KCMO adds $350K for entrepreneurs to proposed city budget after advocates’ last-minute push
March 21, 2019 | Austin Barnes
Kansas City entrepreneur advocates gained more momentum Thursday in their bid to receive greater civic support for startups and small businesses.
“Entrepreneurs and small businesses are the driver of the Kansas City economy,” KCMO councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Scott Wagner told Startland Thursday afternoon, following the approval of the city’s $1.73 billion budget.
An additional $350,000 has been allocated to the Urban Business Growth initiative and for general entrepreneurial support.
“This item [is a result of advocacy from] the entrepreneurship community,” added Scott Huizenga, city budget officer, during Thursday’s city council meeting. “They came out in force at our public hearings.”
Kansas City city hall
More than 50 entrepreneurs and startup founders gathered for a public budget hearing earlier this month, calling on the council to better support entrepreneurial endeavors, given the economic impact they bring to the city, Eze Redwood, Rise Fast founder and startup community organizer, said at the time.
Click here to read more about Redwood’s comments to council members.
“I’m pleased that we have been able to place more money in the city’s budget to build capacity and the ecosystem to support [startup] development,” Wagner said Thursday.
Small business owners, startup founders, and advocates of the entrepreneurial ecosystem once again gathered Thursday in support of the amendment to the proposed budget –– which was ultimately approved with no hesitation from council members during the afternoons public meeting.
Now approved, the funds will be combined with $200,000 already set aside for entrepreneurial support, Huizenga said.
Funds could be used to support or inject resources, such as support or training opportunities, into the startup and small business space –– as deemed appropriate by the assistant city manager.
“This is one of the top priorities that came out of our public hearings this year,” Huizenga added.
The KCMO budget year runs May 1 through April 30.
Click here to view details of the budget.
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Roller Warriors skate over 1970s-era stereotypes with message of empowerment
Kansas City Roller Warriors are in the business of self-expression, strengthening team bonds and legitimizing their sport, skaters say. The player-owned roller derby league operates as a limited liability company, but essentially functions as a non-profit, organizers said. Having grown from grassroots origins in 2004 to now a member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby…
Prairie Village company’s Firefly lends serenity, tech to backyard fireworks
Prairie Village-based Winco Fireworks is officially launching Firefly, a remote firework firing system, introducing a tech blend to the formerly traditional firework industry and backyard Fourth of July celebrations. “It’s a really neat invention,” said Michael Collar, president of Winco Fireworks, which focuses on consumer fireworks. “There’s a lot of commercial firework companies that do…
We Create KC report: Startup investment soared to $540M in 2017
A startling statistic for those who think capital merely flies over the Midwest: Kansas City saw a 69 percent increase in startup investment from 2016 to 2017, according to KCSourceLink’s We Create KC report. All told, early-stage businesses classified by KCSourceLink as startups — typically defined as those with 20 or fewer employees — nabbed…
Hack Midwest offers coders freedom through 24-hour app creation competition
Technologists are often surprised by what they’re able to accomplish when they work together in a competitive format, Mike Gelphman said. That’s part of the reason Hack Midwest is returning this summer with the objective to inspire more techies to embrace their imagination, said Gelphman, founder of the competition, as well as KCITP, an area…