Profiles

Brian Roberts, The Black Pantry

Pop-up shop for Black-owned essentials plans its final 2020 stops; only the beginning, founder says

By Tommy Felts / December 17, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. Kansas City’s lack of a centralized shopping hub for products from Black-owned businesses frustrated Brian Roberts, he said, prompting the entrepreneur to launch…

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Brian Platt, KCMO city manager

How Brian Platt’s innovation past unmasks KC’s potential for newly arrived city manager

By Tommy Felts / December 17, 2020

Kansas City’s open spaces — and open mindset — quickly expose the region’s potential, said Brian Platt, eagerly rolling up his sleeves as the new KCMO city manager. “In a sense, it reminds me a lot of downtown Jersey City from a decade ago, give or take, in that there are plenty of new developments — tall…

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; Photo by Danielle Robinson

Newly-elected state school board rep Melanie Haas talks innovation (for more than just JoCo students)

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. With a professional background in technology, Melanie Haas witnessed her industry empowering women to fill leadership roles, she said. So when it came…

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Cart Kings

Safe and sanitized: Cart Kings corral COVID threat with three dads’ protective solution

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2020

Three Kansas City dads’ community-first mindsets pushed the trio to develop a “first-of-its-kind” technique for making grocery and retail stores across the metro safer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Their mission: disinfect shopping carts and other well-used items via a sanitization trailer — bypassing the arduous, fallible and potentially dangerous process of cleaning by hand, said…

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Damika Clay

How Stick Figure Bully’s simple lines and shapes rewrite one woman’s childhood trauma as a cautionary tale

By Tommy Felts / December 10, 2020

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. A creative spirit, Damika Clay recalled a white sweatshirt on which she loved to write and draw designs. The same item she proudly…

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