At this week’s 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation, presenters included a local distillery and a startup with an international aim. Their industries may be worlds apart, but both ventures are searching for the same thing–a sustainable business model that works here in Kansas City and beyond.
Lifted Spirits
Business partners Kyle Claypool and Michael Stuckey shared the story of how their home distillation hobby became a locally sourced craft distiller. Over the last few years, they’ve been on quite a journey from product testing in Michael’s basement to creating a company culture they’re proud of. Now they’re getting ready to move into their new location in the east Crossroads neighborhood of Kansas City.
Claypool, Lifted Spirits’ marketing frontman, they’ve created a culture with a huge emphasis on community. Part of that is sourcing their ingredients from area producers and farmers. They also want to lend their resources to other budding distillers in the area.
While the farm-to-table and craft niches seem to be garnering a lot of interest from other startup companies in the beverage and spirits industries, Lifted Spirits founders say they’ve got enough differentiators to stand out from the crowd–one of those being their unique product offerings. They are one of only a dozen or so craft absinthe producers in the country.
Qbox Creaciones
Laura Jevremovitch showcased her cardboard construction products, which can be used for everything from pop-up furniture to educational children’s games. The brand consists of four product lines: Qbox Home, Qbox Game, Qbox Show and Qbox World, which develops Qbox kits that can be deployed after disasters or in developing countries.
Jevremovitch relocated Qbox from Spain. The 2-year-old company wants to put down roots here in Kansas City, where it’ll have access to a number of manufacturers and will be in the center of the United States.
Qbox has already had exhibits featured at Union Station’s Science City, where kids were able to build and create with the Qbox Game product line.
