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Category Archives: Business
Freedom Farm Is Working Towards Agri-Tourism and Collaborations
As a family unit, Kylene and Gary Palmer and their daughters, are in the process of turning their farm near Fort Scott into a business model that is a resource for consumers and producers.
Many of the plans on Freedom Farm are “projects in motion”, said Kylene.
“We haven’t ‘arrived’ yet, she said, but they do have thoughtful plans and projects that they are currently seeking grants to build.
“We want to build a resource and outlet for local farmers that have sustainable practices to sell straight to consumers,” she said.” We are working on formulating the structure for a co-op that is both beneficial to the consumer and producer.”
“We are constructing a central hub at our farm to host farm tours, educational programs, a small market for local farmers and a certified kitchen as a resource for farmers, among other things,” Palmer said.
“We are super excited about the grant we received from the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team,” she said. “We plan to use those funds to build a freezer/cooler in order to have space to ramp up production of our meat and eggs.”
They have dreams of a small, by appointment only, on-farm restaurant.
“The idea there is less about a restaurant and more about connecting consumers to local farmers,” she said. “We would love to have guest chefs from our local community and surrounding areas to keep things new and exciting and really make it a community offering.”
Agricultural bus tours are on the horizon for Freedom Farms.
“We have been doing much building and property maintenance to work towards that goal of hosting agriculture bus tours as one of the stops here in Bourbon County,” she said. “We are signed up for the Big Kansas Road trip in May for anyone wanting to stop by and visit or ask questions.”
“One of the many ways the certified kitchen would be put into use would be to offer on-farm lunch to the bus tour participants,” she said. “We would love to work together with local farms to achieve that goal.”
Currently, Freedom Farm produces and sells eggs, pastured poultry, lamb, and a minimal amount of goat.
“It is a family affair, ” she said. “I do most of the day-to-day chores along with help from our children. My eldest daughter has started her own lamb herd and another daughter is in the beginning stages of growing her goat herd. Gary oversees the planning and marketing and is involved every day after work hours. Everyone is involved at many different levels and we hope to employ others as we grow.”
Dancers Purchase Downtown Scottish Rite Temple
so we can better assess the condition of the building and mechanical systems,” she said. “Once electricity and water are in place, we can begin to better evaluate the interior and formalize plans to repurpose the ground floor space.”
Lassoed Memories Opens New Studio:Grand Opening March 12
To contact George, phone: 620-381-4783 her Facebook page: Erika George Photography or by email: [email protected]
KS Gas Service Allowed to Recover Last Winter’s Gas Costs
KCC approves settlement agreement allowing Kansas Gas Service to recover last winter’s gas costs from third-party marketers and certain large transportation customers
TOPEKA – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has approved a settlement agreement outlining how Kansas Gas Service (KGS) will recover costs incurred to meet the demand of the company’s transportation customers during last February’s winter storm. Unlike sales customers, who contract directly with KGS for gas, transportation customers purchase gas from gas producers or through a gas marketer. The purchased gas is then provided to KGS and delivered through KGS pipelines to transportation customers. Examples of transportation customers include some municipal utilities, businesses, schools, and churches.
What is normally a straightforward transaction was complicated by the high demand and limited supplies during the winter storm. Some gas marketers did not provide adequate gas to KGS in order to ensure uninterrupted service to transportation customers threatening the integrity of KGS’s entire system. Under an emergency order from the KCC designed to protect the health and safety of Kansans, KGS was obligated to make up the difference to ensure gas was available to all customers, including transportation customers.
Under the settlement agreement, KGS will recover approximately $52 million of the $58 million of calculated supply shortfalls in the negotiated gas cost penalty payments from marketers and transportation customers. Due to the extraordinary costs from the winter storm, KGS also requested a waiver from a provision in its tariff that would have allowed a multiplier penalty to be applied to the amount owed. The Commission granted the waiver. In the absence of the waiver, penalties could have been as much as $888 million, potentially sending many entities into bankruptcy and resulting in great harm to the State’s economy.
Had KGS been unable to recover costs from marketers and transportation customers, those costs would have fallen to residential and small commercial customers. The settlement also avoids costly litigation and further delays.
Today’s order makes clear that the Commission’s decision to waive penalties is not to be viewed as precedential and not to assume penalties will be waived again if a similar situation occurs in the future. In addition, the order states that any proceeds received by KGS from ongoing federal or state investigations into market manipulation, price gouging or civil suits will be passed on to customers.
Today’s order is available at: http://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/ViewFile.aspx?Id=6378bf46-4736-4fc7-bbfb-47a48bba916d
A recording of today’s Business Meeting featuring comments by Commissioners on this order, is available on the KCC YouTube channel.
KOMB Radion Auction Today And Tomorrow
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Labor/Housing and Retail Studies To Be Conducted By Bourbon County Eco Devo
There is a shortage of workers and also quality housing in the county.
The Bourbon County Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI) organization is working to address that problem.
“They will also be giving the REDI Board a strategic plan based on the data we receive,” he said REDI is paying for the study
Chamber Coffee at Angie Dawn’s Boutique
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Young Mom Turns Creative Outlet into Business
Genna Gilbert, 23, is a stay-at-home mom who is turning a creative outlet, arts and crafts, into a business to benefit herself and her family.
The business is called Made With Love by Genna.
She started doing artwork at 16-years-old to “get away from reality,” Gilbert said. “Painting/crafting helped me escape and get away from all the negativity that was going on in my life at the time.”
Then people started noticing her art and asking her to do some painting for them.
That began the process of selling her work. This year she made it an official business, she said.
She paints on metal, resin, glass, clay, and wood, creating items from earrings, drinking cups to windows. “A lot of things, custom artwork,” she said.
She does most of her work at her dining room table, with her husband Dante assisting her with paperwork and “cutting wood,” she said.
In the near future, she is hoping to put items online and in addition, have painting sessions for children and adults.
To contact her see her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MadeWithLoveByGenna or email her at [email protected]
Hedghog INK: March Is National Reading Month
Fresh Produce Can be Delivered to Your Door: 1553 Plants and Produce Farm
A local entrepreneurial farm couple has been planning and planting during this dormant season time planning their new products and services.
HBCAT Awards Local Grants
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team to Award $42,000 in Grants
Fort Scott, KS: Health is economic stability. The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, Inc. (HBCAT) aims to increase access to wealth building opportunities to Bourbon County residents through our local and regional partnerships at the Action Team’s Centers for Economic Growth. Providing local businesses expertise and guidance, particularly in these very turbulent times, has shown to be a critical resource to increase the number of business start-ups and number of available quality jobs.
HBCAT will be awarding six grants totaling $42,000 on March 7th in their office at 104 N Nation Fort Scott, KS 66701 at 12 pm. The event will be broadcast live on Facebook and is also open for the public to attend in person and celebrate the grant awardees. With the support of the Patterson Family Foundation, the HBCAT will award a total of $145,000 to low-income, minority owned, women owned or food-based businesses over the next two years. Each grantee is a client of the Pittsburg State Small Business Development Center (PSU SBDC) at the Action Team’s Center for Economic Growth. There will be a total of four grant cycles in the next two years.
Please join us in congratulating following businesses:
Two farmer/rancher recipients ($10,000 each):
Freedom Farms
The Palmers are taking an innovative approach to sustainability by developing a farm co-op business model. They are able to help Bourbon County residents increase access to healthier food by allowing them to buy directly from the producer. It is important for them to educate their customers on where their food is coming from, they have opened their farm for visitors through agritourism. HBCAT is excited to share their vision of seeing a healthier Bourbon County.
1553 Plants and Produce
The Wunderlys are removing the barriers for their community to access healthier food by establishing a weekly delivery system. Through this process they create relationships with their customers and understand their target market. They now have a wholesale relationship with a local restaurant to incorporate their produce in their menu.
Restaurant/Food Retail Recipient ($7000):
Dry Wood Creek
Martin Elton is former president of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association. With this experience he is able to bring a unique perspective to his business model and the relationships with other restaurants. He is increasing access to healthy food by having a wholesale relationship with a local farmer and incorporating it in his menu.
3 Low-Income, Minority, or Women Owned Startup Businesses Recipients ($5,000 each):
Eighteen65
Bailey Lyons, along with her husband Nate, purchased the historic McDonald Hall building downtown with a plan to restore the building and create commercial and residential spaces that will be available for rent. There is a strong need in the community for quality rental spaces, and a high demand for these in the historic downtown area. Bailey is wanting to help meet this need. More businesses operating downtown, coupled with more people living or staying downtown, will generate increased spending in the area, more foot traffic, and overall increased vitality.
Made With Love: By Genna
Genna Gilbert is turning her creative hobby into a business. She sells tumblers, earrings, pens, signs, and she even does custom orders. She is wanting to work with other artists to hold craft workshops geared towards children. She is excited to create her own wealth and provide for her family.
Writers Edge
Kim Carpenter decided to take a step of faith and use her experience and education to create a proofreading business. Marketing and getting the message across clearly is essential to nearly every business. Kim is wanting to help businesses by providing her professional skills of copy editing and proofreading to help support the local economy.
The HBCAT Grant program is funded by the Patterson Family Foundation with the intention of increasing access to resources that will provide opportunity for economic stability, reduce poverty, and instill hope for upward mobility in employment. Each applicant is required to enroll with the PSU SBDC at the Center for Economic Growth and work with a local team to develop a sustainable business plan with financial projections.
Food retail/restaurant and farmer/rancher grants have an additional eligibility requirement to build and document wholesale relationships.
Some of the most common reasons for advancing programs that support local foods are that local food production:
- Provides incentives for entrepreneurship and innovation;
- Expands consumer choice and fresh food access;
- Improves negotiating power to local producers;
- Supports rural economic revitalization; and
- Protects the food system against severe shocks through decentralization of production.
According to Smart Growth America, in today’s world business growth is driven by collaboration among many types of entities, private, companies, universities, and others, that must interact frequently and work together creatively. HBCAT’s Center for Economic Growth is the epitome of this new model. The HBCAT’s Center for Economic Growth is a multi-partner collaboration of the HBCAT, Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce, PSU Small Business Development Center (PSU SBDC), Southeast KANSASWORKS, Fort Scott Community College, and multiple local business owners.
PSU SBDC is available to businesses to provide the technical assistance needed for economic planning of rural businesses to obtain capital, develop marketing strategy, and more. Southeast KANSASWORKS is the Local Workforce Development Board (LWDB) that serves 17 counties in Southeast Kansas, including Bourbon County. Southeast KANSASWORKS contributes to economic growth and business expansion by ensuring the workforce system is job-driven, matching employers with skilled individuals.
if you want to know how to become eligible, please contact Rachel Carpenter by emailing [email protected]
Find us on social media! On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter #healthybbco
Background of The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team:
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team is a Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways to Healthy Kansas Community. Its mission is to increase access to healthy food and physical activity, promote commercial tobacco cessation, enhance quality of life and encourage economic growth. The problems of health inequity and social injustice are complex in nature and inextricably linked to key economic indicators. A healthy workforce is a prerequisite for economic success in any industry and in all cities.
Contact information:
Jody Hoener, President and CEO
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, Inc
620-215-5725
Rachel Carpenter, Program Coordinator
The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, Inc
620-215-2562
Mary Hunt, Interim Operations Director
Southeast KANSASWorks
Desk: 620-232-1222
Cell: 620-670-0006
Website: www.sekworks.org
Dacia Clark, Assistant Director, PSU SBDC
785-445-2537
Lindsay Madison, President and CEO
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
(620) 223-3566
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or
(3) email: [email protected].
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
- Exceptions to Including the Full USDA Nondiscrimination Statement