Bobby Burch
Recent Articles by Bobby Burch
Cowork Lee’s Summit to revamp old post office for entrepreneurs
Lee’s Summit is set to receive a large, new coworking space to serve as the city’s entrepreneurial hub. The founder of Community Buying Group, Ben Rao said he will soon close on purchasing the old Lee’s Summit Post Office to convert it into a 13,000 square-foot coworking space named Cowork Lee’s Summit. Without any nearby…
Kauffman Foundation launches initiative to topple startup barriers
During an annual trip to Washington D.C., Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation CEO Wendy Guillies urged the U.S. Congress to take action to eliminate barriers for entrepreneurs to launch new businesses. In her 2017 State of Entrepreneurship address, Guillies said that millions of Americans are being left out the U.S. economy and that trends of dwindling…
Google Fiber losing ‘hundreds’ of employees but continues KC expansion
Google Fiber is reportedly trimming its employee count after announcing its new CEO. Business Insider reports that months after its former CEO Craig Barratt resigned, Google Fiber has hired Gregory McCray as the new leader of Access, the division of Google’s parent company Alphabet that includes Google Fiber. The gigabit provider also will lose “hundreds”…
Kansas City Airbnb hosts may face fees with proposed rules
One year after a public meeting to cull input on “short-term stay” rules in Kansas City, officials have released a proposed ordinance on how Airbnb hosts can operate. The proposal would require that Airbnb and HomeAway hosts in Kansas City, Mo. register and pay annual registration fees for short-term renting of their property, which is…
Conquer for Good aims to be catalyst for KC’s purpose-driven firms
Editor’s note: Startland News is an in-kind sponsor of Conquer for Good and supports its mission to cultivate a community in which entrepreneurs create positive social change. How can Kansas City create a supportive community for its purpose-driven companies? That’s the key question and mission behind an upcoming event that aims to create a vibrant…
Five Elms Capital leads investment round in Atlanta SaaS firm
Five Elms Capital is continuing a streak of deals to kick off 2017. The Kansas City-based venture capital firm announced Monday that it’s the lead investor in MemberClicks, a SaaS provider that helps associations, trade groups and nonprofits manage members. Five Elms — which was joined by New York-based Level Equity as lead investors —…
Cali tech firm AutoAlert to create 300 Kansas City jobs
AutoAlert, an Irvine, Calif. Based tech firm, announced Friday that it’s planning to relocate its headquarters to Kansas City. The firm — which will receive a Missouri Works grant of as much as $9.2 million if it meets its job creation projection — offers automotive software communications using data mining and trade-cycle management tools. With plans…
CNBC: Kansas City is a top place to affordably ‘live large’
Kansas City was once again nationally recognized as a locale in which residents can live well on a base salary that’s comparatively low to coastal cities. CNBC named Kansas City No. 9 on its list of 12 cities “where you can live large on $60,000.” “The best places are likely the ones where you can…
Listen: Madison Flitch founder carves a furniture firm with KC stories ingrained
Editor’s note: In partnership with the KC Greats podcast, hosted by Scott Parman, Startland News hopes to offer its audience more avenues to learn about entrepreneurs in Kansas City. Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. In this episode, Parman chats with Madison Flitch founder John Pryor, who shares the story of bootstrapping his…
Meet the Kauffman Foundation’s newest board member
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has added a new member to its high-caliber board of trustees. The foundation announced Thursday that Esther L. George — the current president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — will serve on its board. As a member of the board, George will support the foundation’s…