BCC program to explore rural entrepreneurs
Butler Community College’s Life Enrichment will host Ron Wilson at 9 a.m. March 2
Wilson will present “Ruralpreneurs: Tumbleweeds and Talents in Kansas Communities.” Ruralpreneurs are innovative entrepreneurs who built successful enterprises in small town Kansas.
Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd Institute and his Kansas Profiles column is published by newspapers across the state including the Butler County Times Gazette
This presentation highlights real-world examples of Kansas entrepreneurs who have built businesses and created jobs and opportunities in a rural setting. Additionally, this presentation honors the emerging role of diversity, technology, and telecommunications that have brought profound changes in society.
Kansas Profiles: Getting attached at Kipp
Ron Wilson
Special to The Kansan
Those who own skid-steer loaders point out that these industrial machines can have many uses. Perhaps their only limitation is the type of equipment that can be attached to those skid steers. These attachments can pull posts, wind wire, cut trees, dig trenches, mix concrete and more.
Today we’ll learn about an innovative rural Kansas business that specializes in designing attachments for those skid steer loaders, while offering all the capabilities of a complete machine shop.
LeeRoy Douglas is the owner and founder of Douglas Welding and Machine in Kipp. LeeRoy and his wife, Mary, live in Kipp, near Salina. LeeRoy was working in a metal fabrication shop in Salina when he decided to start his own business in 1989.
Kansas Profiles: Connecting with consumers
Ron Wilson
“Connecting with consumers.” That’s a goal of many food companies, but today we’ll meet a young beef producer who has taken this idea to heart. She finds that delivering beef and communicating with families is the most rewarding part of her job.
Lettie McKinney is the founder of MC- Meat Company, which provides homegrown beef directly from the ranch to the consumer. The family brand, based on their last name, is pronounced “M C Bar.”
The McKinneys have farmed and raised cattle for decades in southwest Kansas since Lettie’s ancestors settled there in the 1920s.