All Stories

2024 Startups to Watch: Invary secures core protections against the bad guys of the dark web

By Tommy Felts / January 3, 2024

Editor’s note: Startland News editors selected 10 Kansas City scaling businesses to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list. Now in its ninth year, this feature recognizes founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest, most compelling news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2024’s companies.…

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10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2024

By Tommy Felts / January 2, 2024

Meet 10 of the most compelling, emerging startups poised to make bold headlines in 2024. From spacetech to artificial intelligence, beer to golf, blowouts to big rigs, these companies share at least one critical component beyond sheer momentum. They help reflect a new golden era in Kansas City. It’s a theme echoed throughout the local…

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Call it ‘Swiftonomics’ in KC: Win or lose, Taylor Swift brought a smile to more than just Travis Kelce this season

By Tommy Felts / December 28, 2023

Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter. The Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City estimates that Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour this summer had an economic impact of $200…

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Combating fight or flight: KC nonprofit deploys horses for veterans struggling to get back in the civilian saddle

By Tommy Felts / December 28, 2023

Horses taught Patrick Benson to feel again after serving in the military, he shared. Now he extends that experience to his fellow combat veterans through a nonprofit based on a rural Johnson County farm. “Working with challenging horses that are struggling with their purpose, too; to find direction; we needed the same thing,” Benson explained…

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PBS docuseries puts KC creator at the intersection food and ‘transformational travel’

By Tommy Felts / December 28, 2023

Food travel is about more than getting the most exotic or expensive social media-worthy photo of a meal to share for superficial clout, said Jim Kane, emphasizing the transformation power of connection when someone truly allows themselves to use food as a lens for understanding culture. “Before the pandemic, there were a lot of checklists…

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A misstep ended their ‘Squid Game’ run together; the business of their friendship keeps moving

By Tommy Felts / December 28, 2023

While not everything on reality TV is 100 percent … well, real, the bond between “Squid Game: The Challenge” competitors Stephen Lomas and Chase Higgins is anything but scripted, the Kansas City duo said. Longtime friends and business partners — the two previously co-founded Let’s Get Moving, a social media savvy moving company that gained…

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How Kauffman Scholars’ 20-year run reflected the value of representation for Black, Brown students

By Tommy Felts / December 27, 2023

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News. The legacy of Kauffman Scholars — an initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation that sunset earlier in 2023 after 20 years — can be seen in the decades of students impacted and the passion fueling the effort from within, according to a…

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This hands-on video production workshop at DeLaSalle will put careers in focus

By Tommy Felts / December 27, 2023

A new partnership between a Kansas City video production company and a charter school serving teens along the Troost corridor is expected to give DeLaSalle High School students a stronger entry point into an emerging industry, said Jasmine Nastasi. “It’s a way to help with recruiting, to streamline the process, and to have an official…

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Ford Fund Fellowship ranks KC alongside Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas; opening applications to local entrepreneurs

By Tommy Felts / December 27, 2023

For the first time, Kansas City entrepreneurs have an opportunity to apply for the Watson Institute’s Ford Fund Fellowship, Milena Kirillova shared. The international venture and leadership development program — in its third year and supported by Ford Motor Company Fund — is a virtual, 16-week program designed to equip highly promising entrepreneurs and community…

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Russell Stover chocolates — a KC tradition for 100 years — still bring holiday cheer

By Tommy Felts / December 22, 2023

Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter. The iconic Kansas City-based company is still growing, and attributes its success to the warmth and comfort people feel when they…

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