1102 Grand: a Kansas City Data Center Hub Expands Itself and KC Startups

Kansas City’s data center hub 1102 Grand, is not only the largest carrier neutral facility in the Kansas City Metro area, but it is also one of the fastest growing of its kind in the Midwest.  The services provided by this voice and data traffic hub seem endless with the means necessary to provide Kansas City startups, savvy enterprise organizations and Fortune 500 and Inc. 500 companies with cost-effective infrastructure for carriers, service providers, and enterprise customers.

Darren Bonawitz, co-owner of 1102 Grand, describes the company as a trusted partner and extension to many organizations' IT operations.  "Since we invest in and manage the data center infrastructure, collocation customers are able to focus on their core business as well as free up precious capital to reinvest elsewhere in their business," he says.  This is especially beneficial for Kansas City entrepreneurs and startups!

The ownership group of 1102 Grand has invested nearly $13 million to transform the building into a full service carrier hotel and colocation center that houses multiple data centers.  All colocation areas are connected to one central point; the Meet Me Room, via Ethernet, coax, fiber, etc.  This Meet Me Room area has become known as the heart and soul of the facility where all of the interconnections take place.  The space has prided itself on the notion that it is a neutral facility, as tenants are allowed to purchase their own space, power, and cooling directly from the building owners and then arrange for the bandwidth and any other desired services separately.

"The best part of our job is that we have the opportunity to work with a diverse mix of customers with their own unique challenges and objectives," says Bonawitz.  "Our team really enjoys the opportunity to work closely with our customers to create tailored solutions ensuring their specific needs are met."

So what’s next for the Kansas City data center hub?  1102 Grand is expanding its collocation area, adding 5,000 square feet of additional caged space for carriers, service providers, and enterprise customers.  The new collocation area is expected to be finished by the end of 2010.  Even with the new collocation space expansion underway, 1102 Grand is also hosting its 1102 Grand IT networking series with KCnext on Thursday, November 18^th from 5-8pm.  One month from today, join 1102 Grand and 300 Kansas City innovators, IT professionals, and upper-level executives at the Press Bar and Panini Grill at Crosstown Station for a beneficial Kansas City networking opportunity.

With its 5,000 square foot expansion to be completed in December 2010, over $7 million already put forth to transform the building into what it is today, and the ability to help bootstrapping Kansas City startups and enterprise organizations better themselves, 1102 Grand knows what it means to Think Big!

Written by Allison Way.  Allison is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners and bizperc, two of Kansas City's newest entrepreneurial resources.  To read more of Allison's work, please visit the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner.

The Chilean Miner Rescue, Post-it Notes & Apollo 13 - Innovation and Failure Was Not An Option

Today, Wednesday, October 13th, 2010, marked a great day in humanity, innovation and was witness to the awesome power of the "failure is not an option" mindset.

Chile's 33 trapped miners were shuttled up a narrow escape shaft to freedom and joyous reunions in a meticulously planned rescue operation that ended the longest underground entrapment in human history and showed the true power of forced innovation.

One after another, the miners climbed into a missile-like steel capsule barely wider than a man's shoulders and took a 15-minute journey through 2,000 feet of rock to the surface. Dubbed the Phoenix I capsule, it was the result of a joint collaborative effort between the Chilean Navy and NASA that created a 924 pound rescue capsule with an interior height of 6 feet 4 inches and a 23 inch interior diameter.

The red, white and blue (painted in the colors of Chile's flag) empty capsule was lowered by a winch over 2000 feet into the earth. With each successive run the operators learned how to operate this new innovation marvel and the capsule-rescue operation got faster as it went along. All the men were safely above ground in 22 hours, 37 minutes, after it started.



This example of human achievement with real people's lives at stake, very much reminds me of the fateful Apollo 13 mission that intended to land on the moon in April, 1970. When the oxygen tank ruptured, severely damaging the Service Module's spacecraft's electrical system, the focal point of the mission quickly went from a successful lunar landing to simply the safe return of astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise.

This forced the crew to shut down the Command Module to conserve its batteries and oxygen needed for the last hours of flight, and use the Lunar Module's resources as a "lifeboat" during the return trip to Earth. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17, 1970 and the mission was termed a "successful failure".



Apollo 13 (15th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]

Harnessing the power of forced innovation can produce incredible and useful results, such as the Chilean miner rescue capsule.. Innovation in history has produced a wide range of results, ranging from the truly absurd and silly, to deadly serious and critical to human life.

Even inventions that were not successful sometimes have produced the most remarkable outcomes. The same year as the Apollo 13 "successful failure", another failure was in the works.

Spencer Silver, a 3M chemist trying to formulate a stronger adhesive than the one that 3M currently had on the market, created an adhesive that ended up being super weak instead of super strong. This produced an adhesive that, in the lexicon of science, consisted of “inherently tacky elastomeric copolymer microspheres.” On the molecular level, this substance resembled the pebbled skin of a basketball. This characteristic sabotaged its bonding power; the tiny spaces between the microspheres made it impossible to get complete contact between the adhesive and another surface. In layman’s terms, it was glue that didn’t stick very well. Simply put, it was a failure.

No one knew what to do with this stuff, but Silver was smart and didn't discard it. Then four years later, on a fateful Sunday morning in the North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul, inspiration struck. Another 3M scientist named Arthur Fry was singing in the church's choir. He used markers to keep his place in the hymnal, but they kept falling out of the book. Remembering Silver's adhesive, Fry used some to coat his markers. Entrepreneurial success! With the weak adhesive, the markers stayed in place, yet lifted off without damaging the pages. The modern day Post-it Notes was born.

But many people don't realize that if it hadn't been for Silver's persistent optimism in his failed product, combined with Fry's belief in this new found application and 3M's long-standing policy that permits employees to spend fifteen percent of their time working on projects of their own choosing, the Post-it Note may never have happened.

3M began distributing Post-it Notes nationwide in 1980 -- ten years after Silver developed the super weak adhesive. Today, over 6 billion Post-it Notes are sold in more than 150 countries around the world.

So let us rejoice in the successful Chilean miner rescue and safe return of Chile’s 33 miners, relish in the wonder of space exploration through the Apollo 13 near disaster, and thank Art Fry and Spencer Silver for the Post-it Note’s that we all use every day.

Had failure been an option in these historical lessons of forced, purposeful innovation, our lives would all be very different today. Now that’s Thinking Big!

Written by Herb Sih, Managing Partner of Think Big Partners and bizperc, Kansas City's newest entrepreneurial resource.

EDC Cornerstone Awards Luncheon Recognizes Kansas City Companies and Inspires Business Leaders

Yesterday’s Economic Development Corporation Cornerstone Awards luncheon not only highlighted the leading Kansas City companies and their outstanding projects, but also allowed Kansas City business leaders to celebrate the city’s economic growth, stability, and innovation.

The event kicked off at noon on Thursday with Mike Chesser and Clyde McQueen, past and present Chairmen of the Board of the EDC followed by a word for Mayor Mark Funkhouser and Jeff Kaczmarek, President and CEO of the EDC.  Afterwards, Kansas City businesses who have contributed outstanding efforts to Kansas City economic growth were recognized, which included the presentation of the James C. Denney Spirit Award to Lee Derrough who “embodies the spirit of the award’s namesake and has left a lasting impression on the business community of Kansas City.”

Finally, the Cornerstone Awards presented keynote speaker Jeremy Gutsche, the host of TrendHunter TV and author of best-selling book, “Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change.”  The overall theme for the luncheon centered around “KC: RU Up 2d8?”, as Gutsche discussed how becoming a leader in expansion and development requires us to look beyond typical thinking to see the real trends in the marketplace.

 

Gutsche is a remarkable business man; at age 28, he was one of Captial One’s youngest Business Directors and innovation leads.  With a relentless focus on innovation, he led his team to grow a $1 billion portfolio of market leading products.  His interesting views and cutting-edge approach made an impact on the Kansas City business leaders who attended the EDC Cornerstone Awards Luncheon and may have even inspired more people to Think Big when it comes to innovation, market trends, and the definition of success.

A big thank you to the EDC and sponsors for putting on such a successful event! 

Written by Allison Way.  Allison Way is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners and bizperc, two of Kansas City's newest entrepreneurial resources.  To read more of Allison's articles, visit the Entrepreneurship Examiner.

Annual EDC Cornerstone Awards Celebrates Innovation by Honoring Development Projects

Each year, the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri (EDC) hosts the Cornerstone Awards to celebrate innovation by honoring the most exciting and dynamic contributors to the city’s economic growth.  By awarding new construction projects, capital investments and jobs created by the award winners, the program not only represents individual success stories, but also fosters economic growth in Kansas City.

This year’s EDC Cornerstone Awards will take place on Thursday, September 30^th at the Downtown Marriott Muehlebach Hall from noon until 1:30pm.  Pre-function exhibits and networking is to take place from 11:00am until noon.  In order to promote the continuing growth of Kansas City, keynote speaker and innovation guru Jeremy Gutsche is presenting at the awards program.  Gutsche is the host of Trend Hunter TV, the author of the best-seller, Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation and is routinely relied on by various news media outlets such as The Economist, Financial Times, FOX News, CNN and Entertainment Tonight. 

This year’s EDC Cornerstone Awards theme centers around question of “R U UP 2 D8?”  The EDC is asking development partners in and around the metro this one question in order to promote the growth of the Kansas City economy and to recognize companies and projects that contribute to such growth.  The different categories for each award include the James C. Denneny Spirit Award, Residential, Business Expansion and Retention, Small Business, Entertainment, and Special Recognition awards.

The EDC Cornerstone Awards will be attended by over 900 guests including finalists, the EDC, city officials, and key business leaders.  Think Big Partners will be attending the Cornerstone Awards in order to show appreciation for the developers’ commitment to economic growth in KC.  Come check out our pre-function exhibit from 11:00am until noon on Thursday.  This is an opportune time to network, learn about Kansas City innovation, and talk with some key business people in and around the metro area. 

Think Big Partners would like to congratulate this year’s EDC Cornerstone Awards Finalists:

James C. Denneny Spirit Award

Lee Derrough

Residential

Commonwealth Hyde Park—Phase I

Fountain Lofts & MRP Garage

Habitat for Humanity Kansas City Urban Renewal Plan

Riverstone

Business Expansion & Retention

A2MG/Sellers & Marquis

Kansas City Sausage Company

Kansas City Structural Steel

Mars Petcare

Praxair, Inc.

Public Projects

UMKC’s Herman & Dorothy Johnson Residence Hall

Metropolitan Community College Health Sciences Institute

Kansas City Zoo, Renovation of 1909 Tropics Building

Riverfront West Heritage Trail Enhancements

Small Business

Alexander Mechanical Contractors, Inc.

Barbershop 67

DaVinci Reprographics

Inland Truck Parts Drive-In Service Center

Vanguard Packaging Redevelopment

2000 Baltimore Liquid Carbonic Building

Pershing Building

Service Management Group (SMG) Headquarters

Faultless Starch/Bon Ami Headquarters (Historic Renovation of Sewall Paint & Varnish Building)

DERMADoctor

Entertainment

Grinders Pizza

The Well Bar, Grill & Rooftop

Special Recognition

JE Dunn Construction Headquarters

Smith Electric Vehicles

If you would like to attend the awards program, please keep in mind that seating is quite limited, however tickets are still available.  To register or receive more information, please visit the EDC website or call the EDC at 816-691-2120.

Think Big Partners would like to congratulate this year’s finalists and thank the EDC for promoting the growth of the Kansas City economy.  It’s groups, small businesses, and organizations like the ones listed above that have helped Kansas City to Think Big!  

Written by Allison Way.  Allison Way is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners and bizperc.  To read more of Allison's articles, please visit the Entrepreneurship Examiner.