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Federal Procurement Fails to Make the Grade

Agencies need to do more to assist small businesses. In a recent procurement “report card,” the federal government received an overall B grade for its efforts to spend money with small businesses in 2011-12. But when it came to awarding prime contracts, the report reveals, federal agencies achieved their goals in only two of the five categories: Small Disadvantaged Business and Service Disabled Veteran programs. In the subcontracting arena, goals…

Ingredients for Success

It takes more than a killer recipe to make it in the food business. But help is out there. A Leawood man plans to revolutionize the ketchup industry. A Lee’s Summit couple has taken a backyard passion for barbecue to a new level with a gourmet nut business. And a Liberty woman has turned her mother’s coffee cake recipe into a must-have treat at upscale bakery counters. These “foodpreneurs” are…

Locally Grown, Nationally Known

Three KC-based companies have launched franchises that are popping up across the country. Title Boxing Club started as a unique gym down the street from the Sprint campus. It’s now considered one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country. Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids began when a savvy business owner set out to improve the haircutting experience for children and parents in Leawood. Now her ideas, philosophy and even wacky…

Smart Warehousing: High Growth at High Speed

How Carl Wasinger and Smart Warehousing have responded to rocketing growth. When Carl Wasinger left corporate America and launched Smart Ware-housing in 2002, the company took up only 5,600 square feet. “It was a little old warehouse out in Olathe, and it was just me,” he recalled. Today, Smart Warehousing operates 24 different facilities in the United States and Canada—totaling more than 5 million square feet. Lego, Kraft Foods, Under…

The Nitty-Gritty of Helping Startups

Talk is cheap. Depending on who’s talking and who’s listening, though, it also can be very valuable.That’s certainly true at Digital Sandbox KC, a proof-of-concept center that launched earlier this year. Backed by $2 million in funding, the Sandbox provides support for concept development to prove an early-stage tech product or service is viable in the marketplace. But the center, which is based at Union Station, is designed to go…
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