Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Stephanie Moran, GO Topeka
At a glance: Stephanie Moran was president of a startup business before becoming vice president of innovation for GO Topeka, the economic development arm in the state’s capitol city and one of the first regional partners in K-State 105. Moran utilizes many tools to encourage business, such as tech accelerators, matching grants, entrepreneur support and more.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Stephanie Moran
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
April 17, 2024
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
Let’s hit the accelerator!
No, I don’t mean the gas pedal in your car. I’m referring to a tech accelerator, which is one of several tools being used to stimulate economic development in Shawnee County and northeast Kansas.
Stephanie Moran is the senior vice president for innovation at GO Topeka, the economic development arm of the Greater Topeka Partnership. A Beloit native, she earned a bakery science degree from Kansas State University and progressed through the private sector to various executive management positions.
At right: Stephanie Moran | Download this photo
Moran was at Payless ShoeSource headquarters in Topeka for 18 years before spending three years as president of a Kansas-based agriculture startup business called Nutri-Shield. She joined GO Topeka in March 2022.
“I saw the struggles that small businesses face and wanted them to have more tools at their disposal,” Moran said. She has worked to enhance the array of programs that GO Topeka has to assist small businesses, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
Shawnee County had already been designated an e-community by NetWork Kansas. GO Topeka has an impressive variety of incentives to support small business needs in marketing, construction and renovation, architecture and design, equipment, professional services or consulting related to commercialization, and more. They offer matching grants for global marketing, proof of concept development, and small business research.
In fact, there were so many different projects underway that Moran asked a Topeka entrepreneur to automate the project tracking process. That process would later help the K-State 105 program as well.
Part of the efforts to encourage innovation involves the use of a tech accelerator. Since Topeka is situated in the animal health corridor, GO Topeka engaged with a Silicon Valley company - Plug & Play - to develop an animal health startup business accelerator in Topeka. This business accelerator is intended to allow new businesses quicker access to resources that can enable them to succeed.
Such resources might include connections with corporate partners, business mentoring, pitch training, regulatory issues and patents.
“These startups are developing exciting new technologies and products across a variety of focus areas that will enhance the animal health and ag tech industries,” Moran said.
GO Topeka also has small business incentives that focus on entrepreneurs and startup businesses of various kinds in Shawnee County and beyond.
For example: A Topeka inventor created a surfacing tool for golf balls and was able to develop the product with help from a GO Topeka proof of concept grant and technical assistance matching grant from K-State’s Technology Development Institute.
Those same partners helped another entrepreneur develop a software program to streamline insurance filings for assistive technology products. That ruralpreneur is based in the rural Shawnee County community of Tecumseh, population 696 people. Now, that’s rural.
“We want to support small businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs,” Moran said.
She noted the economic impact of the various incentives. “In 2023, we invested over a half million dollars in more than 60 businesses that each have fewer than 100 employees. In the process, these businesses have committed or projected to commit 3.6 million dollars in brand new and expansion projects. That’s more than a 600% return on investment.”
“We’re also working on an innovation facility in downtown Topeka,” Moran said. GO Topeka’s plan for that facility was approved in February. Construction is to begin in summer 2024.
GO Topeka was one of the first regional partners to be selected by K-State 105 as part of the university’s statewide economic prosperity plan. “We need to create an environment or ecosystem that’s supportive of small business all across the state,” Moran said.
“K-State 105 is doing a really good job of connecting these resources,” she said. “We want people to know what a great place Kansas is, not only to start a business, but a place that can help them thrive,” Moran said.
For more information, see www.gotopeka.com.
So, hit the accelerator – not in your car, but in economic development for Kansas. We commend Stephanie Moran and all those involved with GO Topeka for making a difference with innovative economic development.
I’m glad to see this commitment to help small businesses accelerate toward success.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
K-State 105 is Kansas State University's answer to the call for a comprehensive economic growth and advancement solution for Kansas. The initiative leverages the statewide K-State Research and Extension network to deliver the full breadth of the university's collective knowledge and solution-driven innovation to every Kansan, right where they live and work. Additionally, K-State 105 forges the connections and partnerships that create access to additional expertise within other state institutions and agencies, nonprofits and organizations — all part of an effort to build additional capacities and strengths in each of the 105 counties in the state. Learn more at k-state.edu/105.
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K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices, experiment fields, area extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.