(Editor’s note: Travois donates billboard space to local nonprofits, and KCSourceLink is our current advertiser. Kate Pope Hodel, associate program director, explains the mission of the organization in this blog post.)
I was driving down Broadway a few weeks ago and almost stopped dead in the middle of the street. It was there…the KCSourceLink billboard was there…proudly atop the Travois building at 18th and Broadway.
KCSourceLink has been connecting entrepreneurs and business owners to resources across the metro for more than 11 years. Our mission is simple: connect startup and existing businesses to the right resources at the right time so that they can be more successful in starting and growing their businesses.
Our network of more than 230 Resource Partners offers everything from business planning assistance to finance help to finding a location to getting the right registrations. Our biggest challenge has been letting people know who we are and what we do. So many entrepreneurs tell us they wished they had found out about KCSourceLink earlier, so they could have saved time and not struggled alone. People just have to call our hotline, 816-235-6500, or visit our website, www.kcsourcelink.com to get the help they need.
The billboard is another step in getting our message out. According to research by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, at any given time about 95,000 people are thinking about starting a business in the 18-county Kansas City area. So we have a lot of people to reach!
Do you live outside of Kansas City? KCSourceLink is an affiliate of the U.S. SourceLink network, which shares the same goals – to help communities create jobs, accelerate business and strengthen local economies. You can find an affiliate near you on the U.S.SourceLink website.
Many thanks to Travois for helping us make Kansas City America’s most entrepreneurial city by spreading the word about KCSourceLink resources.