October
22, 2007
ABCDE
– Better Together
Greetings!
This is the eighty eighth edition of the Monday Messenger.
Its purpose is to bring you current information about the ABCDE
project and area. ABCDE consists of local residents from
Atlanta
, Burden,
Cambridge
, Dexter and
Eastern
Cowley
County
working together for community development. If you have
anything to submit for the newsletter, please send it to shannonthom@hotmail.com.
Many
Thanks
The
ABCDE organization held its celebration dinner last Saturday
evening. Many of the
supporters of the project attended along with the ABCDE
volunteers. Marci
Penner provided an inspirational speech and recognitions were
given.
Thank
you for your support and encouragement of the project over the
last two years. What
will happen now?? That
remains to be seen. Our
next meeting is November 5th and a representative from
the Pride Program will present information about their
organization. Please
join us as we decide the future of the ABCDE organization.
Thank
you to the following for outstanding support.
Some of the following provided technical assistance and
some provided significant financial support.
We truly appreciate your help to make the ABCDE – Better
Together project a success.
Leroy
Alsup
Debra Teufel
Cowley
County
Commissioners
Cowley First
Lonnie
Stieben
SKT
Cowley
County
Extension
Jack Newcomb
QUAD
Enterprise
Facilitation
City of
Altanta
City
of
Burden
City of
Cambridge
City
of
Dexter
Marci Penner
Rural
Life Task Force
Jean Warta
Department
of Commerce
Kansas
League of Municipalities
Roger
Masenthin
Sunflower RC&D
Small
Business
Development
Center
Lisa Roberts
Cowley
County
Community College
Winfield
Chamber of Commerce/CVB
Arkansas
City
Chamber of Commerce/CVB
Legacy Foundation
Central
School District
Dexter
School District
Union
State Bank
Emerald Bank
Citizens
State Bank
Corner Bank
Bud
Henderson, E-bay Workshop
Bud and Jan Nitschke
Emory
Lewis
Leadership
Cowley
County
Winfield
Courier
Arkansas
City
Traveler
Greta
Goodwin
Ed Trimmer
Scarecrow
Decorating Contest
The
Dexter merchants are sponsoring a Scarecrow Decorating Contest
during the Fall Festival, the first weekend in November.
Simply sign up and decorate a Scarecrow.
A secret judge from Winfield will drive around and chose
the top three best decorated scarecrow.
Prizes will come from the sponsors.
Sign up at each of the businesses.
"Agri-tourism
Seminar”
Area
residents interested in exploring rural small business
opportunities, and particularly agri-tourism, will want to attend
the “Agri-Tourism in Rural Kansas: People Pay to Play in
the Country” conference on Thursday, November 1. The
day-long event will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the
Southeast
Kansas
Education
Service
Center
(Greenbush), rural
Girard
,
Kansas
. A variety of presenters will share information on
how to turn an idea or experience into a full or part-time
business opportunity. Topics to be addressed include issues
related to startup, marketing, legal, insurance, product and
packaging/food safety, hunting and fishing, RVs and camping.
Agri-tourism operators will also share their stories.
Participants will also have an opportunity to visit one-on-one
with state and regional organizations who can provide startup or
expansion assistance.
Cost
for the seminar is $20 per person.
Registration fee includes refreshments, lunch and conference
materials. Advance
registration by Wednesday, October 24, is required.
To register, contact the See-Kan RC&D Project in Chanute at
620-431-6180, or visit the website www.seekanrcd.org
for a registration form.
Late registrations will be accommodated on a space-available
basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities
will be made if requested two weeks in advance. Please
contact the See-Kan RC&D.
Sponsors
of the seminar include the See-
Kan
RC&D Project, Kansas Small Business Development Center (KSBDC)
at
Pittsburg State University
,
Kansas
Department of Commerce, Frontier Farm Credit, and local County
Farm Bureaus.
For
additional information, contact the See-Kan RC&D at
620-431-6180 or the KSBDC at PSU at 620-235-4920.
Register
your Agritourism Businesses
Have
you taken the opportunity to register your agritourism business
with the Department of Commerce? If not, there is no time
like the present! There are a wealth of benefits to
registration—agritourism scholarships for conferences and
educational tours, a tax credit on your liability insurance for up
to 5 years, listing your business on www.travelks.com
for travelers to be able to locate you on their way through your
area, and the agritourism limited liability signage backed by
Senate Bill 334 which gives you further protection for your
agritourism business.
How
do you register? It is a simple 2 page application to fill
out—and it’s free! If you are interested, please contact
me at slarison@kansascommerce.com
or 785-296-3737 for an application.
If
you are registered, now is the time to be thinking about using the
agritourism scholarship program! The North America Farmers
Direct Marketing Association annual conference is in
Wisconsin
in February. Early registration begins on November 6.
If you’ve never been, this will be a great year to go!
NAFDMA is not the only conference you can apply for—if there is
another tourism or agritourism conference you are interested in
attending, please submit an application. Or, if you’d like
to develop your own educational tour to gain more knowledge about
similar agritourism operations in other states, you are also
eligible for scholarship funds. Scholarship
applications are available online at www.kansascommerce.com,
under the Agriculture Marketing Division.
Do
you have an idea for a business?
Jack
has assisted many businesses in
Eastern
Cowley
County
since ABCDE joined QUAD.
Through
2007, business owners and those with business ideas have access to
a Professional Business Coach. His name is Jack Newcomb and
he is available for free, confidential advice and he will even
come to you. Through the ABCDE program, we have joined the
QUAD EF project and have access to their business coach.
Many local banks, businesses and Cowley First assisted to pay the
QUAD membership fee through December of 2007. For more
information contact Jack at (620) 249-2108.
Small
Town
and Rural Retailers’
Summit
This
workshop will be held November 5th in
Junction City
. See attached flyer.
ABCDE
Website
Don’t
forget to visit www.cowleynet.com
for information about the ABCDE project.
Upcoming
Activities/Events
November
5 Small
Town and Rural Retailer’s
Summit
November
5 ABCDE
Monthly Meeting
November
8 QUAD
Meeting,
Eureka
Library, 5:00 p.m.
To
submit information for the newsletter, send an e-mail to Shannon
Thom Martin at shannonthom@hotmail.com