More than $600,000 in cash and services are up for grabs in “Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs,” a national essay contest aimed at tech-savvy entrepreneurs and sponsored by Comcast Business, a unit of Comcast Cable, and Inc. magazine. Two winning essays from each of the 16 Comcast Business Regions, including Kansas City, will be picked—one with the topic of “best use of technology to enhance the customer experience” and one with the…

Kickoff party is set for April 4….

The mining, quarry and oil-and-gas extraction sector has shown the greatest growth in recent years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Economic Census Advance Report—the first widespread look at the economy since the recession. From 2007 to 2012, the geologically focused industry increased revenues 34 percent to $555.2 billion, while the number of businesses in the sector grew 26.4 percent and the number of employees rose more than 23…