News

Penn 1 at The District in Lenexa City Center

Made in KC goes West: Why the local-first retailer is opening a marketplace (with shuffleboard) in Lenexa

By Tommy Felts / May 1, 2021

A newly announced Made in KC Marketplace at Lenexa City Center will make local goods — and the makers behind them — more accessible to a fast-developing piece of Kansas City, said Keith Bradley. “Part of our mission as a company is to make shopping local a habit,” said Bradley, co-owner of Made in KC, a…

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Daniel Smith and Charon Thompson, Black Drip Coffee, The Porter House KC

Coffee for the culture: Porter House KC founders partner with Messenger to craft Black-owned coffee brand

By Tommy Felts / April 30, 2021

Black Drip Coffee brewed from within a desire to bring coffee culture to historically disenfranchised and underserved communities, said Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith.  “It’s more than coffee,” noted Smith, who co-founded the brand, Black Drip Coffee, as well as the Porter House KC with Thompson. “We always talk about breaking down barriers and creating…

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Scott Hansen, LeadSigma

Founded to sell: Emerging KC tech firm led by startup veterans announces $725K funding round

By Tommy Felts / April 30, 2021

A Kansas City startup’s initial funding round is expected to help small businesses close more deals, faster, said Scott Hansen. LeadSigma, a powerful and easy-to-use sales engagement platform, has raised a $725,000 family and friends round, Hansen, co-founder of LeadSigma, announced Friday. The round included prominent opinion leaders and agency owners in targeted SMB verticals,…

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Sarah and Spencer Martin, VanLifeKC

KCK couple fuels road adventures as camper van rentals speed up, interest in RV life surges

By Tommy Felts / April 29, 2021

Adventurers Spencer and Sarah Martin dreamed of owning a camper van for several years, they shared, but expenses and full-time jobs came as roadblocks. “I’m a science educator, and she’s a school nurse,” noted Spencer Martin. “Camper vans are expensive and then sit unused for a majority of the year, so it had always been…

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Brendan Curran, Three KC, Joearthur Gatestack

Spot of tee: How a KC teacher scored big when Ted Lasso sported a ‘Joearthur Gatestack’ shirt

By Tommy Felts / April 29, 2021

The story behind a Kansas City-designed T-shirt celebrating local barbecue culture has more meat to it than any given ’que joint’s combo platter, Brendan Curran said.  “We met playing basketball in the eighth grade,” Curran, founder of local apparel company, Three KC, said of his childhood friend, Jason Sudeikis, Overland Park-native, actor, comedian, and current…

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