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National champion KU mens basketball team; photo courtesy of the University of Kansas

FanThreeSixty teams with national champs, turning data into actionable plays to boost revenue, KU fan experience

By Tommy Felts / April 21, 2022

Another national championship title isn’t the only banner win the University of Kansas Athletics is adding to its rafters this year.  Weeks after scoring the NCAA men’s basketball title, the university has partnered with Kansas City-dunked FanThreeSixty to better connect with its fanbase in seasons to come.  “By partnering with FanThreeSixty, not only will Kansas…

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Paul Kempinski, Children's Mercy Hospital

Small biz could be solution to supply chain woes, says Children’s Mercy CEO; Why shared economic prosperity catalyzes innovation

By Tommy Felts / April 21, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity.  It’s all about the ripple effect of outcomes, said Paul Kempinski, diagnosing the community health potential (and business case) for supplier diversity efforts. Corporate…

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Mary Shannon, Connectus Worldwide

Mary Shannon’s two words to describe the complexity of supplier diversity: Competitive advantage

By Tommy Felts / April 21, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity.  Don’t try to fake your way through diversity initiatives for optics, advised Mary Shannon, noting half-hearted commitment to efforts like supplier diversity — which…

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DeMarcus Weeks UHoops; photo by Steven Green Photography

Why a social network for basketball players bounced off court to recruit STEM, solar players

By Tommy Felts / April 15, 2022

In an industry where connections can mean as much as talent, DeMarcus Weeks envisioned a LinkedIn-type network to create exposure for athletes — specifically basketball players from historically Black colleges and universities, as well as other small schools. Put in his words: to give the small guys a voice by providing them a network to connect…

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Chris Callen, CEO of Plot

Plot builds momentum as its new-to-market tool digs into construction communications tech gap

By Tommy Felts / April 15, 2022

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. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. WICHITA…

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Photo courtesy of Dimensional Innovations, LEGOLAND, Ferrari

This KC-designed LEGOLAND attraction puts young builders in the driver’s seat of their own Ferrari

By Tommy Felts / April 15, 2022

Racers, start your (virtual) engines.  Dimensional Innovations has partnered with Merlin Entertainments and Ferrari to bring a one-of-a-kind experience to LEGOLAND California Resort in Carlsbad, California, shared Spencer Farley. “We continue to liberate the world from mediocre experiences,” said Farley, an account director for Entertainment and Retail at the Overland Park-based design firm, Dimensional Innovations. …

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Sean McIntosh, Foothold Labs

His portable lab can detect COVID in saliva within minutes; how this former Navy SEAL’s startup is expanding its target

By Tommy Felts / April 13, 2022

Foothold Labs is on a mission to develop a next-generation, portable diagnostics system that can not only rapidly detect infectious diseases in saliva within five-to-eight minutes, but also indicate deadly contaminants in other common substances, shared Sean McIntosh. “To get equivalent results to our technology, someone would need to submit a sample to a professional…

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Digital Sandbox Q1 2022 awardees: Dan Schwarzlander and Nick Bennet, VaccineAssist; Sean McIntosh and Sarah Steeby, Foothold Labs; Roger Ngo and Tam Tran, DataAppraisal; Lisa Cooper, Workplace Healing; Tyler Bolz and Will Strout, DataSource

Meet 5 new Digital Sandbox-funded startups poised as the next wave of KC innovation

By Tommy Felts / April 13, 2022

A just-announced first-quarter cohort of startups are set to receive more than just $20,000 each in project funding from Digital Sandbox KC, said Jill Meyer, emphasizing the holistic support headed toward selected founders. “Early-stage funding is just one piece of the puzzle that helps our founders succeed and our startups accelerate toward commercialization and follow-on…

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Troost mural by JT Daniels

Calling citizen scientists: KC Digital Drive asking residents along Troost to help measure air pollution

By Tommy Felts / April 12, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon, a non-profit online news outlet focused on in-depth journalism in the public interest, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for the twice-weekly Kansas City Beacon email newsletter. To learn about Kansas City air…

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Bradley Gilmore, co-owner of Lula, celebrated his 40th birthday signing a long-term lease for his restaurant

New lease on life: ‘Southern cookhouse’ bringing fried flavor to former sushi space in Crossroads

By Tommy Felts / April 12, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by CityScene KC, an online news source focused on Greater Downtown Kansas City. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for the weekly CityScene KC email review. Brad Gilmore celebrated his 40th birthday last week with the gift he always wanted, the opportunity to run his…

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