Tommy Felts
Editor-In-Chief, Startland News
Tommy is editor-in-chief for Startland News, a Kansas City-based nonprofit newsroom that uses storytelling to elevate the region’s startup community of entrepreneurs, innovators, hustlers, creatives and risk-takers.
Under Tommy’s leadership, Startland News has expanded its coverage from a primarily high-tech, high-growth focus to a more wide-ranging and inclusive look at the faces of entrepreneurism, innovation and business.
Before joining Startland News in 2017, Tommy worked for 12 years as an award-winning newspaper journalist, designer, editor and publisher. He was named one of Editor & Publisher magazine’s top “25 Under 35” in 2014.
Recent Stories by Tommy Felts
NXSTAGE grad: Getting in the room with the big guys can ‘change the whole trajectory’ for a startup
A Kansas-built program designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs woo future enterprise-level partners is already proving it was worth the mileage to Wichita, said Connor Borrego, noting the just-wrapped cohort gave him the tools to insert his startup into the buying processes larger organizations actually use.
Report: Tech jobs are growing faster in KC than across US; why that workforce win requires action
A new report shows Kansas City's tech job postings are growing nearly five times faster than the national average, said Kara Lowe, noting the real headline isn't just in the numbers, it's in what Kansas City does with them next.
KC adds another big project to the scoreboard, backing Current’s $1.4B riverfront expansion
A supercharged vision for CPKC Stadium and the surrounding riverfront area gained the city’s financial backing Thursday — enhancing game day settings and beyond for a rapidly emerging district that many leaders see as a gold standard for transformational public-private investment.
KC Tech Council’s plans for $4M Kauffman grant: ‘We don’t want to publish another workforce playbook that sits on a shelf’
Kansas City doesn’t have a broken tech pipeline, said Kara Lowe: the region is instead facing a talent connectivity problem. A just-announced $4 million project grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is expected to help the KC Tech Council plug that disconnect.
New EDCKC leader wants entrepreneurs, city ready when KC’s next big break comes knocking
Kansas City finds itself at a critical juncture, said Andrea Bough, describing a region that in recent years has earned a spot on the national stage and now must keep pushing forward to truly capitalize on opportunities that could transform the city for generations to come.
City greenlights ‘Block One’ of Luminary Park over I-670; It’ll be all gas, no brakes to hit 2028 finish
A critical vote of support from Kansas City leaders this week helped lock in a mix of state and federal funding needed to make Roy Blunt Luminary Park a reality. But the move exchanges one ticking clock deadline for another, officials said, as the first leg of the massive I-670 cap project starts its race...
Whataburger could expand further in KC, but first it needs to ‘feel like home’; here’s how KMO Burger says it’s going hyperlocal
After opening nearly two dozen Whataburger locations throughout the region — fueled by enthusiasm from two of Kansas City’s biggest sports stars — the Texas-built burger brand’s local franchisee is testing KC diners’ appetites before expanding further into or beyond the market.
City officials: $600M for Royals stadium isn’t a blank check; leaders laud boosts to workers, youth, homeless fund
Passing a massive funding plan to help transform Crown Center into a downtown ballpark district isn’t just about enthusiasm for baseball, said Wes Rogers; it’s an investment toward truly putting Kansas City and its residents in the big leagues.
How an AI tool is capturing seniors’ memories before aging, dementia delete them
A new voice companion platform — designed for the quiet hours when seniors might feel the most socially isolated — captures life stories that might otherwise be lost, said David Hensley, leaning on AI as a tool for engaging loved ones with endless patience, curiosity and conversation.
KC ranks No. 11 among Midwest startup hubs; why it needs its own big news day to get VCs’ attention
Investors are looking for more big outcomes — from billion-dollar valuations to IPOs — and plentiful startups in the pipeline behind them, said Victor Gutwein, delivering the verdict on Kansas City for his firm’s 2026 ranking of Midwest startup cities. Cues from KC’s most competitive neighbors could help it move up the list, he added.