Startland News

12/23/2025

Recorded live at the Plug and Play Animal Health & AgTech Expo in Topeka, we explore what it means for the Plug and Play cohort to be housed at LINK, how these two worlds come together to support founders, and why this moment feels like a true convergence of vision, place, and community.

12/22/2025

The recent order from the White House signals how the federal government intends to influence the next phase of AI regulation and enforcement, while setting the stage for litigation, agency action, and potential federal legislation, writes Sam Mitchell of Husch Blackwell.

12/22/2025

“I just thought, ‘Who would want to live there?’” Becca Castro joked, recalling how her parents had moved to the metro during her college years — as did her future husband, prompting her to follow suit. She quickly gained a new understanding of the pride that overflows in the City of Fountains.

Castro shared more about her Kansas City experience, passions, and her current Taylor Swift era with Startland as part of its KCultivator Q&A series.

“I just thought, ‘Who would want to live there?’” Becca Castro joked, recalling how her parents had moved to the metro during her college years — as did her future husband, prompting her to follow suit. She quickly gained a new understanding of the pride that overflows in the City of Fount...

12/20/2025

When Ava-Rochelle Woodard rides through Kansas City with her parents, the 6-year-old pays attention. She notices people walking along the road, and when Ava sees someone who might need help, she asks a question that has grown into a community effort.

“Do we have a bag in the car?” asks Ava, founder of Blessing Bags.

That instinct sparked a project launched this fall by the Kansas City first-grader to provide people experiencing homelessness with bags filled with practical, everyday essentials. What started as a small family routine has grown into a grassroots effort centered on action and community care.

“A blessing bag is a bag full of hygiene products and stuff that you would use in your daily life, and they give them to people in need,” said Ava.

Each bag is assembled with care. Ava helps select and pack the items, focusing on things people can immediately use.

“There’s water, electrolyte mix, snacks, a toothbrush and toothpaste, lotion, lip balm, deodorant, a comb, shampoo, ponchos, socks, first-aid kits and wipes,” she said. “For winter items, there are hand warmers, blankets, gloves, extra socks and shelter supplies.”

Blessing Bags are distributed across Kansas City, often handed directly to people in need while driving or walking through the city. Each bag is assembled with care, said Ava-Rochelle Woodard, noting she helps select and pack the items, focusing on things people can immediately use.

12/19/2025

Kansas City’s new $1 billion waterfront district is expected to open core elements of the mixed use development near the KC Current’s stadium — including hotly anticipated restaurants and the first phase of residences — before the World Cup arrives in June 2026, officials announced Friday.

Developers of the district also revealed its new name: Current Landing — a recognition of the sprawling project’s shared ownership with Angie and Chris Long, co-owners of the Kansas City Current.

Anchored by CPKC Stadium and the Missouri River, Current Landing is set to feature “a dynamic blend of elevated waterfront residential living, best-in-class dining, one-of-a-kind sports and community entertainment, and irreplaceable riverfront gathering spaces designed to transform the fan and community experience year-round.”

Kansas City’s new $1 billion waterfront district is expected to open core elements of the mixed use development near the KC Current’s stadium — including hotly anticipated restaurants and the first phase of residences — before the World Cup arrives in June 2026, officials announced Friday.

12/19/2025

Trees are among humans’ most sacred relatives, said Alex Villalobos-McAnderson, a Shawnee-based energy medicine practitioner who noted that connections to the earth run deep even amid the turbulence of modern life and political uncertainty.

The 250-year-old oak tree in Kansas City’s historic Northeast — set to be cut down in January because of fungal root disease — doesn’t know that it’s the busy holiday season or that a vast cultural divide has manifested in America, said Villalobos-McAnderson, owner of Villalobos Vitality.

“In a time where so much feels fractured, rushed, and disconnected, ceremony creates a pause,” she said of rites offered by Indigenous people to honor life. “It invites us to slow down, to listen, and to be present.”

Celebrating the now-dying tree — officially declared a “Liberty Tree” in 1976 by the Missouri Department of Conservation and State Revolution Bicentennial Commission; a “200-year-old living monument to our nation’s history” — is about thanking it for the energy it has contributed, said Villalobos-McAnderson.

Trees are among humans’ most sacred relatives, said Alex Villalobos-McAnderson, a Shawnee-based energy medicine practitioner who noted that connections to the earth run deep even amid the turbulence of modern life and political uncertainty.

12/19/2025

A decade-long experiment in east side investment is entering a new crucible as Kansas City’s CCED sales tax district heads toward a quiet but consequential moment: a 2026 renewal vote that will determine whether one of the city’s most unusual and community-driven tax tools gets a second life.

Born from decades of underinvestment, redlined lending patterns and a stubborn appraisal gap that pushed private development elsewhere, the one-eighth-cent Kansas City’s Central City Economic Development (CCED) sales tax has attempted something blunt and simple: provide the last-in dollars needed to make east-side projects real.

Some projects have been catalytic. Some have taken longer to complete than desired. All of them test whether Kansas City, Missouri, can correct market failures through sustained, intentional public investment.

Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley, who once managed the CCED ballot campaign before joining KCMO’s city council, said the district exists because “the community took matters into their own hands after decades and decades of financial neglect.”

That neglect still shapes the landscape. But the path forward — and the pitch to voters in 2026 — now depends on whether CCED can evolve from a lean, sometimes improvised structure into a more predictable, more transparent, more disciplined version of itself.

A decade-long experiment in east side investment is entering a new crucible as Kansas City’s CCED sales tax district heads toward a quiet but consequential moment: a 2026 renewal vote that will determine whether one of the city’s most unusual and community-driven tax tools gets a second life.

12/18/2025

A Kansas-built innovation program is hitting the road — applying its successful model to Northwest Arkansas in a bid to expand growth opportunities for more early-stage companies and make the region a proving ground for technology that boosts health and economic vitality.

Wichita-based NXTUS this week announced HealthCatalyst NWA, a pilot initiative that aims to close a critical gap in Arkansas’s innovation economy: too few pathways for the region’s nonprofits to access and implement the health- and community-tech tools offered by startups.

“This unique program can help Northwest Arkansas continue to build its reputation and reality as a thriving region and a great place to grow a business,” said Mary Beth Jarvis, president and CEO of NXTUS, which is launching the program in January alongside the HTA healthcare innovation network in Arkansas.

“HealthCatalyst NWA will pair local providers with leading innovators offering solutions for their most pressing challenges,” Jarvis continued. “With this, the region grows as a hub for promising technology tools, helping startups thrive and driving improved population health and economic-growth outcomes.”

The Walton Family Foundation awarded NXTUS a $500,000 grant to fund the HealthCatalyst NWA 2026 pilot program, which builds on the proven model of the Kansas-focused NXTSTAGE Community Health and Vibrancy Pilot Competition, presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, which has prompted more than 77 health and economic vibrancy innovation projects in Kansas since 2021.

A Kansas-built innovation program is hitting the road — applying its successful model to Northwest Arkansas in a bid to expand growth opportunities for more early-stage companies and make the region a proving ground for technology that boosts health and economic vitality.

12/18/2025

ICYMI: Ivory Duncan teared up thinking about all the neurodiverse young people and their parents that she can champion now that she’s won $6,000 in the most recent pitch competition from The Porter House KC.

The founder of Embracing Neuro-Diversity — a former educator and assistant principal — is building bridges between homes and schools to support the adults in neurodiverse children’s lives by equipping them with knowledge, tools, and resources.

Duncan was inspired to start her company after her own son’s autism diagnosis, she shared with the crowd gathered Friday at the Kansas City Library’s Plaza location — a culminating event for The Porter House KC’s 15-week business development program.

“We don't have a shortage of love," said Ivory Duncan, founder of Embracing Neuro-Diversity. "We have a shortage of language, we have a shortage of tools, and we have a shortage of systems that truly honor neurodiverse children.”

12/17/2025

Superstar honorees celebrated Tuesday evening by the KC Chamber represented industries ranging from food and retail to professional services, media and manufacturing. Each business was selected after being nominated by customers, clients and community members.

About 1,400 businesses across the region ultimately received the Small Business Superstar distinction for 2026, and more than 300 entrepreneurs attended the celebration.

“This evening is for you,” said Vicky Kulikov, small business director at the KC Chamber, as she welcomed the crowd. “Your clients and community told us just how amazing all of you are. That’s truly something special.”

The event marked the culmination of this year’s recognition process while also encouraging businesses to remain engaged with the chamber moving forward, Kulikov noted.

“We know the last few years have been challenging, and you’ve shown grit and determination,” she said. “Tonight we celebrate you, and we look forward to what’s next.”

Athena Printing opened its doors with a mission to give artists a local place to produce work without giving up control of the process. Just months later, the fine art printing studio is already making an impression — finding itself among hundreds of Kansas City businesses recognized as Small Busi...

12/15/2025

The successful completion of form, fit, and function testing for Lenexa-based Enduralock’s OneLink satellite docking connector marks a critical leap forward for the hardware, said Dr. Harold Hess — earning his Kansas City-built technology a ticket aboard future space launches.

“By proving the hardware’s soft docking and self-alignment capabilities work in a simulated zero-gravity environment, the team has confirmed the reliability of the mechanical latching and alignment systems essential for future on-orbit operations,” the Enduralock CEO said.

The successful completion of form, fit, and function testing for Lenexa-based Enduralock’s OneLink satellite docking connector marks a critical leap forward for the hardware, said Dr. Harold Hess — earning his Kansas City-built technology a ticket aboard future space launches.

12/14/2025

A second tranche of federal funding allotted through the Biden-era American Rescue Plan Act is expected to help economic development leaders target stronger small business growth, expand access to capital, and support high-growth entrepreneurship across Missouri.

More than $33 million is being deployed to the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) via the State Small Business Credit Initiative 2.0 (SSBCI 2.0) — a federal program to advance technology-based economic development that was continued by President Trump’s U.S. Treasury — according to a release this week from the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED).

“Missouri’s entrepreneurs drive innovation and create jobs in every corner of our state,” said Gov. Mike Kehoe, R-Missouri. “This next round of SSBCI 2.0 funding will help in furthering our commitment to supporting small businesses, strengthening our communities, and building a strong and competitive economy.”

The SSBCI 2.0 program provides funding for credit and investment programs for small businesses and startups.

Originally established as part of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 under the Obama Administration, the SSBCI is intended to provide public funds to leverage private-sector lending and equity investment into small businesses. The initiative was reauthorized and expanded as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which passed Congress in March 2021 along party lines.

Missouri was awarded $95 million through SSBCI 2.0 across three tranches, the first of which — $27 million — was deployed in October 2022.

A second tranche of federal funding allotted through the Biden-era American Rescue Plan Act is expected to help economic development leaders target stronger small business growth, expand access to capital, and support high-growth entrepreneurship across Missouri.