UMKC receives $12.97M grant from Kauffman Foundation to boost barrier breaking across KC region, beyond

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. [divide] New grant provides support to continue and expand entrepreneurship programs on the UMKC campus and across the Kansas City region The University of Missouri-Kansas City has received a historic, five-year, $12.97 million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman…

Read More

UMKC top student entrepreneur’s refrain: It isn’t how many ideas you have, it’s what you do with them

Improvising is vital in jazz and entrepreneurship, noted Tate Berry, UMKC Student Entrepreneur of the Year. A double major in jazz studies and business administration, Berry is well-versed in both. “Composing music is a very long collaborative creative process, which has given me the skills to look at intricate problems from a distance and develop…

Read More

Entrepreneur of the Year: Zig when others are zagging — and don’t be afraid of the word ‘no’

Bold strategies helped lead BacklotCars to one of Kansas City’s biggest-ever startup exits, said Justin Davis, and ultimately brought the lauded founder to the stage Wednesday to accept one of UMKC’s Entrepreneur of the Year honors. “Taking ‘no’ for an answer wasn’t an option,” the co-founder and CEO of BacklotCars, a web-based, dealer-to-dealer automotive platform, told…

Read More

Demo Day: UMKC E-Scholars partners with KC Arts Institute for more authentic entrepreneurial representation, director says

Art and entrepreneurship so often go hand-in-hand, noted Alex Krause Matlack.  “Many artists will inevitably become entrepreneurs because they can create their own brand or business to showcase their craft,” explained Krause Matlack, the director of Entrepreneurship Scholars (E-Scholars) at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. “This semester, E-Scholars has a new partnership with Kansas City…

Read More