GUIDED TOURS OF THE FORT DAILY, 10AM &1PMThe Fort Scott National Historic Site is open daily 8am-5pm for touring on your own, but arrive at 10am or 1pm on any day and take advantage of a guided tour with a park ranger! Guided tour lasts approx. 1 hour.
1/15 – Ghetto’s Tacos food truck at the Boiler Room Brewhaus, 5-8pm, Taco truck extraordinaire! Bring your appetite and the brewery will provide the beer/margaritas! Corner of Wall & National. Click here for FB event.
1/15 – Live music by Alyssa Galvan, 7-9pm, click here for FB event.
1/15-16 – Livestock sale at the Fort Scott Livestock Market, both Friday & Saturday, click here for their FB page.
1/16 – Pickleball from 8-10am at Buck Run, open to anyone wanting to play! Always check the FB Group page here for any location changes or cancelations.
1/16 – Lake Fort Scott Advisory Meeting, 9am at City Hall, the meeting is open to the public and can also be viewed on YouTube, City of Fort Scott channel.
1/17 – Kansas City Chiefs play at 2pm, watch the game or order carryout from a local restaurant! See below for Luther’s BBQ Tailgate Package! Holmtown Pub, Sharky’s, Luther’s & other restaurants will be open for the game, click here for our restaurant member listing.
1/18 – Indoor Whiffle Ball at Buck Run for kids while they are out of school, ages 7-12, 10-11:30am, call 620-223-0386 for more info.
1/18 – Virtual Lunch & Learn for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by the Gordon Parks Museum, 12-1pm, Dr. Carmaletta Williams presenting “Free Did Not Mean Welcome”, registration required, register here.
1/18 – The Gordon Parks Museum will be open for touring from 9am-5pm, on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton. Click here for their website.
1/21-22 – Radio Auction by KOMB FM 103.9 every Thursday & Friday through February at 2pm! Get your bid # and view the items on their website here. In addition to calling in your bid, you can also bid online this year and even “Buy it Now” ~ or bid by text to 620-724-7962.
FITNESS FOR EVERYONE IN FS!
Many fitness options available…
SPIN classes now offered by Smallville Athletics, every Mon & Wed at 5:15pm, and Tues & Thurs at 6pm. $5/class or $50/mo. unlimited.
Total Body Fitnesswith Karen Reinbolt at Buck Run Community Center, Mon & Wed 8:15am, $20 for 8-week session.
Zumba with Monalynn Decker at Buck Run, Mon, Wed, Fri 6pm, $40 for 12-week session.
Indoor Fitness/Gyms at I AM Rehab + Fitness, Smallville Athletics, and Buck Run!
Lindsay Madison, standing on right, addresses the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Meet and Greet on Jan. 12, 2021.
Business owners and others interested in downtown Fort Scott, met Jan. 12 in the future walk-in freezer space at E3 Ranch and Co. store at 13 S. National Ave.
E3 Ranch and Co. 13 S. National Avenue. Oct. 2020
The Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Downtown Meet and Greet was hosted by E3 Ranch and Co.
E3 owner Jennifer LaRoche said the room “will be full of the walk-in freezer and meat products” soon. In addition, the storefront of the business will be redone, she said.
The other storefront business spaces at the corner of Wall Street and National Avenue “we are chipping away at construction,” she said.
There are two spaces on National Avenue and one on Wall Street available for retail space, Laroche said.
For more information contact LaRoche at the E3 Ranch store at 13 S. National or Common Ground Coffee Co. around the corner on Wall Street she said.
Business news
Lindsay Madison is the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.
There are three new businesses this calendar quarter in the downtown area, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison said.
“Next week the Star Emporium is opening on Main Street,” Madison said. “Laree + Co is at Wall and National and H Bar Suites is a new vacation rental on VRBO, above the Hole in the Wall Liquor Store on Wall Street.”
Low-interest loans are available for businesses, Madison said.
E-Community Loans are available locally and can be applied for at www.networkingkansas.com, she said.
She said a Youth Entrepreneur Challenge is on for all high school students in Bourbon County. “They must put together a business plan and compete,” Madison said.
Some of those in attendance were given an opportunity to speak.
Fort Scott Interim City Manager Jeff Hancock said candidates for the city manager position have been narrowed down.
The newly reorganized city commission, with Josh Jones as mayor, will work on capital improvements, street improvements, will be sharing “business services” with the Bourbon County Commission, and working on Land Bank possibilities, Hancock said.
Fort Scott’s Economic Development Director Rachel Pruitt said the city has “come a long way” and noted that Diane Striler recently purchased the old Rennett Studio on North Main street, additionally the recently completed Union Lofts apartments on Main Street have 10 of the 25 apartments rented. There are two barbers who plan to open businesses downtown, she said.
Carl Brenner, Chief of Interpretation and Resource Management at Fort Scott National Historic Site, said the fort is doing maintenance projects on seven buildings currently. These are paid for by park user fees, he said.
Since the pandemic began in March 2020, the fort employees have been utilizing online capabilities more. In-person tours are still available and they are planning to have school student visitors at the fort in the near future.
Dacia Clark, Small Business Development Center representative, spoke about the partnership with Bourbon County Workforce and Entrepreneur Resource Center, which is located above the new Star Emporium Storefront at 17 S. Main. Her hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Clark can help new businesses get started and marketing plans for established ones. She can also help with Quickbooks for organizing data.
Beth Nuss spoke on behalf of the Lowell Milken Center For Unsung Heroes Park. She and a citizen committee have worked for several years on the greenspace repurposing. Recently Lowell Milken is providing funds to bring the new park to fruition, and “the goal is to have it done by the all-school reunion in (June 2021),” she said.
Madison said the downtown walking trail, a project of LEAD Bourbon County, is slated for completion by April 1, 2021. The project was funded by the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team.
Madison said a sailor remains are being returned to Fort Scott for burial at the national cemetery on May 29. William Barnett was 21 when he died at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in World War II. She wondered if there were any living relatives who would be interested in the event. Cheney-Witt Funeral Chapel owner Jerry Witt who attended the meet and greet, said Barnett was his second cousin.
A ribbon cutting was never held to celebrate their grand opening with the pandemic starting shortly after their opening, so we will celebrate their first anniversary!
Masks are strongly encouraged and masks will be available for those that need one.
Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting
Luther’s BBQ!
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to a Chamber Coffee and Ribbon Cutting ceremony this Thursday, January 14th at 8 a.m. to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Luther’s BBQ in the Downtown Historic District at 3 W. Oak St. Coffee, juice, and light refreshments will be served.
Owners Dave Lipe and Luther Saulsberry established the restaurant in December 2019 offering dine-in, carry-out, and full-service catering. The business has adapted to the pandemic through curbside ordering, pickup, and enhanced outdoor dining. The River Room Event Center, in the same building upstairs from Luther’s BBQ, is able to accommodate events up to 600 in occupancy. Although the year 2020 hasn’t been the optimum first year for opening a business, they are looking forward to 2021 for the restaurant and event center and welcome private parties and corporate events.
Contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce
for more information at (620) 223-3566 or visit fortscott.com.
These informal, quarterly meetings are hosted by the Chamber for downtown business owners, representatives, and community members to network and share ideas on events, promotions, and anything related to downtown. Coffee, juice, and light refreshments will be served.
These informal, quarterly meetings are hosted by the Chamber for downtown business owners, representatives, and community members to network and share ideas on events, promotions, and anything related to downtown. Coffee, juice, and light refreshments will be served.
The 54th Edition of the Kansas Statistical Abstract was released in November
KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research publishes some incredibly useful data.
The Kansas Statistical Abstract 2019, contains the latest available state, county, and city-level data for Kansas on population, vital statistics and health, housing, education, business and manufacturing, exports, employment, income, finance, state and local government, crime, recreation, communications, transportation, agriculture, climate,
The 54th edition of the Kansas Statistical Abstract is now available online. In a year that brought the novel coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic turmoil, the KSA shares data on Kansas and the United States in 16 categories that provides context for the challenges Kansans are now facing and offers key information for local and state government leaders seeking the best paths forward for recovery and growth.
Developed by Institute for Policy & Social Research staff, the publication includes data up through 2019, or the most recent available data.
Some key findings:
Medical resources
As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise across the country, the proximity of hospitals to communities and availability of hospital beds have become urgent questions. The KSA includes a chapter on Vital Statistics and Health, with a map of hospitals in Kansas as of 2018 and utilization of hospitals in Kansas, by county as of 2018, with a map showing admissions per bed. Understanding where hospitals are and the pattern of hospital use before COVID-19 helps Kansans anticipate challenges in health care access during COVID-19. Data on persons per physician in Kansas by county as of 2019 indicates that several counties do not have a physician, and in some counties, the ratio of persons to physicians exceeds 2000 to 1.
Digital divide
While many Kansans have known the benefits of a strong broadband internet connection — and the lack of such connection in many parts of the state — the pandemic brought the disparities in connectivity across Kansas into sharp relief. A map of broadband availability in Kansas in 2019 shows that many areas of Kansas lack the necessary infrastructure for high-speed internet connection. With that gap in connectivity comes problems for people who hope to attend school remotely, telecommute and video-call their loved ones who live far away. IPSR affiliates Wally Meyer, director of Entrepreneurship Programs in the KU School of Business; Germaine Halegoua, associate professor of film & media studies; and director Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics, plus several IPSR staff members, will undertake a comprehensive study of broadband in Kansas in the coming months.
Solar energy
In addition, as the World Meteorological Organization identifies 2011-2020 as the warmest decade on record, the KSA includes a new map showing commercial solar farms in Kansas. The map also displays the solar kilowatt hours per square meter average from 1998 to 2009 throughout the state. This measure indicates how much solar energy might be collected from a given place. As the map shows, western Kansas has a particularly high concentration of potential solar energy. A map of wind farms and wind resource potential in Kansas, also part of the chapter on Energy and Natural Resources, similarly shows that a considerable part of the state has excellent wind power density and identifies locations of wind farms in the state. These sources of energy offer an important alternative to fossil fuel-based energy as stakeholders consider ways mitigate anthropogenic climate change.
The 54th edition of the KSA honors the long history of this publication with a dedication to the memory of Thelma Helyar, editor of the Kansas Statistical Abstract from 1985 to 2003. She was born in Carshalton, Surrey, England, in 1929, and she died in Lawrence in November 2019. As the institute’s librarian from 1976 to 2003, Helyar took countless phone calls from stakeholders requesting data on Kansas.
The IPSR editorial team, including Jena Gunter, Genna Hurd, Whitney Onasch, Abigail Byrd and Xan Wedel, gathered, compiled, and in many cases, visualized available data from federal and state agencies. The online abstract is available in a single, 576-page PDF and an enhanced online edition, with individual chapters, tables and maps.
The abstract includes data on agriculture; banking and finance; business, industry, and exports; climate; communications and information; courts, crime, and public safety; education; employment and earnings; energy and natural resources; government; housing and construction; income; parks and recreation; population; transportation; vital health; and a summary of key information about Kansas, the Sunflower State.
The 54th edition includes high-resolution image files for several maps. Users can reproduce these resources in presentations or publications with appropriate citation. With this edition, the abstract has now been available online at no cost for 20 years. Prior to online publication, theaAbstract was available on paper or CD-ROM for purchase.
“By offering the KSA free online we are able to provide a convenient volume of current data to Kansans at the state, county, and city levels,” says Gunter, assistant director.
Preparing the Kansas Statistical Abstract for publication during a pandemic came with unique challenges, with some data releases delayed and a higher-than-normal workload for the team. While compiling the KSA, IPSR also developed and maintained a website of COVID-19 research and resources, with regular briefings from Ginther, reports on county recovery efforts, briefs on the federal stimulus in Kansas, and galleries of maps and graphs with data updated on a regular basis.
Efforts to develop the 55th edition of the KSA are already underway.
“I’m hopeful that we will start to see the data from the 2020 Census as well as to learn more about the impact of COVID on our economy as more data become available,” said Wedel, who in addition to leading data collection for the KSA, serves as the lead for the Kansas State Data Center and participated in several efforts to ensure a complete count of Kansans in the 2020 Census.
Bourbon County Workforce & Entrepreneur Resource Center
Attention Chamber Members!
Join us this Thursday, December 10th
to celebrate the opening of B-WERC with a
Chamber Coffee & Ribbon Cutting!
17 S. Main St.
upstairs of the Kress Building
Due to the COVID pandemic, temperature readings
will be taken upon entry to the Chamber Coffee
and attendees will be required to wear masks throughout the event. If anyone feels uncomfortable with these requirements, the host asks that
you reconsider attending.
Click here for the Bourbon County Eco. Devo. Facebook page.
Click here for the Kansas Small Business Development Center Facebook page.
Click here for the Southeast KANSASWORKS Facebook page.
B-WERC is a multi-partner collaboration of Bourbon County, Kansas Small Business Development Center, Southeast KANSASWORKS, Fort Scott Community College, Healthy Bourbon County Action Team, Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and BAJA Investments. The center focuses on growing and sustaining businesses, connecting jobs and serving people. Current and aspiring entrepreneurs, employers, and job seekers can make an appointment for services including marketing support, financial review and projections, obtaining capital, establishing an online presence, legalizing childcare providers, unemployment and job seeking assistance.
based on employers who submitted their preliminary employee census information.
IF you did not show interest before, but are interested now, please let us now ASAP so we can try and reach the minimum number needed to finalize the plan.
Click here or click on the graphic below to view the plans & rates.
Your business/organization just needs at least one full-time and one part-time employee to qualify for the plan.
(This is information for an Association Health Plan through the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce, working with Chamber member and local business Don Doherty of
