Are you ready? Are you ready to advance your business in the race to a modern digital environment? Today we’ll learn about a new digital, online initiative to support rural businesses.
Last week we met Christina Long, strategic director for NetWorked – Partnership for Community Investment. She facilitates monthly online convenings during which participants can learn about resources to help businesses and communities. The get-togethers are conducted on Zoom and archived on the NetWorked website.
“We are bringing networks together that may not typically have a way to naturally connect,” Christina said. “We learn about resources and information that we can take back to our communities to activate strong community changes.”
Monthly topics have included the Kansas Community Investment Fund, the Kansas Leadership Center transformation grants and programs, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Healthify and Pathway grant, food access and food insecurity as addressed by the Rural Grocery Initiative, and the Kansas Healthy Food Initiative.
Along with NetWork Kansas and other partners, these programs have assisted and invested in small businesses across the state – even in communities as small as the store in the rural community of Mildred, population 28 people. Now, that’s rural.
Now there is another, brand new resource to help small businesses. It was highlighted during a recent online session.
In our modern society of today, it’s important to have various kinds of networks. But what if we could have a network of networks?
Christina Long
Today we’ll meet a team of people who are building connections between multiple networks for the economic benefit of small businesses and communities across the state.
Christina Long is strategic director for this new cross sector network known as NetWorked – Partnership for Community Investment, sometimes known as NetWorked for Change or NetWorked for short. She knows the importance of these issues firsthand.
Christina is a Wichita native and a graduate of Wichita State. She was a cultural affairs reporter for the Wichita Eagle and then worked with the Wichita school system in student support.
In 2013, she launched her own business known as CML Collective. CML Collective strives to develop and enhance marketing and communication strategies for brands that recognize inclusion as a business imperative. “We want to create positive channels of communication for communities of color,” Christina said.
Among other services, CML Collective offers training titled Go Long – Leadership that Lasts, provided by Christina and her husband, Jonathan Long.
How long is your commute to work? Ten minutes? Twenty? Half an hour? I remember living in a city back east where it took more than an hour in stop-and-go traffic to get to work.
Matthew James
Today we’ll meet a young man whose commute lasts however long it takes for him to get to his computer in his house. He is part of the current wave of remote workers, and he is choosing to live in rural Kansas.
Matthew James is this young remote worker. He is a native of Concordia who went on to study computer science at K-State. “I was always interested in technology,” Matthew said.
In the summer after his freshman year, someone at Matthew’s church told him about an opportunity to work remotely. The county economic development director at the time was the wife of Matt’s high school baseball coach, so Matt was comfortable talking to her.
“She told me about a program in northwest Kansas called Rural & Remote,” Matthew said. She put Matthew in contact with Kade Wilcox and he got Matthew into the program.
Rural & Remote is one of the projects initiated by the Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center Inc., supported by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in the northwest part of the state. The program is customized to fit each individual based on their experience and unique needs. It involves application, training, work experience and job placement support.
The airline pilot happened to be in Amsterdam but he had a question. He sent a text to a friend and asked, “When is the world’s fair?” The friend texted the dates in his reply.
The pilot said, “Good, I want to be sure I make it back to Kansas for it.” The self-proclaimed world’s fair to which he referred is a remarkable community fair in rural Kansas.
Last week we learned about a century-long collection of fair books. Those fair books were produced for the annual Kincaid Farmers Free Fair, known today as the Kincaid World’s Fair or Kincaid Free Fair for short. Gary Holloway is the president of the Kincaid fair board.
From newspaper accounts, it appears that the first Kincaid fair was held in 1907. “Of my grandparents, one was 8 (years old) and the other was 5 (at that time),” Gary said. It began as a Farmer’s Institute and corn growing contest, in an effort by local businessmen to attract attention and generate business from the railroad.
Since that time, the fair has been held every year, except when cancelled due to World War II and due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. This year, the fair theme is “110 years and going strong.”
Gary Holloway’s family was always involved in helping with the fair. He grew up on the farm near Kincaid, went away to college and worked in business before coming back to the farm. He and his wife raised two sons, one of whom went to K-State and is coming back to the farm with his family also. “My grandchildren will be the fifth generation to be involved with the fair,” Gary said.
“Built to last.” That’s a phrase we often use to describe something built with the careful craftsmanship and solid materials of yesteryear – something that stands the test of time, like a solid old school building from decades ago.
Kincaid Community Center
Today we’ll learn about a group of volunteers who have taken such a building and repurposed it for their community’s modern use. Thanks to K-State’s Dr. Steve Smethers for this story idea.
Jack Donaldson is one of the founders of the community center in Kincaid. Jack grew up in the nearby community of Selma where he went to grade school. He went on to high school at Kincaid and married Ann who also attended Kincaid before the high school closed in 1967. At that time, it was converted to a junior high school which then closed in 2005.
Jack had a career in the trucking and construction industries. Then he and Ann opened a bed and breakfast in Moran. In 2016, they retired back to Kincaid.
After the school closed, the building had been purchased by a couple from Utah. They were unable to do anything with it and donated it back to the city.
The mayor approached Jack about the building, which remains city-owned. “It was built as a WPA project back in the ‘30s,” Jack said. “It was very sturdy, built to last.” For example, he said, “instead of 2 x 6 floor joists, it had full 2 x 16 floor joists.” Continue reading “Jack and Ann Donaldson, Kincaid Community Center”→
Rhonda Gabriel, Marsha Hoagland, Diane Johnson (Jack in forefront)
That sounds like something a teenager might say, but in this case, I did get to know Jack. What’s more, I got to know the three creative women who are with Jack. They are utilizing his story to promote their business and their community, and having a lot of fun in the process.
Sisters Marsha Hoagland, Diane Johnson and Rhonda Gabriel are the owners of Red Dirt Jack’s in Medicine Lodge. Red Dirt Jack’s is a gas station, convenience store and more.
These three women and a fourth sister, Kim Fowles, are the Hoagland sisters. They were raised on the family ranch in western Barber County. “We call it red dirt country,” Marsha said. The ranch is near the unincorporated rural community of Lake City which today has a population of perhaps 20 people. Now, that’s rural.
They grew up here, went to school in Medicine Lodge and on to college. Marsha went to Wichita State and had a career in finance. Her husband’s family owned a convenience store in Oklahoma for many years.
“Betterment: The act or process of improving something.”
This definition certainly applies to the work of a group of volunteers who are helping to improve their rural southeast Kansas community.
Norma and Danny Scott
Danny Scott is with the Caney Community Betterment Group Foundation. He told of how Caney has made progress, thanks to the Kansas PRIDE Program, First Impressions, Rural Grocery Initiative, the City of Caney and members of the community.
Danny and his wife Norma have rural roots. They grew up in Chautauqua County near the rural community of Niotaze, population 82 people. Now, that’s rural.
Danny and Norma were in 4-H together and went to K-State before getting married. He started working at the bank in Caney during the summers and joined the bank full-time after earning his ag economics degree. He then worked for a computer network company in Coffeyville before coming back to Caney’s Community National Bank & Trust, from which he retired in 2019. He had become quite concerned about the community’s trajectory.
“Caney was running downhill,” Danny said. Downtown businesses were boarded up, the grocery store had closed, the town’s old swimming pool was leaking, and the chamber of commerce closed down. “It was discouraging,” Danny said.
“Bake the world a better place.” Not just “Make the world a better place,” but “Bake the world a better place.”
That sounds like a baker’s motto, and it would certainly apply to this bakery and gift shop in rural Kansas.
Sara Colvin and Nan Lisher
Nan Lisher is owner and founder of Elsie Grace’s Gift Shoppe and Bakery in Frankfort. As a kid, Nan was close to her grandmother, Elsie Grace Tilley. “She taught me a lot about baking and cooking,” Nan said. Nan and her cousin Sara even dreamed of running a restaurant someday.
That dream came true when Nan opened Nan’s Cooking Nook in Frankfort, with Sara’s help. They served homemade food. Their pies were especially popular. The restaurant operated until 1992.
Then Nan started formulating dry mixes for her snack dips, soups and pies. She formed a company to market these products and named it in honor of her grandmother, Elsie Grace’s. Nan and Sara marketed the dry mixes across northeast Kansas.
In downtown Frankfort, an older lady operated a small gift shop and fudge factory. One day in 1999, Nan stopped in to visit the lady and said, “If you ever want to sell this place, keep me in mind.” One month later, Nan owned the store. Talk about good timing.
Elsie Grace’s Gift Shoppe and Bakery now operates in that location, with Nan and her cousin Sara Colvin. The store offers a wide variety of gifts plus homemade pies, hot lunch meals and fudge. “There’s been fudge produced at this corner of town for 32 years,” Nan said.
Lee Ann Seiler, Hodgeman County economic development director
Most large businesses have a CEO – chief executive officer. Some have a COO – chief operating officer – or a CFO – chief financial officer.
Today we’ll meet a person who describes herself as a CRO. That stands for Chief Remover of Obstacles. Her work has successfully removed obstacles for businesses in her rural county of Kansas.
Lea Ann Seiler is Hodgeman County economic development director. She describes herself as CRO – Chief Remover of Obstacles.
Lea Ann grew up near Manhattan, attended Riley County High School and then K-State where she met and married her husband Gary. Gary became the ag teacher in Hodgeman County and she became economic development director in 2008.
Why does she use the term Chief Remover of Obstacles? “At a meeting, someone complained that they ran into a fresh obstacle for every business idea they had suggested in their community,” she said. “First it was zoning and then it was permitting and then it was financing.”
Lea Ann realized that a key part of her role as economic development director was removing obstacles so that her businesses and ruralpreneurs could move forward.
Some obstacles were simple. One person was looking for a building to rent for their business and had been asking around for a year. “We just walked upstairs to the appraiser’s office and requested public records,” Lea Ann said.
In another case, someone wanted to be a vendor at farmer’s market but didn’t know how to get a sales tax id. “We opened up my computer, completed the application, and printed their number out right then,” Lea Ann said.
Other things take longer to address, such as developing a business plan, pricing a product correctly, or mastering technology. “I remember when two of our restaurants didn’t accept credit cards and were losing business because of it,” Lea Ann said. “We held meetings with card machine vendors and helped them connect. Now I provide free square card readers to small businesses and farmers market vendors.”
Hodgeman County has strategically targeted particular development opportunities. These include natural resource tourism, agricultural diversification, area spending capture, retiring boomers, outbound commuters or those working from home, growth-oriented entrepreneurs, and economic diversification through new resident attraction.
“Lots of good things are happening in Hodgeman County,” Lea Ann said. “A new rural communications company has opened in Jetmore. Hanston now has fiber to the premise. The city of Jetmore is passing a Main Street RHID for upper-level housing development. We’re embarking on an infill housing project. The Hanston library just received a wonderful grant for outside amenities and the Jetmore downtown farmers market is a new KDHE farmers market senior voucher location. A new truck stop at (highways) 156 and 283 is under construction and highway 156 will be getting much-needed shoulders.”
Local furniture artisan Zach Schaffer is building a new shop, and another business will be opening in his former building. “We’re partnering with Blue Cross Blue Shield and NXSTG in a super cool new technology for health and vitality project,” Lea Ann said.
There are two towns in Hodgeman County, Jetmore and Hanston. Lea Ann’s office is at the county seat in Jetmore. “I live in the smaller one which is Hanston, but spend most of my waking hours at the larger one, which is Jetmore,” she said. Jetmore has a population of 867. Hanston is a rural community of 206 people. Now, that’s rural.
Sixteen new kids have moved to Hanston since May. “We are seeing a renewed interest in rural, and additional people moving, or wanting to move, to our community,” Lea Ann said. “There is a renewed sense of urgency in making sure we act on this opportunity,” she said.
Some organizations have a CEO, CFO, or COO. Hodgeman County is fortunate to have a CRO who serves as a chief remover of obstacles for businesses. We commend Lea Ann Seiler for making a difference with her work, which helps local entrepreneurs move their enterprises forward through the obstacle course of operating a business.
“Music helps to keep you happy.” If that’s the case, the person who said it has been happy for a long time.
Bob Delk
Today we’ll meet a rural Kansas man who has turned 99 years old and is still playing music. Thanks to Marilyn Jones for this story idea and to writer Julie Govert Walter and the North Central Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging for their related article.
Bob Delk turned 99 years old in August 2021. He grew up north of Peabody where he attended country school at the unincorporated community of Aulne, which today has a population of perhaps 50 people. Now, that’s rural.
After graduating from Peabody High School and getting married, he moved two miles north and two miles west of the place where he grew up and started farming with his wife’s family. “I did mechanic work, all the things a farmer has to do,” he said. He lived on that farm until 2016 when he moved to a house in Hillsboro.
Bob grew up in a musical family. “I idolized my dad,” Bob said. “He played violin and guitar. When I was 12, I decided I would like to play too. My dad showed me a few chords on a ukulele.”
Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University writes Kansas Profile. The weekly posts highlight individuals or companies in rural Kansas who are making a difference to their community and state.
The Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is a public / private partnership between Kansas State University and the Huck Boyd Foundation. The mission of the institute is to help rural people help themselves. Learn more at www.huckboydinstitute.org.
Last week we met Christina Long, strategic director for NetWorked – Partnership for Community Investment. She facilitates monthly online convenings during which participants can learn about resources to help businesses and communities. The get-togethers are conducted on Zoom and archived on the NetWorked website.
The pilot said, “Good, I want to be sure I make it back to Kansas for it.” The self-proclaimed world’s fair to which he referred is a remarkable community fair in rural Kansas.
