Cities in Action: Energizing the KC BizCare Small Business Support Ecosystem

May 29, 2026

Overview

City Name: Kansas City, Missouri

Population: 508,090

Region: Midwest

Partner: KC BizCare Entrepreneurship Support Organization Network, City of Kansas City internal departments

Problem: Many small business leaders within the Kansas City region struggled to understand the complexities of working within the city and across departments such as permitting, licensing and zoning. Local leaders wanted to expand their support for small businesses to help them benefit from the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 in Kansas City and beyond.

Solution: The city pursued a multi-pronged approach to support small businesses including a public outreach campaign, internal collaboration efforts and partnership strengthening activities to bolster the Entrepreneurship Support Organization (ESO) ecosystem.

Outcome: Through these strategies, Kansas City created a series of business readiness checklists, an entire playbook and coordinated events focused on small business preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Using the preparation for the World Cup as the catalyst, the city also hosted a series of regular events to integrate other departments and stakeholders to streamline operations and reduce communication and programmatic barriers between parties.

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Background
The Problem
The Solution
The Outcome
Supporting Materials

Background

As one of the host cities for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Kansas City was presented with a once-in-a-generation opportunity for local economic growth. With hundreds of thousands of soccer fans descending upon the city and region during the World Cup, businesses are uniquely positioned to benefit from the festivities. Unfortunately, local small businesses can often experience less benefit from these large events due to their size and capacity. As a result, the city focused on small businesses and their specific needs to maximize the opportunities for local entrepreneurs. For the World Cup festivities, the city targeted key industries as high-opportunity, event-driven sectors such as hospitality and short-term rentals.

Using some of the experiences from NLC’s Cities Inclusive Entrepreneurship (CIE) program, local leaders from Kansas City identified small business support and the development of an Entrepreneurship Support Organization (ESO) ecosystem as key economic drivers for the City. Combining the ample opportunity offered as a FIFA World Cup 2026 host city and a thriving entrepreneurship environment, local leaders took steps to launch the city’s small business ecosystem into the next level.y to meet the unique needs of Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs in a one-on-one coaching environment.

Problem

To meet the increased demand posed by the World Cup, the city identified a few key issues that plagued small business owners in the high-opportunity sectors. These issues ranged from complying with city permitting to zoning and licensure. Beyond the technical complexity of these forms, these issues often emerge from overlapping requirements and contacts from multiple city departments, such as Health, Planning and Public Works. The complications extended to internal city alignment with many of the aforementioned departments not fully engaged in their roles to support small businesses. Based on feedback from small business owners, internal city departments were siloed, making it difficult to navigate different agencies.

Solution

As a participating city in the 2025 Advancing Economic Mobility Rapid Grant program cohort, Kansas City in partnership with their KC BizCare office utilized a whole ecosystem approach. One element focused on streamlining regulations and an outreach campaign to provide connections for entrepreneurs navigating the business process. With assistance and engagement from internal city departments, the KC BizCare team aimed to create short-form checklists and a long-form entrepreneurship playbook. To disseminate these publications and engage directly with small business owners, the KC BizCare team hosted different in-person events. At these events, the KC BizCare team and other key departments also provided immediate assistance to small business owners.

Another element of the whole ecosystem approach emphasized the importance of internal alignment between city departments. Leveraging lunch-and-learn events and regular collaborations, the KC BizCare team planned to increase communication within departments. This increased communication and collaboration could not only improve efficiency within the city but also facilitate easier referrals for entrepreneurs.

Outcome

During the six-month Advancing Economic Mobility Rapid Grant cohort program, the KC BizCare team created six short checklists for the high-opportunity industries. These checklists are as follows: temporary food establishment checklist, short-term rental registration checklist, liquor and temporary liquor license checklist, outdoor dining checklist, and change of occupancy checklist. Working with the city’s internal Office of Language Access (OLA), the checklists were also made available in Spanish and French to expand reach. Expanding on the checklists, the city published “Rules of the Game: KC BizCare’s Small Business Playbook.” This long-form document, framed around the FIFA World Cup 2026, provides additional details on the checklists along with other key steps and deadlines necessary for businesses to launch.

To commemorate the publication of the checklists and playbook, local leaders in Kansas City launched a “Small Business Day” event in November 2025. Organized as a fair for small business owners, the event featured remarks from city leaders and representation from seven internal departments. During the fair, business owners received immediate support from the city departments and other entrepreneurship support organizations. More than 170 businesses participated in the event. Additionally, the city facilitated the creation of 16 new businesses on the day of the event.

The internal alignment campaign included two lunch-and-learn events and regular meetings to engage with partner departments. During these events, the departments could share their feedback on the checklists and other public-facing materials. Additionally, the KC BizCare team could provide a shared understanding of their role within the city and how they can support rather than diminish the impact of the internal departments. According to city officials, many of the departments noted an increased satisfaction and understanding of the KC BizCare team’s role, as many of them were not previously engaged in a deliberate, collaborative manner.

Moving forward, the KC BizCare team’s efforts have amplified their impact for small business owners in the Kansas City area beyond the FIFA World Cup 2026. The “Rules of the Game” playbook and checklists will serve as the template for a standard regulatory playbook, which will include insights around major events, access to capital and ads for local entrepreneurship support organizations.

This investment and program success showcases the value that dedicated and collaborative communication can unlock within cities across the country. By leveraging the power of small business owners, especially during major events such as the FIFA World Cup 2026, locale leaders in Kansas City can continue create pathways for long-term prosperity and success for all residents.

Supporting Materials

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Overview

Background

Problem

Solution

Outcome

Supporting Materials

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