Wichita Startup Week rallying nonprofits (and Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’) to celebrate entrepreneurs
August 13, 2024 | Startland News Staff
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.
WICHITA — Entrepreneurship and innovation advocates on Tuesday announced plans for an unprecedented, power-packed week of high-profile events and programs — all fueled by a new coalition of nonprofits that support Kansas business owners.
Wichita Startup Week is set to return Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, notably earlier in the fall than in past years when programming overlapped with Global Entrepreneurship Week. Among the planned highlights: an appearance by science, education and media personality Bill Nye “The Science Guy.”
Richard D. Muma, president of Wichita State University, speaks during the 2023 Ad Astra Summit in Wichita; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
FlagshipKansas.Tech, NXTUS, the Wichita Independent Business Association, Wichita Startup Week, and Create Campaign are set to combine previously separate fall programs and events during this week, to benefit startups, technology professionals and educators, and entrepreneurs from Wichita and around Kansas.
Click here to learn more about Wichita Startup Week.
“We’ll welcome state-wide attendees to engage on tech industry and workforce issues and soak up energy and wisdom from Bill Nye and dozens of presenters and panelists,” said Conner Hampton, executive director FlagshipKansas.tech, which in 2023 brought Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to its standalone Ad Astra Summit.
ICYMI: Apple co-founder tells Kansas crowd: The real threat from AI is misinformation
Attendees of the Wichita Independent Business Association's August luncheon hear a preview of details from the 2024 Wichita Startup Week; photo courtesy of Third House Co.
Third House Co., announce details of the fall event series during a preview presentation at the Wichita Independent Business Association's August luncheon; photo courtesy of Third House Co.
The collaborative Wichita Startup Week event series is designed to energize the state’s economic landscape — connecting entrepreneurs and innovators to resources, experts, and insights on the latest industry trends, according to organizers.
“This unified effort is all about benefiting our entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem,” said Mary Beth Jarvis, president and CEO of NXTUS. “By joining forces, we can offer a lineup of events that elevates Kansas as a prominent hub for innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship and draws participants in, knowing their week will be jammed with valuable programs.”
This joint week is designed to amplify the impact of the support organizations and allow attendees to benefit from diverse educational and networking programs during a blitz of coordinated events:
- FlagshipKansas.tech’s Ad Astra Tech Summit is set to feature high-profile industry speakers, including Nye, and sessions focused on state-wide technology professionals, startups, and tech educators and advocates, with workforce-focused programming enhanced by the Greater Wichita Partnership and the Workforce Alliance.
- NXTUS plans to culminate two unique NXTSTAGE programs — the Enterprise Engagement Series and Financial Technology Pilot Competition — with events that celebrate entrepreneurs and innovators from around Kansas and the nation.
- WIBA is hosting educational and networking events for entrepreneurs and the business community.
- Wichita Startup Week will offer interactive panel discussions, workshops and showcase events for startups and interested community members, in partnership with community organizations like Create Campaign, Groover Labs, Kansas Small Business Development Center, Wichita State University Center for Entrepreneurship, and more.
“Wichita Startup Week aims to celebrate and uplift our entrepreneurial community and spirit,” said Shae Blevins, a lead volunteer for the week. “Working together with FlagshipKansas.Tech, NXTUS, and WIBA extends this celebration throughout the entire state, creating a high-energy week that everyone will want to experience firsthand.”
This story is made possible by Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures.
Entrepreneurial Growth Ventures (EGV) is a business unit of NetWork Kansas supporting innovative, high-growth entrepreneurs in the State of Kansas. NetWork Kansas promotes an entrepreneurial environment by connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with the expertise, education and economic resources they need to succeed.
Featured Business
2024 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Not just a pet project: Why this KC e-commerce team adopted a dog supplement brand as its own
The Morgans — the family behind Marknology, a bootstrapped digital marketing firm specializing in Amazon sales — are taking a dog supplement brand that they built as a client to the next level now as owners, they shared. Waggedy — veterinarian-formulated supplements to keep dogs healthy and active, launched by Ben Bellinson in 2015 in…
She’s the mixologist of melt: Jess Priemer blends a cocktail of Kansas City into candle scents
With niche blends like 18th & Vine (whiskey, tobacco, and rose) and KC BBQ (hickory, oak, and BBQ sauce), Jess Priemer evokes memories and local landmarks with the lighting of each wick. Her candles are the best part of what makes Kansas City uniquely home, she said. “I love this city, like everybody else around…
Inside grantmaker’s ‘major shift’: Here’s how dreaming big could help rural communities thrive
The Patterson Family Foundation is committed to helping rural communities in Kansas and western Missouri thrive, said Chris Harris, noting the foundation’s new grantmaking strategy expands that access more broadly across its priority region. The Kansas City-based Patterson Family Foundation — founded in 2007 by Neal Patterson, the late Cerner CEO and co-founder, and his…
With the world tanking, this entrepreneur descaled opportunity from the bottom of your dentist’s aquarium
Brian Blake didn’t just start Merriam-based Boodleshire Aquatics; the biologist and lifelong lover of aquatic life built it from a moment of pause. He always dreamed of turning his passion into a business — returning to water at times throughout his career — but the push to take that leap came in an unexpected way.…