News Stories
Winning alumni revive Columbia Startup Weekend to unlock Midwest talent, find the next billion-dollar startup
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. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. Techstars…
‘People eat with their eyes first’: Why pop-ups were just a sample of this new bakery’s appeal
Brown Suga Bakes began modestly — selling cookies out of lunch bags mid-pandemic, said Ebony Paul-Harris, detailing a strategy of starting small to achieve big results. In her case: opening the oven to a brick-and-mortar bakery and storefront in Olathe. “In the beginning, we used to make really small cookies. We also had a sample…
Bluetooth your burnt ends: BBQ tech startup fires up new way to keep tabs on those slabs
FireBoard is smoking toward its seventh office in seven years as hiring and product development heat up for the ever-expanding Kansas City-based maker of cloud-connected digital thermometers — a staple tool of many BBQ enthusiasts and restauranteurs. It’s latest addition: the FireBoard Spark, an entry-level meat thermometer with a lower price point than previous models,…
Nothing speaks like flavor: How Johnson County’s favorite empanada stand plans to reach more ‘happy tummies’ (and where to find them)
When Sonia Sandoval moved to America from Venezuela, language was a barrier, she recalled. Rather than keep to herself, Sandoval found a more meaningful form of communication: food. “I started [cooking] when I was 11 years old,” said Sandoval, who co-founded the pop-up Venezuelan food concept, Happy Tummy, with her husband, Juan Paredes. “I…
She’s one of the Chamber’s biggest ‘Superstar’ success stories; Why your company could be the next
Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. The Small Business Superstar program did more than convert Jannae Gammage into a new Chamber member, she said; it exposed her to the power of opening doors…
