Matt Harvey started his new business Fort Scott Rides LLC in September 2022 at 1202 E. Wall.

“I have been in the car business for 12 years and set a goal to own my own dealership, and (now) that part of my goal is done,” he said.

“We are just a sales location, no service,” Harvey said.

In addition to cars, his future business plan is to expand to motorcycles, all terrain vehicles and golf carts, he said.

Harvey is a member of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce and also supports and donates to many organizations, he said.

He can be reached at (620) 215-4219 or [email protected]

The business website is www.fortscottrides.com and for the latest information, view their Facebook page: fort scott rides.

Hours of operation are  8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and  9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Born and raised in Bourbon County, he is the son of Gary and Jackie Harvey.

He has three children, Kaitlyn-a beautician at Spoiled Brat, Tyler-who is doing social media/website duties for his dad’s business and also works at Bourbon County Corrections, and Jett-a senior at Uniontown High School.

Nedra Barr started the business, Spyder Inc., in 2021, and it is located at 102 W. 2nd. She is the CEO and founder.

The business develops software and sells it to the insurance industry.

This month the business is renaming to OnboardXI.

“The new name is short for Onboarding Experience Improvement,” she said.  “Our new name represents what we do for insurance companies and Insurance Marketing Organizations (IMO), which are our two target markets.  The Spyder name will be phased out once the new website is up and running over the next few weeks.”

Onboarding is the processing of a new application for insurance of any kinds, Barr said. “Once the application for insurance is completed by the customer, it goes to the Insurance Marketing Organization or directly to the insurance company to process and issue or decline the policy.  While I make this sound simple, these are highly complicated and technical work streams for insurance companies. Every insurance company is unique from another.”

“The OnboardXi solution is easily flexible and adaptable to accommodate each company’s differences,” she said. “Our platform connects systems together fast, processes new applications fast…. right the first time.  Pretty fun stuff!”

“What used to take months and years to setup for an insurance company, we can do in weeks to couple of months,” she said. “This will be a huge cost savings to insurance companies compared to older types of software solutions.”

“We liked the Spyder name but found it to be too common,” Barr said.  “As a result, we were not able to obtain the social media handles we need for marketing and sales.”

In today’s world, a business needs to use social media for presence, awareness and marketing, she said. ” We now have those capabilities with our new name.”

The OnboardXI Platform began demonstrations on  Feb. 3 to insurance companies and IMO’s  with a  rebranded rollout slated for March 1, 2023.

The business has a new low code, no code digital platform that is unique in the insurance industry, according to Mike Upright, CTO Founder.  All types of new insurance applications: home, auto, life, disability, annuities, worker’s compensation, etc. will be driven   through the application process in the client’s offices with the OnboardXI workflows.

OnboardXI  can help up-sell and cross-sell their client’s products and services, which are new capabilities in the market, Upright said.

“This year, 45% of all insurance companies are anticipated to have projects to improve upon the exact things the OnboardXI solution solves,” Upright said.

David Brezik, local Fort Scott resident and investor in the business, is also the OnboardXi Senior Vice President Product and Co-Founder.  He believes their business will have a “significant impact in the insurance marketplace. This is truly next level software that will revolutionize the insurance industry.”

“We know the impact and importance of our solution in the United States,” Senior Vice President Product Engineering and Co-Founder Arun Nageshwar said. “When we are ready, we will look to specific international markets to serve as well.”

For more information, contact Barr at [email protected]

To better serve travelers and the community, the Sleep Inn Hotel installed an electric vehicle charging station a few weeks ago.

An electric vehicle charging station is equipment that connects an electric vehicle (EV) to a source of electricity to recharge electric cars, neighborhood electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, according to https://www.techtarget.com

“We are only the second public charging station in town,” Sleep Inn Manager Bill Michaud said. “The only other one being Evergy with a single port station in front of their offices on Old Fort Blvd.”

The Sleep Inn is located at 320 E. Wall, Fort Scott.

Currently. Michaud knows of only one other hotel charging station in the area, in Overland Park.

“As far as hotels in southeast Kansas,  the Hampton Inn at Prairie Fire Casino is the only other hotel based EV station, ” Michaud said. We are hopeful that adding this station will open the doors to our community to the growing number of EV drivers.”

Michaud is in the process of adding the Sleep Inn charging station to the numerous station locator online apps. This makes it easy for drivers  to plan sites that can accommodate their electric vehicles   along a route.

“Our charger is a JuiceBar brand, two-port, 32 amp charger that operates on the EVConnect network,” he said. “To use the station you simply download the EVConnect app and use the station identifying QR code on the side of the charging station to activate the port.”

“The station is open to the public – not restricted to hotel guest use,” he said. “We just hope that making the charging station available will bring people to town that otherwise wouldn’t ,due to lack of charging options. I’m told that the 32amp charger will charge an EV at the rate of 25 miles per hour on the charger giving someone that’s plugged in for 12 hours up to 300 miles in driving range.”