Call it capitalist March Madness.
Inspired by the bracket-mania of the NCAA basketball tournament, KCSourceLink’s Battle of the Brands is employing its own bracket system to determine the area’s top entrepreneurial brand.
The third annual competition involves 64 companies representing some of the region’s best-known brands. Round-one voting between the first 32 pairs of businesses is now under way and will continue through March 7. Subsequent voting rounds are March 10 through 14; March 17 and 18; March 20 and 21; March 24 and 25; and the “final battle” on March 27 and 28.
All clients, friends and family associated with the contenders are encouraged to vote—one vote per bracket per IP per round. To vote, go to kcsourcelink.com.
The 2014 edition of Battle of the Brands began when companies nominated themselves in one of four categories or brackets: microenterprise businesses; brick-and-mortar businesses; established and growing businesses; and tech- or innovation-led businesses. Qualifying rounds cut the field to 16 companies in each bracket.
The tech sector typically gets a lot of attention, said Kate Pope Hodel, network builder for KCSourceLink. “But there are equally interesting and exciting companies in the other brackets,” she said. “And that’s why we’re trying to celebrate all of them.”
The competing companies:
Bricks and Mortar
BRGR Kitchen & Bar
Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard
Fusion Fitness
Hen House Market
Jess & Jim’s Steak House
Local Pig/Pigwich/Preservation Mkt
Oasis Food Products
Old Shawnee Pizza
One More Cup
Parkville Coffee
Poppy’s Ice Cream
The Roasterie
Schloegel Design Remodel
Snow & Co.
Taco Republic
Urban Table
Established and Growing
Clickfarm
Cooper’s Honey Company
EAG Advertising & Marketing
FINDitKC
Grade A Tree Care
Gram & Dun
ISPN Network Services
LaserCycle
Meers Advertising
Nexus IT Group, Inc.
Owen Homes
Sporting Kansas City
Tippin’s Pies
Triple-I
Turn the Page Online Marketing
Twentyseven Global
Microenterprises
Austin Walsh Studio
The Berry Nutty Farm
FireBug BBQ
Happy Habitat by Karrie Kaneda
Hippie Chow
Indios Carbonsitos
KC Classic Gourmet Foods
Kids-n-Bids
Kiwi Creative
Manos Chocolates
Monumental Lawn & Outdoor LLC
Sage Center for Yoga and Healing Arts
Sandler Training
She’s A Pistol
The Paw Wash
Vibe Communications
Tech- or Innovation-Led
AMC Theatres
Cerner
FanAddict
Integral Computer Consultants
Keyhole Software
Lantern
Moonshot – The Innovation Lab at Barkley
OverKC.com
PlanetReuse
RareWire
Red Nova Labs
Royal Loyal
Sporting Innovations
Think Big Partners
U-Hoops LLC
Venture 360
