Tour the UMKC Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
July 10, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Startland News took the opportunity Friday to tour the UMKC Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, which opened in late 2014. The hall aims not only to educate visitors on remarkable Kansas City businesspeople, but also celebrate the area’s entrepreneurial spirit.
Enjoy!
- The entrance to the UMKC’s Henry W. Bloch School of Management, which contains the UMKC Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. The school was designed by Kansas City-based architecture firm BNIM.
- A large touchscreen greets visitors to the hall of fame. The screen provides information on each of the now 20 inductees into the hall of fame, including a brief video on each.
- The hall of fame includes multiple pillars showcasing Kansas City entrepreneurs that have made an impact on the community and beyond. Twenty inductees are now in the hall, including such Kansas City icons as Ewing Kauffman, Lamar Hunt, Henry Bloch, Barnett and Shirley Helzberg and others.
- Within each pillar features an “artifact” that shares a personal detail into the entrepreneur’s journey. This particular artifact is H&R Block’s first tax return, which reports a profit of $347.64. H&R Block now has a market capitalization value of $8.56 billion.
- This Barnett and Shirley Helzberg artifact relates to Helzberg Diamond’s “I Am Loved” campaign, which was conceived in 1967 by Barnett Helzberg Jr.
- This artifact from former Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt is a replica of the American Airlines’ stationary on which Hunt drafted the idea and budget for the first year of the American Football League.
- A ticker provides attendees real-time stock quotes on publically-traded companies. To schedule a tour of the hall of fame, contact Beverly Stewart at 816-235-1741 or stewartbj@umkc.edu.
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Reboot U revives tech talent for KC startup
A growing event photography company in Kansas City is looking to the past to find the tech talent it needs to build its future. SportsPhotos.com founder Brandon Schatz is a small-business participant in the Full Employment Council’s “Reboot U” program, which provides technology training for the chronically unemployed. Schatz’s company manages photos for sporting events,…
Product Hunt enters KC market, offers onboard for entrepreneurs
A popular international product discovery platform is hoping to engage more tech entrepreneurs in the Kansas City area. Product Hunt — a website that features new products such as apps, hardware and other tech creations — recently launched a series of meetings in Kansas City in hopes of garnering more products from the area for…
Developer conference hopes to boost KC’s tech profile
A group of local tech talent is banding together to bring global exposure to Kansas City’s tech scene. Set to kick off Wednesday, the two-day Kansas City Developer Conference hopes to engage techies with all aspects of software development. In addition to connecting developers, the seventh-annual conference aspires for a bigger mission: to put KC…
Blooom makes national TV debut
Overland Park-based financial tech firm Blooom hopes to seed new growth opportunities after a recent national TV appearance. Blooom CEO Chris Costello and President Greg Smith hopped onto Fox Business Tuesday to discuss 401(k) management and their company, which created an online 401(k) management tool that’s seen solid early traction. The tool uses a flower in various…






