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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Darin Miller, Iron Clad Coworking

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Iron clad. The term suggests something that is certain and stable. It is also the name of an innovative place which is now providing shared space for Kansas entrepreneurs to work and grow.

Darin Miller is the founder and owner of Iron Clad Coworking in Wamego and Manhattan. Darin grew up near Newton. He went to school at Berean Academy in the rural community of Elbing, population 229 people. Now, that’s rural.

Darin Miller

As a student, he competed at the state cross country meet at Wamego. “I could see that Wamego was a community with a winning attitude,” Darin said. He studied mechanical engineering, worked at Cessna in Wichita, and then happened to come to Wamego for a project at Caterpillar. He and his wife decided to stay.

Darin noticed a change in the way corporate life operated. “Managers said they didn’t have enough room (for employees’ offices) but at any given time, a third of the people were out working on projects elsewhere,” he said. Technology was making it possible for people to work without being confined to a particular office. “Entrepreneurs were using coffee shops and libraries, but those didn’t work for some business purposes,” he said.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Rosslyn Schultz, Post Rock Limestone Coalition

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Is it a post or is it a rock? In central Kansas, it might be both. A unique limestone formation in central Kansas has given rise to the name Post Rock country. Now a dedicated group of community advocates is launching a new coalition to attract visitors to the Post Rock region.

Limestone art in Lucas, Kansas.

Last week we learned about the Russell County Area Community Foundation which is supporting the new Post Rock Limestone Coalition. The coalition is co-chaired by Rosslyn Schultz of the Grassroots Arts Center in Lucas.

As we have shared before, Rosslyn went to K-State and met and married a Lucas-area wheat farmer. Her interest in wheat weaving led her to become involved in folk art. She eventually became director of the Grassroots Arts Center which specializes in outsider, self-taught art environments across Kansas and the Midwest.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Angie Muller, Russell County Area Community Foundation

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Sometimes it takes a spark to get something started. Today we’ll learn about a spark which is indeed starting something, but this spark is spelled SPARC with a C. The SPARC program was launched by an innovative community foundation to encourage and support vital economic development projects in the region.

Angie Muller is executive director of the Russell County Area Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Greater Salina Community Foundation. She told me about the SPARC grant program.

Angie is a native of Russell. She earned a degree in economics from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in defense studies from the University of Reading in England. She went on to work with federal agencies and then non-profit organizations in the Washington, D.C. area, but she had fond memories of home.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Mark Nutsch

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Someone has to be the first. When the U.S. military enters an international conflict, some soldier has to be the first to lead his unit into combat. That soldier is like the tip of a dagger, bravely entering a life and death conflict. Today we’ll learn the

Mark Nutsch (center) and colleagues.

remarkable story of a young Kansas man who served his nation in this amazing way.

Mark Nutsch is the former commander of the first Green Beret unit which went in to Afghanistan after the bombing of 9-11. His harrowing and heroic true story would become a major motion picture.

Mark Nutsch grew up near Washington, Kansas. Today his family farms in Wabaunsee County near the rural community of Alma, population 783 people. Now, that’s rural.  Mark came to K-State where he joined the college rodeo team.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Jan Leonard, Hugoton

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Buried treasure. Bonnie and Clyde. These are terms that might be found in adventure stories or action movies. Today we’ll learn about a community which didn’t find buried diamonds or gold, but it did uncover historic remnants of pioneer medicines from a century ago. What’s more, this community is believed to have once harbored the infamous outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde.

Jan Leonard is economic development director of Stevens County. He told the story of the remarkable things which have recently been found in the county seat town of Hugoton.

Old tunnels connected several of the buildings in downtown Hugoton. Most of these had fallen or filled in through the years, but in April 2018, one semi-collapsed tunnel was found under a building called the Bundy Hotel.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Adam & Maggie Pounds, Simple Abundance Farm

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“How big is your farm?” “It’s about 4-by-8.”  “Oh, 4-by-8 acres? “No, 4-by-8 feet.” That imaginary conversation sounds like an unlikely discussion between Kansas farmers, but it illustrates how one young couple got their start in urban farming. They started raising microgreens on a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood. Now this innovative young couple is expanding their operation to provide local food while serving their community.

Adam and Maggie Pounds, owners of Simple Abundance Farm in South Hutchinson, Kansas.

Adam and Maggie Pounds are the founders of Simple Abundance Farm in South Hutchinson, Kansas. Adam grew up at Hutchinson and went to Wichita State. Maggie went to high school at the nearby rural community of Buhler, population 1,289 people.  Now, that’s rural. She went on to Bethel College.

Adam and Maggie met through friends and ultimately married. “We caught the travel bug,” Adam said. They worked a summer at Estes Park and then in Key West, Florida doing eco-tourism. Adam and Maggie are also talented musicians, playing guitar and multiple folk instruments. “Maggie sings like an angel,” Adam said.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Jerry Rumbaugh & Dan O’Neal, Studio 57

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s take a flight on Air Force One. Look at the fine cabinetry and furniture. The craftsman who worked on those furnishings is now putting his skills to work with his partner in creating beautiful customized wood products in rural Kansas. These are master craftsmen working in wood.

Dan O’Neal (left) and Jerry Rumbaugh, co-owners of Studio 57.

Jerry Rumbaugh and Dan O’Neal are partners in this business called Studio 57, which produces customized wood products near Junction City.

Jerry Rumbaugh grew up in Junction City and attended Southern Nazarene University where he met his wife. Jerry was always skilled in working with wood. He did roofing, framing, and finish carpenter work in his parents’ construction company. For almost 20 years before retiring, he worked in the wood shop at New Horizons RV, building cabinets for recreational vehicles.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Richard Pitts, living history

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

What if you could meet Harriet Tubman in person? What if you could see John Brown in the flesh? What if you could hear Frederick Douglass or Clarina Nichols first-hand? The closest this will happen without a time machine is to participate in a living history experience where these characters are depicted, live and in person. Such a living history experience is now being planned for rural Kansas.

Richard Pitts

Richard Pitts is director of the Wonder Workshop, a children’s museum which carries out exhibits and programs to teach about the arts, sciences, and humanities. Richard is originally from New Jersey. He came to Manhattan, Kansas to study history at K-State. “I fell in love and it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Richard said. He met and married Cindy and they stayed in Manhattan to raise their family.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Todd Steinbach, Aero-Mod

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” That old saying refers to a situation where lots of resources are around us but none of them are useable. In the case of water itself, this saying reminds us that water is vital to life. Today we’ll learn about a Kansas company which specializes in cutting-edge technologies for waste water treatment. This company’s systems are being used across the nation and around the globe.

Todd Steinbach is co-owner and CEO of Aero-Mod, Incorporated, the company which is designing and providing such water treatment systems. The company began as a project of K-State civil engineering professor Larry Schmid. In 1981, Professor Schmid and some partners founded a company to work on treatment systems for waste water. They designed and installed small treatment plants and worked on housing developments as well.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Tim Penner, Harper Industries

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Let’s blow up a giant bale of hay!” That comment might not be what one would expect to hear in a typical corporate brainstorming session, but it was the type of tongue-in-cheek idea which surfaced among the creative marketers at one rural Kansas company. The people in this company are not only having fun, they represent one of the nation’s leading producers of agricultural, turf, and hydraulic power equipment.

Tim Penner

Tim Penner is president and CEO of Harper Industries in Harper, Kansas. Tim explained that the company began with a man named Dewey Hostetler. “He had a knack for seeing how a farmer could use equipment,” Tim said. In his farm shop near Harper, Dewey started designing equipment for handling hay. It worked so well that it spawned a company to make these products. The business was incorporated in 1974.

As a play on his first name, the products came to be called DewEze. The DewEze product line has grown and expanded over time.

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