Channa Steinmetz

Recent Articles by Channa Steinmetz

Students hope to make KU the ‘premier blockchain university’; Here’s how startups can help

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. LAWRENCE…

Donald Hawkins, kinly, at the C3KC “Fintech is Revolutionizing Banking” session

Fintech revolution follows historical abuse of Black wealth: ‘We’re already late, but we’ve got to do something’

Editor’s note: Startland News is a media sponsor for the C3KC session “Fintech is Revolutionizing Banking.” With nearly 30 percent of Americans reported as under-banked or unbanked, leaders in the financial space need to ask themselves what steps must be taken to create a more inclusive system, said Cordell Carter II. “We often ask leaders the…

Small Business Superstars reception

Small Business Superstars in photos: When people belong, ‘the possibilities are endless’

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. A celebration Wednesday for the Chamber’s new class of Small Business Superstars came with a message for entrepreneurs of all kinds, said Vicky Kulikov. You belong. “That…

Neal Sharma, DEG exit

A weakness today can be KC’s superpower tomorrow: Call for corporate engagement begins with CEOs

Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity.  Successful entrepreneurial ecosystems require a certain level of corporate engagement — and even stewardship — said Neal Sharma, noting the…

Willa Robsinson, Willa’s Books & Vinyl, at H&R Block

‘Supplier diversity is deceptively difficult’: How to boost diverse small businesses without tokenizing them

Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity.  Successful efforts to promote increased, consistent spending with more diverse small businesses must start with C-Suite buy-in, Christine Kelly said,…

Rich Smith, president-emeritus, and Kevin Lewis, CEO and president, Henderson Engineers — one of 12 companies in the first cohort of the CEO-to-CEO Challenge

Meet the 12 KC companies pledging to buy from diverse vendors; Join them in the CEO-to-CEO Challenge

Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity.  A dozen high-profile Kansas City companies are at the vanguard of a new regional effort to boost supplier diversity programs…

Matt Baysinger, Sinkers Lounge, Swell Spark

Roll over, Wordle: Tabletop golf, cocktail bar tee’d up as KC’s next big game experience with Power and Light opening

Sinkers Lounge is reinventing mini golf in the same way Top Golf reinvented the driving range, said Matt Baysinger. “With all the ideas we have in our heads about what mini golf is, I think Sinkers Lounge will far surpass that. Tabletop golf is this combination of shuffleboard, mini golf and pool that doesn’t quite…

Nia Richardson, KC Bizcare, and Emma Willis, Venture Noire

They want to create a SXSW-style festival in KC, but City of Entrepreneurs’ plans for Black founders dig even deeper

Activation is just the beginning for organizers of a new, high-profile partnership that aims to boost Black business owners — starting in Kansas City — via programming, resources, major events and a soon-to-be announced accelerator. Entrepreneurs, investors and local politicians gathered Wednesday to celebrate the soft launch of City of Entrepreneurs — a new initiative that…

WATCH: Small biz struggles didn’t begin with pandemic pinch, says Rep. Davids; solutions go beyond COVID relief

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exaggerated pain points that small business owners were already facing before the global health crisis, said U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids. “I really think that what the pandemic did was, in some ways, highlighted the things that we should have been focusing on. … I know a lot…

Theresa “Ting” Santos, Ting’s Filipino Bistro

Ting’s takes a page from grandma’s cookbook, bringing Filipino fare to KC; second ‘dream’ location coming to 39th Street 

Filipino food goes hand-in-hand with Theresa “Ting” Santos’ fondest memories, she said. Wherever her family gathered to celebrate or just simply be together, food followed.  “It’s always been a passion of mine to feed a lot of people. My grandma in the Philippines had her own little eatery. When I was little, I would go…