Three-day weather outlook
Category: Local
Rural Entrepreneurship Resource Event hosted by Phillips Co. Eco-Devo
Tuesday, November 19, 2019, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
EVENT LOCATION:
Huck Boyd Center, 860 Park St. Phillipsburg, KS 67661
Hosted by Phillips County Economic Development
NO COST TO ATTEND: Registration is required
https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ks–phillipsburg/eship/
Entrepreneurship comes with both its challenges and its rewards. As an entrepreneur, you might sometimes feel as if you’re flying solo and dream of having a co-pilot to help steer you around the many obstacles that you face during the course of your everyday business.
EshipConnect brings you an opportunity to talk to some of the leading business professionals in western Kansas; allowing you to ask the questions that matter most to you and your business. Whether you are an established entrepreneur or you’re thinking of taking that leap of faith to start your own business, our panel of resource professionals will provide you with the assistance you need. So get ready to build your network and make some connections to help develop upon your existing hard work and talents.
9:00am Introduction
9:20am Women and Minority Owned Businesses Programs: Rhonda Harris -Director, Office of Minority & Women Business Development; Kansas Department of Commerce.
9:40am Entrepreneur/Employee Learning Opportunities: Sabrina William – Director, Management Development Center, College of Business & Entrepreneurship; Fort Hays State University.
10:00am WorkforceONE: Tucky Allen – Business Services Director/Rapid Response Coordinator; Kansas WorkforceONE.
10:20am From Startup to Succession Planning: Rick Feltenberger – Regional Director; Kansas Small Business Development Center.
10:40am E-Community and Funding Opportunities, Board Certified Programs – Business programs: Sarah LaRosh – Product Manager, Rural Entrepreneurship, Western Region; NetWork Kansas. Amara Kniep – Product Manager, E-Community Programs; NetWork Kansas.
11:00am Kansas Department of Commerce – Business Assistance Programs: Dan Steffen – N.C. Kansas Regional Project Manager, Business & Community Development; Kansas Department of Commerce.
11:20am USDA Business Assistance Programs (funding): Doug Bruggeman – Loan Specialist, Rural Development; United States Department of Agriculture.
11:40am Employees and Employment: Phyllis LaShell – Workforce Response Coordinator; KANSASWORKS.
12:30pm Agribusiness/Value Added Ag in Kansas; From The Land Of Kansas Program: Kerry Wefald – Agriculture Marketing Director; Kansas Department of Agriculture and Lexi Wright – From the Land of Kansas.
12:50pm Nex-Gen Programs: Jacque Beckman – Director; Nex-Generation Round Up for Youth.
1:10pm SBA: Michael Aumack – Economic Development Specialist & Public Information Officer; SBA.
1:30pm K-State Technology Development Institute: Courtney Kuntz – Outreach Coordinator.
1:50pm NWKPDCi: Randall Hrabe – Executive Director; Northwest Kansas Planning & Development Commission/Pioneer Country Development.
2:10pm K-State R&E/Hansen Programs: Nadine Sigle – Associate, Community Vitality; K-State Research & Extension.
2:30pm NWKEICI Programs: Scott Sproul – Director; Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center.
2:50pm SCORE: Morris Engle – Mentor; SCORE
– SUBMITTED –
🎥 Eagle Forum: Monica Dreiling
Mike interviews Monica Dreiling winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics & Science Teaching
Now That’s Rural: Steve Radley, NetWork Kansas
By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
What can we grow across Kansas? Wheat? Industrial hemp? Wind turbines? How about jobs and businesses? Today we’ll meet an organization which is devoted to the growth of entrepreneurship and small businesses across our state. It’s today’s Kansas Profile.
Last week we met Steve Radley. As a personal project, he produced a film about rural Kansas. His ideas for that film sprang from his work as president and CEO of this organization known as NetWork Kansas.
In 2004, the Kansas Legislature passed the Kansas Economic Growth Act. That law, among other things, established the Kansas Center for Entrepreneurship which now does business as NetWork Kansas.
Steve Radley and his friend Erik Pederson had previously been in business together in Wichita. They experienced the ups and downs of launching and growing successful businesses.
In 2006, Steve Radley was selected as president and CEO of NetWork Kansas. Erik Pederson joined him as vice president for entrepreneurship. They and their team went to work to foster an entrepreneurial environment in Kansas by cultivating resources to start and grow small businesses. NetWork Kansas describes itself as “a statewide network of non-profit business-building resources that help entrepreneurs and small business owners start up and grow successful businesses.”
NetWork Kansas quickly recognized that resources to assist small business already existed around the state. One of the first steps was to organize a partner network so that entrepreneurs could be connected to those resources more easily and effectively. A NetWork Kansas portal to those resources can be accessed online or through a toll-free number, 877-521-8600.
That resource data base now includes more than 500 partners. To date, the NetWork Kansas partner network has assisted more than 25,000 entrepreneurs and made more than 50,000 referrals.
NetWork Kansas has multiple loan programs and a venture fund to provide direct financial assistance to small rural businesses. Those programs have provided loans and investments of more than $40 million to Kansas businesses. Such funds have also been used to leverage additional capital amounting to more than $400 million.
There is a saying that all politics is local. Perhaps all entrepreneurship begins locally as well. Under Erik Pederson’s direction, NetWork Kansas launched a program to enhance locally-based support for entrepreneurs in 2007. It was called the Entrepreneurship Community Partnership. Individual communities or counties could apply to be designated as E-Communities which entitled them to funding, training, and other resources.
An E-Community is to establish a local leadership team to oversee a loan fund, engage with resources, and cultivate an entrepreneurial environment. E-Communities can be established in rural areas or in distressed urban areas. To date, the 63 E-Communities have provided more than $19.8 million dollars in matching loans and grants to more than 580 businesses.
Through the years, the E-Communities have been located from border to border and corner to corner in Kansas. They have included numerous county-wide E-Communities and even some individual rural towns as small as Alden, population 148 people. Now, that’s rural.
During 2019, the Center for Entrepreneurship and specifically its co-founder, Don Macke, joined the Network Kansas team. This new division is called e2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems.
NetWork Kansas has always focused on for-profit businesses in the past. In 2019, the organization branched out, in partnership with the Kansas Health Foundation, to launch the Kansas Community Investment Fund which supported health-related projects of non-profit organizations and local governments.
In order to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs, NetWork Kansas has supported local community competitions among young aspiring businesspersons with creative ideas. In 2019, the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge Series engaged 865 students from 48 communities through 40 local competitions. The finals were held at Kansas State. For next year, a projected $75,000 in prizes will be awarded to the top youth entrepreneurs.
For more information about all of these programs, go to www.networkkansas.com.
What can we grow across Kansas? If Steve Radley, Erik Pederson and their team has their way, we will grow successful entrepreneurs, jobs, and small businesses. We commend NetWork Kansas for making a difference by encouraging creative ideas and startup businesses. I encourage them to keep on growing.
Zoning Appeals Board meets Wednesday
City of Hays
The Hays Area Board of Zoning Appeals will meet at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday at Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.
Agenda items include a request by Stanlee H. Dalton to reduce the front setback from 25 feet to 7 feet for a carport at 2307 Oak.
The board will consider setting a public hearing for the request.
The complete agenda is available here.
KFS deploys aircraft to support efforts battling fire in Cheyenne Co.
MANHATTAN – In support of the firefighting efforts on the Cherry Creek Fire in Cheyenne County, the Kansas Forest Service has deployed a firefighting air tanker plane in addition to two Kansas-based aerial agricultural applicators that are being used to drop water on fires as part of the suppression effort.
This marks the first assignment of Air Tanker 95 to a fire in Kansas through the “call when needed” assistance made possible by state funding for wildfire suppression, which was approved in the last session of the Kansas State Legislature.
“We hope to never have to fight a large wildfire in Kansas,” said State Fire Management Officer Mark Neely. “But when local authorities request assistance, we are thankful we have the resources available to support them.”
Air Tanker 95 is a double-engine Grumman S-2 based in Hutchinson and owned by Bill Garrison. It has a capacity of 800 gallons of water and was previously owned and used by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Updates and additional information on the Cherry Creek Fire can be found on the Cheyenne – Rawlins – Sherman) County Emergency Management Facebook page.
Firefighting efforts managed by the Cheyenne County Fire Districts and the Cheyenne County Emergency Manager are being supported by the newly hired District Fire Management Officer, Chris Hanson, who covers the northwest region of the state.
“The coordination between agencies to bring ground and air resources together has had a significant impact on our ability to work toward controlling this fire,” said Hanson. “We look forward to being able to serve local fire departments and emergency managers with the coordination of these resources to prevent wildfires from being coming catastrophic events.”
Two other KFS Fire Protection Specialists, Matt Jones and Renette Saba, were requested by the local emergency manager to provide support for on-the-ground firefighting operations and in-air operations.
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The Post Podcast: Community engagement a growing portion of law enforcement
No refuse/recycling collections on Veterans Day
CITY OF HAYS
Due to the observance of the Veteran’s Day, Monday, November 11, 2019, refuse/recycling route collection schedules will be altered as follows:
Monday, November 11, 2019 and Tuesday, November 12, 2019, refuse/recycling route collections will be collected on Tuesday, November 12, 2019.
There will be no changes to Wednesday, November 13th, Thursday, November 14th, and Friday, November 15th collection schedules.
It is anticipated that heavy volumes of refuse/recyclable will be encountered around the holidays. Please be sure to set your bags out by 7:00 AM on the collection day and keep in mind that the trucks have no set time schedule.
City of Hays customers that may have any questions regarding this notice should contact the Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department at 628-7350.
Little Jerusalem grand opening update part of KDWPT Commission meeting in Scott City
KDWPT
PRATT – The final Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KWPT) Commission meeting for 2019 will be held on November 14 at the William Carpenter 4-H Building in Scott City. The public is invited to the meeting, which begins at 1:30 p.m., recesses at 5 p.m., and reconvenes at 6:30 p.m. for a public hearing. Time will be set aside for public comment on non-agenda items at the beginning of both the afternoon and evening sessions.
The afternoon session will begin with an agency and state status report, followed by general discussion on the following topics: Recovering America’s Wildlife Act update and resolution signing, Little Jerusalem grand opening update, Scott riffle beetle update, duck hunting zone boundaries, and webless migratory bird regulations.
Workshop topics – items that may be voted on at a future commission meeting – will follow, with big game and public land regulations presented.
Commissioners will then recess by 5 p.m. and reconvene at 6:30 p.m. to vote on the following: electronic licensing, threatened and endangered species regulations, nongame species regulations, fishing regulations, 2020-2021 spring and fall turkey hunting regulations, and state park regulations.
Dates for 2020 Free Park Entrance and Free Fishing Days will also be set by Secretary’s Orders during the Public Hearing portion of the meeting.
If necessary, the Commission will reconvene at 9 a.m. at the same location, November 15, 2019, to complete any unfinished business. Should this occur, time will again be set aside for public comment on non-agenda items.
Information about the Commission, including the November 14, 2019 meeting agenda and briefing book, can be downloaded at ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Commission. A live stream of the meeting can be viewed at ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Commission/Current-LIVE-Commission-Meeting.
If notified in advance, the Commission will have an interpreter available for the hearing impaired. To request an interpreter, call the Kansas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at 1-800-432-0698. Any individual with a disability may request other accommodations by contacting the Commission secretary at (620) 672-5911.
The next KWPT Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 9, 2020 at the Riverside Community Building in Iola.
The Post Podcast: Hays business development gets major push forward with Northwest Business Corridor grant and proposed hotel
Succession planning helped one Hays business, but is a stumbling block for others
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
After more than 38 years in the printing business Marvin Rack, and his wife, Jennifer, sold their business, Northwestern Printers to longtime employee Josh Zweifel on Aug. 1.
The sale had been part of the Racks’ succession plan for years. Marvin said he knew he and Jennifer would eventually want to step away from the business, but the couple did not want to see the company they built together close.
The Racks began to discuss a possible sale with Zweifel years ago, and slowly allowed him to be more involved in the management of the company.
Doug Williams, director of Grow Hays, said succession planning is one of the most difficult topics to discuss with small business owners, but can be one of the most important issues to those businesses and the communities they serve.
“Our mission is business creation, business retention and expansion and business recruitment,” he said. “I view succession planning as a big part of retention and expansion.”
Hays has a number of Baby Boomer-owned businesses, and those owners are nearing retirement, Williams said.
“Unfortunately, not enough of them have planned very well about what their strategy is as far as how they will exit their businesses, and in my opinion, that leaves all those businesses at risk of not continuing on,” he said.
In some cases, there is an obviously family member to take over, but in a lot cases there isn’t, Williams said.
“They haven’t in all cases done what they need to make sure that their businesses can continue on and prosper and thrive and hopefully grow,” he said, “as opposed to they just get to the point where they say, ‘I’m tired. I’m ready to be done, so I’m just going to have a going-out-of-business sale.’ ”
When a business closes, it is not an optimum outcome for the community, Williams said. It gives the community fewer options for shopping. Employees are laid off. It is one less attraction that will bring people to a community, and it reduces the tax base.
“All the positives of businesses opening and growing are just the opposite when businesses close,” he said.
Tony Gabel, associate professor in the department of management at Fort Hays State University, gave a talk to a conference of the western Kansas Rural Economic Alliance in September in Hays and noted when business owners start to develop a succession plan a “cloud” of advisers can be helpful in assisting them. This can include their attorney, accountant and a financial adviser.
Succession planning is not always an issue of retirement — it can be about death. And that death may be unexpected.
“Can your business continue without you?” Gabel said, “(That) is the question.”
Estate planning and succession planning might go hand in hand, but they are not the same thing, he said.
Gabel listed several items to consider in a succession plan:
- Family harmony
- Income taxes and estate taxes
- Facilitation of retirement for the current management
- The ability to maintain control of the business
Succession plans are also important in passing on farms and ranches.
Gabel said his family has been dealing with this issue recently as his mother passed away a year ago. The family is transitioning their farm. Gabel said he has been fortunate in that his family gets along and has agreed on how to proceed with the farm.
“Perhaps the very first thing you need to do in order to convince people to think about this is ask the question ‘What do you think is going to happen after you die?’ ” he said. “Let’s go with the worst case scenario. ‘After you die will your children get along with each other?’ Most people are going to be honest enough to say, ‘Probably not.’ ”
Business owners need to ask themselves what their end goal is and how are they going to get there, Gabel said.
More aspects to take into consideration in creating a succession plan include:
- Management talent assessment
- Compensation planning
- Formal directorship roles for family and non-family
- Stock transfer strategies
- Corporate structure
- Communication planning
- Estate planning
- Valuation of the company
If your children are a part of the management team, will they be ready to run the company when you are ready to leave? A rule of thumb is that a family business will only last three generations and then it will collapse, Gabel said.
The Racks said they wanted their children to be able to pursue their own dreams. They have seen other businesses in which the children had to take over a business from their parents and were miserable.
If the source of the management talent is not coming from family, it might come from inside the company or it from recruiting new talent or an outside buyer.
“You have to communicate with all of the interested parties,” he said. “This is where most things go south — a lack of communication, a lack of candid communication. People will say certain things, but they won’t give all the details.”
Williams compared talking to business owners about succession planning is like trying to talk to people about life insurance.
“I think it is just one of those things that is very easy to push onto the back burner,” he said. ” ‘I’ll worry about that a later date,’ but all of the sudden, that date is here and they haven’t laid the plans for it.”
Need for a succession plan can arise for a variety of reasons: sale of a business, death of an owner, health issues for an owner, retirement or other changes in circumstances.
It is not only the transfer of the assets, but the maximization of the assets, Williams said.
“People work their entire lives in a business and to just close it if it’s doing well and prosperous is really sad,” he said.
Maximizing what you receive from a transfer of your business could mean you have to exit at a time that is not perfect for you.
Marvin said he and Jennifer could have spent more years running the business, but now was the right time to step aside.
“I will be 61 this year — too early to retire, but when you have an opportunity, such as we did with Josh … It was 22 years of him seeing the shop. I am not sure if I would be a good business owner in 22 more years,” Rack said.
He said if you wait to do succession planning, you have to take what you are given. It takes time to find and train the right person to step into a leadership role.
Williams said the day is going to come when business owners are going to exit their businesses in one way or another.
“It can be feet first, which means you die in your business, which is not the best,” he said, “or you can plan and determine what the best way to exit your business is.
“Most people want to maximize the value of their business and exit with as much as they can. To do that takes a lot of planning, and it takes some thought ahead of time in order to make that happen. Rarely does it happen that someone comes waltzing down the road with a whole pile of money and hands it to you and says, ‘I want to buy your business.’ “
One-way traffic on Old U.S. 40 east of Vine begins this week
On Tuesday, city of Hays contractors will begin installing concrete shoulders along the sides of Old U.S. 40 east of Vine Street. Traffic will be restricted to eastbound one-way only. The project is scheduled to be completed within three weeks, pending weather.
Signs will be in place to direct the traveling public. The traveling public should use caution and if possible avoid this area.
For more information, call the Office of Project Management at (785) 628-7350 or the contractor, J-Corp, at (785) 628-8101.
— City of Hays
Three-day weather outlook
