LED BY THE UMKC INNOVATION CENTER, a National Science Foundation Partnership for Innovation grant created the Whiteboard 2 Boardroom program (W2B) as a partnership between four regional schools – UMKC, University of Kansas, Johnson County Community College and William Jewell College. It has since expanded to include numerous academic and research institutions in the bi-state region. W2B is a team effort that includes research partners that provide the new technologies, a technology transfer office that collects technologies from research partners and helps with initial assessment and IP issues, entrepreneurs with a depth of expertise and experience in different technical domains that utilize a variety of business models, W2B staff members that serve as "match-makers", and service providers such as the SBTDC and KCSourceLink partners that assist with business connections to facilitate startup development.
The Whiteboard 2 Boardroom program provides a number of services to the regional entrepreneurial community. These include but are not limited to identification of CEO talent and mentors for new companies, access to innovations developed at regional academic institutions and research organizations, establishment of strategic partnerships and identification of sources of capital.