Startups

Grief happens on (and off) company time: Why a startup founded from loss is building holistic bereavement plans for corporate America

By Tommy Felts / January 3, 2023

When grieving employees return to work, managers and colleagues often aren’t equipped to properly support them, said Lisa Cooper. “While I was working in corporate America for quite some time, I had witnessed a lot of dysfunction surrounding grief,” said Cooper, co-founder of Workplace Healing alongside Mindy Corporon.  For example, I can remember specifically when someone…

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Returning the flavor: Fast food startup flexes plan to bring Korean-American tastes to rural Missouri

By Tommy Felts / December 29, 2022

As an occupational therapy practitioner, Joohae “Chewy” Yoon’s home visits to care for patients isolated in rural Missouri inspired her to develop the Korean-American fast food concept GOCHEW Burger & Sandwich.  Her full-time job involves traveling to meet patients in Kansas City and Independence, as well as such cities as Odessa, Higginsville, and Warrensburg. Curious…

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Pawsitive impacts: Social venture aims to break generational poverty through pet grooming

By Tommy Felts / December 29, 2022

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon, a member of the KC Media Collective, which also includes Startland News, KCUR 89.3, American Public Square, Kansas City PBS/Flatland, and Missouri Business Alert. Click here to read the original story. In 2018, Ashley Stillings was living in Hope House, a homeless shelter in Lee’s…

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Scott Ford, Pepper

KC startup Pepper secures deal to create new IoT platform with investment from Comcast

By Tommy Felts / December 22, 2022

The merging of a homegrown IoT startup’s tech and a corporate innovator’s existing smart property management system is expected to accelerate growth for Kansas City-built Pepper, said Scott Ford. The companies on Wednesday announced Pepper and Notion — Comcast’s insurtech business unit — had joined to create a new IoT and smart home platform that…

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