Reoccupy Your Main Street! Start by Entering Into The Gigabit Challenge

Last week, we released the blog Occupy Wall Street? Instead, Let's Reoccupy Main Street where we encouraged those with entrepreneurial spirits and minds to cowork, partner up, create buzz and collaborate with one another to produce more exciting jobs, fuel startup passion and make an improvement in the economy (without standing out in the 50 degree weather with signs). 

And although we asked you to follow your passion, launch your idea and create a business buzz throughout the city...we didn't really tell you how to go about doing it.  Shame on us.  Because after all, we are one of the Midwest's entrepreneurial resources and we believe that we should have the answer.

Today, we are here to tell you one of the best ways to Reoccupy Your Main Street.  We want you to bring life to the startup scene wherever you may be by bringing your best business idea to the table.  We want you to apply for The Gigabit Challenge.

The Gigabit Challenge is a worldwide business plan competition geared for the entrepreneur, startup company or high-growth business that wants to disrupt the tech industry on the Google Fiber network.  The Gigabit Challenge is asking for those with a business idea to submit an application and a 3-5 page executive summary to enter the Challenge. 

The emerging businesses that come from The Gigabit Challenge could take the first steps in reoccupying their very own Main Street.  The newly-established businesses will help to re-energize the city and bring steady growth to the economy. Not to mention, the winner of The Gigabit Challenge will win $100k in cash and startup services.  And if that isn't an incentive, then we don't know what is. 

But there's more to The Gigabit Challenge than meets the eye.  In a press release unleashed earlier today, The Gigabit Challenge announced that it was extending its submission deadline to November 18, 2011 (as opposed to October 31, 2011).  Although TGC did not explain why the extension was happening, the team behind the Challenge (Think Big Partners), did leak that there were some exciting upcoming announcements to be made in the next few weeks. 

Apply for The Gigabit Challenge and help reoccupy Main Street.  Get your business off the ground and turn the technology industry upside-down.  Apply now.

Written by Allison Way
@AllisonThinkBig

Occupy Wall Street? Instead, Let's Reoccupy Main Street

Occupy Wall Street.  We are the 99%.  #OWS.  The phrases seem to be everywhere.

In fact, the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon reached the streets of Kansas City (right in front of the Federal Reserve Bank) last week.  The Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading throughout the nation--We Are the 99%-encrusted pins, handwritten signs, shouting protestors and all. 

But we're not here to ask you to occupy Wall Street.  We're asking you to do something much different.

We are asking you to Reoccupy Main Street.  Now that's something that we want to fight for.

It wasn't too long ago that Kansas City's Main Street was buzzing with energy; the progressive era brought life and vibrancy to the city with the implementation of the Country Club Plaza, Ward Parkway, numerous downtown taverns and even TWA.  In fact, in the 1940's Kansas City was becoming known as the Crossroads of the World.  Take a look at the picture below for proof.

Main Street, Kansas City, 1936.

But what if the buzz came back?  We think that now is our chance. We are ready to Reoccupy Main Street and bring in a plethora of entrepreneurs, startups, small business owners and even large corporations to live, work and play in the thriving and eclectic Kansas City community.  Big things are happening once again; Google Fiber is making its way to KC, new developments are being executed by the Kauffman Foundation and Think Big Partners, startup companies like Zaarly and LiveOn are igniting and the city is being nationally recognized by media superstars like The Wall Street Journal and entrepreneurial publications like Entrepreneurs Unpluggd and Under 30 CEO.

There's no doubt about it; entrepreneurship is booming in Kansas City.  It will only be a short matter of time that Main Street is reoccupied with new (and flourishing) small businesses, driven and hard-working entrepreneurs, and disruptive technology startups. But we're going to do much more than just wait for that to happen--we're going to make it happen.

Downtown Kansas City.

We encourage you to Reoccupy Main Street.  What does this mean exactly?  Bring your new and innovative ideas to Kansas City.  Provide support to those who are looking to create and innovate.  Work side-by-side with your competition to see how you can better the Kansas City community together (a little thing we like to call co-opetition).  Partner up.  Dive in.  Create some buzz.  We are making a difference in Kansas City just by energizing the city streets with those dreams, ideas and big thoughts that cause us to toss and turn at night  We aren't the 99%.  We are the 100% of Kansas City residents who want to see the city grow, succeed and prosper.  Maybe it all starts with an idea and an opportunity, and we think now is our chance. 

Written by Allison Way
@AllisonThinkBig