Meet Ben Edwards, the man behind Swappa, a user-to-user marketplace for gently used mobile devices... Swappa was founded in 2010 by Edwards, a long-time software and mobile developer who joins host Kelly Scanlon on this week’s episode of Smart Companies KC The inspiration for Swappa sparked when Ben had trouble finding a good source for test devices for Android development projects. Turning to eBay and Craigslist proved perilous and time-wasting for buying mobile phones. Blacklisted phones, junk...
Oct 28, 2016•25 min
On this week’s episode of Smart Companies Radio with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll meet Jeffrey Hayzlett, global business celebrity and former Fortune 100 C-Suite executive. Cited in Forbes, SUCCESS, Mashable, Marketing Week and Chief Executive, among many others, he shares his executive insight and commentary on television networks like Bloomberg, MSNBC, Fox Business, and C-Suite TV. Hayzlett is a former Bloomberg contributing editor and primetime host and has appeared as a guest celebrity judge o...
Oct 28, 2016•23 min
The KCRise Fund is making more money available to local entrepreneurs. Darcy Howe, the fund's manager, sits down with Smart Companies KC host Kelly Scanlon with details about its first two investments. Find out more about how the fund was established and its true purpose: to connect early-stage companies with the necessary funding for growth and success. You'll also learn more about the fund's first two recipients, SpiderOak and Innara Health. To hear shows with host Kelly Scanlon, please visit ...
Oct 21, 2016•29 min
Just as the EPA mandated the discontinuation of leaded automobile gasoline due to harmful biological and environmental toxins, the Federal Aviation Administration is currently taking steps to eliminate the use of leaded fuel in the general aviation fleet of aircraft. Since the industry began testing back in 1993, one company has emerged as a true global leader in the development of unleaded avgas – Swift Fuels. Chris D'Acosta, Swift's Chief Executive Officer talks with Smart Companies Radio host...
Oct 21, 2016•20 min
The KCRise Fund is making more money available to local entrepreneurs. Darcy Howe, the fund's manager, sits down with Smart Companies KC host Kelly Scanlon with details about its first two investments. Find out more about how the fund was established and its true purpose: to connect early-stage companies with the necessary funding for growth and success. You'll also learn more about the fund's first two recipients, SpiderOak and Innara Health. To hear shows with host Kelly Scanlon, please visit ...
Oct 19, 2016•29 min
Joining host Kelly Scanlon on this week’s Smart Companies KC are Teddi Hernandez and Aviva Ajmera the co-founders of Solve KC. The company provides hands-on expertise to help business owners fill in the gaps in their companies’ capabilities. Find out what makes them different and learn about upcoming workshops. To hear more shows with host Kelly Scanlon, please visit our archives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 14, 2016•21 min
On this week’s episode of Smart Companies Radio, discover how to outthink your competition. Business Strategy Keynote Speaker, Author & Consultant, Kaihan Krippendorff discusses his latest book, “Outthink the Competition” Learn how to come up with innovative, disruptive growth ideas to grow your company faster, and find out how to stop yourself and your staff from killing off this kind of innovative thinking. Find out how strategic leaders look beyond the basic and explore what Krippendorff ...
Oct 14, 2016•24 min
Properly pairing food and wine at home can be a challenge, especially if the right ingredients are not on readily on-hand. Based in Parkville’s commercial caves, Vino Pair founder Michael Kearns sits with Smart Companies KC host Kelly Scanlon on this week’s show to talk about his goal, making pairings painless through his subscription-based service. Kearns pairs chef-inspired food with great wine and delivers the pairing straight to your door step. To hear more shows with host Kelly Scanlon, ple...
Oct 07, 2016•27 min
On this week’s episode of Smart Companies Radio with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll find how feasible it would be running a virtual office. Author and speaker Mitch Russo will discuss his new book, “The Invisible Organization: How Ingenious CEOs are Creating Thriving, Virtual Companies”. Russo will explain how companies can benefit by generating more profits, shedding their overhead and at the same time, thrilling staff. And he’ll talk about how you make it work starting with changing your mindset a...
Oct 07, 2016•25 min
On this episode of Smart Companies KC, meet Jeff Shackelford, the Executive Director of Digital Sandbox KC. Kansas City's Digital Sandbox, also known as a proof-of-concept center, launched in February 2013. It is a new, regional approach to identifying very early technologies, which, with the right assistance from industry experts and seasoned entrepreneurs, can be advanced toward commercial viability. Find out how Digital Sandbox is connecting innovation to industry and hear about the number of...
Sep 30, 2016•27 min
Depending upon the outcome of the 2016 elections, a lame duck Congress may not be all that productive. So the 114th Congress has a small window of opportunity from now until mid-November to act on eight bills affecting small business. Karen Kerrigan, CEO of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council guests this week with Smart Companies Radio host Kelly Scanlon to discuss eight bills which Kerrigan says could provide relief and support for America’s small business community when signed into...
Sep 30, 2016•25 min
On this week’s episode of Smart Companies KC with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll meet Neelima Parasker who after working in Corporations for the past 15 years started her own company, SnapIT Solutions, LLC a Technology services and solutions company in 2015. Parasker says her goal is to make a positive impact on underserved and underprivileged communities that aspire to promote STEM and bridge the Digital Inclusion. Discover her three-prong approach in meeting this goal. Parasker was recently honore...
Sep 23, 2016•23 min
An entrepreneurial legend and business icon everywhere, Ewing Kaufman would have turned 100 this week What were the keys to his many successes in his hometown of Kansas City and across the country? Long-time friend and associate Jim McGraw joins Smart Companies Radio host Kelly Scanlon to discuss the man and his legacy. Jim McGraw is the former chief operating officer, corporate officer and board member of pharmaceutical firm Marion Laboratories, and former Chairman of the Ewing Marion Kauffman ...
Sep 23, 2016•19 min
Meet the couple behind The Brewkery and discover their Lucky Elixir Kombucha. If you’ve never heard of Kombucha, you’re not alone. Kombucha is a fermented tea that is selling like crazy in California but is just taking hold in the Midwest. The owners of The Brewkery, Amy Goldman and Sean Galloway, share a unique interest in fermentation. Sean homebrews beer on a hand-built system and Amy bakes delicious artisan sourdough bread. On this episode of Smart Companies KC with host Kelly Scanlon, find ...
Sep 16, 2016•22 min
Bruce Tulgan is recognized as a leading expert on millennials. On this episode of Smart Companies Radio, with guest host, Mary McKenna you'll discover what you'll need to do as a boss or a manager to bring out the best in your millennial workforce. Tulgan who founded Rainmaker Thinking in 1993 has worked with tens of thousands of leaders and managers in hundreds of organizations. He'll separate the facts from the myths about today’s young workers. In this episode, you'll find out how the soft sk...
Sep 16, 2016•23 min
On this episode of Smart Companies KC with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll learn all about Launch KC 2016. Vice President of business and job development for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, Drew Solomon will have all the latest information on this year’s event. LaunchKC is designed to attract tech entrepreneurs locally, regionally and nationally to apply and compete for up to 10 (ten) $50,000 grants. Learn about the finalists in this year’s competition, when the winners...
Sep 09, 2016•23 min
On this week’s episode of Smart Companies with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll hear from the Founder of Liberty Tax Service, John Hewitt. He will share his no-nonsense personal story and his fanatical desire to compete and win. A veteran of over 45 tax seasons, the founder of two top tax preparation firms, and a former H&R Block regional director, Hewitt is a nationally recognized name in the tax return preparation and accounting world. His new booki Compete looks at overcoming adversity, how to ...
Sep 09, 2016•25 min
On this episode of Smart Companies KC with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll meet Nick Luke. Nick and his wife Amy are the visionaries behind Kansas City Company, SLiK Hound. Opportunity knocked for the high school sweethearts in 2011 when a close friend invited them to make some dog collars for her store. Find out how a dream that started five years ago has not only survived but has thrived with SLikhound products now in more than 40 stores nationwide. You'll discover what the most difficult part of s...
Sep 02, 2016•22 min
Do you run “The Best Kept Secret” in town? Author and speaker, Ken Lizotte joins host Kelly Scanlon on this episode of Smart Companies Radio learn why no matter how great your product is or how wonderful your customer service, you’ve got to find ways to market yourself as “the best”, “the expert and authority”.Find out why good work alone will not keep your company going and your career afloat. Ken will share effective ways to escape from being a “best-kept secret” Learn how to write your first ...
Sep 02, 2016•26 min
Josh Rowland, Vice Chairman of Lead Bank, a Missouri-chartered commercial bank with 3 locations, including the KC Crossroads joins host Kelly Scanlon on this episode of Smart Companies KC. Josh explains Lead Bank's Grow Home initiative. Find out what it's all about and why Lead Bank launched Grow Home in April and what it means to the Kansas City community as a whole. Learn about the Grow Home Impact Calculator and find out how it can calculate the impact your business has on growing the local c...
Aug 26, 2016•23 min
Rob Bernshteyn, CEO and President of Coupa, brings over two decades experience in the business software industry to this episode of Smart Companies Radio. He and host Kelly Scanlon discuss his new book, "Value as a Service”. Making predictions about the future is always tricky. But there is one prediction that author Rob Bernshteyn is quite confident in making: Across a host of industries, we will move to a model that he calls value as a service. Discover what that means and how to be prepared f...
Aug 26, 2016•21 min
Contrary to popular belief, tech jobs are not just for people crunching code, enter, PointWorks Academy. Co-founder Chrys Sullivan the founder of user experience (UX) firm,Useagility visits with host Mary McKenna on this episode of Smart Companies KC. Discover why Sullivan who already runs one of KC's fastest-growing companies decided to open her second business and how PointWorks Academy will help fill the increasing need for employees with UX skills. Great software is dependent on great design...
Aug 19, 2016•20 min
On this episode of Smart Companies Radio with host Kelly Scanlon discover what food scraps, fly larvae and pet chickens have in common. Meet Patrick Pittaluga and Sean Warner, Georgia Tech graduates and cousins who have founded Grubbly Farms, which is breeding and selling larvae as a more sustainable protein and fat source for chickens, pigs and farmed seafood The entrepreneurs are also hoping to help stem America’s billion-dollar problem with food waste – produce and leftover foods being tossed...
Aug 19, 2016•22 min
Chief's legend Will Shields talks with Smart Companies KC host Kelly Scanlon. Find out what drives this man who never missed an NFL game in 14 seasons and propelled him to 12 consecutive Pro Bowl games between 1995 and 2006 and ultimately landed him in the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton. Learn how and why wellness is so important to him and how he tries to make it available to everyone through philanthropic efforts. Discover how he has grown his business, 68 Inside Sports, which he bought in 2007 an...
Aug 12, 2016•26 min
On this week’s Smart Companies Radio, with host Kelly Scanlon, meet Pamela S. Harper, internationally known business performance expert, author, and professional speaker. She is the founding partner and CEO of Business Advancement Inc. (BAI), based in Glen Rock, NJ. Pam is also the author of the critically acclaimed book, Preventing Strategic Gridlock®: Leading Over, Under & Around Organizational Jams to Achieve High-Performance Results. On this episode, gain insights into the common but mis...
Aug 12, 2016•25 min
Mold can be a messy, toxic and expensive problem. Most mold remedies start with tearing out the walls and flooring of your home or office. Meet Terry Amerine, Owner and President of Green Home Solutions when he joins host Kelly Scanlon on Smart Companies-KC. Find out how Terry started his business and after learning about a green and safer alternative, why he decided to buy a Green Home Solutions franchise. To hear more shows with host Kelly Scanlon, please visit our archives. Learn more about y...
Aug 05, 2016•27 min
On this week’s Smart Companies Radio with host Kelly Scanlon, you’ll meet Pamela Slim, an award-winning author, speaker and business consultant who has been an entrepreneur for twenty years. In the last ten years, she helped hundreds of people to start successful businesses. She built a powerful online presence at Escape from Cubicle Nation, a site designed for corporate employees who wanted to make the shift to entrepreneur. On this episode, they’ll discuss Pam’s most recent book, “Body of Work...
Aug 05, 2016•28 min
Karen Duff, President, and CEO of International Express Trucking or IXT sees a need, meets it and then exceeds it. As the head of IXT since 1993, she continues to explore ways to make the company bigger and better. Today, IXT continues to be the largest women-owned intermodal drayage business within the six-state Midwest region. Duff and IXT's Vice President of Operations, Martha Schmidt on this episode of Smart Companies - KC, visit with host Kelly Scanlon to talk about the business that physic...
Jul 29, 2016•24 min
If you're starting a business, where do you go to finance it? Donna Kelly, Professor of Entrepreneurship with Babson College talks with host Kelly Scanlon on Smart Companies Radio this week to discuss new and diverse sources of capital available to entrepreneurs, plus tried and true old school methods that are more popular than you might think. Who’s leading the way with business startups and find out why women more often than not start their new companies with half the cash on hand than their m...
Jul 29, 2016•23 min
Meet the women behind Kansas City Company, Weave Gotcha Covered, afull-service custom soft furnishings company. Owners Lonnie Vanderslice and Kelly Wilson join Smart Companies – KC host Kelly Scanlon to talk about their business success as well as their mission as social entrepreneurs. Weave Got You Covered was recently honored as a member of the 2016 Class of 25 Under 25 by Thinking Bigger Business. Find out what's next for this 10-year old overnight success. To hear more shows with host Kelly ...
Jul 22, 2016•26 min
