Growth-fueled HR tech startup moving to Crossroads after announcing $9M defense contract
April 16, 2025 | Startland News Staff
Jumping from a handful of employees to 15 over the past year has come with growing pains for Piccadilly Software Group, said co-founder Abe Dick, but the flip-side comes in the form of enhanced community presence, new office space, and greater opportunity for its signature product.
The company this month announced its move to a 6,400-square-foot office space in the Wonder Hub building at 1607 Oak St. — just months after lauding a $9 million contract supporting the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s submarine industrial base initiatives. (That project provides the startup’s TEQ Connect platform to help defense contractors accelerate the hiring of qualified candidates and boost worker retention in the national defense industry.)
“Piccadilly Software Group has grown significantly in the past year, and we now have the room we need to accommodate future growth, and we get to do it right in the heart of the city,” said Dick, who also is chief technology officer at Piccadilly Software Group.
“The Crossroads is an ideal location for our new headquarters,” he continued. “This is where our current and future team members want to be, and we look forward to rapidly expanding our organization in 2025 and beyond.”
Piccadilly Cloud’s TEQ Connect product was developed by father-son duo Ray Dick (CEO), a University of Kansas engineering instructor-turned-entrepreneur, and Abe Dick, a software engineer who previously worked at such top startups as PayIt and Pepper IoT; and a growing team in Kansas City.
The company’s first-of-its-kind SaaS platform was developed to enable human resources managers in manufacturing and the skilled trades to speed hiring, enhance retention and increase productivity.
Needs across industries abound, its co-founders said.
The U.S. Navy, for example, needs three new nuclear-powered submarines each year for the next 10 years to secure the nation, Ray Dick said previously, noting it’s an effort that will require an estimated 140,000 “highly skilled, well-trained and highly motivated workers.”
“Using TEQ Connect, military contractors can quickly identify and hire the ‘best fit’ employees they need to fulfill their missions and keep America strong,” he added.
The Wonder Hub building also is home to O’Neill Events & Marketing. It previously housed the Head for the Cure Foundation, which relocated to 3238 Gillham Rd, Kansas City.
Featured Business

2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Topeka recruited dozens of Filipino teachers for local classrooms; at year’s end, the district hopes they’ll stay
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. TOPEKA — Although international educators are not new to the state’s capital city, Topeka welcomed about 50 teachers from the Philippines this past school year to address shortages within the…
Startup ideas are here, but does Kansas have the risk capital to get them to the next level?
Eight early-stage Kansas entrepreneurs sat across from Midwest-based investors this week at Aspiria NOW in Overland Park, engaging in rapid-fire, “speed dating” style meetings aimed at moving their ventures closer to real investment. “We’re seeing just a great inflow of companies, especially at the early stage, come in just high levels of sophistication and awareness…
‘Buy, buy, buy while we can’: This KC toy store is stockpiling Christmas gifts now as tariff reality unwraps
Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton are feeling even more thankful right now for the large, dry basement at The Learning Tree — the independent toy store they own in Prairie Village — amid worries over tariffs on Chinese imports and how they’ll impact prices from toy manufacturers. The best they can do to prepare: stockpile…
KC’s pro pickleball team getting new $6.5M home near Arrowhead, Kauffman Stadium
A long-awaited redevelopment project in Kansas City’s stadium corridor is transforming the former CoCo Key Water resort into a vibrant destination pickleball facility with eight indoor courts, a full-service bar and restaurant, a coffee shop, and event spaces. It also will be home to the Kansas City Stingers, a professional team in the National Pickleball…

