News

‘Humans are the real technology,’ mother-daughter holistic health duo says 

By Tommy Felts / July 21, 2020

Balancing health tech with holistic and Taoist perspectives keeps the most important startup element — humans — top of mind, said Stacy Tucker. “Being in the tech space, we have these amazing advances in medical technology, yet we have gotten further and further away from humans as the real technology,” said Tucker, co-founder of Kansas…

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Sa’mya Lewis and Amari Lewis, A Higher Promise

Start with heart: Sisters’ yard signs offer a ‘stepping stone’ to support Black lives

By Tommy Felts / July 20, 2020

Amari and Sa’mya Lewis’ young entrepreneurial venture — a yard sign featuring a simple black heart — first spread in a predominantly white Johnson County neighborhood, the teenage sisters said. Amid ongoing national discourse over the “Black Lives Matter” movement, in which the meaning of those three words often is debated, the sign makers have…

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Connecting for Good; photos courtesy of Tom Esselman

PCs for People: Connecting for Good upgrades amid ‘full-blown explosion of tech need’

By Tommy Felts / July 20, 2020

A Kansas City-built nonprofit hoping to refurbish the metro’s perception of digital inclusivity is now an affiliate of PCs for People — a nationwide network with a shared goal. “Digital inclusion is ensuring that everybody — regardless of their income or where they live — has access to at least three things: affordable internet, affordable…

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More than statues: 3D printer on the Plaza showcases Urban TEC opportunity amid BLM movement

By Tommy Felts / July 17, 2020

Just a couple blocks west of Mill Creek Park — the center of recent Black Lives Matter protests near the Country Club Plaza — 3DHQ hopes youth tech outreach now can build a more inclusive future for creative problem solvers in Kansas City’s Black and urban communities, said Fabian Conde. “We want to be more intentional…

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Lisa Ragan family, Safely Delicious

OP-baked Safely Delicious takes big bites of allergy-free snack market amid pandemic

By Tommy Felts / July 17, 2020

Some of the most unconventional entrepreneur stories offer the sweetest flavors, said Lisa Ragan, detailing how diet restrictions and divorce combined to drive her deliciously disruptive Overland Park-based company forward. “You can’t have one foot in, one foot out,” Ragan, founder of Safely Delicious, said of what it’s taken to scale the allergy-friendly snack line…

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