All Stories

MLB commissioner: Royals need a new stadium to keep playing ball with young sports fans, evolving revenue demands

By Tommy Felts / August 17, 2023

A modern ballpark district with the Kansas City Royals as its centerpiece — whether downtown or in North Kansas City — will mean a more competitive ball club, as well as economic development gains for the local community, said Rob Manfred. Washington D.C. and Atlanta are home run examples, the visiting Major League Baseball commissioner…

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Sips on the shelf: Whiskey inventory app pours order into collectors’ private honey holes

By Tommy Felts / August 17, 2023

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 — Whiskey connoisseurs can now take their collections digital, shared Dave Cunningham, an enthusiast whose new app tracks the high-value, sought-after liquor. In February, Cunningham — with the help…

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KC-baked snack cracker startup tastes new markets, opportunities fueled by regenerative agriculture

By Tommy Felts / August 17, 2023

SAN ANTONIO — Five years after the company experienced crunch time in the Kansas City-based Sprint Accelerator, Cheddies Crackers has expanded its line of high-protein, low-carb cheddar crackers into more than 2,500 retailers nationwide, said Francisco Pergola. RELATED: Say ‘cheese,’ KC! Cheddies arrive in Hy-Vee stores after Sprint Accelerator Pergola — who co-founded the San…

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Shop Local KC moving its flagship maker store to Brookside, expects flower business to bloom

By Tommy Felts / August 16, 2023

Shop Local KC is closing its flagship Midtown location as it prepares to open a new storefront in Brookside Sept. 1, according to owner Katie Mabry Van Dieren. The retail gift and flower shop plans to depart its original location at 3630 Main St. as the building developer, Exact Partners, seeks to use the space…

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Investor returns to Kansas City with a message for his fellow VCs: It’s time to get your hands dirty 

By Tommy Felts / August 15, 2023

Traveling across the United States to listen and learn from various entrepreneurial ecosystems gave Nassir Criss the knowledge to be a better venture capitalist, he said. After nearly a year — and visiting more than a dozen cities — Criss has returned to Kansas City to share and apply what he experienced.  “I realized that…

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Manufacturing talent: Kansas production mainstay designs its niche, from warfighters to healthcare 

By Tommy Felts / August 15, 2023

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 — The leader of a Kansas company specializing in custom equipment design and manufacturing hailed the work of its nearly 500 employees for allowing the organization to thrive during…

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VinCue leadership team: Michael Hopkins, chief marketing officer; Danny Zaslavsky, managing partner; Chris Hoke, CEO and co-founder; and Nic Hodges, COO

Autotech startup VINCUE secures Series B with fleet of industry investors, innovators

By Tommy Felts / August 15, 2023

A downtown Kansas City-headquartered startup’s first major institutional investment is expected to enable the company to scale operations, advance its product roadmap, and meet increasing market demand, its co-founders said Tuesday.  VINCUE — an end-to-end inventory lifecycle solution for retail automotive dealerships and one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 —…

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Bottom line, their ‘Grief Forecast’ calculates how much ignoring employees’ loss will cost a company

By Tommy Felts / August 14, 2023

An Overland Park-based HRtech startup has added new tools to its B2B software platform that equips corporate leaders with the necessary knowledge to support grieving employees. This summer, Workplace Healing launched its Grief Forecast, a free resource that calculates how much a company will lose from its annual bottom line by not properly supporting employees…

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Sunflower fest opens at KC Wine Co as popular pumpkin patch grows into year-round destination

By Tommy Felts / August 12, 2023

Transforming from a Jurassic farm to a winter wonderland, the green thumbs at KC Pumpkin Patch have grown their niche as a year-round destination in rural southwest Johnson County. Next set to bloom: a sunflower-rich selfie oasis on the prairie (with wine). “We loved having folks come for the fall [pumpkin patch] season, but people…

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Hemp could be the next superfood: How one state-backed company is connecting farmers to retailers now

By Tommy Felts / August 12, 2023

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.  AUGUSTA, Kansas — A Kansas company specializing in agricultural and industrial hemp hopes that a collaborative, educational approach in a burgeoning industry will benefit farmers, the environment, and end users…

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