City’s KC BizCare experiment proves itself as a model to replicate, says new small biz official 

Editor’s note: KC BizCare is a financial supporter of Startland News. This story was produced through a paid partnership.

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Amanda Wheeler’s background in biology provides new insight and expertise within Kansas City’s growing small business culture, the KC BizCare official said — a community give-back hypothesis supported by Wheeler watching women in her family do the same.

“They taught me to be more active in my community; that’s what propelled me to come back to [working for] the city,” she said. “After being remote for five years, I wanted to relearn my community again, come back to the city, and impact something.”

Wheeler began her job as small business administrator for KC BizCare in September — a role in which she helps educate new business owners in Kansas City about licensing, permits, zoning laws, and business structures so they can turn their small business ideas into reality.

“We work hard to make sure that things are equitable, and people have access to capital and to the information necessary to fulfill their desire, which is to start a business,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler finds it gratifying to immediately see the impacts of her work on other people, she said, especially when compared to her most recent work as a clinical research project manager.

“Seeing them obtain a business license is phenomenal, because there they go on their venture to make a living, and hopefully generate opportunities for others to make a living as well,” Wheeler said.

RELATED: City zoning change melts barriers for artisanal makers building businesses in KCMO

Wheeler has enjoyed making that impact in her hometown, she said, and believes that KC BizCare’s model should be replicated across the country.

“We offer very unique solutions to problems that are burdening the entire country with the state of small business coming back from the pandemic,” she said. “We have the capacity for making an impact. It’s essentially a model that I think all cities should have.”

Click here for more stories about KC BizCare’s recent work in Kansas City.

Service goes viral for epidemiologist

A Kansas City native and first-generation college graduate, Wheeler attended Spelman College in Atlanta and earned a biology degree in 2005.

While she was in college, her mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Instead of applying to medical schools as planned, Wheeler returned home to spend time with her mom, who died just months after her graduation.

Amanda Wheeler, KC BizCare

“And so at that point, it was about trying to regroup and figure out how to steer myself back on to a path in which I could do what I went to school for,” Wheeler said.

She then worked in a number of different positions, including as an analytical chemist, a bacterial vaccine technologist, and a technician for bioterrorism efforts within the Department of Homeland Security.

Wheeler said she enjoyed those jobs, but after the U.S. Air Force base where she worked closed in 2009, she opted to move home to Kansas City to be closer to her father.

Within months, Wheeler accepted a position with the Health Department as an epidemiologist, which she said her father calls “her first real job,” because it was her first working directly for the government.

She spent nearly the next six years working for the city government before moving onto clinical research work.

Fittingly, Wheeler has found her way back to city hall years later — albeit in a previously unforeseen career turn — and said that being a resource for aspiring entrepreneurs in her hometown inspires her.

“It makes me feel as if I have the time and the capacity to start my own dreams and do it here within Kansas City,” she said.

For now, she’s relishing the opportunity to assist others with their dreams.

“It definitely takes an effort of love, and the mindset of generosity and kindness, to be in a public facing role, and to genuinely care about other people and the outcomes that are produced by each individual connection,” Wheeler said.

“It’s really quite fulfilling when people say, ‘Thank you so much. You’ve been a great help.’ And that’s often what we get,” she continued. “It’s an indescribable feeling that you can put money to. It’s beyond working a thankless job — it’s full of thanks and full of gratitude. I just feel like I’m blessed to be a part of that.”

RELATED: Initiative backed by Shopify funding expected to boost 500 Black-owned businesses in KC

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This story is possible thanks to support from KC BizCare, a free business resource, advocacy and information center for new and existing businesses operating with the City of Kansas City. It provides its customers with information and assistance in understanding and complying with city, state and federal requirements for operating a business.

Click here to learn more about KC BizCare or here to connect with the office on social media.