$1.6M grant will create incubator for low-income, minority entrepreneurs
October 19, 2017 | Bobby Burch
A large federal grant will help reanimate an older industrial building in Kansas City to serve as a small business incubator.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration recently awarded a $1.6 million grant to the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City organization said that the grant should create about 90 new jobs.
The grant funds will aid in the construction and renovations of the 13,000-square-foot space, which is expected to feature a commercial kitchen, co-working space, conference rooms and other business services. The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) helped lead regional planning efforts to secure the grant, bringing together public and private partners to develop a strategic economic development approach.
Pedro Zamora, the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation’s executive director, told KCUR that minority groups are at times forgotten in the area entrepreneurial community. The new space, however, might help with more equitable entrepreneurial growth.
“It’s a big piece that’s missing,” Zamora told KCUR. “We know Kansas City has been identified as the fastest growing entrepreneurial epicenter for the nation, but are we growing equitably?
“We put together a strategy that can allow us to participate in that same entrepreneurial, competitive edge, but bringing in accessibility for the underserved communities.”
Established in 1993, the HEDC aims to develop and implement economic development initiatives that would positively contribute to the quality of life for Latinos in the Greater Kansas City Area. Learn more about the organization here.
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Not just a pet project: Why this KC e-commerce team adopted a dog supplement brand as its own
The Morgans — the family behind Marknology, a bootstrapped digital marketing firm specializing in Amazon sales — are taking a dog supplement brand that they built as a client to the next level now as owners, they shared. Waggedy — veterinarian-formulated supplements to keep dogs healthy and active, launched by Ben Bellinson in 2015 in…
She’s the mixologist of melt: Jess Priemer blends a cocktail of Kansas City into candle scents
With niche blends like 18th & Vine (whiskey, tobacco, and rose) and KC BBQ (hickory, oak, and BBQ sauce), Jess Priemer evokes memories and local landmarks with the lighting of each wick. Her candles are the best part of what makes Kansas City uniquely home, she said. “I love this city, like everybody else around…
Inside grantmaker’s ‘major shift’: Here’s how dreaming big could help rural communities thrive
The Patterson Family Foundation is committed to helping rural communities in Kansas and western Missouri thrive, said Chris Harris, noting the foundation’s new grantmaking strategy expands that access more broadly across its priority region. The Kansas City-based Patterson Family Foundation — founded in 2007 by Neal Patterson, the late Cerner CEO and co-founder, and his…
With the world tanking, this entrepreneur descaled opportunity from the bottom of your dentist’s aquarium
Brian Blake didn’t just start Merriam-based Boodleshire Aquatics; the biologist and lifelong lover of aquatic life built it from a moment of pause. He always dreamed of turning his passion into a business — returning to water at times throughout his career — but the push to take that leap came in an unexpected way.…