business

The Kansas City Defender's second Black Feast Week is underway now with nearly 20 participating businesses. After a string of closures hit Black-owned Kansas City restaurants last year, organizers saw a need to help owners with marketing.

The KC Game Plan is designed specifically for business owners in such high-engagement industries as dining, lodging, retail and entertainment.

The KC Streetcar expansion will bring more people in walking distance to Kansas City's Westport and midtown neighborhoods, which are home to some of the metro's best restaurants, bars, nightlife and shops. Hop off the streetcar and head to these great spots.

Kansas City is one of just three cities on the U.S. leg of Chappell Roan’s “Visions of Damsels and Other Dangerous Things” tour — and it's something of a homecoming for the Missouri-born pop star. Ahead of this weekend’s shows, local businesses are celebrating with parties, special drinks and menus, and a “Pink Pony Express" streetcar.

Mike King calls himself a chocolate maker as one of those who starts with the raw beans to create his boutique chocolate bars. The bars are featured at his one-man operation — Encore Coffee and Chocolate in Grandview.

Changes to regulations governing Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights will allow approved operators to fly autonomously over longer distances. Kansas City is already expected to host two Prime Air fulfillment sites, each with a fleet of 12 drones.

After Kansas City native Brett Janssen met his fiancé Genisis Mejia in Colombia, the couple bought a 50-acre farm in the Andes Mountains. Now Janssen will make the 2,700-mile journey bringing coffee beans back to Janssen's Place Coffee, which opens in October.

Sandlot Goods, a hat manufacturer on Southwest Boulevard, was featured on several national television segments about goods made in America. And their signature dad hat was worn by "Ted Lasso" actress Juno Temple during the series' recent shoot.

Jackson County property owners spoke before a Missouri House special committee this week about receiving huge property tax increases — with few options for appeals. “There’s no transparency; there’s no accountability; and there’s no guardrail," Blip owner Ian Davis told lawmakers.

On Friday, Brandon Calloway will lead a 10-mile walk to showcase 24 Black-owned businesses along Troost Avenue, challenging decades-old stigmas about Kansas City’s former racial dividing line.

Silvia Miguel started Pan Caliente in 2012, making alfajores, empanadas and other baked goods from her native Patagonia. After leaving her teaching job to focus on the business full-tmie, she now sells at cafes across the Kansas City metro.

The little round balls may seem a bit outdated compared to some current games, but there’s a community of collectors, artists and kids keeping marble culture alive. In this store and studio just outside Kansas City, visitors can watch marbles being made.