Profiles
A new retail operation in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood is a sign of massive growth, hot on the griddle for Yoli Tortilleria. “There’s nothing, for me, better than once you put that warm tortilla in your hands and just experience it,” said Marissa Gencarelli, who co-owns and operates Yoli with her husband, Mark. “There’s a…
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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. CHENEY,…
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Blockchain might be the future, but eliminating exposure to COVID-19 is the now, said serial entrepreneur Shekhar Gupta as he takes an intelligent disinfecting doorway to market. “When you go to the airport you have to go through the X-Ray machines, right? So we developed a similar structure, but to detect COVID-19 and neutralize it…
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National expansion is on the menu for Kansas City-fried fast-casual hotspot Mother Clucker. But the chicken with a cult following has one hurdle in front of it — getting to the other side of COVID-19, said Derrick Foster. “Right before the pandemic hit we got approved to become a national franchise,” Foster, the founder and owner,…
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When it comes to entrepreneurial support in Kansas City, women of color often are left out of conversations that could help them grow their businesses, said Ashley Rudd. “They don’t necessarily feel like their voice is heard,” Rudd, founder of the personal shopping startup She’s Thrifted, said of her experience within the metro’s entrepreneurial community and…
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