Lenexa Less than two years ago, George Hansen helped put the Kansas City region on the tech map when Google acquired Zave Networks—where he was president and CEO—for an undisclosed sum. Now he's hoping to do the same for a host of other high-growth companies. The Enterprise Center of Johnson County (ECJC), a nonprofit venture development organization, today announced Hansen's appointment as president and CEO. He'll step in for Joel Wiggins, who accepted the role of president at his alma mater, Crown College in Minnesota. "(Hansen) has a proven track record and a deep understanding of how businesses are started, financed, built and accelerated," said Jim Dodd, chairman of the ECJC. …  read more

Des Moines Slater, Iowa native and Iowa State University alum Steve Lee recently spoke with The Des Moines Register about his decision three years ago to join the Google Glass team. "It seemed a bit crazy at the time," Lee, the director of Google Glass, told The Des Moines Register. "But I saw a vision that this could be compelling. I could see how it could become a whole new way for people to interact if we could achieve some technical feats." In 2012 Lee was named one of Fast Company's "100 most creative people in business," now he's starting to redirect his attentions to the day Google Glass is available in stores. As of now … read more

Sioux Falls It's a challenge that many entrepreneurs face: Having a vision for a new mobile app, but lacking the technical know-how to bring the idea to fruition. Happy Tapper founder Carla White calls these people "ideapreneurs," and she's written a whole book for them. White got the idea after completing her first product, Gratitude Journal, in 2008 when iOS apps first came on the market. Back then it wasn't as simple as turning to a guidebook for assistance: They didn't exist. "Everything was a challenge pretty much for everyone who was creating apps," White told Silicon Prairie News. "We were all trying to figure it out together. … read more

Kansas City At-risk high school students in Kansas City's urban core started down a new road when they converted a 1967 Karmann Ghia into an electric car as part of MINDDRIVE, a nonprofit educational program geared toward teaching STEM principles through hands-on learning. Now they've finished an important leg of their journeys, driving the car—"fueled" by online social conversation—from KC to Washington D.C. ... read more

Kansas City Homes for Hackers founder Ben Barreth (above right, in cardboard cutout form) recently opened up the pad with the help of Google Street View Business Photos. The Hacker House rents space to developers, providing access to high-speed Google Fiber (and complementary towels, among other things) in the Kansas City Startup Village ... read more

Cedar Rapids Former educators Shawn Cornally (left) and Trace Pickering are bringing students back into the classroom for the summer with their latest "big idea," aptly named The Big Ideas School. Set to begin its first session June 24, the program promises … read more

Ames Students at Iowa State University are proving that entrepreneurship doesn't just belong in the business school. In November 2012, the university's Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization was given the Campus "E-Diffusion" Award by its governing organization, an entrepreneurship network with more than 240 chapters. The award recognizes the chapter that has done the most to get students from all colleges of the university involved … read more

Omaha The Nebraska Angels, a six-year-old, 47-member consortium of individual angel investors, has hired former investment firm controller and financial analyst Laura Classen as its executive director, a post held the past two years by Randy Nitz. "With Laura's experience as a controller, financial analyst and executive administrator, she brings a great background in helping run and manage a group like the Nebraska Angels," said Bart Dillashaw, the group's president and a partner at the Koley Jessen law firm. "When you add in her experience as a small business consultant and her clear … read more