Channa Steinmetz

When the new KCI terminal opens, about 80% of its vendors are local — including a Made in KC Marketplace that will showcase local brands like MADE MOBB and Kansas City Puzzle Co.

Beginning as a popup, District Biskuits opened its own brick-and-mortar location in December 2022. Beyond serving up chicken biscuit sandwiches, chef and owner Guroux Khalifa says he's passionate about using his restaurant to uplift other Black-owned businesses around Kansas City.

Self-taught apparel designers Peter Nonprasit and Sarah Dye-Nonprasit created Wasteland Society in 2017, combining punk and grunge aesthetics with an emphasis on togetherness in the face of despair. It's a world view that Nonprasit embraced after getting a diagnosis of bone cancer when he was a teenager.

Shawnee Mission West senior Bella Messmer launched Bubba’s and Bella’s Boards after her homecoming dance last year. The business specializes in charcuterie boxes, charcuterie cups and grazing tables.

Karizma Nola, a junior at Blue Valley High School, opened Krazy Crepes in April 2022 and has since popped up at neighborhood events and small business celebrations.

Family Tree Nursery has been owned and operated by the Nelson family since its founding in 1964, and has since grown to three locations in Kansas and Missouri. But one thing has remained constant: Creating flocked Christmas trees.

The food at Love is Key comes from family recipes handed down three generations, but Tameisha Martin hopes her business can have a deeper impact.

Amendment 3, the recreational marijuana question on Missouri's ballot, would expunge the criminal records of people with past non-violent marijuana charges and potentially destigmatize the industry. However, it caps the number of licenses to grow and sell cannabis, disadvantaging smaller businesses.

Frustrated by a gap in Kansas City’s retail space, Brian Roberts started curating a mobile pop-up shop of Black-owned and -made goods. After partnering with Made in KC to open a shared storefront in Midtown, The Black Pantry is now expanding nationally with an online store.

Although the Overland Park Farmers Market — which runs Saturdays from mid-April to December — has been established for the past 40 years, this is its first year competing in the annual contest, which drew more than 7,000 competitors.