News

How this founder’s hobby (plus a little trouble) became Oak Park retail incubator’s biggest success story 

By Tommy Felts / February 14, 2025

“Big Chunky Blankets” — soft as a baby’s cheek and custom knitted in any color of the rainbow — folded into the foundation of what would become Maryann Nzioki Hult’s resilient, nearly pandemic-proof foray into entrepreneurship. They put local Tabu Knits on the online map of must-have-items, and then became the seed of two Johnson…

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Big win for UMKC: Unlocking top tier research status gives KC new competitive edge

By Tommy Felts / February 14, 2025

A new milestone for the University of Missouri-Kansas City — achieving status as Kansas City’s first Carnegie R1 research institution — is expected to help boost the region’s ability to start, grow and scale more startups, leaders said this week, emphasizing the role university-led research plays in innovation across industries and communities. “It’s absolutely massive…

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KC Bier Co building new 30,000-square-foot urban beer garden; founder brewing a space for all

By Tommy Felts / February 13, 2025

A Kansas City-built, German-style brewery is expanding to Lenexa — bringing an authentic Bavarian beer garden experience to Johnson County, said founder Steve Holle. Developed in partnership with West Star Development, the new KC Bier Co. venue will feature a large outdoor space, an indoor restaurant, private event areas, and a stage for live music…

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Founder Problems: Podcast captures the ‘messy middle’ you don’t see on entrepreneurs’ highlight reels

By Tommy Felts / February 13, 2025

A new Kansas City-based podcast is skipping over the fairy tale stories of founding a startup; instead diving straight into the messy parts, the hosts shared. Founder Problems — hosted by local entrepreneurs Sarah Schumacher, Zach Oshinbanjo, and Lee Zuvanich — is embracing the aspects of starting and running a business that no one wants…

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‘Invest with women we know’: This $1.4M wellness hub project is redeveloping one neighborhood from within 

By Tommy Felts / February 13, 2025

It’s an old real estate adage: “Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood.” Longtime Kansas City commercial broker Sheryl Vickers said it also applies to business properties, “one thousand percent.”  Like twin mid-century office buildings just over the Missouri/Kansas state line in Prairie Village.  “I drove by it, what a sad state,” said Vickers,…

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