KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The app development business has made its way to Kansas City, and if the developers are correct, it could be an important contribution to the city's tech boom.
Do you want to know what is going on this weekend? What restaurant is running a deal? Where your favorite band is playing?
Well, pretty soon you will have all of that information in the palm of your hand, say the guys behind the soon-to-launch app Ziyak.
"We're actually a tech company that's not on the map yet, but will soon be on the map. We plan to employ hundreds of people here in Kansas City, and we think we'll be the fastest growing business in Kansas City in the next 24 months," said app developer Randy Grommet.
1,834 miles from Silicon Valley, if two local businessmen are right, the next big app is going live on Jan. 14.
"Kind of like a personal concierge in your pocket."
Ziyak is an app where users will be able to find out what is happening in their city and interact with other users, and event businesses can post anytime with immediate results.
It is the brainchild of Evan Holwick and Randy Grommet.
Grommet says the idea began several years ago after he came to work on a Monday morning and asked everyone what they did over the weekend.
"And one of the guys told me about something called Bacon fest, which sounded like the most amazing thing ever. I was very sad becaue I missed out on bacon fest," Grommet said.
"Him and I developed another app when we were on a business trip and kind of the same thing happened where we were looking for a breakfast burrito," Holwick said.
"So that is when the gears started turning. We started thinking there's got to be a better way to inform everybody about all the fun stuff that happens right around them," Grommet said.
"So it will show you the event details, the dates, the hours, location, which friends of yours are going," Holwick said as he scrolled through the app's interface.
Grommet and Holwick say Ziyak is different from other popular "to do" apps like Yelp.
"We are not a critic board or a review board, if you will. We are there specifically to get people off their couch and show them what's going on that night or that weekend," Grommet said.
Ziyak's sales team is spread out across the country. 450 people in 200 cities, the more "ninjas," the more content, the more users.
They also have jobs available. To find out more about who Ziyak's ninjas are, or to apply, visit the website.