Tag: Daniel Smith

Jannae Gammage, The Market Base

She’s one of the Chamber’s biggest ‘Superstar’ success stories; Why your company could be the next

By Tommy Felts / January 7, 2022

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. The Small Business Superstar program did more than convert Jannae Gammage into a new Chamber member, she said; it exposed her to the power of opening doors…

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Miranda Schultz, Daniel Smith, Charon Thompson, and Jahna Riley, The Porter House KC

UMB Bank deposits $350K supporting The Porter House KC; $1.25M in year-end KC donations to benefit underserved communities

By Tommy Felts / December 21, 2021

A hefty, end-of-year donation from UMB Bank will provide The Porter House KC an opportunity to dig deeper in assisting local entrepreneurs, said Daniel Smith, expressing appreciation for the $350,000 boost. “These resources will be used to continue our current work and implement another program that will assist small businesses with direct support, creating additional…

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TJ Roberts, Kinship Cafe

Why KCK’s ‘dopest, 7-fingered, adopted, biracial business owner’ is serving kinship, coffee at his new cafe

By Tommy Felts / August 18, 2021

When a new coffee shop in KCK’s Strawberry Hill neighborhood opens this fall, the space is expected to feature more than just specialty roasts — with financial literacy programming, community workouts and hip hop yoga sessions on the menu. “It’s never been about, ‘How can I make the most money the fastest?’” said TJ Roberts,…

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Daniel Smith and Charon Thompson, Black Drip Coffee, The Porter House KC

Coffee for the culture: Porter House KC founders partner with Messenger to craft Black-owned coffee brand

By Tommy Felts / April 30, 2021

Black Drip Coffee brewed from within a desire to bring coffee culture to historically disenfranchised and underserved communities, said Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith.  “It’s more than coffee,” noted Smith, who co-founded the brand, Black Drip Coffee, as well as the Porter House KC with Thompson. “We always talk about breaking down barriers and creating…

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Valentine Osakwe and Zerryn Gines, Peep Connect

How challenging norms could be Black founders’ key to overcoming lingering funding gap

By Tommy Felts / January 5, 2021

When authenticity and startup culture collide, Black founders and entrepreneurs of color often don’t see the same opportunities as their white counterparts, said Daniel Smith, contributing to a gap in funding that splits along racial lines. “I talk a certain way; I have different mannerisms; I like to dress a certain kind of way —…

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