Minority-Led

The Distrikc founders: We’re not waiting on outsiders to save our brothers and sisters

By Tommy Felts / May 10, 2019

It’s time for members of Kansas City’s largely unseen and forgotten communities of color to take control, said Wesley Hamilton, one of the organizers behind The Distrikc. “We speak so much about KC, but people forget whole groups of people — I’m talking Troost to Main, East Kansas City, South Kansas City,” he said. “We want…

‘Legendary’ UMKC Enactus team earns spot in national entrepreneurship finals

By Tommy Felts / May 9, 2019

The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Enactus team is the fourth most impactful in the country, declared Ben Williams. “At UMKC Enactus, we take the world’s greatest challenges into our own hands, channeling our power as students, advocates, and entrepreneurs,” the team told a crowd gathered Tuesday at the Kansas City Convention Center, as they took…

Car vending machine drives into KC skyline with Carvana’s launch off Southwest Boulevard

By Tommy Felts / May 9, 2019

Towering over Southwest Boulevard, Missouri’s first Carvana location has been parked in Kansas City and it’s finally ready to rev its engine, Amy O’Hara confirmed Thursday. “It’s a beautiful location and we’re looking forward to showing everyone our signature car vending machine experience and the new way to buy a car,” said O’Hara, Carvana associate…

Fund Me, KC: ‘Scarlet Knight’ returns to inner city streets with a moral dilemma about abuse of power

By Tommy Felts / May 7, 2019

Startland News is continuing its segment to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Juaquan Allen with his Scarlet Knight campaign — to share their crowdfunding stories to gain a little help from their supporters. Who are you? My name is Juaquan “Jay” Allen. I’m a…

‘More is better’ TrueAccord CEO says as Silicon Valley startup plans for 150 KC jobs

By Tommy Felts / May 3, 2019

TrueAccord is “furiously hiring” to jumpstart the San Francisco-based startup’s intense expansion plan now supplemented by a growing Lenexa office, said Ohad Samet. “We’ve been very successful [in Silicon Valley], but at some point we realized that we really needed to blow up,” said Samet, co-founder and CEO of the debt recovery startup, which recently…