All Stories

Play It Forward

Former high school rivals from MADE, Local Legends ‘Play It Forward’ in bid to revive South KC

By Tommy Felts / July 26, 2018

Organizers of the Aug. 12 Play It Forward charity basketball game traded playful taunts as they approached the doors of the former Hickman Mills High School gymnasium. “They painted over your cougar,” said AbdulRasheed Yahaya, a Ruskin High School graduate, referencing the giant eagle logo affixed to the former Hickman facility that now is part…

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David Hulsen and Stuart Ludlow, co-founders of RFP365, Client Discovery

Founder: RFP365’s new Client Discovery launch shows startup-corporate deals build stronger tech products

By Tommy Felts / July 26, 2018

A new product module from RFP365 defies common perceptions about Kansas City corporations overlooking tech talent in the startup community, said co-founder Stuart Ludlow, announcing the launch of Client Discovery. “Traditionally, we always say that an RFP [request for proposal] involves two people,” he said, describing the product. “Someone writes an RFP and then a…

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Resonate Pictures

Homegrown Resonate Pictures cultivates corporate market through creative risks

By Tommy Felts / July 25, 2018

The same creative energy reverberating through cities like Los Angeles, New York City and Portland can be found in Kansas City, said Marc Havener, the filmmaker behind Lawrence-based Resonate Pictures. His message for fellow creatives: “We can make this back home.” After 10 years on the sets of blockbuster movies like “Pirates of the Caribbean,”…

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Happy Food

Happy Food gathers ingredients for nationwide grocery platform, meal-locating app

By Tommy Felts / July 24, 2018

Happy Food Co. has grown beyond distributing flavorful meal kits through small, standalone coolers at Kansas City-area Price Chopper and Hen House locations, said chef and co-founder Kiersten Firquain. The 2017 Startland Under the Radar startup has now developed a software platform — in partnership with retailers nationwide and 75 local vendors — to enable grocers…

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Porch Light

Porch Light Plans hopes to bring durable, affordable home design to the masses

By Tommy Felts / July 23, 2018

Modern homes should be durable and well-designed enough to last hundreds of years, said Katie Hoke. Lawrence-based Porch Light Plans combines sleek aesthetics with thicker insulation and fewer windows to achieve a contemporary housing option with the potential to slash utility bills in half, said Hoke co-founder of the boutique architectural design firm. “If every…

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WYCO

WYCO sunglasses customizes KC cool for a brightly-colored nationwide vision

By Tommy Felts / July 23, 2018

Kasey Skala frames WYCO as a Kansas City brand ready to look beyond county or state boundaries, he said. “I think it’s great that we started here in the Midwest. We’re proud of being a Midwest brand, growing it here and taking [advantage of] what Kansas City has to offer,” said Skala, WYCO chief marketing…

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Now in new Crossroads space, Rightfully Sewn prepares to welcome male sewists (Photos)

By Tommy Felts / July 20, 2018

The secret to any startup venture is to move forward one stitch at a time, said Rightfully Sewn founder Jennifer Lapka. “Start small, struggle, have success, then scale,” she said, quoting one of her many mentors. Freshly moved into a 2,200-square-foot atelier, or design studio, at 1800 Wyandotte St. in the Crossroads, Rightfully Sewn is…

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CommunityAmerica teen

CommunityAmerica teen-led innovation effort lauded for developing college cost calculator

By Tommy Felts / July 20, 2018

College degrees come with two price tags: the sticker price and the net price. A new free tool from the CommunityAmerica teen advisory board is being celebrated for helping students solve the complicated equation that separates the two — as well as determine which college options are financially realistic. “[With] some of the more elite schools,…

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Anywhere Cup Holder

Fishing Caddy inventor pours family business into new product: Anywhere Cup Holder

By Tommy Felts / July 19, 2018

Joe Pippins’ latest invention — the Anywhere Cup Holder — can support as much as 50 pounds in a single cup, he said. It’s a solution that serves the needs of everyone from mechanics and fishing enthusiasts to gardeners and people who entertain in their homes, said Pippins, founder of Live Holdings, which produces the…

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Photo by Scott Goodwill

Selling ‘the infinite commodity’: Farmobile leverages blockchain to build secure data store

By Tommy Felts / July 19, 2018

With more than a million acres of field data amassed by Farmobile, farmers now need an exchange to securely connect them with buyers of the digital machine and agronomic information they’ve harvested, said Jason Tatge. A newly opened Farmobile DataStore, which leverages elements of blockchain technology fueled by Intel Sawtooth and Amazon Web Services to…

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