Danny Gosserand’s family moved from New Roads, Louisiana in 1957 and settled in the heart of downtown Kansas City off of 16th & Jefferson.  The youngest of 10 children, Danny learned and developed a passion for cooking from watching his mother cook for the entire family.  His restaurant, Cajun Seafood off of 31st and Oak, was voted Best Restaurant by the Kansas City Star in 1988 but Danny’s life-long dream had always been to own a Cajun restaurant in the historic 18th and Vine District. He made his dream a reality on April 10th, 2010 when he opened Danny’s Big Easy on the corner of 18th and Vine. He wants to help the 18th and Vine District to become an area for new, up and coming businesses that have great ideas and dreams for this area just as he always has.

Named the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award Winner in the Central Midwest Technology category, Kansas City native, August (Augie) Grasis is an established local entrepreneur known for his savvy business approach, industry-changing ideas and strong advocacy for building high technology businesses in Kansas City. Since founding Handmark in 2000, Grasis has played an important role in defining the mobile content industry and changing the way people use their mobile phones. Handmark has called downtown Kansas City home for its vibrant high technology business since its inception.

Shaul Jolles grew up in Israel. After getting his Masters from UMKC’s Bloch School, he became a commercial real estate broker focused on adaptive re-use of buildings in the Crossroads Arts District, where he also served as the President of the Crossroads Community Association. A serial entrepreneur and community organizer, Shaul focuses on helping small businesses flourish.  He is the co-founder along with Mike Edmondson of OfficePort, an innovative co-location environment with offices in Kansas City and Chicago, and StagePort, a sound stage complex adjacent to it. He initiated the effort that led to KCMO’s winning response in the Google Fiber project and hosted “Kansas City Get Online” seminars by Google.

Sam Meers knew at a young age he would go into advertising. Growing up on a farm in Southern Illinois in the 60s, he had a knack for remembering jingles and sitcom theme songs.  When he and his wife, Julie Nelson Meers, decided to purchase a building for their growing advertising agency, there was no doubt they would stay in the Crossroads Arts District.  Today, Meers Advertising is a vibrant, growing digital advertising agency serving clients coast to coast. And even though the agency has been in business for nearly 20 years, their team has always been motivated by the inevitable, liberating force of change. He serves as Vice President of Finance for the American Advertising Federation of Kansas City, is on the Kansas City Board of Governors of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and is a member of the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program.

Keith Novorr literally grew up in the clothing business starting at 16 years old at Michael’s Fine Clothes for Men.  Keith is the 3rd generation running the store after his father, Eugene, and his grandfather, Michael, who founded the store over 106 years ago at the same location at 1830 Main Street.  Keith and his family have always had a strong commitment to Kansas City and to their customers.  They’ve been through the ups and downs of depressions, recessions, changes in style and now the downtown revitalization but through it all, the most important lessons Keith and his family learned and he practices today are:  he has passion for his work, he shows up each day and pours his heart and soul into the store, he provides superior selection and a level of personal service unsurpassed by any other retailer.

During high school Danny O’Neill traveled to Costa Rica as a foreign exchange student and spent several weeks picking coffee. It was at this moment that his passion for it ignited.  After holding various sales and marketing positions, he decided to take the leap and start roasting coffee in the basement of his home in Brookside.  In 1993 he founded The Roasterie on three basic premises: to find the best coffees in the world, to roast them the best way known to man, and to get them to his customers as fast as humanly possible.  He currently serves on the Boards at Park University, Rockhurst University, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Restaurant Association and Kansas City Irish Museum.  In 2005, he opened the first Roasterie Café in Brookside and recently opened his second in Leawood.  The Roasterie now services coffee houses, restaurants, grocers, and coffee-lovers all around the world.

Teri Rogers has a passion for the Crossroads Art District – and has owned and grown her business there since 1998.   She and her husband Martin Mini purchased their building in 2005. That same year, T2 was named one of the Top 10 Businesses of the Year and Teri was named Small Business Person of the Year in 2007.  Today, T2 is a national industry leader in design driven content creation that can be seen and distributed on multiple screens — from mobile phones to large projection installations at museums and performing arts centers.  From TV commercials, documentaries, television shows, corporate communication and interactive projects, Teri has created a culture at T2 that exemplifies creativity in the modern age.

Ryan Sciara was introduced to ‘wine’ at a relatively young age.  His earliest memories are sips of homemade wine with his Grandma Vita.  His baptism into the real world of wine began with a glass of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  Working his way through college as a server and bartender, Ryan turned his new found love of wine into his career. Ryan is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Cellar Rat Wine Merchants which opened in August of 2006 in the Crossroads area.  Previously, he was the General Manager & Sommelier at the award winning 40 Sardines Restaurant in Overland Park, KS. As a cast member of the PBS reality series, “The Winemakers, Season II”, Ryan is taking his playful, yet dead serious approach to The Rhone Valley for the chance to realize his dreams and produce a wine under his own label.

When life gave Emily Voth lemons, she made Lemongrass Soap, one of the favorites among the all-natural blends and a plethora of home and body aromatherapy products that you can find at Indigo Wild.  Growing up with a scent and fragrance happy Mom, Emily transformed her unhappiness in the corporate world by following her passion.  Emily began in her kitchen, creating all-natural soaps. She and her husband Todd took their products to the Barstow Organic Market to try their luck; they sold everything and the Zum Bar was born.  The Zum Glows, Zum Rubs, Zum Kisses and other products flowed forth under what would become the umbrella of Indigo Wild, ¬ a very non-corporate world filled with the smells of aromatherapy and the sounds of employee dogs.