Banking on KC – Maria Meyers of KCSourceLink: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential in KC
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Kelly Scanlon: Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kellie Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Maria Meyers, the Vice Chancellor of Commercialization and Entrepreneurship at UMKC. She's also the Executive Director of the UMKC Innovation Center and the founder of KCSourceLink. And she's here to talk with us today about some of the current trends.
and strategies that are driving Kansas City's entrepreneurial community and KCSourceLink's role in them. Welcome, Maria. Thanks for having me. I'd love to talk about my favorite subject. Oh, yeah. Entrepreneurship. Yeah, yours and mine both. Entrepreneurship. So, let's talk about KCSourceLink. It's a broad network of resource partners.
Often that's referred to as an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Who or what makes up that ecosystem and how does an entrepreneur using KCSourceLink navigate it to find the right support and as you guys like to say, at the right time?
Maria Meyers: Well, we like to talk about an entrepreneurial ecosystem as being the environment within which people can innovate and build their dreams, build their dream businesses.
And so lots of people are involved in that. It's everything from the Customers, the community, to the educators who might be a small business development center or a university or a community college, all the way to the investors. People can help you fund your business and the entrepreneurial support organizations, the group that can help you figure it all out.
And that's what KCSourceLink does. KCSourceLink is a network of over 235 programs across the Kansas City area. Community that can help you start and grow a business. It's easy to get connected to that network of people. You can just go to the KCSourceLink. com website or call us at 816 235 6500 and somebody will talk to you about where you are in your business and where you want to go and we'll help you find the right resource.
And we even have an online wizard now. So you can actually just answer a few questions online and it'll pop you back with a personal action plan just automatically. So you can do it 8 to 5 or you can do it all night long. And we'll help you find what you need.
Kelly Scanlon: Let's talk about a project that you've been involved with, uh, some time now, along with some other partners.
You've been working on a framework for unlocking that full potential, that entrepreneurial ecosystem so that entrepreneurs can take the best advantage of it. So Tell us about some of the preliminary results that you've found. Sure. We embarked
Maria Meyers: on a project earlier this year, thanks to funding from the Missouri Technology Corporation, to find out where we were in entrepreneurship.
Where have we been? Where can we go? What can we do to make it an even better environment?
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah, because I, what year was it, Maria? Um, back when entrepreneurship was one of the top five goals of the Kansas City region, making Kansas City the most entrepreneurial City in the country, what, how long ago has that been?
Maria Meyers: So that was established in 2011. And at that time we did the same thing. We looked at, okay, what's going on in entrepreneurship? What do we need to, to build, change, help to make this a better environment for entrepreneurship? And so in 2012, 2011, 2012, we actually, Did a similar process.
Kelly Scanlon: So now more than a decade later, you're revisiting at and again, what, what are some of the things you're finding?
Maria Meyers: So we found that the, what we need hasn't really changed. What's changed is really where we are in the journey, in the process. And so for instance, we found in 2011 that access to capital was an issue for our entrepreneurs and we had very little capital back then. Pool wise, you know, pool of capital, it was hard to find.
Today, we've moved along that journey and we actually have a lot of new capital in the region. We have stronger micro lending programs. We have more equity based programs. We have grant programs that didn't exist in 2011, but you know what? Our entrepreneurs still need access to capital.
Kelly Scanlon: Talk to any of them and that's still number one or two on their list.
Right, right.
Maria Meyers: So, um, the other thing that they need, and this won't surprise anybody, is talent, right? We hear that from everybody right now. And that's getting
Kelly Scanlon: harder,
Maria Meyers: not better. Right, right. To find the right people to help not only run a business, but actually be part of the business and manage the business.
And so it's certainly, um, What we hear, uh, across all of our corporations, our small businesses, our large businesses, where's the talent? We need the talent. And so the need to really dig down and encourage entrepreneurship earlier in the process, K through 12, and, and forward to help people get prepped to be an entrepreneur.
Kelly Scanlon: What is being done in the schools? You said, you know, to prep people to be entrepreneurs, but as far as construction companies needing the skilled laborers, and the biosciences needing the very specialized kinds of people, what, what are some of the things that can be done to encourage that right here in the Kansas City area?
Maria Meyers: I think experiential learning is a really great thing to think about when you think about building the critical skills needed for entrepreneurship. We're teaching people how to think, how to think differently, how to solve So any of the work that happens even as early as kindergarten is to help people think about how to, how do I solve a problem if it's put in front of me is important to building good entrepreneurs and talent to run those entrepreneurial companies.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah. So one of the things that I know was a goal of KCSourceLink back in, when you first got off the ground, when we first launched it was trying to strengthen the entrepreneurial resource. Providers, the support that they give and to get everybody working collaboratively on the same page and to reduce some of the redundancy.
So how is that going a decade later?
Maria Meyers: So what we have are really strong resources for entrepreneurs. So, what we do know is that on any given day, Kelly, there are 7, 000 people starting a business here. In Kansas City. In Kansas City. So, that was one of the important data points that we found. So, 7, 000 people on any given day, um, starting a business means that even with 235 programs, we're probably not able to service everybody that, That needs help.
So one of the things that we need to do is always take a look at what's missing in the system. And KCSourceLink does a lot of work to figure out what's the gap today in the system that could be filled. So we do a lot of that work and we don't find a lot of duplication throughout, um, the system. Some people service a certain type of entrepreneur or some people are restricted by geography or something like that.
Kelly Scanlon: So there's not a lot of duplication and obviously we could use a lot more, Are you seeing any, any one kind of trend that is pointing, um, those support organizations towards specific services or a certain kind of entrepreneur?
Maria Meyers: I think one of the things that we know in Kansas City is that we need to open doors for all of our entrepreneurs, and different entrepreneurs are going to use different resources to help.
Because of their background, their education, what they want to do, what they want to accomplish. And so we're, we're seeing what, what I call more or less miles. So there are a lot of resources in Kansas City and they sort of line up from people or from resources that started inception all the way through growth and there's a path but we're now trying to make sure that that path goes deeply into communities, especially of color, that can build their community through entrepreneurship.
And so we're seeing a lot more resources that are dedicated to really improving communities through entrepreneurship. As well.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah, and I know some of the barriers that you talk about, the communities you just described, but also rural communities, uh, you know, the lack of broadband in some cases. I mean, talk about some of the barriers that need to be dismantled that, you know, this more current study is still finding.
Maria Meyers: I think access to capital is still difficult for Many entrepreneurs in general, but also for women. We don't see women accessing equity the way that we see men accessing equity. And we certainly, um, see strong need for access to capital for our, um, people of color here and they're still not connecting with the banks.
And there are, um, there's been a strong increase in micro lending here in the community to support that, to give people small loans. So that they can then work their way up into getting the larger loans that will come from a bank. So
Kelly Scanlon: there's sort of that bridge, uh, between, between getting started and using your own, um, credit cards and so forth, and getting, uh, bankable, essentially.
Maria Meyers: Yeah.
Kelly Scanlon: To get bankable. Mm hmm. Um, so, so what else have you found?
Maria Meyers: So, you know, I think, uh, I think one of the things that was fun about this entire project was that we brought enough people together that we were able to come up with a vision for entrepreneurship in Kansas City. And so we did in February, for instance, we did like 19 focus groups and we talked to lots of different people and it was entrepreneurs and the people that support them and, um, just, just quite a number of people.
And out of that, Became a vision for where we could be, Kansas City, where everyone is empowered to pursue their passion through entrepreneurship, advancing an innovative and prosperous community. So I think that brings together the dreams of the entrepreneur and also the dreams of our community. And it pulls together the idea that, you know what, our entrepreneurs are pretty powerful.
They're building our community and our economy here. And it not only builds our economy, but it builds wealth for the people as they build their own businesses. So I'm excited about this vision statement. Well,
Kelly Scanlon: and especially for Kansas City, because we are not home to great big corporations that some other cities are.
And so really it is our entrepreneurial community that drives our economy. You hear that all the time. It comes out from the SBA, you know, entrepreneurs are the. economic drivers of the country. Well, it's especially true in Kansas City.
Maria Meyers: Well, we know that the jobs that our first time businesses create here is pretty significant.
So, uh, last year we created 17,000 jobs. Those were just the people that hired their first employees here. The year before that, it was a little higher. It was 19,000. And if you look at a five year, uh, record of jobs being created by our first time employers. It's around 85,000, which is 8 percent of our workforce, just in five years.
And so, the net new jobs that are coming to Kansas City are all coming from our companies that are less than five years old. So, it's a pretty powerful number. And then they grow, right? They grow to be big. And if you look around at our big corporations, they grew here. Cerner Oracle grew here, and H& R Block grew here, Hallmark Cards grew here. So we're looking for the next round.
Kelly Scanlon: Well, and that brings me to something else. It's one of the things that. I think it's kind of like an entrepreneur who's so busy in the business that they forget to celebrate their successes. Well, the same way with Kansas City and our entrepreneurial success stories.
Maria Meyers: Are you putting any kind of a focus on getting the word out or telling the story of entrepreneurship in Kansas City? You've got all this data now, but yeah, no, I think one of the key imperatives that we found is that we need to tell a story. Tell a broader story about Kansas City and entrepreneurship and, and we've come a long way in the last 10 years, but we also know that it'd be great if all of our big organizations here told the same story about entrepreneurship and so getting our big civic groups to understand the power of entrepreneurship so that we can all deliver the same message is something that we'll be working on in the future.
Kelly Scanlon: And I would add that you're making it sound very simple right here. I know it's not. I know, I absolutely know that it's not. So, um, even though there is still work to be done, what are you seeing in terms of moving ideas from, say, a research lab to the marketplace, um, with the bioscience corridor that runs through Kansas City, from K State through Columbia?
Are you seeing a really big spike in, in that kind of an entrepreneur, and if so, what are the implications from? You know, you start with this idea, but then commercializing it, that's a long road.
Maria Meyers: It is a long road, but you know, we have four really great research institutions close by. We have UMKC, K State, MU in Columbia, and of course, KU.
And those four organizations together would be one of the strongest research Universities in the entire country. And so working together, we can take the technologies that are sitting there and see what we can do to commercialize them. And I would say that every one of those universities is working hard right now to build a better system for commercializing the research that they have.
And UMKC, for instance, is one that is working on that. And so we have now a technology commercialization ecosystem directly, which is just looking at the assets that we have in the university itself and in the community to really commercialize technology and then working closely with faculty to see what's there so we can bring it forward.
So that's pretty exciting.
Kelly Scanlon: I've interviewed entrepreneurs, even on this show, who say that 10 years ago, even, they may have gone to a coast, but they've elected to stay in Kansas City or from outside of Kansas City come into Kansas City or the region because of that. So it's really having an impact.
Maria Meyers: Well, definitely.
And Kansas City is a wonderful community and it's much less expensive to live here and to do business here than it is on the coast. And it's a great, yeah, it's very central logistically. And also it's just a great place to raise a family. And so we are seeing entrepreneurs who, uh, want to be here. And then, you know, since the pandemic, you can do business anywhere, right, from anywhere.
And so that opens up a lot of opportunities. ability to run a business from here and still access what's on the coast.
Kelly Scanlon: Where do corporations play a role in here?
Maria Meyers: So corporations play a strong role in what happens in entrepreneurship and they do it in several different ways. I mean one way is they will sponsor just our, our business. Social events that happen because, you know, entrepreneurship is a contact sport. The first person that's probably going to be, you know, your first customer, your first employee. So the more people, you know, the better. And so we do get, we get sponsorship, but there's also customer vendor sourcing, um, that happens, which is important.
So big corporations doing business with small corporations is really them also investing in small companies. They do R& D with small companies. And they'll share what I call people, product, and place. So mentors, they'll share mentors. Or maybe they have a product they can share with a small business. Or maybe they'll even incubate.
So we see corporate engagement all over the place in what's going on here.
Kelly Scanlon: You've talked a little bit about how entrepreneurship can be a catalyst for economic growth. And I know you and many others would argue that it's critical to a region's economic growth. How is Kansas City's focus on entrepreneurship influencing our economic landscape?
Maria Meyers: I think It influences it in lots of different ways. It, we are known as an entrepreneurial community and so talent will come here just because they know that it's an innovative place to be. So, and talent is so important right now. Being able to run our companies is so important. So, getting, um, Really interesting new people to come to Kansas City, move back to Kansas City because we have the entrepreneurial perspective is, is really important.
But also when you, to grow an economy, um, you need to bring in dollars from outside of the economy, right? And so we talk a lot about traded sectors. And these are businesses that sell outside of the community. And the more businesses that we can generate that do that, the more we bring in dollars from outside.
And, and it's actually been shown to increase wages and to um, drive more community development. And so I think that that's important. Then entrepreneurship itself can build a community. It can help um, create, it can take a community that's untapped and really build it into a community. As well, it's important that entrepreneurs do business with other people, and they do business with other people in their community, and that builds an entire community.
So from small all the way to very large, it helps the economy here.
Kelly Scanlon: A lot of times it's the smaller businesses who are sponsoring that little league team and really doing the hands on, face to face, um, mingling with the community. And that, you can't overlook that aspect of it either.
Maria Meyers: You know, our small businesses are what make our neighborhoods vibrant, right?
As you drive around, look at all the little small businesses that are making your streets vibrant. And they're the ones you walk to on Saturdays, right? And it's just a part of our entire culture. And we have so many wonderful little shopping districts here in Kansas City that, you know, those are really making the communities vibrant.
That's what they are and they're worth living in.
Kelly Scanlon: You know, we've talked to some about the tech entrepreneurs and, and, and the bioscience and another phenomenon, uh, for lack of a better word that you're seeing in Kansas City is really the rise, uh, or maybe there's just being more attention being paid to them.
And that is of the creative and cultural entrepreneurs. What's driving that, do you think?
Maria Meyers: Well, we have a, uh, extremely large population of creatives and artists here, and it's a of our work that we do here, and there's a strong connection between the creative and the tech, right? And so when those two come together, you get magic, and that's pretty cool about Kansas City, but we are a community of artists and creators.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah, I even see now where it's not just STEM, it's STEAM. Yeah, to that connection that you spoke of. We've been talking a lot about Kansas City and KCSourceLink. It's part of the larger KCSourceLink system nationally. KCSourceLink was the first. But tell us about some of that work outside of Kansas City.
Maria Meyers: Today we are supporting about 100 different communities in building and growing a better environment for their entrepreneurs. And so we help communities across America take a look at what assets they have for Growing an entrepreneurial community as well as what's missing, what the gaps are, and we help them figure out what's next for their community and we have technology and methodologies that we use to help those communities get started.
So we have Coena 66 down in Puerto Rico and Nexus I 90 up in New York and Baltimore Source Link and even around the region Network Kansas is our affiliate. And Kansas, and then we have KCSourceLink Nebraska, Iowa KCSourceLink, Missouri KCSourceLink. So we um, are probably have the biggest database of resources available to entrepreneurs across the country right now.
Kelly Scanlon: So basically what you're doing is what you've done in Kansas City where you are using the same methodologies and helping resources within the community serve the entrepreneurs better and you're also helping entrepreneurs in those communities find the resources. When you take all of that What kind of a national impact is that having?
Are you seeing a difference because of it?
Maria Meyers: I think one of the things that we have found in the last, oh, 10 or 12 years, and thanks in part to the Kauffman Foundation, is that there's now a whole, Industry of ecosystem building, especially in the, the entrepreneurship space. And so that is phenomenal to see that more people are talking about this.
The other thing that we did is we helped the International Economic Development Council create a new certificate program and it's called the Entrepreneur Development Professional program. And one of the things Cities that we know is the economic development was primarily attraction and retention.
Well now we built creation into that and we're pretty proud of the fact that we have created something that every economic developer in the US and even beyond can benefit from. Take a course on how to build a better ecosystem for your entrepreneurs, so we're pretty excited about that one as well.
Kelly Scanlon: When did KCSourceLink launch?
In the early 2000s? We launched in 2003. 2003. So you have two decades of history, of impact, results. But as you look forward, what are some of the goals or new directions that you're aiming for in the next few years or for the next couple of decades, whether it's something that you just think would be great or whether really, um, circumstances are driving you towards?
Maria Meyers: I am so proud of this community and how it's developed its entrepreneurship. support in the last, you know, 10 years. It's just phenomenal to see, see that change. And I feel like we're just at the cusp of really becoming even greater. So I think things that we're going to see happen in the, in the future is more commercialization and interaction between our universities and our communities.
So that will be exciting. I think we will find better ways to fund our entrepreneurs and really drive some investment. Into the work we're doing. We have phenomenal new clusters building here that will help in that traded sector area through our biotech hub that is running from BioNexus through our critical materials hub that's running through the University of Missouri system.
We have Digital Health KC. These are all clusters of companies that are coming together to really build some Some cool things. I think we'll find ways to really improve our entrepreneurial support organizations. I think we'll develop some curriculum and, and conversations that happen to make sure that they have all the resources they have to be the best that they can be.
And so I think we just, we have a lot. We have even more things that we can open between our large corporations and our, our And I also think we can, we can really tell the story of what we're doing and I think we can do it in an inclusive way. That really allows every entrepreneur to achieve their dreams.
So those are the things I'm looking forward to. Yeah. Small list
Kelly Scanlon: Maria. Well, good luck with that list. It sounds like a wonderful goal to me, a series of goals. And I really appreciate all the work that you do, your team does, and for you taking the time to be with us today. Well, thank you.
Joe Close: This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Maria Myers for being our guest on this episode. Of Banking on KC, Maria shared her insights on the vibrancy of the Kansas City entrepreneurial ecosystem and the role of KCSourceLink in fostering this environment. KCSourceLink's comprehensive network of more than 235 programs strategically supports local entrepreneurs at every stage, from inception to growth, thereby fostering job creation and promoting a diverse, inclusive economic landscape.
At Country Club Bank, we share that commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation by investing in our entrepreneurs, their companies, and our community. As a local community bank, we contribute directly to the financial support that fuels these local businesses and support local initiatives that make Kansas City a welcoming and vibrant place to do business.
Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you Kansas City, Country Club Bank, member FDIC.