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EquipmentShare, Columbia, Missouri

Forbes names EquipmentShare to list of best startup employers for third straight year

By Tommy Felts / April 2, 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. COLUMBIA,…

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Samuel Morris, KC BizCare

Meet the people-first small biz advocate helping decode the language of entrepreneurship for KCMO

By Tommy Felts / April 1, 2022

Editor’s note: The following profile on Samuel Morris, small business advocate for Kansas City, Missouri’s, KC BizCare Office is made possible by the office’s financial and programmatic partnership with Startland News. When the bell rang on Samuel Morris’ Kansas City teaching career, he knew he had to do something big as he stepped back out…

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Getting the style just right for actor Harry Belafonte was a challenge for Warren "Stylez" Harvey. Belafonte portrayed the gangster Seldom Seen from Robert Altman's 1996 film "Kansas City"; photo by Julie Denesha

Warren ‘Stylez’ Harvey paints film legends set for induction into KC’s new Black Movie Hall of Fame

By Tommy Felts / April 1, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story was originally 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. Making careful brush strokes, Warren “Stylez” Harvey uses bold shades of blue in his bright Midtown studio. He’s painting a young…

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BUBBA Tidal Rods

Missouri-caught outdoor brand angles for bait-to-plate allure with non-slip grip fishing rods

By Tommy Felts / March 31, 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. COLUMBIA,…

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Garrett Amundsen, "Once Upon A Startup," and Parker Graham, Finotta

‘How a startup becomes a superstar’: Finotta launches real-time podcast as KU freshman gets inside the mind of its founder

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2022

Most business podcasts tell the stories of those who have reached massive success, Garrett Amundsen said, but Finotta’s premier podcast is set to flip the switch — sharing the fintech startup’s journey as it unfolds. “When people listen to our podcast, they’re going to be able to track the success and growth of the company…

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Co-founders Cornell Gorman, Christopher “LOKC” Stewart, and Brandon Calloway, Generating Income For Future Generations (G.I.F.T.), cut the ribbon of the nonprofit's new business center on Prospect Avenue

A gift for KC’s East Side: Business center beats developers to Prospect, offering one-stop shop for entrepreneurs

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2022

A new full-service business center and coworking space on Prospect Avenue will do more than just fill the former Blue Hills Community Services building — better fulfilling its goal to create a clear path to economic prosperity and wealth, said Brandon Calloway. “It’s always been the right time for a business center to open on…

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Velodyne Lidar team at the SXSW Innovation Awards in Austin

Innovative tech honored at SXSW has potential to save lives in KC, govtech founder says

By Tommy Felts / March 26, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. AUSTIN — A tech company from Silicon Valley’s largest city is unleashing a new era of smart infrastructure technology for the world in motion — and Kansas City…

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Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman in a promotional photo for "9 to 5"; photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

‘9 to 5’ exposed sexism, toxic gender roles at work; 40 years later, has much changed beyond the price of a cup of ambition?

By Tommy Felts / March 26, 2022

Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. The minds of women and marginalized employees are still being used without credit more than 40 years after Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda starred in a…

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Weedbot 2.0 by Greenfield Robotics

This new agrobot could be the future of farming: chemical-free and swarming in a field near you

By Tommy Felts / March 25, 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. Harvesting…

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David Biga, Particle Space; Shelley Cooper, Diversity TeleHealth; Tyler Bolz and Will Strout, DataSource; and Nikil Ragav, inventXYZ

11 emerging KC startups hit the road for Omaha pitch; one winner drives home with $25K

By Tommy Felts / March 25, 2022

Editor’s note: Husch Blackwell is a financial sponsor of Startland News, though this report was produced independently by the nonprofit newsroom. More than a third of competitors at the coming Get Started Omaha premier pitch event are expected to represent Kansas City innovation on stage April 6 — vying for $25,000 in prize money against…

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