Minority-Led

DivvyHQ

DivvyHQ landed Novel’s first investment by avoiding hockey-stick growth, co-founder says

By Tommy Felts / August 21, 2018

It was a marriage of the minds, said DivvyHQ co-founder Brody Dorland, describing his marketing tech firm’s recent investment from Novel Growth Partners. The company’s leadership — Dorland and co-founder Brock Stechman — is honored to be recipients of NGP’s first investment, Dorland said. But the pairing didn’t come by accident, he added. “I think they viewed…

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Claude Harris, College Coaching Network; Gabby Wallace, Go Natural English; Brody Dorland, DivvyHQ; Digital Sandbox: Summer in the Sand, talent showdown

In talent showdown with corporate neighbors, startups must hire smarter, say Digital Sandbox experts

By Tommy Felts / August 20, 2018

Kansas City heavy-weights like Garmin and Cerner court developers at the student level, said Brody Dorland, discussing a talent showdown seen by startups across the metro. “How am I supposed to compete with that?” asked Dorland, co-founder of marketing tech firm DivvyHQ, during a recent Digital Sandbox: Summer in the Sand panel about growing startup…

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Roy Scott, Healthy Hip Hop, Champ the mascot and Maurice "Champ" Woodard, Champ System

First down for Healthy Hip Hop: Roy Scott teams with Champ for game-changing reboot

By Tommy Felts / August 14, 2018

If it’s making money, don’t give up on it, said Roy Scott, rapper-turned-founder of Healthy Hip Hop. A new partnership with Champ System — a growing Kansas City sports apparel company with a popular hip hop-inspired mascot — will keep the performance- and tech-based startup in school gymnasiums and beyond as Scott’s company continues a…

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Maurice Woodard, Champ System

Limited edition: Champ System carries sports apparel from the field to Westport

By Tommy Felts / August 14, 2018

When the choice came down to quick, easy money or grinding out his own brand, Maurice Woodard played the long game. His payoff comes Saturday with the grand opening of Champ System’s first brick-and-mortar ChampZone storefront in Westport. “You’re going to look different because there’s such a limited amount that we’ll release,” he said, noting…

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Mayor Sly James, State of the City

Digital Workforce launch emphasizes freelance opportunities for diverse ‘solopreneurs’

By Tommy Felts / August 8, 2018

“This room should mirror our city,” said Sly James, repeating a common refrain used throughout his time as Kansas City mayor. But as he addressed a crowd of freelance workers taking part Monday morning in the city’s launch of the Digital Workforce Development Initiative (DWDI), the remark came with a less-frequent follow-up. “And it does,”…

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