More than 100 trendsetters and entrepreneurs from across the nation will be in Kansas City next week to take part in Knight News Challenge Summer, hosted by the Kauffman Foundation.

The Aug. 25-27 conference is an initiative of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and assembles winners of the Knight News Challenge, a yearly contest supporting pioneering ideas in news and information in the digital age. The Knight Foundation centers on funding journalistic excellence, entrepreneurs and innovators and open information systems.

Participants at next week’s confab will network and attend workshops devoted to building skill sets to improve their business and entrepreneurial endeavors. The event is invite-only and closed to the public, but it will also help introduce Knight News Challenge participants to Kansas City’s startup community.

John Bracken, the Knight Foundation’s director of journalism and media innovation, said in a release:

“We’ve learned that providing innovators with opportunities to connect and strengthen their network of supporters and collaborators is essential to accelerating and evolving a project, and ultimately to its overall success. At the same time, exploring strong, emerging entrepreneurial hubs like Kansas City allows innovators to expand their options and tap into the potential of different communities.”