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Startups to Watch 2021 set

Startups to Watch celebration set to premiere in early 2021 as digital interview special

By Tommy Felts / December 17, 2020

If 2020 proved one thing, it’s that innovation can’t be tamed, Austin Barnes said in announcement of a 2021 return for the hotly anticipated Kansas City Startups to Watch list and the debut of a corresponding digital interview special.  “Our team of reporters has been masked up and on the ground since Day 1,” Barnes,…

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Brian Roberts, The Black Pantry

Pop-up shop for Black-owned essentials plans its final 2020 stops; only the beginning, founder says

By Tommy Felts / December 17, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. Kansas City’s lack of a centralized shopping hub for products from Black-owned businesses frustrated Brian Roberts, he said, prompting the entrepreneur to launch…

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Brian Platt, KCMO city manager

How Brian Platt’s innovation past unmasks KC’s potential for newly arrived city manager

By Tommy Felts / December 17, 2020

Kansas City’s open spaces — and open mindset — quickly expose the region’s potential, said Brian Platt, eagerly rolling up his sleeves as the new KCMO city manager. “In a sense, it reminds me a lot of downtown Jersey City from a decade ago, give or take, in that there are plenty of new developments — tall…

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Behind the scenes of a scaling business: Private vs public — which cloud is right for you?

By Tommy Felts / December 16, 2020

Editor’s note: This commentary — the third in a four-part series — is sponsored and produced by LightEdge, a leading provider of enterprise-grade data center solutions — rooted in colocation and private cloud, and wrapped in security and compliance. The company delivers always-on internet with highly interconnected data centers, unmatched Compliance as a Service, and…

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KCSourceLink to pandemic-prompted entrepreneurs: 8 no-cost, low-cost classes to help start a dream business

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2020

As Kansas Citians reel from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many are turning to entrepreneurship, reports ecosystem builder KCSourceLink, citing a 367 percent increase in the number of people who reported starting a business.  The nonprofit, which helps new and seasoned entrepreneurs start and grow businesses by connecting them to more than 240 business-building resources in…

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; Photo by Danielle Robinson

Newly-elected state school board rep Melanie Haas talks innovation (for more than just JoCo students)

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. With a professional background in technology, Melanie Haas witnessed her industry empowering women to fill leadership roles, she said. So when it came…

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Cart Kings

Safe and sanitized: Cart Kings corral COVID threat with three dads’ protective solution

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2020

Three Kansas City dads’ community-first mindsets pushed the trio to develop a “first-of-its-kind” technique for making grocery and retail stores across the metro safer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Their mission: disinfect shopping carts and other well-used items via a sanitization trailer — bypassing the arduous, fallible and potentially dangerous process of cleaning by hand, said…

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Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas

First-person: Baker’s liberal arts foundation fosters innovation, critical thinking skills

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2020

Editor’s note: This first-person student commentary — part of a two-part series by Halle Morrell of The Baker Orange — is sponsored and produced by Baker University. Located in Baldwin City, Kansas, Baker is building the next generations of leaders, achievers and innovators with a robust liberal arts education. The opinions expressed in this commentary…

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Damika Clay

How Stick Figure Bully’s simple lines and shapes rewrite one woman’s childhood trauma as a cautionary tale

By Tommy Felts / December 10, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. A creative spirit, Damika Clay recalled a white sweatshirt on which she loved to write and draw designs. The same item she proudly…

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Restaurant, Pub and Games (RPG), Lawrence

Inspired by life-or-death resiliency, RPG turns to take-home game rentals, crowdsourced investors

By Tommy Felts / December 10, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. Stories from Nate Morsches’ grandfather sounded like plot lines in an Indiana Jones film, the Lawrence entrepreneur recalled; only the tales he heard…

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