Global Entrepreneurship Week returns with dozens of events planned in Kansas City
November 8, 2023 | Ansley Franco
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Missouri Business Alert, a member of the KC Media Collective, which also includes Startland News, KCUR 89.3, American Public Square, Kansas City PBS/Flatland, and The Kansas City Beacon.
Click here to read the original story.
Kansas City’s annual multi-day educational and networking event for entrepreneurs begins Monday.
Global Entrepreneurship Week draws thousands of like-minded individuals to more than 50 events to interact, learn from experts and hear success stories for no cost.
Business professionals will lead sessions on such topics as how to be a “solopreneur,” the importance of personal branding and bookkeeping essentials.
Plexpod Westport at Park 39
The event’s main sessions will be held at Plexpod Westport by Park 39 from Nov. 15 to 17. Other events will take place at various locations around the Kansas City metro area over the course of a week.
Plexpod offers office spaces for entrepreneurs, startups and growth-stage companies of all sizes.
Gerald Smith, founder and CEO of Plexpod, said he is excited that his business was selected as this year’s central location for Global Entrepreneurship Week.
“It’s these types of events that really open you up to things that you wouldn’t experience otherwise,” Smith said.
Smith is a self-described lifelong entrepreneur. He started his career in digital media, working with brands like AMC Theatres and John Deere for 25 years.
“There’s a bit of a pay it forward for my wife and I with Plexpod. I absolutely love being around others that remind me of myself in starting their companies,” Smith said. “Entrepreneurship knows no boundary.”
Jess Dyroff, co-founder of Brightside Creative, plans to attend multiple sessions at Global Entrepreneurship Week. She started the company in April to transform businesses using creative strategy and branding expertise.
Dyroff said she is most interested in hearing the lessons from older entrepreneurs and is excited about the expertise people are showing up with at GEW.
“We’d love to just expand our reach and really put ourselves out there to meet new faces within the small business community,” Dyroff said.
Chris Bohannon, founder of Artist KC, also plans to attend. Bohannon is a retired middle school art teacher who left teaching in 2017 to open her business making custom acrylic paintings of pets.
This will be her fourth consecutive year participating in the event.
“I think the most appealing part of GEW is that everyone on stage presenting is an experienced entrepreneur that is offering you free advice and resources, and nothing beats hearing it from somebody who’s already been there,” Bohannon said.
On top of also attending the events, Madison Clark, founder of Grief Cards, will be leading a session about working with emotions.
“I’m talking about the intersection of where entrepreneurship and grief meet, and how to work with those emotions and build an entrepreneurial life that works with them instead of acting like they don’t exist,” Clark said.
Dr. Shelley Cooper accepts the $25,000 first-place prize at the AltCap pitch competition during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2022; photo courtesy of Dr. Shelley Cooper
The week will also feature the AltCap Your Biz Pitch Competition, where $40,000 will be awarded to four winners.
The competition was open to owners of businesses with less than $250,000 in annual revenue. Ten finalists will pitch at AltCap’s event 3 p.m. on Nov. 16.
Last year’s winner, Shelley Cooper, pitched Diversity Telehealth, a company that works to bring health care access to people who may not ordinarily have it.
On competition day, Cooper said she was completely surprised when she won the $25,000 first-place prize.
“It’s made a huge difference in my company and is still making a big difference,” Cooper said.
Diversity Telehealth is utilizing a portion of the winnings to cover a new feature that would expand the language options in the app to include Arabic, French, Swahili and Somali.
“I think the main bit of advice is to remember why you’re doing this … and just keep working at it and give it your best effort,” Cooper said. “Keep your heart in it.”
Entrepreneurs who are interested in attending the event can register online. Spots are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Featured Business
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC’s first Hispanic beer company faces make-or-break holiday season; this popup could tap its potential
A holiday-time popup location for Kansas City’s first Hispanic brewing company offers a taste of what’s to come if Rizoma Liquid Creations gains the support it needs for a brick-and-mortar space of its own, said Damon Arredondo. “We can’t get the capital at this moment, so doing these events allows us to bring in potential…
Pipeline entrepreneur expands his Omaha-based senior living network into Kansas City
A 10-market expansion for HomeCare Advocacy Network is expected to bring the Omaha-based company to Lee’s Summit and Overland Park as Mark Goetz and his team work to provide personal care and specialized services for seniors who wish to age in place. “With one of the largest metropolitan areas in the Midwest, the Greater Kansas…
Raygun’s anti-leaf blower agenda might have triggered rock-in-a-sock vandal at KC store, founder jokes
Mike Draper has only one regret after someone threw a rock wrapped in a sock at one of the display windows at Raygun’s Crossroads store last week. “We did not keep the rock,” lamented the boutique retail operation’s Des Moines-based founder. “People were like, ‘Oh, you should sell the rock in the sock’ and we’re…
PayIt forward: Kansas renews contract with KC tech company that took DMV headaches off the road
For the more than 1 million Kansans who’ve already avoided long lines at the DMV thanks to PayIt’s award-winning digital payments platform, that experience — and others — will only get more convenient with the mobile-first technology’s Sunflower State renewal through at least 2026. PayIt this week announced a new deal with the State of…