Category Archives: Business

Chamber After Hours Gathering and Ribbon Cutting at Riggs Chiropractic

Chamber After-hours & Ribbon Cutting
at Riggs Chiropractic!
Join us for a Chamber After-hours & Ribbon Cutting Event to celebrate the opening of Riggs Chiropractic Fort Scott location,304 E. 23rd St.!
Thursday, May 4, 2023
5:15 to 6:30pm with the remarks & ribbon cutting at 5:30pm
Festive refreshments & libations will be served along with door prize drawings!
$2 admission for the Chamber 50/50 drawing!

Evergy Seeks To Recover Investments With Rate Increase

Evergy Files Kansas First Rate Review in Five Years to Recover Investments to Modernize the Power Grid, Increase Reliability and Enhance Customer Service

Ongoing savings achieved since 2018 exceeded projections, reducing the overall Kansas rate increase request by more than 37%

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – April 25, 2023 – Today Evergy (NASDAQ: EVRG) filed a request and supporting documentation with the Kansas Corporation Commission to recover investments made to improve service to customers with a more reliable and resilient power grid and updated customer service systems. This is the first base rate review Evergy has requested in five years.

 

Evergy was formed in 2018 by the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy. As part of the merger approval, Evergy agreed to keep the energy company local by maintaining its Kansas headquarters in Topeka and continuing to invest millions annually in local community organizations and charities throughout its Kansas service area. Evergy also committed to significantly reduce the operating costs of the combined company, to pass those savings on to customers and not to ask for an increase to base rates for five years. Evergy has kept all of those commitments.

 

For the Evergy Kansas Central service area, the company is requesting a net revenue increase of $204 million or a 9.77% overall rate increase — reflecting a reduction of nearly $89 million in operating costs and other billing line items. If the full request is approved, the monthly bill increase for an average residential customer would be about $14.24. Evergy Kansas Central includes approximately 736,000 customers in Topeka, Pittsburg, Wichita, Hutchinson and other communities in the eastern third of the state. In the Evergy Kansas Metro service area, the company is requesting a net revenue increase of $14 million or a 1.95% overall rate increase — reflecting a reduction of nearly $41 million in operating costs and other billing line items. If the full request is approved, the monthly bill increase for an average residential customer would be about $3.47. Evergy Kansas Metro includes approximately 273,000 customers in Lenexa, Overland Park and other communities near the Kansas City metro area.

 

“We formed Evergy with a focus of reducing costs and making rates more affordable and competitive. Over the past five years, we have made significant progress towards that goal.  Since 2018, our Kansas customers have received $232 million in merger savings and bill credits,” said David Campbell, Evergy president and chief executive officer. “We’ve exceeded our targeted merger savings and shared them with customers. Now, we are seeking to recover investments made to improve the electric grid and build a smarter, more reliable energy future for our Kansas customers.”

 

From 2017 to 2022, Evergy Kansas rates have remained flat while rates in most area peer states have increased.

This rate review is the first that Evergy has requested in Kansas since the creation of the company in 2018. Offsetting steep inflation in Kansas and the US economy, operational cost savings and merger efficiencies have allowed Evergy to maintain flat rates for Evergy’s Kansas customers over the last five years. Since 2017, overall rates for Evergy Kansas customers have increased just 0.1% and residential rates have decreased 2.5%. During the same time period, other electric utility rates in states surrounding Kansas have increased nearly 13% and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased 20%. In addition, since the merger, Evergy has delivered $232 million in merger savings and bill credits to Kansas customers.

Evergy residential rates have decreased from 2017 to 2013 while other common expenses have gone up.

 

“The merger has helped stabilize prices despite historically high inflation. We have achieved nearly $1 billion in cost savings and efficiencies as a combined company since the merger. This achievement has helped us keep rates flat and has reduced our requested increase for investments made over the last five years by more than 37%,” said Campbell. “From residential customers to large businesses, we know how important it is to keep electricity affordable especially in the wake of record inflation.”

Evergy Kansas Service Areas

 

The most significant driver of the rate increase request relates to infrastructure improvement aimed at enhancing reliability and resiliency. While Evergy has a track record of solid performance, as the electric system ages, modern upgrades are needed to maintain and improve reliability. Evergy has made significant improvements over the past several years focused on the power grid, with a goal of making it more resistant to outages from severe weather and improving resiliency to restore power faster when outages occur. Some of those improvements include rebuilding aging power lines and equipment and adding advanced automation technology that can reduce the impact of power outages by isolating the cause of the outage more quickly. In addition, Evergy is leveraging data analytics to improve its ability to identify areas at risk for outages, allowing it to target maintenance and replacement work, driving reduced outages and operating costs.

 

“A resilient, reliable power grid is critical for our customers. A modern power grid deploys automation to run more efficiently and effectively and must be hardened and maintained against physical threats, including the extremes of Kansas weather, and equipped with secure communication devices that help prevent and shorten power outages,” Campbell said. “Five years after creating Evergy, we remain local and invested in the communities we serve. We have reduced our operating costs, our rates are more competitive, our power generation is more sustainable, and our service is more resilient.”

 

As part of the rate review, Evergy has requested an increased allowance for depreciation of investments to ensure that recovery of costs associated with an asset is aligned with the useful lives of those assets and the customers who benefit. Evergy has also asked to include funding for expected dismantlement costs to provide for appropriate decommissioning of power plants upon retirement.

 

This rate increase request includes investments made to replace legacy customer service systems with new, shared systems that provide for greater efficiency and that enable customer experience enhancements. This single platform enabled us to increase the number and types of online and self-service transactions either on the phone or online. Evergy has also expanded and improved payment capabilities, start and stop service, outage management capabilities, outage and billing notifications and energy management tools. In September 2022, Evergy launched a mobile app that includes often-used capabilities from the website.

 

The Evergy Kansas Central request includes recovery of its share of costs of IT systems shared across all Evergy customers. These shared systems are a key enabler of merger efficiencies that have resulted in savings of more than $110 million annually for Evergy Kansas Central customers, far exceeding the cost included in the request. Resolution of legacy Evergy Kansas Central items that constitute nearly $56 million of the rate increase request include the expiration of wholesale energy contracts which had contributed to lower rates during the contract term and managing the previously established end to a corporate owned life insurance program initiated in 1985.

 

Kansas rate requests follow an 8-month process before the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). New rates will become effective in December 2023. As part of the process, Evergy must demonstrate that its request is warranted, and the supporting costs are prudent. Evergy and other interested parties representing the Commission and consumers will submit and exchange information through briefs and filings available on the KCC website.

 

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About Evergy, Inc.

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVRG), serves 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. Evergy’s mission is to empower a better future. Our focus remains on producing, transmitting and delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy for the benefit of our stakeholders. Today, about half of Evergy’s power comes from carbon-free sources, creating more reliable energy with less impact to the environment. We value innovation and adaptability to give our customers better ways to manage their energy use, to create a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace for our employees, and to add value for our investors. Headquartered in Kansas City, our employees are active members of the communities we serve.

 

RSVP Today For the FSCC Women’s Appreciation Luncheon on April 26

Ellis Fine Arts Center on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton.

Fort Scott Community College’s Women’s Appreciation Luncheon  is April 26 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Ellis Fine Arts Center, 2108 S. Horton. Please RSVP today, April 25 by 3 p.m.

In addition to lunch, catered by Great Western Dining and Twigs & Berries, there will be door prizes and product displays.

The menu for the event:

  • Choose one wrap from two selections: Southwest or club (Great Western Dining)
  • Traditional salad (Twigs & Berries)
  • Caprese pasta salad (Twigs & Berries)
  • Sugar cookie fruit pizza (Twigs & Berries)
  • Rainbow fruit salad (Twigs & Berries)

Cost of the lunch is $5. One can also pay at the door.

“The purpose of the event is to provide a luncheon of good food, great company, and to support local businesses owned by women,” Allie Birket, a Community Relations Committee member said. Birket,  who is the assistant to the college president and Susie Arvidson, director of library services, are on the committee.

RSVP to [email protected] or 620-223-2700.

Vendors are FSCC Nursing Dept., FSCC Cosmetology Dept., Better in Bourbon Clothing, Tupperware, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Jbloom Jewelry, Riggs Chiropractic Fort Scott, Red Aspen, Bourbon County Health Dept., The Baby Stitch, Erica George Photography, The River Room (event center), Flying P Ranch, Kimberly Demko, Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, Desert Blooms Boutique, Locust Hill Lamanches (goat milk products).

 

 

Locara: Local Products/Services Listed on Internet Platform Courtesy of HBCAT

Submitted graphic of Locara’s home page.
 Locara Inc. is a new business partner with Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, HBCAT.
“Locara is a platform that supports small businesses by expanding their local customer base beyond word of mouth channels,” according to Tylor Hunn cofounder. “We offer a cost-effective and user-friendly e-commerce solution for these business owners to connect with local buyers.”
HBCAT has paid for up to 80 local businesses to have their products and services listed on the Locara platform for a year, which is a value of $60 per business, Hunn said.
Tylor Hunn. Submitted photo.
They launched their website on April 5,  https://www.locara.us  in partnership with HBCAT and their Dare to Dream event.
“Through our partnership with HBCAT, we are piloting our startup in the Fort Scott area, helping local businesses display their products and services and expand their reach,” Hunn said. “We believe that this partnership is a great opportunity to support the growth and success of small businesses in the community.”
Hunn is chief executive officer of the business and Ali Zia is his technical partner.
They are registered in a small town in upstate New York, Chittenango.

They have been in business for two months and have five employees.

“Locara provides a location-based platform for small businesses to list and showcase their products and services online,” he said. “This means that these businesses can create a digital storefront where they can display pictures, descriptions, and pricing of their products or services, just like in a physical store.”

“We realized that small, local businesses face a range of difficulties including limited resources, limited visibility, and challenges competing with larger corporations,” Hunn said. “We have also noticed a large movement towards people wanting to support local, but very few actually do because there is no easy way to discover all the businesses around them, but more specifically, discover what they are selling.”

Locara’s internet platform  centralizes all the small businesses in a community into a single storefront where local buyers can more easily find and purchase what they need, Hunn said.

Locara search results graphic, submitted.

“For example, imagine a local mother who makes and sells crafts from home but, from her experience sewing her kid’s clothes back together, she also wants to offer clothing repair services,” he said. “This woman can list each of the crafts and services she wants to sell. The community is then able to visit our website and browse through this mother’s products and services like they would be browsing on Amazon or Walmart’s website with the exception that everything listed on the website is from a local business. Our goal is to create an easier experience not only for small, local businesses to showcase what they sell, but also for buyers to find and make purchases from local businesses.”

 

Contact info:

 

ViCon Creations, A Three Generations Business

Connie McKee, Devlin Cole and Vicki Waldron in the ViCom Creations building on Maple Road, west of Fort Scott.

Connie McKee and her daughter, Vicki Waldron started a business together in 1996 called ViCon Creations LLC, and have done a variety of handiwork.

“We started with alterations (making clothes fit, that don’t fit),  then moved into interior decorations…awnings, horse stuff,” Waldron said. “A lady asked us to manufacture bra liners for Pam’s Bra’s. We worked about 10 years on that.”

They still do alterations, as noted on their Facebook page, which is a valuable service during prom and wedding season.

She does work for J & W Sports and Twister Trailers as well.

For the last seven years, Waldron has worked at Common Ground Coffee Shop in Fort Scott.

“I decided I’m done standing on my feet,” she said. “I decided to expand my sewing business.”

In August 2022 she started to revamp her sewing business.

Vicki Waldron shows one of her women’s fishing vest creations.

She creates purses, women’s fishing vests, and does machine quilting.

“Most people will make quilt tops, but need them quilted,” she said.

This year her granddaughter Erin Camp started making t-shirt quilts.

“She is paying off her college tuition (Northwest Missouri State) by making quilts. She makes the quilt tops and I bind and quilt it,” Waldron said.

Another granddaughter, Lauren Schalk, makes jewelry: Western style earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Schalk is attending Oklahoma State University. She is working with her grandmother for this business venture.

These two granddaughters are her information technology help, she said.

Her mother, Connie McKee makes toddler girl’s clothing.

“Mom comes in when she wants to work,” she said. McKee is retired.

Vickie Waldron shows toddler girls clothing that her mother Connie McKee makes.

What ever they make, they put online at www.viconcreations.com

Vicki prepares to attach an achievement badge to a letter jacket.
Vicki shows one of the purses the business makes.
Connie McKee works on a leather apron for her grandson, Devlin Cole.

A grandson, Devlin Cole, has shown an interest in creating leather items, she said

On the horizon for ViCon Creations is building a new work building to replace the remodeled chicken house the current business is located in.

She would like to teach sewing to young girls in the future, and “how to cook good meals,” she said.

“If young women come out here and learn to sew, I’ll give them a job,” she said.

Contact Waldron at 417.214.2599.

Downtowners Share Projects and Events at Chamber Meet and Greet

John Hill, President and CEO of City State Bank, speaks, as host of the Quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet. Hill said the bank has been in Fort Scott for 103 years and did a major remodel to its downtown branch in 2018.

Business owners and others interested in downtown Fort Scott met on April 4 at City State Bank to discuss upcoming events and projects.

The Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce hosted the Quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet, with President and CEO Lindsay Madison, leading.

Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lindsay Madison leads discussion at the Quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet on April 4 at City State Bank.

Following are the highlights:

The Fort Scott National Historic Site Civil War Encampment is April 15-16: Army re-enactors portray different parts of the war with live music, an author talk, horse and sabre drills to name a few.

Visitor numbers are up this year at The Fort and there is a goal of 30,000 visitors this year to the site.

Upcoming Chamber events in the next few months are the Town Wide Garage Sale on May 5-6, the farmers market starts May 6 with the garden club plant sale.

There will be no downtown clean-up this year.

There will be a new mural to replace the one facing Skubitz Plaza at the north end of Main Street. The current one, the Star Emporium, will be replaced with a historical one: depicting the Kansas 1st Colored Infantry.

A multi-purpose pavilion, which will house the twice weekly farmer’s market, was presented to the city’ design review committee for approval but was tabled until an artists rendition could be presented.

A welcome arch will be put up on Wall Street near the Chamber of Commerce office.

The Christmas Parade will be November 30, with the theme: Candy Land Christmas.

Christmas on the Bricks will be the first weekend in December,  and will include classic Christmas booths/vendors, photo backdrops for families, and later hours for downtown shops. This weekend also includes the candlelight tour at Fort Scott National Historic Site and an art sale at the Artificers. This new event will replace the Christmas in the Park event. Elevate Fort Scott is organizing the new event.

Trolley tours have started back for the season: Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A back up driver is needed to give the narrated tour. Contact the Chamber.

A Community Connection Panelist luncheon was April 5  at the Empress Event Center to help distribute government and local entities’ information.

There will be a job fair April 13 at the Ellis Fine Arts Center from 3-6 p.m.

The annual Chamber Dinner and Awards Celebration will be April 20 at the River Room Event Center.

Dare to Dream Women’s Entrepreneurship event is April 5 from 5-7 p.m. at the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Office. At this office is also the Small Business Development Center.

Grants available to small businesses through the Chamber: E-Community Loan and Grow Kansas.

Riggs Chiropractic is having its ribbon cutting on May 4, at a Chamber After Hours gathering.

Open Mortgage will have its ribbon cutting on May 11 along with a ribbon cutting and open house.

110 S. Main (former Scottish Rite Temple) has doubled its retail space this week. The owners are waiting on Evergy to repair the electric service to the building to open the cafe.

The Kitchen, located in the McDonald Hall building, is nearing completion and will offer retail space, four kitchen pods for rent and an outdoor eating space in back of the building when completed.

Hedgehog INK owner Jan Hedges said a visitor “was impressed with how the businesses are working together.”

The Iron Star owner Barbara Trimbur said one of her large windows was broken during the recent wind storm.

 

 

 

Young Couple Expands Farm Business

May be an image of 6 people, people standing and indoor
Dacia Clark, Bradie Terry, Jody Hoener, Noah Terry,  Rachel Carpenter and Lindsay Madison pause for a photo at the grant award ceremony on March 22.

Noah, 25, and Bradie Terry, 24, purchased their Bourbon County property in December 2020, after moving from Oregon.

“We were motivated to look further into the homestead lifestyle and wanted to take the knowledge we gained to pass it on to others in the community,” Bradie said. “We quickly realized the importance of knowing where your food comes from and how it is raised or grown. We both did not grow up with any background in agriculture or farming, so everything that you see us doing is learning-as-we-go and applying our time we spent studying these things to gaining hands-on knowledge.”

The name of the homestead business is The Shire, LLC.

“The name, The Shire, derives from a region in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional book, The Lord of the Rings,” Bradie said. “In this fictionist world, The Shire is a peaceful, fruitful, community that focuses on agriculture. Which is symbolism of the type of community that we want to build upon in Bourbon County. We are also both pretty short, so we also have the whole ‘hobbit’ thing going for us.”

Submitted photo. Cucumbers.
Submitted photo. Home canned pickles.

“Currently, we have a flock of free-ranged chickens that allow us to sell delicious eggs to the community,” she said.  “We are also growing cucumbers to produce pickles for a local restaurant.”

A picture containing grass, outdoor, outdoor objectDescription automatically generated
Submitted photo. A hen looks over eggs at the Shire.

The farm is located on the southeast side of Fort Scott near Ellis Park.

“We both work on the farm when time allows,” Bradie said. “Currently, my husband is in school and I work a full time job from home. Our goal is to transition one or both of us to working full time on the farm as we grow.”

They are the recipient of a Healthy Bourbon County Action Team (HBCAT) $10,000 Farmer/Rancher Grant.

“Our plans for the $10,000 farmer/rancher grant is to expand to our bee and dairy cow operation as well as expanding our garden for produce,” she said. “We will have bee hives and will breed our Jersey dairy cows by April of 2023, which will produce honey and raw milk by fall of 2024. The expansion of our garden operation will be done over the course of a couple of years and we hope to have a big greenhouse built by that time. The grant funds will also help us expand our chicken operation in order to have more eggs available to sell.”

One of the Shire cows. Submitted photo.

 

“We will jump into the world of beekeeping and milking our dairy cows within a year, which are two huge farm changes because we haven’t experience this before,” she said.

 

Chamber Coffee hosted by Woodland Hills Golf Course on April 6

 

The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to the Chamber Coffee this Thursday, April 6th at 8am. This week’s coffee will be hosted by Woodland Hills Golf Course located at 2414 Horton St. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.

Fort Scott’s Woodland Hills Golf Course was named a Top 10 golf course in Kansas by Best Things Kansas and number 6 in the entire state. Woodland Hills has also been named one of the best municipal courses in Kansas. Woodland Hills is an 18-hole park-style course, winding through beautiful scenery, with elevation changes and some of the best views in Bourbon County. Come enjoy one of Southeast Kansas’s hidden treasures at the Woodland Hills Golf Course.

 

Contact the Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 for more information.

 

Quarterly Downtown Meet & Greet scheduled for April 4th!

Quarterly Downtown Meet & Greet scheduled for April 4th!
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces a Downtown Meet & Greet will be held Tuesday, April 4th from 8:00-9:00 a.m. at City State Bank, 202 Scott Ave.
These informal, quarterly meetings are hosted by the Chamber for downtown business owners, representatives, and community members to network and share ideas on events, promotion and anything related to downtown.
Coffee, juice, and light refreshments will be served.
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members below!
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701

New Windows For the Kress Building

The Kress Building houses the Pizza Republic on the first floor at 17 S. Main Street. New windows were installed into the second floor, by Coon Rentals LLC. Submitted photo.

The Kress Building, an historic building at 17 S. Main St. got new windows on the second floor both front and rear of the building last week.

“When Kim and I bought the the building there were 10 new windows uninstalled,” said Robert Coon.

The Kress is owned by Robert and Kimberly Coon, Coon Rentals LLC who are continuing the effort ” to  help revitalize the downtown area of Fort Scott,” Coon said.

Also helping in the installation was an Amish group of workers, and Dakota Garcia LLC, Coon said.

 

Robert and Kimberly Coon. Submitted photo.

Coon said a retail business will open on the second floor of the building sometime this summer.

“They were waiting for us to install the windows,” he said. “The front 2,500 feet will be retail, the back 2,500 feet will be storage for the retail space.”

 

To see a recent history of the building;

Coon Rentals Purchases 17 S. Main

 

The building known for years as the Kress Building was sold to Coon Rentals LLC in 2021.

The building housed a grocery store on the first floor for a brief period in the COVID 19 Pandemic and also a sushi restaurant for a brief period.

The second floor was an office for the Bourbon County Workforce and Entrepreneur Resource Center at this time frame, organized by the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, which later moved to a different location.

 

 

 

Community Connection Panelist Luncheon April 5

The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Community Connection Panelist Luncheon on Wednesday, April 5th, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Empress Event Center, 7 N. Main St. Chamber members and the community are invited to attend for updates by the City of Fort Scott, Bourbon County, Fort Scott Community College, USD-234, USD-235,
and Bourbon County REDI.
The event is free to attend but registration is requested. Box lunches are available by pre-order for $10 and those need to be ordered by
April 3rd at 10am. Those planning to attend may RSVP here.
There will be a 7-minute update from each of the following panelists, ending with time for questions:
City of Fort Scott City Manager Brad Matkin
Bourbon County Commission Chair Jim Harris
FSCC President Alysia Johnston
USD-234 Superintendent Destry Brown
USD-235 Superintendent Vance Eden
Bourbon County REDI Executive Director Rob Harrington
Moderators for the event will be Bailey Lyons of Lyons Realty Group, 2023 Chamber Board Chair and Katie Casper, Union State Bank, Past Chamber Board Chair & Current Board Member.
This event is being sponsored by Davis Accounting, Inc. and Labconco.
Contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at 620-223-3566 for more information or visit fortscott.com.
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members
shown below!

April is National Safe Digging Month,

April is National Safe Digging Month, and Kansas Gas Service wants residents to know the easiest way to stay safe while excavating is by contacting 8-1-1 before starting any digging project.

 

This year, we’ll give out 50 trees to those who take the Safe Digging Pledge at BeADigHeroKansas.com.

 

The tree giveaway will kick off on April 1, 2023, and close on April 16, 2023.

Winners will be announced on Arbor Day – April 28.