All Stories

Fund Me, KC: Grocery store on Troost needs to bag community support to open, bringing fresh food east

By Tommy Felts / July 5, 2023

Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like Kortney Lee who is attempting to expand the footprint of Community Groceries — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially…

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Corridor of support: Plug and Play credits interconnected region for global accelerator’s Topeka wins

By Tommy Felts / July 5, 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 — Collaboration is the catalyst behind Topeka’s swelling entrepreneurial ecosystem, shared Lindsay Lebahn, and it’s attracting innovation from across the globe. “Plug and Play Topeka sees a lot of…

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Depression doesn’t have to ruin your career, but you do need a plan (Holistic Hustle)

By Tommy Felts / July 5, 2023

Kharissa Parker is a news producer, writer, certified health coach, and “Holistic Hustle” columnist for Startland News. The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. For more of her self-care tips on how to keep your cup full, visit kparker.co. Businesses have become much more health conscious over recent years. From step challenges…

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Are You Ready For It? J. Rieger partners with KC TikToker for Eras Tour pop-up ahead of Taylor Swift concert weekend

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 2023

Calling all the argumentative, antithetical dream Swifties — J. Rieger & Co. is welcoming Taylor Swift fans to its Electric Park Garden Bar for a pre-concert weekend celebration.  “The dedication that people have for Taylor Swift’s concert has been incredible to see,” said Sarah James, director of hospitality at J. Rieger & Co. “We love…

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Woodie Bonds Jr., Kemet Coleman, and Elliott Ivory,

KC’s newest brewery isn’t just the first in Missouri owned by African Americans, it’s ‘sacred soil’

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 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. From their new spot on the south end of the Historic 18th and Vine district, Vine Street Brewing Company’s owners want…

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This Kansas gardener is suing for the right to sell honey and fruit from her Ottawa yard

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 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. Ellen Finnerty dreams of beekeeping and of supplementing the income from her warehouse job by selling products from her garden. OTTAWA,…

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They called her ‘Buckwheat’ as a child; Her genre-blending new film flips the script on preconceived narratives

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 2023

Jamie Addison’s production company aims to expose realities not often explored in mainstream media or society, the Kansas City filmmaker said, particularly as they reveal truths that have been hidden to create misleading or outright false narratives around gender, race and social norms. “Let’s take back the power and identity and love ourselves; truly feel…

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Married puppeteers had a hand in reviving iconic Mr. Rogers characters for film; now they’ve returned to KC (with their studio)

By Tommy Felts / June 29, 2023

Puppeteers are often anonymous, but Spencer Lott — and his wife and business partner, Grace Townley — are stepping into the spotlight to start their own creative studio, they shared. The Lawrence-based couple — who built the puppets used in the Tom Hanks film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” about the life of TV’s…

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Show-Me Honeywell: How this high-security KC tech campus became a one-day classroom for Missouri school leaders 

By Tommy Felts / June 29, 2023

A group of Missouri educators, counselors and administrators took a summer trip across the state to visit notable companies and learn firsthand about relevant career pathways for their students, detailed Brian Crouse. Among the behind-the-scenes looks: a rare glimpse into the work at Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, which manages the U.S. Department of Energy’s…

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PHKC awards $25K to Alchemy Sandbox winners; It’s amazing when someone understands your vision, founder says 

By Tommy Felts / June 28, 2023

Year one challenges can be difficult for entrepreneurs to swallow, James Thomas noted, but he’s raising a cup to the first anniversary of Brain Freeze Mobile Daiquiri Shop with validation and a splash of funding. Two days after completing The Porter House KC’s fourth small business development cohort and competing in its finale competition, Thomas…

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