Profiles

How library advocates turned the page after COVID with a ‘tidal wave’ of online sales

By Tommy Felts / August 12, 2021

Editor’s note: The following story is sponsored by Academy Bank, a Kansas City based community bank, and is part of a series of features spotlighting some of the bank’s startup and small business partners. [divide] Even a storied community resource relies on innovation for its survival, said Shanta Dickerson, noting classic trust and accountability also…

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Willy Schlacks, EquipmentShare

Why a new founder-first Midwest incubator sees scarcity as a source of strength

By Tommy Felts / August 10, 2021

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. [divide]…

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Brit Estes, Jhy Coulter, and Jones Goldman, Devoured

Devoured chef designs oven-baked backyard pizza concept for pop-ups and beyond

By Tommy Felts / August 10, 2021

An unexpected medley of events helped Jhy Coulter realize her career as a designer needed to end for her creativity to truly shine — through food, the emerging Kansas City chef shared. “Designing for others with all these limitations was just not fulfilling for me,” said Coulter, founder of Devoured — a pop-up pizzeria known…

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Erin Luttrell, Eclairs de la Lune

Legacy-filled eclair shop launches with crowds, pastry case lined with custom, unexpected treats

By Tommy Felts / August 6, 2021

Chef Erin Luttrell recalls tales of lines out the door and around the block at her great-grandparents’ bakery in the 1920s — the inspiration behind her newly opened sweets shop on the historic Independence Square. “During the grain strike, people couldn’t get flour or bread or products to bake at home for their families, so they…

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Cori Smith, BLK + BRWN

BLK + BRWN debuts KC’s first smart bookstore with a twist: ‘I wanted to be as Black as possible’

By Tommy Felts / August 5, 2021

Kansas City’s newest Black woman-owned, brick-and-mortar bookstore in Midtown has opened its doors, but customers shouldn’t judge the operation by its cover, owner Cori Smith said, revealing an additional first for the metro that has heads and pages turning.   “There’s a technological aspect paired with each book,” explained Smith, owner of BLK + BRWN — Kansas…

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