News

UMKC receives $12.97M grant from Kauffman Foundation to boost barrier breaking across KC region, beyond

By Tommy Felts / January 5, 2023

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. New grant provides support to continue and expand entrepreneurship programs on the UMKC campus and across the Kansas City region The University of Missouri-Kansas City has received a historic, five-year, $12.97 million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation…

This 11-year-old’s lemonade sells out in hours at Hy-Vee; Here’s how he hopes to extend the shelf life of his young family business

By Tommy Felts / January 5, 2023

The all-natural, fresh-squeezed lemonade made by 11-year-old Tre Glasper and his family in a Manhattan commercial kitchen is making its way to Kansas City thanks to a tart partnership with one of the Midwest’s leading grocery chains. Tre typically sells about 100 bottles of Tre’s Squeeze — an amount that takes two to three hours…

Grief happens on (and off) company time: Why a startup founded from loss is building holistic bereavement plans for corporate America

By Tommy Felts / January 3, 2023

When grieving employees return to work, managers and colleagues often aren’t equipped to properly support them, said Lisa Cooper. “While I was working in corporate America for quite some time, I had witnessed a lot of dysfunction surrounding grief,” said Cooper, co-founder of Workplace Healing alongside Mindy Corporon.  For example, I can remember specifically when someone…

Cherry enters the endorsement game, scoring NIL deals that also boost female college athletes

By Tommy Felts / January 3, 2023

Partnering with college athletes is a natural elevation of sports apparel company Cherry Co., said Thalia Cherry. The KC-based brand signed agreements with 18 athletes for NIL (name, image, likeness) endorsement deals, shared Cherry, founder and CEO. “It’s a perfect alignment,” she continued. “We were already working with professional athletes in some capacity. So when…