EY announced the winners of its annual Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the Central Midwest at a black-tie gala on June 15 at The Midland in Kansas City. Four of the winners are from Kansas City: Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning; Marty Bicknell, Mariner Holdings, LLC; John Goodbrake, Master’s Transportation, LLC; and David Johnson, Maxus Properties, Inc. The remaining Central Midwest winners are Allan Connolly, Aclara; Dan Geraty, Clearent; Donald…

Sunflower Financial and Strategic Growth Bancorp Incorporated completed their merger on June 19. The merger combines Sunflower Bank N.A., First National Bank of Santa Fe, Capital Bank, SSB and Guardian Mortgage Company, Inc. The new holding company is FirstSun Capital Bancorp. “We’re excited about the new products and services we will be introducing in all our communities,” said Mollie Hale Carter, Chief Executive Officer of FirstSun Capital Bancorp and the…

The St. Joseph Innovation Stockyard and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, Buchanan County and Missouri Western’s Center for Entrepreneurship are partnering with Digital Sandbox KC and the Missouri Technology Corporation to drive new business growth in the St. Joseph area. Digital Sandbox provides proof-of-concept resources to support the early-stage commercialization process. Up to $15,000 in project development funds will be awarded. In addition to the cash grants, Innovation Stockyard…

Gov. Eric Greitens has launched the Governor’s Innovation Task Force to assess the state of innovation in Missouri. The bipartisan task force is also charged with analyzing best practices from other states and developing specific recommendations for what Missouri can do to promote innovation and new technology start-ups. Recommendations may include executive action, legislative or regulatory action, the best use of the state’s resources or other actions that foster innovation. The…

Venture capital sidecar fund KCRise has invested in five more companies. The companies selected are ShotTracker, SMRxT, SquareOffs, Backlot Cars and Bardavon Health Innovations. As a sidecar fund, the KCRise Fund co-invests with institutional VC investors in early-stage Kanas City companies. “The KCRise Fund has been a game changer when it comes to encouraging early stage investment in KC-based start-ups and entrepreneurs,” said Darcy A. Howe, KCRise Fund managing director….