Government

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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Quinton Lucas, KCMO mayor

KCMO mayor: New ‘slowdown’ rules for businesses as COVID intensifies across metro

By Tommy Felts / November 16, 2020

Kansas City residents and workers are safer at home, Mayor Quinton Lucas said Monday, announcing new KCMO guidelines aimed at mitigating the spread of the Coronavirus and decreasing the strain on the region’s hospitals and health care workers. Lucas also urged families to cancel “the normal version of their Thanksgiving plans.” “Like many, I have…

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Small Business Big Voice

COVID is hurting small biz — but how to help? AltCap, KCBizCare launch listening tour to find best strategy

By Tommy Felts / November 12, 2020

To help Kansas City’s small business community, leaders first must know what entrepreneurs actually need, said Ruben Alonso, announcing the launch of a KCMO-backed, city-wide listening tour. “As we look to recover from the economic disruption caused by COVID-19, it is critical we hear from small businesses, the lifeblood of our communities so that we…

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2018 LaunchKC winners

Keystone Labs partners with LaunchKC to lead accelerator platform operations

By Tommy Felts / November 5, 2020

Six years after launching as a grants competition, the ever-evolving LaunchKC program will continue as an accelerator platform, newly led by the minds behind Keystone Labs — an outgrowth of the Keystone innovation district effort championed by Kevin McGinnis. Announced Thursday morning during a meeting of the Downtown Council of Kansas City, the move is expected…

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Kansas State University, Manhattan

Spark MHK hopes to ignite innovation in an ecosystem often dominated by students, soldiers

By Tommy Felts / October 20, 2020

MANHATTAN — An entrepreneur’s potential is anything but bite size in the Little Apple, Sarah Siders said.  “I’m really excited to be able to do this,” Siders, executive director of Spark MHK, said in announcement of the recent launch of the Manhattan-based entrepreneurial support organization — which aims to ignite activity within the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem…

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