Tag: GIFT

Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, grant recipients

‘A critical lifeline’: EDCKC grants $80K to Black-led non-profits impacted by COVID-19

By Tommy Felts / February 27, 2021

Relief grants from a leading economic development initiative are as much about building momentum as surviving the pandemic, said Nika Cotton, emphasizing Troost as a good place to start. Cotton, owner of the Soulcentricitea tea shop at 30th Street and Troost Avenue, is using a $5,000 award from the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City,…

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Brandon Calloway, Black Spartans Manga

Fund Me, KC: ‘Black Spartans’ creator changes the tone of fantasy — where Blackness isn’t ‘the exotic other’

By Tommy Felts / January 25, 2021

Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Brandon Calloway’s campaign to fund the first book in his “Black Spartans” graphic novel series — to share crowdfunding stories and gain…

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Cornell Gorman and Brandon Calloway, GIFT

Effort to grow startup capital for Black-owned businesses: Our work in KC has just begun

By Tommy Felts / January 18, 2021

A nonprofit that’s raised more than a quarter million dollars in eight months to provide grants to Black small business owners says a diverse range of Kansas City entrepreneurs already has asked for help — and their needs go beyond the obvious. “Normally when people think of Black-owned businesses here in Kansas City, most immediately think…

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Photo by Tim Mossholder

100 requests in two hours: $100K resiliency fund closes applications for minority biz relief grants

By Tommy Felts / August 19, 2020

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial sponsor of Startland News. This report was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. Overwhelming response to a new resiliency grant fund for minority-owned businesses hit by COVID-19 exposes a humbling reality, said Sarah Mote. Applications for the grants — funded by the Ewing Marion…

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Chris Goode, Ruby Jean's Juicery; photo courtesy of Timothy Linn, Rockhurst University

Pressed for cash: Ruby Jean’s gifted $10K second shot with new nonprofit’s debut grant

By Tommy Felts / August 13, 2020

Three months after its founding, one of Kansas City’s newest entrepreneurial support organizations might have just saved Ruby Jean’s Juicery from closing its doors for good.  “It’s amazing to see a dream come true and really get it done,” said Christoper Stewart, board president and founding member of Generating Income For Tomorrow (GIFT) — a newly…

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