LaunchKC earns honors of its own, must still keep hustling, KC eco devo leader says
October 13, 2018 | Elyssa Bezner
Receiving the Bronze Excellence in Economic Development Award proves the real market value for programs like LaunchKC, said Drew Solomon.
Drew Solomon, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City
The win has been energizing, said Solomon, senior vice president of business and job development at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, which partners with the Downtown Council of Kansas City to make the program liftoff.
LaunchKC awards $500,000 to nine startups each year through its popular grant competition. Click here to read about this year’s winners — awarded Friday in Power & Light.
The program earned its own honor earlier this month from the International Economic Development Council, the world’s largest membership organization for economic development professionals, in Atlanta, Georgia.
“[The award is] validating, but there’s still a ton of work to do,” said Solomon. “We’ve got to keep hustling and doing all the things that we do.”
LaunchKC has awarded $1.5 million in funding to 29 startups to date, spanning a spectrum of tech-related industries, according to a press release.
“This year, our judges reviewed some extraordinary projects that advanced both communities and businesses,” said Craig Richard, 2018 IEDC board chair. “What we learn from each other helps us to grow and advance as a profession. We look forward to even greater participation from economic developers across the globe in the 2019 awards program.”
Click here to read more about how LaunchKC has impacted grant recipients.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Vegan spell falls over West Bottoms restaurant as this trio’s plant-based potions ring in a new year
Every witch needs a coven, said Olive Cooke, Sylvia Metta and Kim Conyers; so they conjured a community in the West Bottoms to serve their vegan bites. Cauldron Collective — a plant-based, comfort food venture co-founded by self-proclaimed “cooking witches” Cooke, Metta and Conyers in January 2021 — made its mark in Kansas City through…
Topeka is building its own startup hub; a new group is pushing those left out from survival mode to creation
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. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. The…
Trade to troubadour: Ben Chaverin finds his hook, but just sampling KC’s music scene might not be enough
Entering the job market amid a global pandemic isn’t ideal, Ben Chaverin admits, but its challenges can become opportunities for those creative (and willing) enough to turn adversity into a new playlist. “I’ve learned so much in the last couple of years — and grown so much as a human being,” Chaverin said, recalling his December…
Why the ‘best cold brew you’ve ever tasted’ (and it’s brewer) are found only in KC
Tucked in your neighborhood grocer’s cooler waits an otherworldly cold brew — the smoothest this side of the twilight zone. And it can only be found in Kansas City. For now. “I take my craft really seriously and I taste every batch. If it’s not right, it doesn’t go out. It’s really important to me…