IT firm honored as ‘Emerging Business of the Year’ finds inclusive welcome in Kansas City

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program.

NvisionKC — founded during the throes of the pandemic — more than survived 2020, Grace Ahn said; the IT consulting company is positioned for power, earning the KC Chamber’s Emerging Business of the Year Award.

“Anything is possible if you set your mind to it,” the founder and CEO said after the Chamber’s Small Business Celebration Awards Luncheon Wednesday at Marriott Muehlebach Tower. “This award is truly the lump sum of all my team’s effort and also the KC community’s support for small businesses. We just started with the will to be able to make it work and we found local businesses to be supporting and trusting of us as a newbie in the industry.”

Click here to learn more about the KC Chamber’s other award winners.

Grace Ahn, NvisionKC, right, is presented with the 2023 Emerging Small Business of the Year Award by La’Nesha Frazier, Bliss Books and Wine, during the KC Chamber’s Small Business Celebration; photo by Channa Steinmetz, Startland News

​​After a career as an IT consultant, Ahn founded Nvision KC — which specializes in collaboration, process automation, analytics, and software development — as a way to merge her computer science and hospitality management degrees, she shared.

“I wanted to see if I can provide the best customer service in IT and professional services, as well,” she explained. “We try to not only meet their requirements but provide them solutions that exceed their expectations.”

Ahn — an immigrant from South Korea — is proud of what NvisionKC has accomplished in just over two years, she said, especially the team she has done it with.

Click here to learn more about NvisionKC.

“It is very important for me to include diverse team members — whether it’s men or women — with different backgrounds,” she added, “because I’ve found it brings creativity and it’s really fun to learn from each other.”

After moving to the United States at the age of 26, Ahn has lived in several different cities around the country. But she noted that she is happy to call Kansas City home now.

“I love Kansas City because of the authenticity of the people,” she continued. “They have truly welcomed me. Even though I’m an Asian person — which is rare to see on the street — I don’t feel excluded. If you just walk on the street, people smile at you and I love that atmosphere of Kansas City.”