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Rural Workforce Summit June 22
Category Archives: Business
Uniontown Receives Kansas Grant For a Mural
The City of Uniontown received a $2,250 grant from the Kansas Office of Rural Prosperity to have a mural painted in the town.
The grant for the mural was initiated by Mary Pemberton, who with her husband owns Bandera Stone, a dimension stone business in town.
Recently, they renovated a brick building on the north side of Uniontown’s square, at 103 Third Street.
“I have been considering a mural since we started renovations on the building,” she said. “I always notice murals when I travel and I think this location by the park is a perfect place to bring a little art to Uniontown.”
The Bandera Stone building has a large exposed eastern side, which can be viewed from the city park, across the street.
Pemberton read about the grant opportunity from the Kansas Office of Rural Prosperity and at first she wasn’t interested.
“But the promotion they do for the winners would get Uniontown some attention, not only locally but state-wide, so I decided to apply,” Pemberton said.
Danyell Miles, Fort Scott, is the artist selected by Pemberton to design and paint the mural.
Pemberton said they are finalizing all the details on the design but that it includes Bourbon County and Kansas iconic images with a special feature that pays homage to local authors.
“I have always been an avid reader so wanted to do something to incorporate books into the mural,” she said. “You’ll have to wait until the mural is finished and come see it in person to find this special feature. The mural is designed with a lot of elements that require you to spend a few minutes and look closely to really understand the significance of the details. The mural is also designed with selfie (photo) lovers in mind and will have one 3D element for photo opportunities. Danyell deserves all the credit for taking my unorganized ideas and putting them together to design a very unique and interesting mural.”
“Painting should start in late June,” Pemberton said. “We expect to have it completed in time for a grand reveal during the final Music in the Park event at Uniontown city park on August 11th.”
To prepare for the mural, the Pemberton’s had the brick wall tucked pointed and cleaned, plus put lighting along that side of the building.
The Grant
“Awardees are in communities across the state with less than 15,000 population,” according to a press release from Kansas Governor Kelly’s office. “The murals will highlight community gathering spaces and tourist attractions – and provide a welcome message for visitors and residents alike. Each of the projects requires a 1:1 match from the community, with the smallest of communities being allowed to match the grant with in-kind donations. 75% of the grant funding will be gifted upfront as several of the city projects plan to start in the next few weeks.”
Uniontown, in the western part of Bourbon County, has a population of approximately 300 people.
Fort Scott also received a grant for a mural through this program.
That story will be featured in an upcoming feature on fortscott.biz.
Bourbon County Rural Workforce Summit is June 22
What’s Happening in Fort Scott
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Weekend Activities Schedule Provided by Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce
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Young Entrepreneurs: at Fort Scott Farmers Market This Saturday
Several young children who are learning how to create their own business will have their wares on display and for sale at the Fort Scott Farmers Market this Saturday, June 3 from 8 a.m. to noon.
The event will be at Third and Main Street, behind the First United Methodist Church in that parking lot.
Children who attended a young entrepreneurs fair in the last year will be selling their wares and encouraging other children to start their own businesses
“Saturday is to get the word out and let other children see a small sample of inspiration for what they can be a part of,” Maria Whitson, one of the parent organizers said. “It will also allow the children who have created businesses a chance to sell their products.”
“We will have opportunities for kids to take their ideas and learn about how to turn it into a business,” she said. “Then we will give them an opportunity to launch and sell their products at the kid’s business fair later this year. More information will be available at the kid’s booths at the farmers market this weekend.”
The Acton Children’s Business Fair will be sponsoring a fair again this fall. To learn more: https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/
“There will be cash prizes for the event in the fall,” Whitson said.
Whitson and Melanie Lamb are the parent organizers who will be available to answer questions on Saturday.
Some of the children who will participate:
“This weekend kids will be having their booths to inspire others to be entrepreneurs,” she said. “Kids who already have set up their own business to inspire others.”
In addition, there will be handouts for a class in September that the youth can participate in, Whitson said.
The farmers market has changed spaces this Saturday only, to accommodate the Good Ol’ Days annual celebration in downtown Fort Scott.
Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas to Host Forum for Professional Advisors
The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas (CFSEK) will host the 2023 Estate Planning Forum in the large conference room of The Foundry at Block22 in downtown Pittsburg on Tuesday, June 13.
The full–day Forum, hosted annually in partnership with Foulston Siefkin LLP of Wichita, is open to Southeast Kansas attorneys, CPAs, insurance professionals, and financial advisors. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the first session will begin at 10:00 a.m.
Attendees will learn about new developments in the field of estate planning, earn up to six hours of continuing–education credit, and enjoy a free lunch from Chatters courtesy of CFSEK.
This year’s Forum includes sessions on legal ethics; a comparison of probate–avoidance devices;
drafting advice to minimize family disharmony; drafting support and discretionary trusts; and recent developments in estate planning, including the effects of recent changes on charitable
giving. Sessions will be taught by Foulston Siefkin’s Tim O’Sullivan, JD, LLM, and Corey Moomaw, JD, LLM.
The Forum has been approved for 6 hours of CLE credit (including one hour of ethics credit) and 5 hours of insurance CE credit. It also offers a recommended 5 hours of CPE credit for accountants and 5 hours of PACE credit for qualifying financial advisors.
Registration is required for this event. Professional advisors who want to attend the 2023 Estate Planning Forum can register by completing the online form at
SoutheastKansas.org/forum2023/, emailing joshua.mccloud@southeastkansas.org, or calling
(620) 231–8897.
***
Chamber After Hours/Ribbon Cutting on May 25 at M’axe Throw House
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Electric Transmission Line Approved For Route Through Bourbon County
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Taco Azul Food Truck: A Mom and Pop Business
Erin and Sebastian Macik, Fort Scott, are owners of Taco Azul, a food truck that they hope will turn into a restaurant business.
They make Mexican street tacos, using pork, beef, or chicken, in flour tortillas or handmade corn tortillas; homemade salsas, and also street corn on the side, Erin said.
“We’ve been prepping and planning for over a year now,” Erin said. “Sebastian picked up the food truck in April, and we plan to fire it up at the Good Ol’ Days festival here in Fort Scott at the beginning of June.”
“We hope to open up a restaurant in the future, but for the short term, our plan is to stay local and get a good customer base before expanding,” she said.
“You will see us at Fort Scott’s Good Ol’ Days Festival to kick off the summer, and then we’ll be set up by the Washateria on National Avenue for the most part,” Erin said. “We’ll be posting consistently on Facebook so people know where to find us. We are really looking forward to the summer!”
Sebastian Macik taught third grade in Mexico City, and discovered true Mexican street tacos while he was there.
“Coming back state-side in 2014, he started searching for the real deal in the U.S. without much luck,” she said. “All that time he was working on his own tacos: making his own salsas and corn tortillas, trying out various marinades and cooking techniques, until they became exactly what he was looking for. When the opportunity arose to get a food truck, it was a no-brainer. We’re excited to offer this in Fort Scott! Mexico City-style tacos are unlike anything you can find at any chain restaurant in the United States.”
Contact info:
The Artificers June Happenings
The Artificers In JuneHappy June! Check out the calendar below for all the classes and events happening this Month! |
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Artist Opening ReceptionMaster ArtistPhillip Ortiz, Mixed Media Artist |
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Two Economic Development Projects Moving Forward: Pork Processing Plant, Sports Complex
A meat processing plant is back in the works for Bourbon County.
“I have been working to bring about the meat processing plant, a pork processing plant,” Fort Scott Mayor Matthew Wells said in an interview.
Billy Madison is the owner of the business, S.H. Pork Processing.
“This plant will provide farmers with an outlet for their pork processing,” Madison said. “And provide 15-30 new jobs.”
To view a prior 2021 story on Madison’s pork processing plant coming to Fort Scott:
https://fortscott.biz/news/48890
2023 plans have changed location
In 2021, the project was to be just south of the LaRoche Baseball Complex, but that was changed to a location agreed to by Madison and the City of Fort Scott.
“At this juncture I am not at liberty to say the location,” Wells said.
Wells noted that nothing has been signed, nor no one committed to this yet.
“The city approved to send out letters to respective parties involved (at a special Fort Scott city meeting on May 17) and (will) survey the property to define the boundaries and move forward in the process of securing the land,” Wells said.
Following completion of this preliminary work, the Fort Scott Planning Commission will get involved, Wells said in the May 17 special city meeting.
In the 2021, the pork processing plant site was to be located on 47 acres south of the Kansas Department of Transportation facility on Hwy. 69 south of the LaRoche Ball Park.
“That place didn’t have an entrance and we spent eight months getting an entrance to get on the property to do the engineering of the property,” Billy Madison, owner of the proposed meat plant said in a fortscott.biz interview on May 17.
Madison said that in March 2023, he “received an order to cease and desist in the (pork processing plant) plans from Rob Harrington (Director of the Regional Economic Development Inc.), “because they are going to build a sports complex there,” he said.
Sports Complex
At the May 16 regular Fort Scott City Commission meeting, Rob Harrington asked the city to authorize establishing STAR Bond and TIF District financing tools as part of the sports complex planning.
Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bonds are a financing tool that allows Kansas municipalities to issue bonds to finance the development of major commercial, entertainment and tourism projects, according to https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/community-programs/star-bonds/. The bonds are paid off through the sales tax revenue generated by the development. The intent is to increase regional and national visitation to Kansas.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a real estate redevelopment tool applicable to industrial, commercial, intermodal transportation area and residential projects, https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/taxes-and-financing/tif/. TIF uses the increases in real estate tax revenues and local sales tax revenues to retire the bonds sold to finance eligible redevelopment project costs (K.S.A. 12-1770 et seq.) or to reimburse the developer on a pay-as-you-go basis.
This project will require many steps because they will be working with the developer, the county, the state and the city council.
At the city meeting on May 16, Fort Scott City Attorney Bob Farmer told the Fort Scott City Council that they will have to partner with the Bourbon County Commission, because some of the proposed land is theirs.
The sports complex developer, along with the Kansas Department of Commerce, will look at a list of the developer’s ideas, then the state has to see if it is eligible, Farmer told the city council.