KU event to connect hundreds of students with KC startups
March 16, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
To boost Kansas City’s growing startup community, the University of Kansas is hosting an event hoping to connect students with future employer prospects.
Set for 2:00 p.m. on April 11, the KU Startup Job and Internship Fair expects to host about 200 students and over 20 area startups to connect and learn from presentations. The learning opportunities are then followed by a job fair that hopes to reveal job opportunities and keep area students in the metro.
Julie Nagel, KU’s associate vice chancellor of innovation and entrepreneurship, said she wants to introduce students to the area’s emerging startup community, and will do her best to showcase small, medium and large companies.
“For the startup community to continue to flourish in Kansas City, it must have access to a workforce that is creative, smart and driven,” Nagel said. “The startup career fair is a way KU can support this regional growth.”
Company and student registration for the event is now open. Students and businesses can login to see who’s attending, and mark potential hires and employers to be more intentional about their networking.
Nagel noted that KU plays a large role in driving the economic prosperity of the region, as it aims to produce top talent. She said that there is a growing interest in entrepreneurship among students, with over 900 students enrolled in an entrepreneurship class every semester.
“KU is striving to better match students with opportunities to better support the growth of the region,” Nagel said. “We do this through translating technology into startup companies that live and grow in the region as well as through developing a talent pipeline that will create a talented workforce to support regional companies including startup companies.”
To attend the event, click here.

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
K-State opens physical innovation hub space to boost research, economic development
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. MANHATTAN, Kansas — A newly unveiled collaborative office space at Kansas State University is expected to catalyze research commercialization, industry partnerships and economic growth, said Richard Linton. “This new space…
Kansas City jazz swings harder: How KU is building on the city’s historic musical legacy
Editor’s note: This article was written for a class at the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications and distributed through the Kansas Press Association. Icons like Charlie Parker and Count Basie define Kansas City’s jazz legacy. But today’s contemporary artists — such as Blue Noyes and Nic Weaver —…
Northeast Pizza shop bakes KC’s most accessible food into a new restaurant for all, owner says
Rising from a family of restaurateurs, Noah Quillec is striking out on his own — with the help of some culinary friends — to bring a new pizzeria to Kansas City’s Northeast; it’s a move he hopes will bring unity by the slice. “This neighborhood is very accessible, so diverse and so all over the…
Best-selling tea towel maker’s business model hangs by this thread: ‘the more I give back, the more I’ll succeed’
Elene Banks, founder of Kansas City-based Absorb-Lumen, turned her boutique clothing store into a mission-driven business that puts eco-friendly kitchen essentials in the spotlight, all while giving back to the community through a charitable business model. “It was a happy accident,” Banks said, “We started a boutique online and tried to carry tea towels from…
