Startups

Chad Elliott and Chris Brown, Contract Canvas

KC-based Contract Canvas earns finalist slot for WeWork Creator Awards in Nashville

By Tommy Felts / August 15, 2018

Returning to WeWork’s Creator Awards to pitch Contract Canvas was a defining moment for Chris Brown, as well as the year-old legal startup, he said. “I worked harder on this pitch than perhaps any pitch I’ve ever given,” said Brown, hours after a flight back from meeting with Creator Awards judges in New York City…

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Roy Scott, Healthy Hip Hop, Champ the mascot and Maurice "Champ" Woodard, Champ System

First down for Healthy Hip Hop: Roy Scott teams with Champ for game-changing reboot

By Tommy Felts / August 14, 2018

If it’s making money, don’t give up on it, said Roy Scott, rapper-turned-founder of Healthy Hip Hop. A new partnership with Champ System — a growing Kansas City sports apparel company with a popular hip hop-inspired mascot — will keep the performance- and tech-based startup in school gymnasiums and beyond as Scott’s company continues a…

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SquareOffs public polling pilot with Oregon TV station could be a new niche

By Tommy Felts / August 14, 2018

Opinions are constant, said Jeff Rohr, CEO of the Kansas City startup SquareOffs. As social media consumers look for new ways to voice a plethora of differing views, Rohr said he and his company have inked a major deal with News-Press and Gazette Co. (NPG), that could overhaul the public polling conducted by local news…

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Maurice Woodard, Champ System

Limited edition: Champ System carries sports apparel from the field to Westport

By Tommy Felts / August 14, 2018

When the choice came down to quick, easy money or grinding out his own brand, Maurice Woodard played the long game. His payoff comes Saturday with the grand opening of Champ System’s first brick-and-mortar ChampZone storefront in Westport. “You’re going to look different because there’s such a limited amount that we’ll release,” he said, noting…

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Eems, KC Coworking Day 2018

Photos: KC Coworking Day sings virtues of big ideas in startup spaces

By Tommy Felts / August 11, 2018

KC Coworking Day is a celebration of people whose vision exceeds their circumstances, said Bob Martin. “If you’re an entrepreneur, and you have a vision, I hope your vision is so big that you’re uncomfortable sharing it with everybody — that there’s only a handful of people to whom you’re going to say, ‘This is…

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