News Stories

‘If you don’t own yourself, you own nothing’: Why one founder says he’ll relocate his business if Kansas bans abortion

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series on the 2022 election produced by the KC Media Collective, an initiative designed to support and enhance local journalism. Members of the KC Media Collective include Startland News, Missouri Business Alert, Kansas City PBS/Flatland, KCUR, The Kansas City Beacon and American Public Square. Andrew Morgans has…

Shop Local KC gets minimalist makeover as local maker retailer opens Leawood store

Katie Mabry van Dieren is no stranger to the Ranch Mart Shopping Center in Leawood, the Shop Local KC owner said, returning to her roots this weekend to open a second location for her Kansas City maker retail store. “One of my greatest childhood memories was riding my bike to Ranch Mart and either getting…

KC wants to be the nation’s most equitable hub for biologics; prestigious MIT pick could help

Biologics is the entryway to personalized medicine, said Sonia Hall, and Kansas City is aiming to create the most inclusive hub for the development, production and distribution of biologics as part of its acceptance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program.  “When you talk about personalized medicine, you’re talking about greater equity…

PropTechHD looks beyond the façade of drone use to see sky-high potential for capturing high-quality data

A lot can go wrong when flying a drone around a high-rise building, acknowledged Andrew Patch. Think restricted airspace, pigeons, hawks, turbulence, swirling winds, pressure changes, trees, powerlines, and other unexpected obstacles. But behind the sticks of a controller, Patch steers into the challenge. In February 2017, he founded Heartland Drone Company, an Federal Aviation…

Hack Midwest is back with $20K in prizes, space for tech talent to flex app-building muscles

More than prize money is on the line when Hack Midwest returns this weekend to Kansas City, Michael Gelphman said, detailing how the contest could ignite progress in the local tech ecosystem.  “We can get people to think entrepreneurially and create new ideas,” said Gelphman, the competition’s founder, noting the power and potential of the…