Category Archives: Business

Area News, Business

Evergy Will Recover 2021 Winter Storm Costs

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KCC approves agreement allowing Evergy to recover 2021 winter storm costs from Central customers and credit Metro customers for sales

TOPEKA – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has approved a non-unanimous settlement agreement allowing Evergy to recover extraordinary costs incurred during the February 2021 winter storm from Kansas Central customers (formerly Westar) and credit Kansas Metro customers (formerly KCP&L) for the sale of excess power back to the Southwest Power Pool during that same time. The Central and Metro divisions are owned by the same parent company, Energy, Inc., but operate separately.

Under the settlement agreement approved today, the average Evergy Central residential customer’s monthly bill is expected to increase by $2.82 for two years beginning in April 2023. The average Evergy Metro residential customer will see a $6.60 monthly credit for one year.

KCC Staff, the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB), Evergy and the Kansas Electric Power Cooperative supported the settlement. Kansas Industrial Consumers, the Natural Gas Transportation Customer Coalition, and Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing, LLC opposed it, claiming it unjustly shifts costs from residential customers to industrial customers and fails to reward conservation efforts.  The Commission rejected those arguments, finding that within each customer class, some customers made efforts to conserve, while other customers did not.  Thus, there is no evidence to suggest reallocation on a class-wide basis would only reward customers who curtailed their energy usage.

“The Commission reiterates the unique nature of Winter Storm Uri and the extraordinary costs it produced.  As the Opponents of the Non-Unanimous Settlement acknowledge, Winter Storm Uri caused unprecedented financial harm throughout Kansas.  Likewise, the evidence demonstrates that some customers in all rate classes conserved electricity and assisted in avoiding a system-wide failure, like Texas experienced.”

“The evidence before the Commission suggests that, under the circumstances, the Non-Unanimous Settlement represents the lowest interest rate and the lowest customer impact of all Kansas utilities for Winter Storm Uri related costs.”

The order also states that any proceeds received by Evergy from ongoing federal or state investigations into market manipulation, price gouging or civil suits will be passed on to customers subject to winter storm recovery charges.

Today’s order can be viewed on the Commission’s website at Document Details (ks.gov)

A recording of today’s Business Meeting featuring comments by Commissioners on this order is available on the KCC YouTube channel.

Business, Fort Scott

Fort Scott Software Business Is Recognized Internationally

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Spyder, Inc, local software company, led by CEO, Nedra Barr and Chief Technology Officer Mike Upright was recently recognized by Data Magazine, UK, as one of the “Best Cloud Data Services Startups and Companies” in Kansas.  “We are thrilled to be recognized by experts monitoring our space.  These experts collect data on companies then rank them by categories, states, etc” said CEO Nedra Barr.  “For Spyder to be recognized is amazing and showcases the hard work and efforts we have been putting in over the past 15 months.

The Spyder solution uses IBM Watson and Microsoft Azure to serve the insurance and financial services industries.

Spyder has big plans to assist the Fort Scott/Bourbon County community.  Providing good paying jobs with great benefits is something desperately needed in the local community.  Spyder’s minimum annual salary is higher than Fort Scott’s median wage.  “Good paying jobs with benefits goes along way to help restore this wonderful community back to the glory days of the Western Insurance Companies, where good jobs were plentiful.  These efforts will assist community efforts to attract a hospital group which is so important to our local community,” Barr said. “We believe the town is on the upswing. The downtown buildings are looking great, small businesses are plentiful, and the pride in this community is amazing. We think this community is ripe for a company like Spyder.  It is truly exciting to be a part of such an important effort for this community.”

In July, Spyder will be raising their funding round to launch into growth mode.

“We have built and tested our basic infrastructure storage product and now ready to begin enhancing and adding larger product features and modules into the product,” she said.  “In addition, we will be ready to launch our sales team into enterprise opportunities within large insurance and financial services firms in the next few months” said Upright. “Spyder’s products drive efficiencies within these large organizations saving them time and money.  It is important for Spyder to raise this round of funding locally.  We want to protect Spyder from being funded then pulled out of Fort Scott as our headquarters.  We are building Spyder for our community to benefit from, so protecting the Fort Scott location is important to us.”

Spyder will host a luncheon in late July for interested potential investors to learn more about how Spyder will help the local community and their markets.  Interested parties may reach out to Nedra Barr or Mike Upright to be added to the invite list.  [email protected], [email protected]

 

Like and follow us on Linkedin

Spyder, Inc:    https://www.linkedin.com/company/72467939/admin/

Nedra Barr:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nedra-barr-28ab589b/

Mike Upright: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeluprightjr/

 

 

 

Business, Kansas

Give Opinion on Evergy’s Energy Effeciency Program Proposal

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Kansas Corporation Commission schedules public hearing and
comment period on Evergy’s energy efficiency program proposal

TOPEKA – The Kansas Corporation Commission invites Evergy customers to attend a virtual public hearing to learn more about the company’s proposed energy efficiency programs and share their feedback with Commissioners.

Evergy has filed an application with the KCC requesting approval of a portfolio of nine energy efficiency and demand-side management programs for residential and business customers (Docket No. 22-EKME-254-TAR). If approved, the programs would be in effect from 2023 through 2026.

The public hearing will take place online, via Zoom, on Monday, June 27, 2022, from 6 to 8 p.m. CT. To make a public comment at the hearing, attendees should register on the KCC website (https://kcc.ks.gov/your-opinion-matters) by noon June 27. For those who don’t plan to speak, no registration is necessary. The hearing will be broadcast live on the Commission’s YouTube channel and recorded for later viewing.

In addition to the hearing, the Commission will accept written comments about the programs through 5 p.m., July 8, 2022 on its website, by mail or by calling the KCC at 785-271-3140 or 800-662-0027.

Business, Entertainment, Fort Scott

M’Axe Throw House Is Open in Fort Scott

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M’Axe Throw House doesn’t have a sign up yet, but is located at 212 E. First Street.

A year in the making, the M’Axe Throw House is open as of the first of June 2022.

Similar to darts, axe throwing is a sport in which the competitor throws an axe at a target, attempting to hit as close as possible to a bullseye, according to https://bargames101.com/axe-throwing-101.

A few of the rules are: 1) no one with sandals on may throw and 2) children can throw if under age 18, but parents must be there also.

Mac Stoughton began working on the building storefront that would house his axe throwing sport business in April 2021. It is located at 212 E. First Street, between Scott Avenue and State Streets in Fort Scott, near the downtown area.

Mac Stoughton. Submitted photo.

“It took me that long because the building was in bad shape,” Stoughton said. By day he works at Stoughton Electric and Heating and Air Conditioning.

“We opened Good Ol’Days Weekend,” Stoughton said. “We offer entertainment and participating in a league.”

For walk in customers, he provides axes to throw.

League players have their own axes, he said.

For walk-in customers, the cost if $25 for 1.5 hours and he also offers knife throwing for $35 for 1.5 hours.

There are four seasons for axe throwing leagues and the first summer league event was on June 13.

“There are eight weeks of game play, then on week eight, we hold a tournament,” he said.

He currently has one employee, Cassandra Hueston.

Stoughton began an interest in axe throwing when looking for something to do, other than baseball, he said.

He found Main Street Axe Corp, in Pittsburg and started playing there in 2019.

“It sparked an interest,” he said. “I went on to enter three national championships. I placed in the top 20, a couple of times. In Tulsa there were 350 in the tournament, from all over the nation.”

 

Business, Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Health Insurance Info Sessions for Business/Organizations Today

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REMINDER:
Attend 1 of 3 informational sessions tomorrow on the Chamber Health Insurance to be offered to members through BCBS of KS…
June 22nd (Wednesday)
8:30am, 12pm, or 3pm
Sleep Inn Conference Room
302 E. Wall St.
Your business/organization only needs
to have two W-2 employees to qualify
and no maximum number!
Fort Scott Area
Chamber of Commerce announces
Chamber Blue
Health Insurance Offering
We are excited to announce we are
joining forces with CCEKS (Chamber of Commerce Executives of Kansas),
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, and
37 other Chambers across the state to offer
an association health plan to our members for your business or organization.
Join us for an informational session about
the plan on Wednesday, June 22nd at the
Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Room:
3 time options of 8:30am, 12pm, 3pm
Click here to register to attend one of the sessions so we will know how many to expect.
See brochure below or click here to view more info. on Chamber Blue on our website.
*Businesses or organizations do not have to be a
Chamber member to attend the informational sessions to learn more and get rate quotes, but will need to become a member to enroll in the insurance when the time comes.
Click here for a printable copy of the brochure shown above.
Cristy Mitchell of BCBS of KS and Chamber member
Don Doherty of Northwestern Mutual Life,
RPS Benefits, Inc. will be in attendance at the informational sessions to provide all the details and answer questions.
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members shown below!
Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce | 231 E. Wall Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701
Business, Entertainment, Fort Scott, Youth

Rock Ballet Recital: See Area Dancers Strut their Stuff

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Kristin Gorman. Submitted photo.

Kristin Lewis Gorman is the owner and director of Rock Ballet, a Fort Scott dance instruction studio.

Her dance instruction recital is at 7:30 p.m. on June 24 and 25 at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, on the campus of Pittsburg State University.

From the Rockballet recital in 2021. Submitted photos.

Gorman said the dancers are all getting very excited right about now.

She is as well, but last years recital is giving her confidence that this one too, will be a great performance for the dancers.

“Having one recital under my belt, I’m feeling a tiny bit less frantic at this point,” she said.

“Our dress rehearsal is Wednesday, June 22 and the shows will be Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m.” she said.

 

At the Rockballet debut recital,June 2021, at the Bicknell Center.

 

Rockballet Dancers. Submitted photo.

“I would love to get our online- reserved seating- ticket link out there to everyone in Fort Scott because last year so many people told me after the fact that they hated that they didn’t even know about the show,” she said. “My fault totally, I just ran out of time.”

“It is super easy to purchase tickets using the link,  as it is all done online through Tutu Tix,” she said.

Click below to purchase tickets for the event:

https://buy.tututix.com/rockballet

http://www.therockballet.com

Backstage at the 2021 recital. Submitted photos.

Her email is [email protected] and the website is therockballet.com

Her mission: “Building confident, graceful, dynamic dance-athletes from the ground up”

Click Here To Register For Dance Classes

Rockballet Dancers, the Broadway Babies,  on stage in 2021. Submitted photos.
Bourbon County, Business, Food, Jobs

Dairy’s Future: Less and Bigger Farms AND More Technology

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David and Addi Foster with their children. Submitted photo.
June is National Dairy Month and fortscott.biz interviewed David and Lynda Foster, whose family operates Foster Dairy Farm southwest of Fort Scott on Hwy. 39 to get their perspective on the current state and the future of the dairy industry.
David and his wife, Addi, are in partnership with his mom and dad, Lynda and Gary Foster.
Lynda and Gary Foster, from her Facebook page.
Lynda’s grandfather, Ed Davis began the farm in the 1940s, she said.
Now the fifth generation, David and Addi’s oldest daughters, Ansley, 15, and Mayla, 13 are helping on the farm.
The following is an interview with David and Lynda.
Tell about the state of dairy farms in Kansas.
“Currently there are 209 dairy farms in Kansas and while we may have lost numbers of dairy farming operations, we are growing in cow numbers with Kansas currently having about 142,000 mature milking cows,” Lynda Foster said. “Kansas is ranked 15th in the nation.”
“There is a new Hillmar Cheese plant in construction expected to come online in about 2.5 years from now, where we also expect to see an additional 100,000 cows to be added to the state,” she said.
The Hillmar Cheese Processing Plant will be a state-of-the-art facility in Dodge City, in western Kansas.
How did the pandemic effect your farm?

“We experienced primarily supply chain disruptions,” David Foster said. “It didn’t change the work that needed to be done daily. We still traveled to get supplies like alfalfa, and feed and mineral. It canceled annual meetings in organizations that we are a part of. Like everyone, there were certain precautions that were to be made if someone got sick.”

What is happening now in the industry?
“Exports are still up,  and expected to be higher this year, 1 in 6 semi tanker loads of milk gets exported” Lynda said.
“Milk prices are on the rise and setting records in some areas, so are a lot of our inputs, especially feeds, fertilizers, fuels – all of these input costs are outpacing the increased milk price,” she said. “Some of the most notable current events in the dairy industry was, of course, the baby formula shortage.”
What is on the horizon for the dairy industry from your perspective?
“I believe that we will continue to see consolidation, dairy farms getting larger, smaller farms disappearing,” David said.  “I believe that the days of families deriving their sole income from the dairy are gone. Today, a farmer on a smaller dairy, less than 300 cows, needs a spouse off-farm to make it and provide for their families additional income as well as health insurance.”
“Automated Milking Systems will continue to grow in use and will allow farms to alleviate the woes associated with a depleted/barely existent labor market,” he said. “Recent reports showed that for every person that doesn’t have a job, there are 2 jobs available.  This means that farming operations struggle to compete in wages against other industries and also struggle to entice labor due to the traditional physical demands and long hours of a farming operation.”
Automatic, or robotic,milking systems usually operate without someone being present to supervise the milking process and have been in use for the past decade on commercial farms, according to sciencedirect.com
The Foster’s have an automated milking system that allows the cows to come in at will when they need milked. Submitted photo.
“I believe that you will see dairy farms continue to diversify operations to include other agricultural ventures that complement milking and farming, such as trucking or custom harvest, and hay operations,” he said.
  “Technologies such as methane digestors will allow a value-added return from cow manure and allow dairies to derive additional profits,” David said. “Dairies will utilize solar and wind to reduce peak energy costs.”
“I am always probing and putting efforts into exploring options for emerging technologies that would make our operation more efficient,” David said.  “The goal of sustainability is always to do more with less. We are the only dairy left in Bourbon County and one of a few left in all of southeast Kansas. There may be interest in adding on-farm processing in the future to serve the needs of this 4-state area with a local, quality, nutritional product.”
“I believe with food shortages touted and supply disruptions experienced, we will continue to feel an increasing demand for consumers to want to source local,” he said. “We saw this ramp up significantly in the beef industry as consumers wanted to buy direct from the farmer. We see this in farmer’s markets. Other areas have supported their local operations, and we may not be far from considering, but to expand our operations to include processing, or other technologies, we have to expand our team of people that can share our vision and hopes for a better future.”
“Some of the biggest obstacles I see for dairy and maybe shared by all businesses, will be labor, inflation, which is then tied to interest and increased taxes, and supply prices and availability,” David said.
Business, Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Offers Health Plan to Local Businesses and Organizations

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Fort Scott Area
Chamber of Commerce announces
Chamber Blue
Health Insurance Offering
We are excited to announce we are
joining forces with CCEKS (Chamber of Commerce Executives of Kansas),
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, and
37 other Chambers across the state to offer
an association health plan to our members for your business or organization.
Join us for an informational session about
the plan on Wednesday, June 22nd at the
Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Room:
3 time options of 8:30am, 12pm, 3pm
Click here to register to attend one of the sessions so we will know how many to expect.
See brochure below or click here to view more info. on Chamber Blue on our website.
*Businesses or organizations do not have to be a
Chamber member to attend the informational sessions to learn more and get rate quotes, but will need to become a member to enroll in the insurance when the time comes.
Click here for a printable copy of the brochure shown above.
Cristy Mitchell of BCBS of KS and Chamber member
Don Doherty of Northwestern Mutual Life,
RPS Benefits, Inc. will be in attendance at the informational sessions to provide all the details and answer questions.
Thank you to our Chamber Champion members shown below!
Business, Fort Scott

New Auto Detail Business Owner Follows His Passion

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Submitted photo of Chance Gosewisch.
Chance Gosewisch (pronounced Go-switch), 25, started his auto detailing business in May 2022, called Prestige Auto Spa & Ceramic Coatings.
He offers professional auto detailing, specializing in paint correction, ceramic coatings, interior detailing, waxing, paint sealants, headlight restoration, LED installment according to his Facebook page. And he is willing to tackle marine, RV, SXS’s, quads and motorcycle coatings/corrections
“I started this business because God had placed it on my heart to follow my passion and what fuels my soul,” Gosewisch said. “I love cars and have always had a passion for them. I especially love taking care of them and preserving their beauty and sharing my passion with others.”
 “I am professionally licensed, trained and certified as well, through a prestigious school with elite leaders in this industry,” he said.
The business is offering a Father’s Day special on Facebook for the days up to Father’s Day, June 19.
Gosewisch said he can make a dad or husband’s day special by getting rid of scratches, stained seats or carpet or renewing worn out leather seat.
Contact Goswisch at
 or 620-215-3287
or Facebook: Prestige Auto Spa & Ceramic Coatings
Business, Government, Kansas

Ks Helps Small Business Recovery

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Governor Laura Kelly Signs Bill Providing $50 Million of Financial Relief to Kansas
Small Businesses

 

TOPEKA –Surrounded by small business leaders in downtown Topeka, Governor Laura Kelly today signed bipartisan House Bill 2136, which will invest $50 million to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Providing $50 million of financial assistance for small businesses is just one more way my Administration is working to make Kansas the most pro-business state in the country,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “The financial assistance legislation I signed today will support our entrepreneurs by ensuring they can make the investments they need to hire workers, strengthen their product lines, and better serve their communities.”

“Small businesses are what power our economy, and this legislation builds on years of work to ensure they have the resources they need to continue to serve customers and create jobs,” said Senator Tom Holland. “Through bipartisan collaboration, we will be able to continue to make sure that our economy continues to grow a strong base of businesses here in Kansas.”

Governor Kelly was joined at the bill signing by small business owners, the Greater Topeka Partnership, and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.

“House Bill 2136 is a product of the many people who have shown unwavering commitment to Kansas small businesses,” Eric Stafford, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said. “On behalf of the Kansas business community, thank you to Governor Kelly and the legislature for supporting this legislation. It will provide relief for the small businesses that make up the backbone of our state.”

More information about HB 2136 can be found here.

Business, Food, Fort Scott

New Supper Club: Twigs & Berries

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Suzanne Griffin. Submitted photo.

Suzanne Griffin had opened her home to feed over 30 high school students on Wednesday evenings before the COVID-19 Pandemic started, which she calls a supper club.

Submitted photos.

The stay-at-home mom of six children had been told she was a good cook and mentioned the idea of a supper club to friends.

In April 2022  Griffin began her business of making homemade, pre-assembled meals to sell.

The name of her business is Twigs & Berries, and the meals are made in her home at 1211 S. Judson. She makes family-style meals ready to pick up, take home, bake and enjoy.

“We are going into our third month and serve between 80-100 orders each Wednesday night,” she said.  “Customers place orders ahead of time online through a form, or message me and then pick up curbside.”

Each meal includes a main dish, two side dishes and a dessert.

“We also offer mason jar salads, frozen entrees, full side desserts and once a month a breakfast pickup,” she said.  “We have been so blessed to offer meals that are delicious, affordable and family-friendly.  It was an answer to prayer to provide for our family at the same time to be a blessing to others.”

Contact information for Twigs and Berries is 479-263-4059 or Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/groups/508029837448241