News

KC Tech Council celebrates tax fix in Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ that boosts growing businesses

By Tommy Felts / July 23, 2025

A tax fix included in the recently signed “One Big Beautiful Bill” — sprawling legislation meant to overhaul taxes in the United States — marks a major win for Kansas City’s tech and innovation economy, said Kara Lowe. At issue: a long-awaited change to Section 174 research and development expensing that now allows businesses to…

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Thank a community leader; Nominate them to win $50,000

By Tommy Felts / July 23, 2025

Editor’s note: The following is a paid message from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Allison Greenwood Bajracharya, a fourth-generation Kansas Citian, is chief impact and strategy officer for the Kauffman Foundation. In communities around the country, people are doing uncommon things in the most common places — parks, food pantries, classrooms, soccer fields, and church…

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Crossroads distillery asks KC to make a toast in honor of founder lost in weekend motorcycle wreck

By Tommy Felts / July 22, 2025

Update: A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to support the family of the late Jeff Evans. Click here to learn more or to donate.  With doors temporarily closed early this week (July 21-22) to mourn the loss of co-founder Jeff Evans, the team behind Mean Mule Distilling is asking its community to “grieve with us,…

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KC govtech startup: You shouldn’t have to know how local government works to get answers (or make impact)

By Tommy Felts / July 22, 2025

Even a ripple can make waves, said Mitch Mabrey, an exited cleantech founder whose new cause finds him on a mission to ensure that the voices of residents from all walks of life are more broadly heard — and answered — by their government officials. Resonus, his Kansas City-based political information platform is designed to…

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Northland BBQ spot opens, building flavors, menu from side hustle to storefront

By Tommy Felts / July 22, 2025

After a decade-long journey building his BBQ business — from tailgates to a just-opened brick-and-mortar restaurant — Wardell Hooks Jr. would only change one thing along the way: He’d have quit his full-time job sooner. “My thing is the joy,” said Hooks, founder of Off the Hook BBQ, describing the feeling of accomplishment from his…

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