News
A nonprofit that’s raised more than a quarter million dollars in eight months to provide grants to Black small business owners says a diverse range of Kansas City entrepreneurs already has asked for help — and their needs go beyond the obvious. “Normally when people think of Black-owned businesses here in Kansas City, most immediately think…
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From the stage to the studio to a sweets shop on Main Street, the creative talents of Shawna Peña-Downing have never let her down, she said, crediting her resiliency to a STEAM-focused education. “I finally got a job after being laid off in June,” Peña-Downing, multiplatform artist, teacher, and entrepreneur, said of her reality amid…
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Pro Athlete’s secret to success: going against the grain, Andrew Dowis said. “We’re known to do things that aren’t the norm,” said Dowis, who serves as the CEO of Pro Athlete. “I think that’s why we pursued JustPaddles [during the COVID-19 pandemic]. We said, ‘Let’s look at this [pandemic] from another angle. This may be…
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One of Kansas City’s most celebrated startups is getting a boost as a new $11 million financing round led by Verizon Ventures and Evertz Technologies Limited takes the court. Funding is expected to support accelerated product deployment across NCAA basketball conferences and expand remote live sports production in the cloud with 5G enabledtech for venues,…
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Business owners are feeling more optimistic about the future of their companies, according to a survey of 236 businesses and nonprofits newly released by the Greater Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce. “By nature, entrepreneurs and small business owners are problem solvers — they rise to a challenge — and 2020 certainly doled out more than…
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