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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Paul Budenbender – Epoxy Coating Specialists

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s go to Kauffman Stadium, home of the defending world champion Kansas City Royals.  Note how the concourse floor is smooth, clean, and beautiful. That’s because this floor was coated with a special treatment, produced by a company with ties to rural Kansas.

Paul Budenbender of Epoxy Coating Specialists or ECS.
Paul Budenbender of Epoxy Coating Specialists or ECS.

Paul Budenbender is co-owner of Epoxy Coating Specialists, or ECS, which coated the concourses at Kauffman Stadium as well as floors and walls in many other facilities across the country. Paul’s family has roots in Pottawatomie County, where his ancestors homesteaded near Fostoria. Paul’s dad went to K-State and then worked for the Corps of Engineers, which eventually transferred him to the head office in Kansas City. Paul grew up at Shawnee but spent summers on his grandparent’s farm.

Tragically, Paul’s father passed away from cancer at age 48. Paul went to work for a painting and flooring contractor in Olathe. He worked there 16 years and met his wife Pam. Paul’s work involved the emerging use of epoxy to paint floors and walls.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kim Thomas – Stockton

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter
Kim Thomas, mayor of Stockton, Kansas is about to become the president of the League of Kansas Municipalities.
Kim Thomas, mayor of Stockton, Kansas is about to become the president of the League of Kansas Municipalities.

October 2016. It is the League of Kansas Municipalities annual conference, and it is time to pass the gavel to a new president. This new president will have several distinctions: She is a woman, she is an African-American, and she comes from rural Kansas.

Kim Thomas is the mayor of Stockton, Kansas. Her family has deep roots in northwest Kansas, where she is the fifth generation to come from the community of Nicodemus. As we have previously profiled, Nicodemus is a historic African American community which was settled after the Civil War.

“My great-grandfather had the annual Nicodemus community celebration in his grove,” Kim said.  She grew up in Plainville but spent lots of time with her grandparents in Nicodemus.

While still in high school, she worked for Southwestern Bell as a telephone operator. She went on to Emporia State and then came back to northwest Kansas to work for Southwestern Bell on equipment. She spent 32 years before retiring as a communications technician with the company, located at various towns throughout the region.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Conard Family – Part 2

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter
Six-year-old Clara Conard plays the violin with the help of an assistive device designed by the Fab Lab at Independence Community College.
Six-year-old Clara Conard plays the violin with the help of an assistive device designed by the Fab Lab at Independence Community College.

The bow sweeps across the strings of the violin and the sound of the music floats across the room. But this isn’t just any violinist. It is a girl originally from China who is missing one hand.  She’s using an innovative and unique type of device with a prosthesis to play the violin, and she lives in rural Kansas.

Last week we met Shawn and Gayly Conard. Shawn is a family doctor at Minneola District Hospital, south of Dodge City.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Conard Family – Part 1

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“If you’re looking for fame and fortune, you may not find it. But if you’re looking for a place to serve, you can definitely find it here.” Those words of wisdom might apply to many places and types of careers, but in this case, it refers to a family physician who is serving rural Kansas and beyond.

Hospital in Minneola, Kansas.
Hospital in Minneola, Kansas.

Shawn Conard is a family doctor at Minneola District Hospital in Minneola, Kansas. Minneola is a rural community in Clark County, south of Dodge City.

Shawn grew up in Hays and went to K-State. He got involved with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship where he went on a mission trip with a young woman named Gayly. Their relationship flourished and the two were wed.

Shawn attended medical school at KUMC and became part of a pilot program for Primary Care in which he was placed in McPherson with Dr. Thomas. He then “matched” at Via Christi Family Medicine where they taught full scope family practice including obstetrics.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Randy Kemp – Eskridge Lumber

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

It’s been called a “step back in time,” a local resource for hardware and materials, and a lifesaver when somebody is in a jam. It’s a small town Kansas lumberyard which now has new life under local ownership.

Eskridge Lumberyard in Eskridge, Kansas
Eskridge Lumberyard in Eskridge, Kansas

Randy Kemp is the manager of Eskridge Lumber LLC in Eskridge, Kansas. Eskridge has had a lumberyard for a long time. Eldon Roberson and Dean Miller had owned the lumberyard since 1970.

Randy Kemp came to work at the lumberyard in 1981. He is a local, having been born and raised here.

“I tell people that I’ve never gotten off the main street of Eskridge,” Randy said. “My dad ran a gas station and shop here and we lived down the street.” Randy continued to live on main street when he finished school and started going to work on construction projects. After he got married, his wife didn’t want him to travel so much so he took a job at the lumberyard, right there on main street. In 2004, he took over as manager.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Brian Hansen – Dustrol

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

From a lonely highway in Montana to a busy interstate near Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, there are highways being repaired by a business which is the largest rotomilling company in the United States – and that company is headquartered in rural Kansas.

Dustrol, Inc., based in Towanda, Kansas recycles asphalt and provides other highway maintenance services across numerous states, from Tennessee to Montana.
Dustrol, Inc., based in Towanda, Kansas recycles asphalt and provides other highway maintenance services across numerous states, from Tennessee to Montana.

Brian Hansen is president of Dustrol Inc., this innovative asphalt maintenance business. Brian explained that the company was founded by Ted Dankert more than 40 years ago.

Ted Dankert served in the Army. After retiring from the military, he went to work for his father-in-law who had an asphalt paving business in El Dorado, Kansas. In 1973, he went out on his own and founded his own company to sell emulsions for sealing asphalt and controlling dust.  Because it worked so well in controlling dust on roads, he named the business Dustrol.

Ted Dankert expanded the business over time. In 1975, the company began using rented equipment to recycle asphalt in order to complement its pavement maintenence operations.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kaitlyn Harlow

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s go to the Great Lakes Floral Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The top winner has been named in the professional division of the floral arrangement competition. This winner not only has ties to rural Kansas, she is an example of the deep positive influence of a good teacher.

Kaitlyn Harlow credits teachers she's had along the way for introducing her to new ways of thinking and ultimately, a career.
Kaitlyn Harlow credits teachers she’s had along the way for introducing her to new ways of thinking and ultimately, a career.

Kaitlyn Harlow is a young woman from rural Illinois. Her family farms in the north central region of the state. Kaitlyn was active in 4-H and FFA. She enrolled in 4-H every year that she could.  She decided that she would like a career working with youth through extension. As a high school student, Kaitlyn took various kinds of projects and ag classes including horticulture, although she wasn’t especially interested in horticulture at the time.

Kaitlyn went on to Joliet Junior College. She decided to take an Introduction to Horticulture class which would count as a basic science credit.

“Since the first day that I walked in that classroom, I knew this was where I was meant to be,” Kaitlyn said. Professor Donna Theimer was the instructor, and she became Kaitlyn’s mentor.  Kaitlyn received her associate’s degree in Floral Design and Interior Plantscape.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Cameron Bradshaw

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s go to Washington, D.C., to the national office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where a top administrator is conferring with African-American farmers from across the nation. Among those in this discussion are a father and son from rural Kansas.

Cameron Bradshaw, of rural Jetmore, Kansas.
Cameron Bradshaw, of rural Jetmore, Kansas.

Cameron Bradshaw is a student at Kansas State University. In 2014, he and his father were a part of this discussion at USDA.

The Bradshaw family farm is located in Hodgeman County, Kansas. Rod and Arzella Bradshaw farm 2,500 acres, including 1100 acres of wheat, and operate a cow-calf herd. They have three children, the youngest of whom is Cameron.

The family has deep roots in rural Kansas. “Some of the ground we farm has been in the family for 130 years,” Cameron said.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Flint Hills Map Project

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“You are here.” Those three simple words are helpful when a person is trying to learn a location or is seeking direction. Today we will learn about an innovative project which is seeking to educate youth and others about the value of their location in the Flint Hills region of Kansas.

flinthillsmapThe Flint Hills Map and Education Program is directed by Emily Connell and coordinated by Annie Wilson. Emily was director of the Symphony in the Flint Hills before taking her current position as Director of the El Dorado Main Street program. Annie is a talented musician and former teacher at Emporia. She lives on the family ranch near the rural community of Elmdale, population 55 people. Now, that’s rural. Emily and Annie have a deep love for the Kansas Flint Hills.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Weldon Gullickson – K-W Manufacturing

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Nice threads.” In the 1970s, that was a slang phrase that a person would use to compliment someone’s clothes. Now a “thread” refers to a line of discussion on social media. But today we are referring to a totally different kind of thread: The kind that holds things on a metal rod, such as nuts and bolts. Those threaded fasteners are at the core of an entrepreneurial business in rural Kansas.

K-W Manufacturing, in Everest, Kansas, produces square and round U-bolts, stud bolts, eye bolts, spade bolts, anchor bolts, hook bolts, J-bolts and more.
K-W Manufacturing, in Everest, Kansas, produces square and round U-bolts, stud bolts, eye bolts, spade bolts, anchor bolts, hook bolts, J-bolts and more.

Weldon Gullickson is owner of K-W Manufacturing which produces various kinds of threaded fasteners. Weldon is a native Kansan, having been born at Horton. His wife Margaret grew up near Everest.

After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Weldon went to work for a bolt and nut distributing company in Kansas City. He enjoyed the work and was offered the opportunity to open a distributorship for the company in Dallas. After several years in Texas, he and Margaret returned to northeast Kansas where he had a long career in the bolt and nut sales business.

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