Woman-led

Erin Smith, FacePrint

Lenexa teen IDs winning medical solution with Parkinson’s detection tech FacePrint

By Tommy Felts / August 17, 2018

Stanford University will have to wait. Eighteen-year-old Erin Smith is taking her medical technology venture, FacePrint, on the road. The Johnson County teen has been selected to join two prestigious fellowships to further develop FacePrint, which is a diagnostic and monitoring Tool for Parkinson’s Disease. She’s been tapped for $25,000 from the Davidson Institute for…

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Land Sharks

Pure Pitch Rally returning to Techweek with land sharks hungry to invest more than $80K

By Tommy Felts / August 17, 2018

A frenzy of land sharks ready to bite on startups’ best ideas is gathering at The American restaurant during Techweek to award up to $80,000 in cash and $500,000 in Amazon AWS Activate credits. The one-of-a-kind Pure Pitch Rally event — set for 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Oct 10 — plays off the hit…

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Inc 5000

Inc. 5000 report: Kansas City retailers among metro’s fastest growing companies

By Tommy Felts / August 15, 2018

Shoppers are buying, spurring retail growth in Kansas City, according to details gleaned from the 2018 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies list. Released Wednesday morning, the report showed a slight dip in performance for Kansas City overall compared to 2017. Three dozen Kansas City-area firms landed on the 2018 Inc. 5000 list, a drop from the…

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Mayor Sly James, State of the City

Digital Workforce launch emphasizes freelance opportunities for diverse ‘solopreneurs’

By Tommy Felts / August 8, 2018

“This room should mirror our city,” said Sly James, repeating a common refrain used throughout his time as Kansas City mayor. But as he addressed a crowd of freelance workers taking part Monday morning in the city’s launch of the Digital Workforce Development Initiative (DWDI), the remark came with a less-frequent follow-up. “And it does,”…

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Jason and Megan Day, Burnt Finger BBQ

’Cue new markets: Burnt Finger duo taking Kansas City BBQ to Home Shopping Network

By Tommy Felts / August 8, 2018

The smokin’ popularity of Kansas City’s Burnt Finger BBQ has been less of an explosion and more of a slow char, said Megan Day — culminating in a new line of fully cooked barbecue products set to debut Aug. 14 on the Home Shopping Network. “Classic 10-year overnight success,” joked Megan, one half of the…

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