Starting May 7, live-streaming video of 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation will be shown from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesdays at the Armour Loft Event Space above the Screenland Armour Theatre, 408 Armour Road in North Kansas City.

The goal is to offer folks living north of the Missouri River a handier location at which to gather as a pro-small-business community and view the weekly 1 Million Cups presentation, said Richard Groves, executive director of the hosting North Kansas City Business Council.

“For whatever reasons, a lot of people north of the river don’t seem to be comfortable venturing south of the river,” Groves said. “And we wanted to offer a similar kind of exposure to people interested in startups at a place that would be more convenient.”

Each week at 1 Million Cups at the Kaufmann Foundation, 4801 Rockhill Road, two entrepreneurs get onstage to pitch their startups and field questions from audience members. Although the event can be seen live on virtually any computer with Internet access, it’s the positive group dynamic that Groves wants to tap into by showing 1 Million Cups on a big screen at the Armour Loft.

“We’ll be seeing the same program and offering networking activities before and after the event, and, of course, coffee,” Groves said. “And we hope that some of our people will wind up with ideas that they would like to present at the Kauffman event, on the big stage, if you will.

“I’ve been impressed by the event at Kauffman and the wide spectrum of people who are participating,” he said. “There are a lot more grayer people there than I would have imagined and people who’ve been through this before, people who maybe are capable of providing some financing or some other counsel or mentoring, as well as others who may be thinking about doing a startup and certainly those who are currently in the process of it. It’s a great cross-section with a high value of energy, excitement and relevance. And hopefully we’ll have that kind of experience.”