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
Calling songbirds, good and bad: Choir Bar harmonizes with group singalongs
Kansas City’s new “Choir Bar” only works with a packed crowd, admits Matt Baysinger, but professional vocal talent isn’t required. “There’s no sheet music, no judgement, no solos, and no pressure,” he said of the “reverse karaoke”-style event wherein the masses — not an individual — belt out a popular tune. “We’re here to sing…
IXKC: Racial bias conversation puts white faces in an awkward spot — the minority
Editor’s note: Check out photos from this event below the story. White people have to understand that they’ll never understand, said Lora McDonald. “White people only have to be ‘white’ when they’re in a room with other races. When they aren’t, they get to be individuals, not just a monolithic group,” she told a diverse…
Dimensional Innovations scores with massive Target Center design overhaul
Amid the hustle of a Minnesota Timberwolves game, fans peer through a glass floor at passersby in a lobby below. Looking up, a giant, neon-colored basketball sculpture looms overhead. It’s a moment created for curiosity and connection — designed by Overland Park’s Dimensional Innovations. Extending through multiple floors of the four-story Target Center in Minneapolis,…
More jobs than job seekers? SnapIT-led tech partnership trains next wave of workers
Corporations and tech startups alike are desperate to get their hands on programmers who know Java, said Neelima Parasker. “Big organizations have it embedded in their systems, and they’re dying to get some Java resources,” the SnapIT Solutions CEO said. “And don’t get me wrong: So am I.” A new partnership between SnapIT, the Full…
AY Young pivots Battery Tour to music festival benefitting those without power
With an ear-to-ear grin and his infectious laugh, AY Young admits he’s perhaps an unlikely rapper. Back from taking a shot at stardom in California, the Kansas City-born Eagle Scout-turned-college basketball player-turned performer is plugging into the entrepreneur community in hopes of more efficiently powering the Battery Tour. “We’re essentially using the universal language of…
More than coworking: Plexpod lauded as economic driver at EDCKC Cornerstone Awards
A Cornerstone Award win for Plexpod is a recognition of the evolving nature of community and connections, said Gerald Smith. “When we set out to do the Plexpod Westport Commons project, from the beginning it was much more than just another coworking facility,” said Plexpod co-founder Smith. “We believed Kansas City needed a central hub…
KC Tech Specs report: Net gain of 11,000 workers for KC, but 3,000 jobs remain unfilled
Kansas City’s brain gain grew at three times the rate of Chicago in 2017, according to a new report from the KC Tech Council. Isolated to tech jobs, the city’s pool of workers swelled by 11,000, the KC Tech Specs 2018 report said, though a shortage of skilled professionals remains. “The Kansas City tech industry…
KCultivator Q&A: Melissa Roberts talks tough (love), hot milk soup and mansplaining
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by WeWork Corrigan Station, a modern twist on Kansas City office space.Expertise requires experience, said Melissa Roberts. “I’ve had so many diverse roles and I’ve taken something from each of them,” the political…
First look: Creative Studios concept expands Made in KC’s view of brands as partners
Warm sunlight bathes a future ceramics shop. A vintage Thomas Cusack Co. mural advertisement peeks from behind the plaster wall of an in-the-works photography space. Views from the second and third floors reveal a city skyline in creative transition. Amid the freshly hung drywall and still-curing, stained hardwood staircases, Tyler Enders steps quickly between rooms…
Fitbit integrating Sickweather illness forecasting into new wearables
Sickweather is stepping into the wearables market. A new partnership with industry leader Fitbit is expected to see the Kansas City-based startup’s illness forecasting technology integrated into Fitbit’s new products. “Smartwatches provide a powerful platform to deliver important health tools that help our users manage conditions more conveniently than ever before,” said James Park, co-founder…