1 Week Kansas City

The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City companies and non-profit organizations came together to host 1 Week KC to further grow the city’s electric entrepreneurship scene. 1 Week KC brought the community together to learn about entrepreneurship, promote the develop of small businesses and build business relationships with the community.

1 Week KC went from Tuesday, June 25^th – Sunday June 30^th with dozens of events with the goal to make an impact on the community. 1 Week KC’s events “create a scene for people to get together and create relationships. To create an atmosphere where people can come and get the help they need. We have great resources in the city that we are trying to highlight with this event to leverage the help you need,” Coomes said in an interview with Fox4KC. 1 Week KC events delivered by offering opportunities to get out in the community to build relationships or discover city treasures and potential resources that Kansas City offers.  

1 Week KC Highlights:

Tuesday June 25^th, was entrepreneur Day at the K. Entrepreneurs and their families and friends attended the Royals game in great seats for $15. At the event 1 Week KC guests got free t-shirts, tailgate festivities, and an outfield experience.  Kansas City Mayor Sly James was in attendance awarding entrepreneurs for their hard work.

On Wednesday, 1 Million Cups, the entrepreneurial pitch program created by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation met for the weekly coffee meet up. The caffeinated morning event engages Kansas City’s entrepreneurs to be supportive, mentor, learn, and connect the community. Following 1 Million Cups, there was a toast with gourmet cupcakes as KC Source Link celebrated their 10th Birthday.

The Longview Mansion hosted business accelerator program Lead Bank EJC (Eastern Jackson County) Challenge: $50,000 final pitch. Over the past six months five local companies had grown their businesses for this final presentation. A panel of experts awarded the $40,000 first place prize to BBQ Addicts, a web based company founded by Megan Day and Aaron Day a couple from Lee’s Summit Missouri. BBQ Addicts gets the flavor of barbeque out to the world, with recipes, grilling techniques, grilling and smoking competitions, and they feature an array of barbeque products.

KC Startup Crawl 2.0, hosted almost a dozen companies at eleven different locations. The KC Start UP Crawl was sponsored by Google Fiber. The event was organized as a travelling cocktail party using shuttles. At the locations participants would collaborate amongst each other and learn about Kansas City start-ups from founders.  Locations included Kauffman Foundation, Big Partners, and Kansas City Startup Village. The event is a great opportunity for Kansas City entrepreneurs to closely connect with the entrepreneurial startup community. Every location was full of energetic entrepreneurs that made for a great atmosphere at every location. It was very difficult to make the shuttles on time.

Thousands of families and KC residents clustered into Union Station as 1 Week KC hosted Maker Faire KC. The international movement was on Saturday and Sunday. Kansas City Public Television was at Union Station in the heart of the action conducting interviews with Makers that bring creative and imaginative thinking to life. The event hosted Makers, crafters, hackers, scientists, sculptures, costumes, pirates, and artists all putting their hard work on display to the public. If you missed the Maker Faire, go to KCPT.org/live-stream to see interviews and the unique atmosphere of the Maker Faire.

1 Week KC had something to offer every type of person and family. If you missed the week of events this year make sure to not miss it next year. Adam Coomes an established entrepreneur and community influencer told KCPT, “I think 1Week KC was a huge success this year. Attendance was higher than last year, lots more energy, and a lot of new faces. It was a sign of what has come from the past year of collaboration and successful efforts. We’re getting quite a community.”

Photographs Courtesy of Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation