Woman-led

2000 Vine Street project

KC’s first Black-owned brewery reveals future home: Historic redevelopment project on Vine Street

By Tommy Felts / July 20, 2021

A piece of Kansas City history — now an in-the-works east side business development near one of the city’s famed entertainment districts — is expected to be the home of KC’s first Black-owned brewery, Kemet Coleman confirmed Monday. “The cat’s out of the bag,” said Coleman, revealing plans for the soon-to-debut Vine Street Brewing company to…

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Sean Null, Erkios Systems, right, with Austin Barnes, Startland News, and Carlanda McKinney, Raaxo; Global Entrepreneurship Week Kansas City 2018

GEW event series set for 7-day, hybrid return; now accepting presenter submissions 

By Tommy Felts / July 19, 2021

Global Entrepreneurship Week Kansas City, the metro’s largest annual celebration of entrepreneurship, is seeking event submissions from the community to help aspiring entrepreneurs and existing small business owners build their operations and be more resilient for the future. “Even though pandemic restrictions are over, we know the struggle to keep doors open is very real,…

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Shakia Webb, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

New voice on capital access: If people aren’t already at the table, move the table to them

By Tommy Felts / July 16, 2021

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News. This story was produced independently by Startland News’s nonprofit newsroom. From teller to business banker, Shakia Webb worked nearly every bank job, she recalled.  “Each role literally prepared me for the next,” Webb told Startland News, detailing her well-rounded resume and…

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Dwayne Johnson Signe Du Ciel aka Santino

In the ring with Santino: How a KC-area French Bulldog became a championship showstopper

By Tommy Felts / July 16, 2021

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores entrepreneurship taking root 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. Dwayne Johnson started as…

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Howard Schultz, Carla Harris, and Sandy Kemper

Former Starbucks CEO, C2FO’s Sandy Kemper join Morgan Stanley exec for ‘Nothing to Fear’ DEI conversation

By Tommy Felts / July 13, 2021

Top business leaders are now embracing diversity and inclusion, Carla Harris said, but even their most sincere initiatives must survive the fear that comes with changing trends and an inevitable economic downturn. “Fear has no place in your success equation,” said Harris, a 33-year Wall Street veteran and Morgan Stanley executive who headlines Thursday’s Innovation…

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