Minority-Led Stories
Chingu Coffee blends ‘familiar with not-so-familiar’ in a shop that embraces its neighbors alongside Korean heritage
Keeyoung Kim’s latest concepts — Chingu and Chingu Coffee — revolve around community, the Sura Eats chef and owner shared. Chingu means “friend” in Korean, he explained, and friendship is the recurring theme between the restaurant — which debuted July 2022 in Westport — and the coffee shop — which soft opened in mid-May in…
Teens team with MADE MOBB to raise funds in KC’s Northeast; their tee to support the unhoused was just a start
Vu Nguyen considers MADE MOBB to be a creative hub, he shared. Two of the latest collaborators with Crossroads-based streetwear brand are students at Ryogoku Soccer Academy. “Everybody’s invited,” said Nguyen, who co-founded MADE MOBB — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 — in 2013 and owns the business alongside…
Toll project won’t just make Kansas’ most dangerous roadway safer, Davids says; it’ll be smarter
OVERLAND PARK — Two new express lanes along U.S. 69 in south Johnson County are expected to boost businesses, consumers, economic development and tourism as Kansas continues to grow and global events like the 2026 World Cup are added to the region’s roster, said Sharice Davids. “It’s all connected — our entire state,” said U.S….
Investor returns to Kansas City with a message for his fellow VCs: It’s time to get your hands dirty
Traveling across the United States to listen and learn from various entrepreneurial ecosystems gave Nassir Criss the knowledge to be a better venture capitalist, he said. After nearly a year — and visiting more than a dozen cities — Criss has returned to Kansas City to share and apply what he experienced. “I realized that…
17-year-old social entrepreneur among finalists tapped for healthtech pilot competition
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. WICHITA — A Kansas teenager’s telemedicine nonprofit was selected as one of nine finalists for a local health tech startup competition — the only Sunflower State venture chosen for the…
