Techweek opens Monday with KC Mayoral Candidate Tech Forum; launches app with full schedule
October 2, 2018 | Austin Barnes
Candidates to be Kansas City’s next mayor will take the stage Monday at Union Station in one of Techweek KC’s first events of 2018 to talk tech and its importance in shaping the city’s future, said Ryan Weber.
“We’re still a long way from the [April 2] primary election, but this forum will help voters be more educated about the various candidates, their experience, credentials, and vision for the future of KCMO as a whole,” said Weber, president of the KC Tech Council.
Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council
Announced candidates appearing Monday at Techweek KC include Alissia Canady, Jermaine Reed, Phil Glynn, Quinton Lucas, Steve Miller, Scott Taylor, and Scott Wagner.
The forum does not include front-runner and former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, who announced Tuesday in a Facebook that he was dropping out of the race because of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms.
With nearly 100,000 tech jobs across the metro, the tech-focused forum is a can’t-miss for curious citizens who have questions about the city’s digital evolution, Weber said.
“[The tech space] lifts an economy, employs workers, and accelerates development,” he said. “We hope every candidate has a strategy to enable this growth.”
The KC Tech Council hopes each candidate has a tech-focused strategy prepared for the city, if they are elected come the June 25, 2019, general election, Weber said.
Adding the mayoral forum to a full Techweek KC schedule — which was released Monday and can be accessed using the Attendify app — is one of the dozens of ways the 2018 event is diverging from previous incarnations of Techweek KC.
Weber is expecting a conversation Monday that’s both lively and informative, he said.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
New $2.2M funding round powers WorkTorch career platform expansion into KCK, KCMO
Less than a year after sisters Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall became the first Black women in Kansas to raise $1 million in seed funding for their startup, their rebranded Wichita company announced another $2.2 million investment for its rapidly scaling service industry career platform. The new influx of funding — led by Wichita-based Tenzing Capital…
Meet three tech startup founders pitching in KC’s women-led ‘Dolphin Tank’ event
A pitch event is set to return to Kansas City with a trio of female founders spotlighted for a panel of “dolphins.” “Springboard’s Dolphin Tank brings the power of our collective community to women entrepreneurs innovating in enterprise tech,” said Natalie Buford-Young, CEO of Springboard Enterprises. “Our Dolphin Tank events showcase exciting women-led companies and…
Founders earn innovation, Business Hall of Fame honors from Junior Achievement
Carlos Antequera’s business roots run deep, he told a crowd gathered for his induction into Junior Achievement’s Business Hall of Fame, noting inspiration and impact from his time assisting his grandmother in her convenience store in Bolivia to current-day collaborators in Kansas City. “I’ve been very fortunate in my entrepreneurial journey to have been surrounded…
Missouri cannabis company grows into flower, buying massive Kansas City grow facility
A Springfield-based cannabis company is acquiring a massive growing and manufacturing facility in Kansas City, positioning Show-Me Organics as a vertical player in the budding Missouri marijuana market. The deal to purchase the local 80,000-square-foot cannabis operation from Holistic Industries — one of the nation’s largest, private multi-state operators in the cannabis industry — is…