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Category Archives: Business
Boiler Room Brewhaus: A Little Different
Barbara Ritter, owner of Boiler Room Brewhaus at 2 S. National, has been extra busy since the new year began.
Her sister, Peggy, is a co-owner with Barbara and her husband, Bryan is the brewer.
Bryan and Barbara were doing the final touches of a recent reno last week.
Fort Scott’s first microbrewery is located on the busy corner of Wall Street and National Ave. The Ritter’s feature beer tastings, by the glass and take out.
Since having the business rebranded in the fall, they realized they needed to take some time to do some new things in the microbrewery.
They have expanded their tap selection.
“We are going to have six of our brews on at a time,” Barbara said. “We have been canning our beer since fall.”
They have been doing some decorative changes as well.
“Basically, we did a lot of painting,” Barbara said. “Walls, doors, vanities, tables…in nostalgic colors.”
Since the building was built in 1960, “we have added some elements from that time period,” to the decor, she said.
The Ritters are looking for vintage photos of the Downtowner Hotel, which now houses the microbrewery.
“If anyone has any vintage photos of the Downtowner or people, that they would be willing to share…to purchase or display,” Ritter said, please contact them at 913.636.4892 or 620-644-5032.
“This building was completed in February 1960,” she said.
The Ritter’s moved their business to the new site at the corner of National Avenue and Wall Street on June 1, 2018.
The old logo is gone and has been replaced with nostalgic ones:
Though the microbrewery doesn’t serve meals, they have menus from restaurants where people can order food and have it delivered or can bring it into the Brewhaus, she said.
“There is also a $5 taco bar catered by Crooner’s Lounge on Thursdays, $5 and you can eat all the tacos you want,” Barabara said.
They will also be offering some new appetizers.
Each Friday is karaoke from 7-9 p.m., and Sundays there are team trivia games from 5-7 p.m.
“We are looking to add a music bingo game, possibly on Saturday evenings,” she said. “We will try it once to see how it goes.”
“We are hoping to have musicians coming once a month,” she said. “There are three in the works so far for the next couple of months.”
Currently, they have four part-time employees and two full-time.
“We are looking for one more part-time, one day a week,” she said. “Possibly an older employee with a good work ethic, who is looking for something to do.”
“We’ve had a really good year,” Barbara said. “Almost one-half of customers are new to Fort Scott. Fifty-one percent are local people.. We have a variety of people of all ages.”
“People say this is a cool little town,” she said. “This town has a lot to offer.”
Downtown Meet and Greet Jan. 28
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Bourbon County Commissioner Answers Questions on Raises
Bourbon County Commissioners are trying to close the gap in wages for its’ elected officials, according to chairman Lynne Oharah.
Recently the commission raised four elected officials earnings with a combined total of $46,000.
At the Dec. 17, 2019 county commission meeting Ohara made a motion to approve a salary resolution for elected officials effective Dec. 15, 2019, according to commission minutes. This raised the clerk and treasurer’s salary to $47,248 annually, the register of deeds to 44,821 and the sheriff’s salary to $60,000. Commissioner Jeff Fisher seconded and all commissioners approved.
Ohara then made a motion approving a wage resolution for Bourbon County employees changing the following: the salary for the correctional center captain, the emergency preparedness director and the deputy county appraiser were raised to $35,568 annually to comply with the U.S. Dept. Of Labor standards for salaried employees. A Maintenance 5 position was added at a rate of $17.47 per hour. Commissioner Nick Ruhl seconded and all were in favor of those changes. The economic development director’s salary was changed to $70,000 a year on the same resolution.
Ohara made a motion to approve changing her salary to $70,000. He said that if Bourbon County gets an administrative fee from Phase 2 of the Healthy Bourbon County Grant then part of the $70,000 salary would be subsidized from the grant, Fisher seconded this motion, Ruhl voted against this motion, and the motion passed.
The following is an interview with Bourbon County Commissioner Lynn Oharah.
He started with a history of the raises.
“In 2015, Sheriff Martin contracted an agency to do a wage study to compare Bourbon County wages with other comparable counties because he thought there was a large wage disparity between Bourbon County employees and other like counties,” Commissioner Oharah said. “The county commissioners also accessed Kansas county wage information from the ks.gov website. The results indicated that Bourbon County wages were significantly behind our peers. The commissioners resolved to address these wage disparities and devised a plan to increase FTE (Full Time equivalent) positions first and address the next positions that had the most wage disparity, which happened to be the elected officials. Along with this effort we wanted to incentivize employees to continue working for the county and we did this by approving a $100 per year of service longevity pay increase.”
Where did the money come from to give the raises?
“We gave four elected officials raises when combined totaled $46,000.00. This money came from most of the departments managing their budgets and workforce which created a carryover from the 2015 and forward budget years. These wage increases did not increase the mill levy and this carryover gave us the resources to create a competitive wage with our peers although Bourbon County wages are still on the low side.”
What is the justification for the doubling of the earnings of the Bourbon County Economic Development Director?
“This position was initially created to see how the position could help the county,” Oharah said. “It was created with a minimum of 20 hours of work per week at $35,000 annual salary and we would look at the performance and scope to see if we needed to increase the hours and wages.”
“Our economic developer has been a great asset and for the first six months spent a lot of time helping get the Bourbon County Ambulance Service up and running along with the other duties.”
“Since then all Bourbon County businesses and government entities have been contacted and surveyed to address their needs and identify what’s important to them. Also, new businesses have been guided through the process of starting a business, grants have been written, the County NRP program has been implemented and coordinated under economic development. Meetings and plans regarding healthcare are ongoing with economic development highly involved. This is just naming a few projects that are ongoing and the time spent well exceeds what was required.”
“Based on the need, the commission voted to increase the economic development salary and scope. The salary was based on what was being paid to other economic development directors in our surrounding market and the Bourbon County Economic Development budget is still lower than most of our competitive counties.”
“Bourbon County needs to grow and prosper and we cannot get there by doing the same thing that we have been doing for the last 100 years,” Oharah said.
The commission meets on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. at the courthouse.
To contact Ohara: 620-223-3800, ext 110; Fisher at ext. 112 and Ruhl at ext. 111.
Quarterly Downtown Meet & Greet Scheduled for January 28
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce the Quarterly Downtown Meet & Greet will be held Tuesday, January 28th from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at Papa Don’s Pizza, 10 N. Main Street.
These informal, quarterly meetings are hosted by the Chamber for downtown business owners, representatives and community members to network and share ideas on events, promotions and anything related to downtown. Coffee, juice and light refreshments will be served.
Our Quarterly Downtown Meetings will be held on that first Tuesday of the quarter.
Please join us Tuesday, January 28th, 2020 for the Quarterly Downtown Meet & Greet. Contact the Chamber at 620-223-3566 with any questions.
New Wave Broadband Given Award by Extension Office
Southwind Extension District 4-H Agent Jennifer Terrell presents New Wave Broadband with the 2019 Extension Appreciation Award.
New Wave was instrumental in assisting the Southwind District implement a new online system for 4-H entries and results for the Allen and Bourbon County Fairs. 4-H families utilized an online entry system in 2019, and results were available in real-time thanks to the cooperation of New Wave. Online results allow families near and far to see what 4-H members achieve with their projects.
The K-State Research and Extension Appreciation Award was authorized by the Extension administrative staff in 1977. Its purpose is to honor a person, business or organization who has made outstanding contributions to extension programs in a county or district.
The Southwind District Extension Board and Agents want to express their sincere gratitude to the New Wave Broadband for their support for Extension in Allen and Bourbon Counties and look forward for partnerships yet to come.
Turvey Receives Appreciation Award from Extension Service
Southwind Extension District Agents Christopher Petty and Carla Nemecek presented Ally Turvey, Tourism Manager for Fort Scott Convention & Tourism Bureau with the 2019 Extension Appreciation Award.
The Bureau is a strong supporter of all things Fort Scott, including the Southwind Extension District of K-State Research and Extension.
Former tourism manager Larry Gazaway, and current tourism manager Ally Turvey have been valuable partners of extension. The two organizations partnered on the Kansas Humanities Water Ways project, focusing on the importance of water to the development of the Fort Scott area of Bourbon County.
Joint partnerships with organizations like the Fort Scott Convention and Visitors Bureau strengthen the reach of the Southwind Extension District.
The Bureau was also helpful in lining up a location, keynote speakers, and other community partners for a very successful Aging with Attitude Regional Event and Family Community Educators (FCE) State conference in 2019 with a record number of attendees.
The K-State Research and Extension Appreciation Award was authorized by the Extension administrative staff in 1977. Its purpose is to honor a person, business or organization who has made outstanding contributions to extension programs in a county or district.
The Southwind District Extension Board and Agents want to express their sincere gratitude to the Fort Scott Convention & Tourism Bureau for their support for Extension in Bourbon County and look forward for partnerships yet to come.
Brigss Auto New Phone Number: 620.644.9888
Via Christi Opens Clinic in Downtown Fort Scott Jan. 13
Dr. Katrina Burke’s first day at the new AscensionVia Christi Medical Clinic in downtown Fort Scott is Monday, Jan. 13.
She will be accepting new obstetrics and pediatric patients.
Burke will also see previous patients but is accepting no new adult patients, according to her receptionist Kristal Farmer.
Dr. Burke said that the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (CHC/SEK), her previous employer, did not send out letters, telling of the change to her patients when she left on Dec. 31. She had given CHC a 90 days notice of her intent to leave CHC/SEK.
Hours for the clinic, located at 109 S. Main (north of the Liberty Theater) are 8 a.m to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday.
Thursday afternoon she is out of the office, but is in the office in the morning, according to her receptionist.
To contact the office call 620-223-7008.
New clinic employees are Farmer, Registered Nurse Rachel Judy, and Medical Assistant Chelsea Harrison.
For more information about the clinic, visit
viachristi.org/ftscott-clinic.
Via Christi Supports Expanding Medicaid In Kansas
Response to today’s announcement of a bipartisan agreement on Medicaid expansion
” Ascension Via Christi extends our appreciation to Gov. Laura Kelly and Sen. Jim Denning for
reaching an agreement on expanding Medicaid in Kansas. Ascension Via Christi, along with the
Kansas Hospital Association and many other healthcare organizations, have been advocating for
Medicaid expansion for the past eight years as a way to make sure that all of our citizens have
access to care.
Expanding Medicaid will bring hundreds of millions in federal dollars to our state, giving Kansans
residents increased access to health care coverage while supporting healthcare providers and our
entire Kansas economy.
Across Ascension’s markets we know that expanded Medicaid has enhanced access to coverage
and care, resulted in more appropriate utilization of services, and has created financial security
among the poor and vulnerable.
Our ministry’s support of Medicaid expansion is rooted in our mission to serve all persons, with
special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable, and to protect and promote the inherent
dignity of all human life from conception until natural death .”
-Submitted by Don King, chief executive officer, Ascension Via Christi
Farmers’ Market Workshop in February
Regional Farmers’ Market Workshops Scheduled for February
The Kansas Department of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension will host six regional workshops in February 2020 to assist farmers’ market vendors and managers. Kansas farmers’ markets not only provide a fresh food source, but also stimulate the local economy. In 2019, 57 farmers’ markets were registered with KDA’s Central Registration of Farmers’ Markets.
“Farmers’ markets provide growers a wonderful opportunity to have real interaction with consumers, and a chance to tell their farm’s story,” said Londa Nwadike, consumer food safety specialist with K-State Research and Extension and the University of Missouri. “It’s also important for farmers to understand certain legal, safety and financial parameters before choosing to sell at a farmers’ market.”
Workshop topics will vary slightly by location. Main topics include:
- Double Up Food Bucks Program and Accepting EBT
- Food Safety and Regulations on Selling Meat, Eggs and Poultry
- Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program Certified Farmer Training
- Marketing Tips
- Produce Grower Panel
KDA’s weights and measures program will also offer free scale certification at the workshops for attendees.Dates and locations for the Farmers’ Market events are as follows:
Saturday, Feb. 1 — Iola: Allen Community College
Saturday, Feb. 8 — Wichita: Sedgwick County Extension Office
Friday, Feb. 21 — Olathe: KSU Olathe
Saturday, Feb. 22 — Hiawatha: Fisher Center
Friday, Feb. 28 — Beloit: Beloit First Christian Church
Saturday, Feb. 29 — Leoti: Wichita County Community Building
Registration for the February workshops is now open. The cost is $20 per participant to cover the cost of lunch. Lunch will only be guaranteed to those participants who register prior to the respective workshop date. Registration for the workshops can be found at FromtheLandofKansas.com/FMworkshop or at local extension offices.
Onsite registration for the workshops will open at 8:30 a.m. and the workshops will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude by 3:00 p.m. The Wichita workshop will begin onsite registration at 8:15 a.m. and the workshop begins at 8:45 a.m., concluding at 4:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Robin Blume, KDA’s education and events coordinator, at 785-564-6756 or [email protected]. The workshops are funded by the Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops, the Kansas Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, K-State Research and Extension, and the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
KDA is committed to providing an environment that enhances and encourages economic growth of the agriculture industry and the Kansas economy. The Kansas Ag Growth Strategy has identified training for small companies via workshops as a key growth outcome for the specialty crop sector. The farmers’ market workshops will provide education through partnerships to help make Kansas farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses more successful.
Chamber Hosts Coffee Jan. 9
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