Our TECH clients are hitting high notes lately! The 5th Annual Pure Pitch Rally was held October 12 and featured eight of the regions shining tech company stars. Of those eight, FIVE are Missouri SBDC at UMKC clients! Air Traffic Awareness        $5,000 AWA Technologies    Success Stories

Look what LaToyia Mays has been up to during this crisis! Making positive changes for the community and her business. LaToyia is a member of our current Cohort 10 of ScaleUP! Kansas City and a long time SBDC client. We love getting to share these great stories! Check Success Stories

We are always proud to see our clients success! Laura Manivong with Fattyhead Keto Crust has been working with a counselor at Missouri SBDC at UMKC since early 2019 and we’ve gotten to see all the growth! Take a look at what Startland News had to say about Success Stories

The COVID pandemic has changed almost everything each of us do during our day. This is almost more true for brick and mortar small businesses; forced to close their doors by the stay-at-home orders. Trish Fitzsimmons at Yarn Social is making sure to keep the SOCIAL in her Success Stories

Sometimes a plan starts one way and ends up in a different world! For Addison Bliss, Alex Merrell, Eric Rosell and Jarred Donalson that rings so very true with the founding of PH Coffee. Opened in 2019 in the Historic Northeast KC neighborhood of Pendleton Heights, PH Coffee Success Stories

Amy Slattery spent 18 years as a registered architect working with leading design and construction firms in Kansas City. With groundbreaking high design and sustainability, her career was moving forward in these large offices and corporate settings. Sometimes, it just takes a moment of perspective shift for things Success Stories

Joshua Lewis was always the go-to for where to be on the weekends in Kansas City. The spurred the idea for UpDown Nightlife App. The increase is reliance on our cell phones for every part of life played into the huge launch 2016.   UpDown faced the first Success Stories

How can a local, retail shoe store compete with national chains and online shopping? Kathy Gates, owner of The Running Well Store, has found a competitive edge by going beyond basic customer service and products. At her three locations, customers can receive a stride analysis, shoe fitting session, Success Stories

Luke Einsel had an idea seven years ago. Take smoothies and frozen drink products to the public through food service programs, thereby redefining beverage distribution. Thirsty Coconut was born and is thriving in the Kansas City market and eight other states! “It was a complete disaster” says Luke Success Stories

Donald Hawkins started his business with a simple idea: help small businesses communicate affordably and effectively with their customer base. However, translating the concept into reality required some high-tech development. Hawkins started by creating a system for customers to push notifications and messages about their businesses. But in Success Stories

You’re ridiculously busy at work. The kids need summer activities planned. It’s time to schedule the dog’s annual checkup, and you have 50 thank-you notes that need to go out. What if you had a personal assistant who could handle it all? Better yet, what if your employer Success Stories

When it’s time for high school students to consider college, it can be tough, and sometimes expensive, to navigate the application and scholarship process. That’s where College Coaching Network fills a needed niche. For families that cannot afford a college planning service, College Coaching Network offers a scholarship Success Stories

When Matt Bramlette found himself unemployed after a long and successful career in advertising and design, he took a new direction, stepped out on a limb, and opened a retail store. His first location was in the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City, but later expanded and moved Success Stories

If you worry about how your home looks and feels when you walk in the door, you’ve probably experienced what William Brown calls “decorating distress.” Here’s where he wants to come to the rescue. “Acknowledging that our souls need spaces to replenish and renew away from the many Success Stories

Kristen Rock Chouinard left a corporate career on the chance that she could turn her passion into a new business. Today, her love for painting has evolved from a therapeutic and creative outlet into an entrepreneurial quest with KRockArt. “When I create, one of my many hopes is Success Stories

Jen Rarey was enjoying a successful eighteen-year career as a Creative Director at Hallmark when her name was among the hundreds who found themselves suddenly unemployed in the Hallmark layoff of 2015.  While she knew layoffs were coming, she thought her position was secure, but she was wrong.  Success Stories

Taste a handcrafted, artisanal kombucha and meet the founders of this Lucky Elixir at The Brewkery, a kombucha brewery in the Northland. Founded in 2015 by Amy Goldman and Sean Galloway, The Brewkery opened with a mission to make great tasting, handcrafted, artisanal kombucha that is local, healthy Success Stories

When Kathi Vandel started Lightworks, Inc. in 2002, she wanted a business that created balance between light and dark, art and engineering and most importantly, work and family. “The backbone of our company rests on the concept of balance,” she said. “That’s why the company was formed, and maintaining Success Stories