Moving day has arrived for Startland News and the Kansas City Startup Foundation. The nonprofit digital magazine and its parent organization are set to establish new roots in the Crossroads arts district by the end of this week.
Their destination: Plexpod Crossroads.
“Readers shouldn’t see an interruption in news from Startland — as something of a startup ourselves, we travel pretty light,” said Tommy Felts, editor-in-chief. “But we’re excited to now be just a streetcar ride or short drive away from many of our sources and partners in the community.”
The publication will continue to cover startups, creatives and risk-takers from across the Kansas City metro’s entrepreneur community, regardless of Startland’s office location, Felts added.
Relocating Startland and KCSF from their longtime home at Village Square coworking studio — which KCSF operated in the Kansas City Startup Village — comes after a months-long search, said Lauren Conaway, director of operations for KCSF.
Check out photos from Village Square’s farewell party
“We were really thoughtful about where KCSF would best fit in Kansas City. Our decision ultimately came down to where we could maximize our impact within the community,” she said. “We started looking in the Crossroads because there’s a large concentration of high-growth companies in the area and it was important for us to be accessible to the community we serve. Plexpod Crossroads is a great fit because it puts us right in the middle of the action as well as putting us closer to other innovation hotspots such as WeWork and Sprint Accelerator.”
KCSF leaders announced plans to move from Village Square in June, after the nonprofit’s board agreed to get out of the coworking business and the building’s owner subsequently decided to sell the property.
“Other than coworking, life for KCSF is going on as usual,” Conaway said, noting the team will be located on the fourth floor at Plexpod Crossroads, formerly Think Big. “Getting out of coworking allows us to put more focus on our priority programs — Startland News, KCSFedu, Innovation Exchange, Startup Crawl, etc. We get to leave coworking to the organizations that have perfected the process and we intend to offer more impactful programs, not less.”
Village Square, which played host to a farewell celebration Aug. 2, is expected to take new ownership Aug. 10, she said. It’s owners plan to lease the space to two or three small startup companies, Conaway added.
“We’re really happy that the former Village Square building is going to be keeping it in the family, so to speak, and will be in good hands,” she said.
Enjoyed one last visit to #VillageSquare this evening. @kcstartupfdn deserves more credit than they’re given for launching #KansasCity to a whole new level of entrepreneurism! #heartfeltthanks ??? #welcometoplexpod https://t.co/XITdXCdcmd pic.twitter.com/cYVlGp1w51
— Gerald Smith (@GeraldSmith) August 3, 2018
