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KTEC Names 2008 Pipeline Participants
Six high-potential technology and bioscience entrepreneurs from the Kansas City area are among nine selected as the second class of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation’s Pipeline fellowship program. Known as innovators, the entrepreneurs will spend a year in the state-financed program designed to cultivate new business startup activity. They will receive assistance with their businesses, education, skill building and networking, and access to mentors and investors who finance early-stage technology companies. The Pipeline program also will provide each innovator a $36,000 stipend for business development.
The new Pipeline class members are: Carlos Antequera, Prairie Village, co-founder, president and chief technology officer of Netchemia; Alfred Botchway, Stillwell, founder and president of Xenometrics LLC; Reggie Chandra, Lenexa, president and CEO of Professional Engineering Corp.; Todd Gentry, Winfield, founder and CEO of Inno-Labs; Jeff Hargroves, Overland Park, president of ProPharma Group Inc.; Andrew Hoelscher, Bushton, president of Hoelscher Agriculture Development; Bruce Ianni, Overland Park, founder and CEO of Chemidex; Dan Melton, Kansas City, Kan., founder and team chief of NonProfit Technologies LLC; and Jan Srack, Salina, co-founder and managing partner of Matrix Electronic Measuring LP. Mike Beckloff, Beckloff Associates, Inc., and Rob Herrington, Horizon Analog Inc., received Entrepreneur Leadership Awards in recognition of their contributions to building “a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kansas.”
Exec Named to Hispanic Board
Bernardo Ramirez, executive director of the Hispanic Economic Development Center of Kansas City, has been named to the board of directors of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders. The San Antonio-based national association is composed of community development corporations, community development finance institutions and other community-based organizations.
Come Home to Kansas
The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) has launched a
“Come Home to Kansas” initiative to bring bioscience and information technology professionals and investors to Kansas. Partners in this project include the Kansas Department of Commerce, the Kansas Bioscience Authority, the Kansas Bioscience Organization and the KTEC Pipeline. This initiative is aimed at professionals, graduates and investors with ties to the state, as well as non-residents who have never lived in Kansas but are looking for “home.” The core of the Come Home to Kansas initiative is a Web site (www.comehometokansas.com), refreshed daily, that brings together the thousands of current technical job openings in the state. The site also includes business leader and entrepreneur video testimonials, cost of living data, and detail about Kansas’ strong network of tech-based economic development resources for entrepreneurs and investors.
Program partners will fund in-state and out-of-state advertisements featuring successful entrepreneurs and returning professionals in alumni association publications and selected newspapers over the next year. The advertisements emphasize that Kansas is a place to prosper with its low cost of living and its high quality of life and are aimed at professionals looking for a welcoming, lower-stressed environment for their families.
Kauffman Names Entrepreneurship VP
The Kauffman Foundation named Bo Fishback vice president of entrepreneurship. He will oversee programs that encourage entrepreneurial engagement in the economy and that help entrepreneurs succeed. Fishback originally joined the Kauffman Foundation in 2006 as a director in advancing innovation. He left in 2007 to join BioMed Valley Discoveries, an organization affiliated with the Stowers Institute. Fishback is a co-founder of Lightspeed Genomics, a genome sequencing company, and has worked with a variety of start-ups in the life science and technology industries.
Sustainable Skylines Project
Nine local, state and federal partners including the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce have signed a "Commitment to Sustainability" to improve the environment in Kansas City. The locally led initiative is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is a public-private partnership to reduce air emissions and promote sustainability in urban environments. The Kansas City area is the second community chosen to participate in the nationwide Sustainable Skylines pilot program. Dallas was the first community in the program. The Chamber is one of the founding partners, along with Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City, Kan.; Johnson County; the Mid-America Regional Council; the Missouri Department of Natural Resources; the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and EPA Region 7 and its Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
The Greater Kansas City Chamber’s Energy Policy Task Force launched a Climate Protection Partnership last year to encourage local businesses, civic organizations, governments and educational institutions to participate in the effort to make the Kansas City area more environmentally responsible. Dozens of businesses already have signed partnership agreements. For more information, contact Kristi Smith Wyatt at the chamber at (816) 221-2424.
MAMBDC Presents Awards
The MidAmerica Minority Business Development Council named Jason Lofton, QTI, Inc., as Supplier of the Year, Class I, and Arthur Tanner of Tinmaster, Inc., as Supplier of the Year, Class II, at its 22nd annual awards banquet. Also recognized were Embarq as Corporation of the Year for its achievement in increasing procurement and building relationships with minority business partners; Bill Downey, president and chief executive officer of KCP&L, as CEO Advocate of the Year; Kim Jeffries of St. Luke’s Health System as Buyer of the Year; Karen Duffy of Ameristar Casino as Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Coordinator of the Year; and Tim Jones of KCP&L as Newcomer of the Year.
Business.gov Adds Local Search
Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. government, has launched new search features and expanded content that make it possible to access state, territory, county and city government Web sites as well as federal resources. The improvements are designed to make it easier for small business owners to find essential information they need to run their operations; for example, forms, licenses, permits and regulatory information from federal, state and local governments. The access to the 9,000 additional sites is intended to help businesses find information on starting and managing a business in compliance with regulations at all government levels.
The new search features allow a user to get results for a specific geographic area. For example, if a user types in “business license, Kansas City, MO,” the relevant results on licenses would be returned from the city and the state of Missouri Web sites. Originally launched in 2004, Business.gov is the official business link to the U.S. government and is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration in a partnership with 21 other federal agencies.
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