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Startland News Staff

Sometimes we share credit. The “Staff Writer” byline appears on stories reported, written, or edited collaboratively by members of the Startland News team — especially for quick hits and breaking news.

Recent Articles by Startland News Staff

Venture for America class comes ‘together like lightning’ for Friday job fair in KC

National fellowship program Venture for America is hoping to boost regional startups with an infusion of new talent. VFA, a two-year program for recent college graduates who want to learn how to build businesses, is planning one of its four regional job fairs Friday in Kansas City. The group — which launched in Kansas City…

lowest-cost small cities

Looking for nation’s lowest-cost small cities for startups? No. 9’s in the KC metro

A Kansas City suburb finds itself among the top 10 lowest-cost small cities for starting a business, according to a new nationwide report. Raytown, Missouri, lands at No. 9 on the ranking by personal finance website WalletHub — just below Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at No. 8. The rest of the top 10 is filled by…

Susan Chambers and Miriam Rivera, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Board of Trustees

Former Walmart exec, VC founder who was second attorney for Google joining Kauffman trustees

Editor’s note: Startland News, in its capacity as a nonprofit digital magazine, is financially supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Two high-powered women are expected to bring diverse business, investment and education backgrounds to the table of one of Kansas City’s leading entrepreneurship engines. Susan Chambers, a five-time “50 Most Powerful Women in Business”…

I-70 wage gap? Kansas City lags St. Louis on tech pay, snapshot analysis says

St. Louis might be the gateway to higher tech pay — but not by much, according to a new nationwide snapshot analysis of tech industry jobs. The Kansas City metro logged an average tech wage of $90,940 in 2017, falling slightly behind the St. Louis metro at $96,370, based on data released in the Cyberstates…

iKan, Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, John Thomson, PayIt CEO, and Donna Shelite, interim Kansas chief technology officer

Say goodbye to the DMV? Gov tech firm PayIt launches iKan app with State of Kansas

Kansans can now renew their vehicle registration with a touch on their phones thanks to a KC-based government tech firm’s new iKan app, Gov. Jeff Colyer said Thursday. Designed by PayIt, the iKan platform is designed to allow users to interact with multiple state services in a self-service, intuitive experience from their phones, tablets, and…

JUMP GEO

Fund Me, KC: JUMP GEO uses whole-body movement to teach kids geography

Editor’s note: Startland News is continuing its ‘Fund Me, KC’ feature to highlight area entrepreneurial efforts to accelerate businesses or projects. If you or your startup is running a crowdfunding campaign, let us know by contacting news@startlandnews.com. Today’s featured campaign from Kansas City-based JUMP GEO spotlights a product to teach young people (and adults) about…

Techweek KC

Techweek KC returning with big LaunchKC, Techstars, BetaBlox demo days

One of Kansas City’s biggest conference series for entrepreneurs is returning in October alongside some of KC’s most premier accelerator programs, said Amanda Signorelli, CEO of Techweek KC. Demo days for Techstars KC and BetaBlox will join LaunchKC as signature events during the Oct. 8-12 conference, she said. “Combined with the nationally recognized LaunchKC competition…

Operation Breakthrough

Fund Me, KC: Operation Breakthrough hopes to burn into STEM gap with laser cutter

Editor’s note: Startland News is continuing its ‘Fund Me, KC’ feature to highlight area entrepreneurial efforts to accelerate businesses or projects. If you or your startup is running a crowdfunding campaign, let us know by contacting news@startlandnews.com. Today’s featured campaign from Operation Breakthrough spotlights a campaign by the nonprofit childhood development center to boost its…

ScaleUP! KC class, 2018

ScaleUP! KC expands impact with 18 entrepreneurs in latest class

In announcing its latest class, the ScaleUP! KC incubator embraced its track record of helping Kansas City entrepreneurs develop the business skills needed to take the next steps on their journeys. Now on its seventh cohort, the program has graduated 92 business owners, including startups like The Sundry, Ruby Jean’s Juicery, Cambrian Tech, H3 Enterprises…

Julia Luetje, Storm Sleeper, pre-teen innovator

Grand prize: 10-year-old Leawood girl wins $260K for Storm Sleeper invention

When Julia Luetje’s parents surprised her at school with news that her Storm Sleeper invention won Frito-Lay’s $250,000 Dreamvention grand prize, the 10-year-old Leawood girl was excited, but told them she needed to get back to work. “Julia seemed to be stunned,” said her mother, Susan Bernstein. “She had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on…