News

Omaha-based Elevator expands its co-working with warehousing model to North Kansas City

By Tommy Felts / February 26, 2025

Editor’s note: The following story was published by Silicon Prairie News, an Omaha-based publication of the Nebraska Journalism Trust. Click here to read the original article or here to subscribe to SPN’s newsletter. Following its expansion into Des Moines, Elevator is set to begin development on an additional space in Kansas City that will open…

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Superstars pack KC Chamber celebration with gratitude; thankful for a space to belong when many feel lost

By Tommy Felts / February 26, 2025

Julie Cortes beamed as she took in the energy of Kansas City’s small business community Tuesday evening — surrounded by hundreds of her fellow Small Business Superstars and a crowd eager to build an emerging spirit of entrepreneurship. “It feels so amazing to be here,” Cortes, founder of Freelance Rockstar, said from inside the packed…

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Ixtapa closes JoCo favorite; owner says he won’t compromise family recipes or up prices as food, rent costs rise

By Tommy Felts / February 25, 2025

Ixtapa Fine Mexican Cuisine has closed in Johnson County after five years. Co-owner Victor Esqueda blamed rising costs — rent, ingredients and more — for the closing of the restaurant at 7305 W. 95th St. in Overland Park, near the sprawling Shamrock Trading Company campus. “Everything has increased so much — food, alcohol 20 to…

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Coffee cluster percolating on one Troost block; will business support the buzz of six spaces to sip?

By Tommy Felts / February 25, 2025

A new stretch of coffee shops in the 5500 block of Troost will test the caffeine tolerance of folks seeking a fix. Six options soon fill out the menu along this bustling corridor. Blackhole Bakery, High Hopes Ice Cream and The Littlest Bake Shop currently offer coffee along with their core menu items. But Blackhole…

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Rally unifies voices amid attacks on immigrants, LGBT+ rights; now it’s time to make noise, organizers say

By Tommy Felts / February 25, 2025

As anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies seeking to dismantle DEI efforts ramp up, Danny Soriano has seen inquiries and communication to his digital media business noticeably slow down, the Latino entrepreneur said. “Clients [suddenly seem] deterred from going with me — as opposed to somebody who’s not of color or white,” explained Soriano, the founder of…

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