November 12, 2018
M-Power Enterprises builds from Primal Cry
Marisa Wiruhayarn’s entrepreneurial journey began when she left Thailand in the early 1980s for a fresh start in the United States. But it would be many years later before her spicy Thai hot sauce would truly launch her into a business of her own. Shortly after coming to Success Stories
October 12, 2018
The Business of Inclusion & Diversity
I joined Dionne King on a rainy weekday at Quay Coffee in the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. As always she looked like she was ready to meet with the top brass of a major corporation. That wasn’t far from reality. She only had a few minutes for Success Stories
September 14, 2018
New Owner Positions for Growth
Stella Crewse started at the bottom in a male-dominated industry. She worked her way up from part-time bookkeeper, learning everything she could about the plumbing business in her 14 years at Morgan Miller Plumbing. Then in 2017, she bought it. Crewse began the business transition by enlisting the Success Stories
August 15, 2018
Teen Entrepreneur Aims High
High-achieving, eighteen-year-old Erin Smith will not be following her friends to college this fall. Instead, she’ll delay her entrance to Stanford University to take the next step in developing her medical technology venture, FacePrint. For the past two years, Smith has been working with the UMKC Small Business Success Stories
July 9, 2018
A Cut Above
Dane Casey and his wife moved to Kansas City from San Francisco, California in 2017 to pursue his dream to open Venturemen Barbering Shoppe. After years of research and training Dane will celebrate a grand opening this summer in the crossroads arts district of Kansas City. Dane’s passion Success Stories
June 13, 2018
TicketRX makes it easier to resolve traffic tickets
Everyone hates getting a traffic ticket and then trying to resolve it without going to court. But for over-the-road truck drivers, an unresolved traffic ticket can mean lost income or a lost job. Bryan Shannon’s own experience as a college student led him to create TicketRX to make Success Stories
May 14, 2018
iShare Medical creates records in one secure file
What if your medical records could follow you from doctor to specialist to hospital and always be complete, secure and easily shared? That’s the concept behind iShare Medical, a Kansas City based company that has grown with the assistance of the UMKC Small Business & Technology Development Center Success Stories
April 11, 2018
Midwest Comfort Homes helps homeowners after a disaster
A traumatic childhood experience ultimately led Travis Thonen to start his own business to help others restore their houses after fire, water, smoke and hail damage. “I personally went through an experience with my family many years ago when our family home in Raytown, Missouri almost burnt to Success Stories
March 15, 2018
Couples prep for big day with Hitched Planning + Floral
Hitched Planning + Floral is the inspiration of two creative spirits who combined their event planning and floral design talents into beautiful weddings and special occasions. What started 10 years ago as an idea for a home-based studio has grown into a successful business with a Westside Kansas Success Stories
January 16, 2018
Local Artist Creates Business From Iconic Kansas City Scenes
When Bernadette “Bernie” Lee could no longer lift a case of wine because of a shoulder injury, she left the wine industry after 30 years and turned her painting hobby into a successful business. With Art From Architecture, Lee paints and sells renderings of iconic Kansas City landscapes, Success Stories
April 4, 2017
Mighty Good Solutions has a handle on business
Lugging 10 grocery bags up three flights of stairs every week got Ben Rendo thinking there had to be an easier way to carry multiple bags. His big idea – the Mighty Handle – is a simple solution and the first product of Mighty Good Solutions. To Success Stories
March 9, 2017
CatCoq talks about Art that Sells
Cat Coquillette, a recent graduate of FastTrac NewVenture with the Urban Business Growth Initiative scholarship is ready to help you learn how to create art that sells. You can join her for the first class on Skillshare for a course dedicated to teaching artists and designers tips to boost their passive Success Stories
March 9, 2017
Velo Garage and Tap House
Sip a cold, craft beer while you get your bike fixed When Kiley Sutter opened VeloWagon as a mobile bicycle repair shop in a 1969 Volkswagen bus, he found a winning combination: bikes and beer. Now two years later, he’s expanding into Velo Garage and Tap House in Success Stories
August 10, 2016
How She Funded It: SBIR Funding Jumpstarts PatientsVoices™ to Improve Patient Satisfaction
Sometimes ideas come from knowing a market really well. Sometimes they come from serendipity—a happenstance encounter with an undeniable opportunity. Mary Kay O’Connor founded PatientsVoices™ from both experience and instinct. But regardless of the source of inspiration, good ideas can’t get off the ground without funding. Mary Kay Success Stories, Tech Seccess