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KC engineering firm with global reach earns Chamber equity award for its community-focused blueprint

By Tommy Felts / June 14, 2024

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. Equity is infused in everything Taliaferro & Browne engineers, said Leonard Graham, accepting the KC Chamber’s Small Business Equity Award alongside co-owner Hagos Andebrhan.  One of Kansas…

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Best in show: Bar K vies for USA Today’s dog bar prize; here’s how a shared love of dogs is pushing expansion

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2024

The human-dog bond — and a desire to embrace it at places like Bar K’s innovative bar, restaurant, and dog park experience — is stronger than today’s often partisan and divisive climate, said David Hensley. “It doesn’t matter your political affiliations … where you’re from, your socioeconomic status,” he said. “Everybody loves dogs, and that…

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Firm with deep KC ties wins Small Business of the Year thanks to tenacity, hyperlocal focus

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2024

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. A decades-long commitment to Kansas City clients — and the belief that rising tides lift all ships — helped propel Walz Tetrick Advertising to the award stage…

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How this genre-hopping KC musician is fighting back against digitized entertainment

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2024

A former college football star, Keelon Vann often found himself “running on fumes” as he chased his passion on the field — and on key. “I’d be up playing guitar until 3 a.m., which is not a joke, and somehow make it to 5:30 a.m. workouts the next day,” said Vann, a quarterback at Piper High…

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Public vote picks KC Chamber ‘Fan Favorites’ ahead of Small Business of the Year reveal

By Tommy Felts / June 12, 2024

In a display of growing support and recognition for the Kansas City companies, Overflow and Emerson & Co have been crowned this year’s “Fan Favorite” winners by the KC Chamber — marking the only award chosen by public vote as part of annual Small Business Celebration. “It represents the voice of the community and highlights…

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New collaboration will help OP startup 3D bioprint, scale its next-gen biotech solution

By Tommy Felts / June 12, 2024

A Kansas biotech startup’s new manufacturing partner will boost efforts to automate and mass produce Ronawk’s headline-grabbing Bio-Block technology — a platform that has already accelerated medical advancements in tissue therapy. “Collaboration is critical for turning research advances into commercial therapies rapidly. The complexity and diversity of modalities is so big that nobody can do…

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Museums shouldn’t feel like artifacts, KC firm says; Here’s how Multistudio uses analog experiences to build buzz 

By Tommy Felts / June 11, 2024

Multistudio doesn’t exclusively design museums, but the Westport-based architecture firm — along with Kansas City itself — certainly is having a museum moment, shared Robert Riccardi. The firm’s local portfolio includes a growing number of new-era museums, including The Rabbit Hole, the Laugh-O-gram animation studio, and the Satchel Paige House. They’re not your traditional museums…

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Back2KC sets return date for its 2024 homecoming effort, scouting familiar faces to build an even stronger KC

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2024

When Back2KC returns this fall, the homegrown talent recruitment initiative will lean on unexpected connections to entice former residents — now out-of-town professionals — to give Kansas City’s recent Golden Age another look, organizers said.  “The biggest win we can have is if these expats and ex-Kansas Citians come back, move their families here, move…

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‘A piece of something bigger’: Makers help raise fabric of community with Union Station quilt project

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2024

A trio of Kansas City maker businesses wove together their talents this spring in support of a new, local health initiative — culminating in a towering expression of hope and healing at Union Station. Ampersand Design Studio, Tia Curtis Quilts, and Collective EX spent the past three weeks designing, fabricating, and displaying a colorful quilt…

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Crack open ice cold nostalgia for summer; this flea market is selling a vintage party experience 

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2024

A monthly pop-up flea market in the Crossroads Arts District taps into nostalgia — and a thirst for unexpected but inclusive finds, said Alex Uritis. “It’s one of my favorite things to do with my best friends,” explained the Goldie’s Flea Market founder. “You go, you get a giant, ice cold beer and you walk…

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