bought a Risograph printer,” the veteran graphic…
New in KC: Why Jackie Nguyen hit the brakes on acting to open a mobile coffee cafe
Editor’s note: New in KC is an ongoing profile series that highlights newly relocated members of the Kansas City startup community, their reasons for a change of scenery, and what they’ve found so far in KC. Click here to read more New in KC profiles. Lifting the curtain on the region’s first Vietnamese coffee traveling cafe, Jackie Nguyen is…
Destination exit: Less talk, more acceleration drove quiet BacklotCars to $425M deal
In the half-decade run-up to BacklotCars’ historic $425 million exit, the Kansas City startup remained largely under the radar, Justin Davis acknowledged, noting the intentional move became less about strategy and more focused on team values. “Like many people in Kansas City and the Midwest, we all prefer getting to work rather than talking about…