Woman-led

Proactive hometown company-building will cross county, state lines with Fountain Innovation Fund, ECJC leader says

By Tommy Felts / February 14, 2019

It’s time for Kansas City stakeholders to stop waiting for coastal companies to “save the day,” said George Hansen. “We spend a great deal of tax dollars trying to entice companies to move here with their workforce,” Hansen, president and CEO of the Enterprise Center in Johnson County, told a crowd of about 100 gathered…

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Nearly 30 percent of InvestMidwest applicants from Kansas City

By Tommy Felts / February 8, 2019

Young Kansas City companies are hungry for investor dollars and connections — as evidenced by dozens of metro startups and businesses applying for next month’s InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum. Of the more than 140 applications from entrepreneurs in 19 states seeking to pitch their companies, 18 hail from Kansas City, Missouri, and 10 call Overland Park…

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After expanding West Bottoms production, Convivial shaping new botanical concept in Crossroads

By Tommy Felts / February 7, 2019

Bootstrapped design and manufacturing company Convivial is reaching out with a clay-covered hand from its West Bottoms production space to plant a Crossroads retail concept, said Chentell Shannon. “I feel grateful and I feel honored and excited and scared — I mean, growing a business is scary,” laughed Shannon, founder of Convivial. Having delivered handmade…

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Crema apprenticeship effort aims to decode a more inclusive talent pool

By Tommy Felts / January 29, 2019

Crema’s recent growth means more than an additional Crossroads office space for the startup, said Gabby Brotherton. It provides bandwidth for the firm to supplement Kansas City’s tech talent with a new apprenticeship program. “[Crema is] very much a company that values collaboration and innovation learning,” said Brotherton, marketing specialist at the software development firm.…

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StartupGrowKC bootcamp: Building smart and intentional teams alongside ECJC

By Tommy Felts / January 18, 2019

Founders can expect to emerge from the Enterprise Center in Johnson County’s StartupGrowKC bootcamp series with greater knowledge of the skills needed to grow their business, said Kathryn Golden. “[Founders will see] the fuller life cycle of what they will need to consider [to be successful],” said Golden, programs manager at ECJC, a nonprofit organization…

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