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2021 Q3
Publisher:
Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC Ann Frame Hertzog & Steven Hertzog Editor-in-Chief:
Ann Frame Hertzog
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHERS
Chief Photographer:
We are so excited to be celebrating ten years of creating the Lawrence Business Magazine. We are so grateful for all of our talented and dedicated writers, contributors, and supporters over the last ten years. It has been an amazing ride.
Steven Hertzog Featured Writers:
In this issue, we revisit a few of the topics we have covered over the years, check in on a few businesses, learn about what has been happening over the past decade, and take a look forward to the next 10 years. We are always amazed at the wonderful stories we discover here in Douglas County and the new things we learn with each issue. It is our hope as we craft each publication that you too find out some discovery of a place you didn’t know was here in Lawrence, or a cool place to visit in the County; possibly a new business to shop at or somthing new about an established business you may work with. We are very proud of our mission and dedicated to continuing to cover the stories of the people and businesses making a positive impact in our community. All of the people we highlight, businesses we showcase, and the advertisers that support us all have a vested interest in our community, towns and County. One of the ways we can support our local businesses is to continue to support and listen to our public health officials - and Get Vaccinated. Getting vaccinated saves lives, saves our businesses, and saves our community. And while we are working to get everyone vaccinated, wear masks to protect those who cannot yet be vaccinated (our children - and your children). Protect and preserve our local businesses. Shop Local. Shop Baldwin, Eudora, Lecompton, and Lawrence. Shop Douglas County! Sincerely,
Ann Frame Hertzog Steven Hertzog Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Chief Photographer/ Publisher
www.LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com
10 YEARS OF COVERS Celebrating Lawrence and Douglas County
Mike Anderson Anne Brockhoff Bob Luder Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D. Emily Mulligan Sarah Ngoh Mathew Petillo Tara Trenary Copy Editor:
Tara Trenary Contributing Writers:
Jessica Brewer Sophia Misle
Contributing Photographers:
Jeff Burkhead/ Back Story Photography
INQUIRIES & ADVERTISING INFORMATION CONTACT: info@LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com
LawrenceBusinessMagazine.com Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC 3514 Clinton Parkway, Suite A-113 Lawrence, KS 66047 Lawrence Business Magazine, is published quarterly by Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC and is distributed by direct mail to businesses in the Lawrence & Douglas County Community. It is also distributed at key retail locations throughout the area and mailed to individual subscribers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s permission. Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Statements and opinions printed in the Lawrence Business Magazine are the those of the author or advertiser and are not necessarily the opinion of Lawrence Business Magazine.
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2021 Q3
CONTENTS Features:
8 Lawrence in Perspective: Extra! Extra!
by Patricia Michaelis, Ph.D.
16 Adjst & Adapt, A Retailer’s Mantra by Sarah Ngoh
22 Health, A Lawrence Lifestyle by Tara Trenary 28 Ten Years in Real Estate - A Wild Ride by Emily Mulligan
36 Energy Evolution & Sustainability by Bob Luder
44 The Arts Experience:
Past, Present & Future by Mike Anderson
52 A Decade Embracing Change by Anne Brockhoff 60 Bioscience Leaps & Bounds by Bob Luder 66 The Backbone of a Community by Matthew Petillo 70 From Movies to Mags by Mike Anderson 75 Keep on Rockin’ - Turning 70 by Sophia Misle
Departments:
5 Letter From the Publishers 16 Health Care - LMH 100 78 Local Scene 80 Newsmakers 82 Whose Desk?
Our Mission: We are dedicated to telling the
stories of people and businesses making a positive impact on Lawrence & Douglas County. /lawrencebusinessmagazine
@LawrenceBizMag
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LAWRENCE & DOUGLAS CO [ IN PERSPECTIVE ]
! A R T EX , Ph.D., A. Michaelis by Patricia sulting on C l va hi rch & Arc ea es tzog R l H ca ri Histo Steven er photos by
Sports Pavilion Lawrence, Junior Olympics at Rock Chalk Park 2017Q3, Lawrence Memorial Hospital West and The Big Red Rock RIGHT: LBM Covers Generation to Generation 2017Q1 and Preserving & Evolving Lawrence 2021 Q1
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! A R T EX ce’s n e r w a L n i ents v e g i b ade. e c e h t d f t o s a e l m e o Discover s t made the news in th history tha
What do the Big Red Rock, the South Lawrence Trafficway and Rock Chalk Park have in common? They all were in the news during the last 10 years. These and other events occurred between 2011 and 2021 in Lawrence, as did the creation and publication of Lawrence Business Magazine. This issue marks the magazine’s 10th anniversary. In 2014, the Sports Pavilion Lawrence opened in Rock Chalk Park. Construction costs for the city’s portion of the complex were capped at $22.5 million and a $2-million donation from Bill and Cindy Self’s Assists Foundation. The recreational facilities included eight full-sized basketball courts, 16 full-sized volleyball courts, 1/8-mile indoor walking and jogging track, and areas for gymnastics, aerobics/fitness and cardio/weights. Administrative offices and meeting rooms are also part of the pavilion. The University of Kansas also built a sports complex at Rock Chalk Park. Built in 2014, the KU portion of Rock Chalk Park features a world-class running surface that has played host to several prominent national meets since its completion. It includes approximately 90,000 square feet of locker rooms, offices, sports official rooms and a training room and athletic training facilities located under the east stands. The nine-lane track at Rock Chalk Park gives fans a look at some of the top competitors in the country.
In 2016, Rock Chalk Park hosted the NCAA West Preliminary meet, featuring the top NCAA track and field athletes west of the Mississippi River. One year later, Rock Chalk Park held the 2017 USA Track and Field Junior Championships, welcoming some of the top junior athletes in the United States. In addition to these regional and nations meets, Rock Chalk Park hosts numerous KU Track and Field meets a year, including the Kansas Relays. The Sports Pavilion and the KU complex benefit from shared parking, landscaping, irrigation, five miles of walking trails and standard infrastructure such as sanitary, sewer, water, stormwater, streets and sidewalks. Proposals for the Sports Pavilion identified the following benefits: “The city believes the project is an extraordinary opportunity for the community. Not only does it address our much-needed indoor gym space needs, the project provides the opportunity to host sports tournaments in our city, capturing sales tax revenue from 9
retail sales to out-of-town visitors and recapturing revenues currently lost to other communities. Additionally, the project provides a synergy with the KU Athletic facilities, a synergy that would be unique for the State of Kansas and the entire region. The collaboration allows for the maximization of shared infrastructure.” Another new development on the west side of the city is LMH Health West Campus. It opened Sept. 14, 2020. Approximately 200,000 square feet in size, the building serves as an outpatient medical office building for LMH Health. The building is just south of Rock Chalk Park at the South Lawrence Trafficway and Sixth Street interchange. Costing approximately $100 million, the structure includes space for the LMH Breast Center, a surgery center for outpatient procedures, an orthopedic center run by OrthoKansas, a physical therapy center, several doctor’s offices and other services. All of the facilities described above are adjacent to the South Lawrence Trafficway. The improved east leg opened in 2016, but it was preceded by several decades of debate about the pros and cons of improving Kansas Highway 10 (K-10). One writer states: “The South Lawrence Trafficway surely must be the most debated stretch of concrete in Douglas County’s history.” The center of the controversy was the Baker Wetlands (also known as the Haskell-Baker Wetlands), a nature preserve and artificially sustained wetland spanning approximately 927 acres south of Lawrence. It is associated with the Wakarusa River and sustained by levees and flood controls built in the 1990s. In 1969, the U.S. National Park Service declared the wetlands a National Natural Landmark. The wetlands support 413 documented species of vascular plants, 265 species of birds and 61 additional vertebrate species. In the early 1970s, traffic studies of K-10 determined a bypass around the west and south sides of Lawrence was necessary, so the Kansas Department of Transportation began studying and planning the bypass project. Completion of the eastern leg of the trafficway was delayed for nearly three decades by lawsuits from environmentalist groups and Haskell University, as the planned route took the highway through the Baker Wetlands. Mitigation plans for the Wetlands were developed and approved. One feature of the mitigation was the construction of a Discovery Center, which opened in 2015. Construction finally began on Nov. 12, 2013 and was completed by fall 2016. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the trafficway was held on Nov. 4, 2016, and numerous state and local leaders were in attendance. The trafficway officially opened to all traffic on Nov. 9, 2016. By 2018, daily use of the road averaged 17,000 vehicles. Presently, plans for future improvements are being discussed. Recently, an effort has begun to return a Lawrence 10
landmark, the Big Red Rock, to the Kaw Nation. The name is based on the rock being pink quartzite, and it weighs approximately 23 tons. The sacred prayer rock was moved to its current location in Robinson Park in 1929, and the attached plaque turned it into a monument to the founders of Lawrence. It had been moved from its former location along the banks of the Kansas River at the mouth of Shunganunga Creek, where it had been deposited by a glacier. The Kaw people used the 10-foot-tall red rock in religious ceremonies, and it is believed the tribe viewed it as a sacred place to obtain stone for making ceremonial pipes. Tradition says the Kaw had 89 songs for this rock alone. The tribe’s folklore believes there were “several spirit villages where the souls of warriors and all good dreamers went on to their death” along the Kansas River. In recent years, it has become a point of contention with the Kaw tribe. On Jan. 19, 2021, the Lawrence City Commission voted to return the Big Red Rock to the tribe. The action was in response to a letter received from the tribe asking for its return. Following the city commissioner’s decision, Kaw Nation chairwoman Lynn Williams informed the commission that at the Kaw Nation General Council meeting in October, Kaw citizens overwhelmingly voted in favor of bringing the boulder back to the tribe. Williams says in the letter that the tribe’s stewardship of the rock and its significance as a spiritual item of prayer was well-documented, and the tribe’s intent was to reclaim that stewardship and restore the rock’s sacred significance. The letter from the Kaw Nation explained it planned to move the rock to Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park, in Council Grove, Kansas. The park is the site of the last Kaw/Kansa village in Kansas before it was forced to move to Oklahoma. The 158-acre Kaw Heritage Park is owned and managed by the Kaw Nation from their Oklahoma offices. The long-range goal for the park is to create an educational resource center where visitors can learn about the state’s early Native American inhabitants. The City of Lawrence is working with the tribe and community partners to secure grants and other funding to pay for the cost of relocation. The last 10 years in Lawrence have had numerous significant events. On Oct. 4, 2011, Lawrence was the first city in Kansas to pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. University of Kansas professor Kevin Wilmott and his collaborator, Spike Lee, won an Academy Award in 2019 for Best Adapted Screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman.” And lastly, all Kansas Jayhawk fans celebrated the men’s basketball team when it won a national record-setting 14 consecutive conference champions from 2005 to 2018. I am sure readers will have many favorites to add to this list. p 11
100 Years & Expanding West by Jessica Brewer, LMH Health, photos from LMH Health
Though 100 years ago, the plan for LMH Health was a modest one, today access to exceptional care and state-of-the-art services is at your doorstep. One hundred years ago, LMH Health was founded on a philanthropic gift and a belief that all people deserve a place of safety, dignity and comfort to receive excellent medical care. The original plan for a modest place to care for those in need has grown to include a 174-bed hospital with the latest diagnostic and surgical technology, the new LMH Health West Campus outpatient facility and 28 specialty- and primary-care clinics in Douglas, Jefferson and Leavenworth counties. LMH Health has worked to fulfill its founding mission by increasing access to primary care and specialty services that wouldn’t otherwise be available in this community, including world-class orthopedics, oncology, cardiology, robotic surgery and emergency care. Today, LMH Health serves as the largest safety-net provider in the community, supporting $25 million in charitable care each year. This is made possible by you: community members, patients, employees and donors. When you choose LMH Health for your care, you ensure its ability to care for the community. Looking to the future, know that LMH Health will be here for you—and here for good.
Growing and Advancing It seems not long ago the doors were opening for the first time to the LMH Health West Campus. What started as a mound of dirt turned into a 30-year strategy— a state-of-the-art facility that has already served many patients from our community and beyond. Reflecting on the past year, LMH Health is excited about its growth and what is to come in the future. 12
The Mission for the Campus When the plans for West originated, the goal was to have a facility that not only enhanced LMH Health’s ability to care for the needs of the Lawrence community and beyond, but created a space with the latest technology to support our continued goal to remain patient first. Russ Johnson, LMH Health president and CEO, says this past year has brought challenges, but the mission behind West has remained the same. “We began planning the West Campus about 3½ years ago with a standpoint of being patient first in an environment that is easy and accessible to our patients,” he explains. “We were looking ahead to what the future of health care should look like with programs and services that are convenient and offered in an outstanding clinical environment. The way our teams have grown this past year and have used the landscape to provide for patients in an efficient way has been amazing to see. Our hope was to bring more services under one roof to give our patients time in their day back and efficiency when receiving care. To see this come to fruition has been incredible and very rewarding.” Johnson says the LMH Health West Campus now sees around 1,000 patients a day, and he expects that this number will only grow in the coming years as it expands services and adapts to the needs and interests of the community and patients. “Already in the first year of this new facility, we are seeing incredible collaboration and outstanding results from our clinicians,” Johnson adds. “A broad range of programs and services have developed, and we’re taking advantage of the outpatient setting and moving further in the future of medicine. Some of this technology includes outpatient robotic joint replacement and our integrated Women’s Center, which has helped create an outstanding experience for patients navigating their illnesses. These successes are all
First LMH on Main Street and LMH West Campus
a testament to the fantastic staff and providers that work at the West Campus.” The climate of 2020 and into 2021 has marked incredibly challenging times for health care in the country. Johnson believes coming through a pandemic, LMH Health and its team members have learned much about what it means to respond as a community. “We know health care needs to be more convenient and accessible for all,” he says. “We are committed to the work of health equity and inclusion for our community as we move into the future. I am grateful for being a part of LMH Health and our community over the last five years, and look forward with confidence and optimism.” Having a new, larger facility has allowed providers to make room for additional services and technology. Expanding services has allowed LMH Health to fulfill its financial goals as a nonprofit, community hospital that can provide a regional level of care. “I am so happy to announce that we are meeting and exceeding our budget predictions so far since the West Campus has been open,” says Deb Cartwright, vice president and chief financial officer for LMH Health. “Despite opening a new facility during COVID-19, we have been able to provide our patients with the best care while staying in a fantastic financial state. We absolutely could not have done that without the support of our donors, patients and community members who have trusted us with their care and to keep them safe during this scary time.”
Thankful for Supporters Simply put, the LMH Health West Campus would not have been as successful without the incredible community support. The gifts provided to fund the building and technology have provided the ability to care better for patients and serve out the mission.
“The LMH Health West Campus ensures we can deliver an ever-increasing quality of medical care for our patients,” says Rebecca Smith, vice president of strategic communication for LMH Health and executive director of the LMH Health Foundation. “The West Campus is also a vital part of our efforts to strengthen the hospital in ways that help sustain our mission. As the largest safety net entity in our community, LMH provides more than $25 million in financial assistance each year, ensuring everyone in our community has access to primary and specialty care, regardless of their ability to pay. The patients who chose to receive their care at LMH also support community outreach and crisis care for mental health and substance abuse—services that are absolutely essential for community health.” Private donors played a vital role in funding the construction of the LMH Health West Campus, generously providing more than $5 million to the facility. Smith says donors know this facility is an important resource for the community and were eager to help. “There’s a caring, proactive approach to health care at LMH—rooted in excellence and aimed at continuous improvement,” she explains. “Our donors’ gifts toward construction of the West Campus signal understanding and support for that approach and ensure LMH Health can fulfill its newly envisioned purpose as a partner for lifelong health.”
Advancements in Women’s Health Dr. Scarlett Aldrich, MD, a plastic surgeon with Plastic Surgery Specialists of Lawrence, was interviewed last year just before the new Women’s Center opened at West. The excitement for a new, bigger space with the capabilities to tend to patients more diligently was very real. So now that the spaced has been lived in and worked in, how is it working out? “Our space at the West Campus is wonderful,” she says. “It is a beautiful campus that is becoming highly efficient as we settle into the new rhythm. We have already begun to reap the rewards of the Women’s Center as a multidisciplinary clinic. There have been several instances where a patient who needed imaging or evaluation from another provider was able to just walk to the next hallway and get it taken care of right away.” Aldrich says the goal to bring more care under one roof for patients is coming true and is incredible to see. “The West Campus and the structure it provides is so convenient for our patients and gives them a peace of mind to get tests and results faster,” she explains. “We have also been able to coordinate appointment times so that patients can minimize their time away from their daily routine. I love the convenience and efficiency we 13
can provide. Our goal is always to provide the best care possible, and I feel like we have made a giant leap forward.”
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“The sheer increase in size in both our office and clinic space, and the dramatic increase in our therapy space has made it possible to accommodate more patients and their musculoskeletal needs,” he explains. “The clinic design has also allowed for operational efficiencies when managing a high volume of patients.”
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Stull remarks on the significant growth the clinic has seen since the opening and in the past few months alone: “We have seen significant growth in the past year; in fact, we had the most number of clinical visits we have ever had during June 2021. We have yet to open two clinical pods and hope to do so soon as we plan to add providers in the near future to care for our growing community.”
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One of the most notable clinics that moved out to the West Campus last year was OrthoKansas. The space touts a 16,000-square-foot facility with amazing new equipment and technology. It was built on the basis of providing better care for patients to aid in their most optimal recovery time and healing, in a next-to-reallife setting. Dr. Douglass Stull, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with OrthoKansas, says in this new setting, all musculoskeletal needs of the patient can be managed and met under one roof, from clinical evaluation, advanced imaging, physical therapy and ultimately, surgery.
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One of his favorite parts about being at West has been witnessing the reactions of his patients and their family members. He says it’s been rewarding to see their positive responses entering and using the building. “Our patients are getting the facility and the care they deserve. It’s a beautiful building, but it’s the people who work in the building that make it so special,” Stull adds. “Not only does it inspire our patients, but it inspires our staff and physicians by being in a space that we love to work in. It is an art gallery, which showcases local artists; it can host community events with its upstairs outdoor patio space; and it has a space that is available for the expanding health care needs of our community and region in the future. It is part of the community bus route, and the walking trail has one of the best views of the Kansas sunset in town. We have been and will continue to be able to care better for our patients while providing a space that is the future of health care.” p
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LBM Covers Holiday Spirits 2016Q4 and Shop Lawrence 2013Q4 Right: LBM Issue 2012Q4, Joe Flannery (left), Brady Flannery (right), and Weaver’s Christmas Bow
by Sarah Ngoh, photos by Steven Hertzog
Consumers’ expectations of products and services, as well as their shopping practices and habits, have dramatically changed in the last decade, forcing businesses to follow suit or close. The world of retail has changed significantly since the first publication of Lawrence Business Magazine in 2011. How have local retailers adjusted to these changes? Four local retail businesses tell us what they have been up to since we last spoke with them and what changes they have faced this past decade.
comfortable serving themselves or using technology rather than interacting with others to accomplish their purchasing tasks.
There is no denying that the last decade has seen a huge increase in online and mobile shopping—Amazon dominates this trend with its easily accessible website and mobile app, as well as its quick delivery, forcing smaller businesses to offer similar services if they want to compete.
Stores that offer discounted or used items have also become increasingly popular in the last 10 years. At local discount stores, for example, shoppers can find great deals on name-brand items. Thrift shops are extremely popular with students—and not just those on a fixed budget—while online resale stores like Poshmark and thredUP are ideal for shoppers looking for gently used items at a good price. This trend toward sustainability—reusing clothes rather than throwing them in a landfill—is no doubt better for the environment.
Self-service options have also become more common in the last 10 years. Consider, for example, the number of self-checkout kiosks in Targets and Walmarts compared to the number of open checkout lanes. If you’ve been to the airport recently, you probably noticed the self-checkin kiosks, where travelers can check their own bags and print their own boarding passes. Or perhaps you’ve been to a movie theater and purchased and printed your tickets at the self-service kiosks in the building’s entryway. During the last 10 years, consumers have become more
The rise of social media has also significantly influenced retail during the last decade. According to Statista, 3.78 billion people—about 48% of the world’s population—use social media. On average, a person spends 2½hours per day on social media (DataReportal 2021), and 54% of browsers use social media to research product details (GlobalWebIndex, 2018). Social media platforms are not only important sources of news and information, they also offer retailers a unique way to interact with customers. Social media offers retailers the opportunity to share
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user-generated content, such as video testimonies. Often retailers rely on social media influencers who use their platform to review and share products with their followers. The impact of social media influencers cannot be overlooked. In fact, according to the Digital Marketing Institute, 49% of consumers say they rely on social media influencer recommendations when making purchases.
COVID-19 There’s no denying the pandemic altered things for retail businesses, but retailers were already struggling when the pandemic hit because of the “Great Retail Apocalypse.” According to Business Insider, more than 9,000 retailers, such as Dressbarn and Chico’s, shut down or closed stores in 2019. In Lawrence, The Gap permanently closed its doors the same year. If brick-and-mortar businesses weren’t already struggling, the necessity of social distancing fundamentally changed the way people shop, making businesses adapt quickly or fold. Delivery and curbside pickup options are now considered the safest way to purchase items, including groceries. COVID not only changed retail logistics, it also changed customers in ways that will continue to significantly impact businesses. With Amazon’s influence, customers have come to expect same-day and/or fast shipping. Shoppers are also much more empowered than they were a decade ago. Now, shoppers rely on reviews, ratings and influencers to make informed purchasing choices, and they are less likely to tolerate errors in orders. Because the market is flooded with options, shoppers have ample access to new alternatives if they are unhappy with a particular
product or service. Interestingly, because of limited mobility, shoppers have also begun to rely on local businesses. During the last decade, online retail trends and consumer expectations have required that retailers adjust and adapt quickly.
Weaver’s Department Store Established in 1857 and located at 901 Massachusetts St., Weaver’s has survived the Great Depression, World War II, the rise of chain stores, the Great Retail Apocalypse and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Its ability to survive and thrive all these years is due in part to anticipating market changes and adapting quickly. Weaver’s President Brady Flannery notes: “Retail is always in transition and flux. Retailers who accept this reality are better able to survive these shifts.” For example, rather than seeing the move to online and mobile shopping as a barrier to business, Weaver says they recognize these changes are opportunities to better interact and communicate with their customers. “It’s part of relationship-building,” he adds. Seeing shifts in retail trends as opportunities rather than barriers and adapting, when necessary, has certainly contributed to the department store’s success. As the only nonchain department store left in Lawrence and one of very few department stores left in the state, 17
Weaver’s charm is that it offers shoppers one of the last opportunities for an authentic department store experience. But that doesn’t mean Weaver’s is stuck in the past. In fact, Weaver’s is committed to doing what it can to make sure it provides a modern-day shopping experience, Weaver explains. Part of that includes having a strong online presence. Weaver’s has a website on which customers can place orders to be delivered or picked up. It also has an active Instagram page, which takes viewers to the store’s website. In these ways, Weaver’s is better able to reach online and mobile shoppers. Clearly, we can count on Weaver’s to adapt and thrive, but what is in the future for the department store? The move to online and mobile shopping means it will focus on interacting and communicating with mobile customers. Some renovations will occur to ensure the physical space contributes positively to shoppers’ experiences. Weaver’s is also focused on each of its specialty departments and working to make each department the best it can possibly be. It will also continue to maintain its relationship with the Lawrence (and surrounding areas) community, as well as cater to people all over the country.
Pawsh Wash & Pet Health Market Pawsh Wash and Pet Health Market was covered in Lawrence Business Magazine’s very first issue back in 2011. Owned by sisters Amber Nickel and Nicki Spurling, Pawsh Wash and Pet Health Market was opened in fall 2005 as a self-wash dog-cleaning company with limited retail. Over the years, it has expanded into retail and now offers full-service cleaning. During the past 10 years, Pawsh Wash owners and employees have engaged in several trainings, workshops, seminars and trade shows to perfect their craft. All this hard work has paid off, because in that time, Pawsh Wash has been responsible for training several skilled, professional dog groomers. It has also provided first job opportunities to dozens of high-schoolers and trained them, as well as other employees, through many community partnerships (Cottonwood, Job18
In the first LBM issue from 2011 Amber Nickel owner of Pawsh Wash with doggie treats and canine washing.
Link, C-Tran, etc.) to care for animals. “We’ve improved our collective knowledge of pet needs and improved our skill set as groomers and caregivers,” Nickel says. “Many of our staff are pet first aid and CPR certified.” One employee, Chrissy Spencer, has been studying to become a certified master groomer, while another, Kellie Rosenrod, is working toward a pet esthetician certification. “We are proud that we have been able to support the goals and dreams of delightful young people and help them build fulfilling careers” Nickel says. Pawsh Wash hasn’t been immune to the changes in retail. Referencing the increase in online and mobile shopping trends, Nickel admits: “Amazon and Chewy.com have had incredible impacts on local retail.” But Pawsh Wash was ready. It has a strong online presence, with business pages on both Facebook and Instagram, and an accessible web-
site from which customers can order products to pick up or to be delivered. Moreover, they purchased a van. The Canine Care-A-Van allows Pawsh Wash to compete with online retailers by offering quicker delivery of supplies and safe transportation of dogs to and from service appointments. The van has also come in handy during the pandemic, as it enables staff to continue to take care of pets during times when owners are not able to leave their homes or come into the store. In addition to adapting to the changing retail trends, Pawsh Wash employees are engaged with, and have donated hundreds of volunteer hours to, the Lawrence community through grooming neglected puppy mill dogs for the Lawrence Humane Society, planting flowers downtown with Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department, teaching classes for Junior Achievement and running power tools at Habitat for Humanity. So what’s next for the Pawsh Wash and Pet Health Market? First, they plan to join their partner at the Lawrence Pet Campus. Nickel notes they were looking forward to joining Home Sweet Home Dog Resort, Hair of the Dog Cafe just down the road, at 1837 Wakarusa Dr., because “these partnerships will absolutely make Lawrence, Kansas, the best place to live with a dog or a cat.”
The Toy Store The Toy Store, located at 936 Massachusetts St., was last covered in 2013 and has grown a great deal since then. It now has a top floor (formerly Love Garden Records). This additional floor brought about the need for an elevator, which was installed simultaneously with the top floor renovation. The building has been updated with a new fire-suppression system and renovated and refinished floors, counter surfaces and cabinetry. The main floor guest restroom has also been redone. Not only has the physical space grown, but the number of Toy Store employees has grown, as well. “We have grown from five staff on a busy day to 10 staff on a busy day,” owner Nick Guffey explains. “The staff are now under an entirely new management team that has developed a store culture that is enduring, with a focus on encouraging long-term employment.” The Toy Store has no doubt been affected by the changes in retail. Guffey says that by listening to parents and kids about what they like to play with, they were able to identify and adjust to changes in trends. The pandemic also changed the kinds of games and toys customers wanted. Guffey notes a surge in puzzle sales and indoor and outdoor activities, as well as how people shop for them. Fortunately, the Toy Store has a well-maintained website and active Facebook and Instagram business pages through which shoppers can order items and choose between home delivery and curbside pickup.
The Toy Store on Mass St LBM issue 2013Q4 and LBM cover The Business of Weddings 2016Q2
But there’s no doubt that toy shopping is an experience best done in person. “We are on your phone, but we are better in person,” he says.
J. Lynn Bridal Business has grown for J. Lynn Bridal since we last visited with them in 2016. At that time, the company had just moved into the old Francis Sporting Goods building downtown, at 731 Massachusetts St., one of the oldest buildings in Lawrence. Since then, the business has grown, employing more people and offering additional services. “Initially, we were only able to handle one bridal appointment at a time,” owner Jena Lynn Dick says. “We now have two private bridal suites that allow us to operate two appointments at the same time.” In terms of services, there are also new bridal appointment options. A 90-minute Bridal Plus Appointment is $25 and includes beverages with a consultant in a private bridal suite, while the 90-minute VIP Bridal Appointment is $, and includes beverages, sweets, charcuterie from Pedestrian Cheese and a gift for the bride. 20
In addition to expanding staff and services, J. Lynn Bridal has had to adapt to retail changes brought on by the pandemic. One trend that appeared during the pandemic was consumers being less willing to tolerate errors. Because of the many options now on the market, businesses compete by offering higher service standards. In return, consumers have higher expectations. This is one trend that won’t affect J. Lynn Bridal. “We’ve been open eight years, and during that time (knock on wood), we have never missed a wedding date. Even with COVID-19, I’ve still been able to get our clients attire here in time for the wedding or special occasion,” Dick explains. “Having a small business allows me to make all the rules, and no one gets in my way from going the distance for my clients.” So, what does the next 10 years look like for J. Lynn Bridal? In addition to continuing to grow, Dick notes that she’d like to open “a division that recycles/reuses wedding gowns. This store would sell secondhand dresses and rent dresses at affordable prices,” she explains. This goal is right on par with market trends. Having a division available to those looking for secondhand dresses at affordable prices is not just good business, it makes clothing recycling vogue, and it enables even students and young people with limited budgets the opportunity to purchase or rent the perfect gown for any event. p
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LBM Covers, A Healthy Community 2019Q4, Health Wellness (Andrea Hudy) 2015Q1 and Lawrence Memorial Hospital 2012 Q2
Health, a Lawrence Lifestyle
Americans today are much more focused on their overall physical and mental health than they were a decade ago.
By Tara Trenary, photos by Steven Hertzog
During the last 10 years, health and wellness have become mainstream topics. More and more Americans have begun to rely on this industry to help them keep chronic diseases and declining mental and physical health at bay. Cleaner ingredients, healthier food, more efficient ways to stay fit and a focus on mental health are all expectations that have moved front and center in the last decade. According to the Forbes article “The 10 Best Wellness Trends of the 2010s,” contributor Bruce Y. Lee explains that along with some “bogus and bad” trends in the past 10 years, there were also many good ones. Some of those include athleisure and eco-friendly apparel; wearable fitness devices; flexible work hours; more plantbased diets; meditation and mindfulness; personalized health and nutrition; and an awakening to mental health. Now more than ever, especially in the grips of COVID-19, many Americans crave a healthy and active lifestyle. “COVID has put public health in the spotlight like no other event during my career,” says Dan Partridge, director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Department. “It has shown the strengths and weaknesses of our system, and hopefully will be the catalyst for a stronger, smarter investment in public health.” So what are the best ways to achieve the goal of optimum wellness many of us long for during this unprecedented time? Let’s take a dive into some of the most significant changes in health, wellness and fitness in the past decade. 22
l-r Vickie Collie-Akers. Beth Llewellyn and Dan Partridge of the County Health Department (2019Q4), Cynthia Lewis, CEO of Visiting Nurses Association and a VNA social worker Mickey Dick visits with patient Russ Best (2018Q4)
Public Health “There is no vaccine we can give the public to prevent diabetes, heart disease, obesity, stress, hunger, poverty, substance abuse and all the other factors that drive our health,” Partridge explains. For public health in the United States to remain relevant (able to prevent chronic disease), long-term foundational federal funding to local public health departments is necessary to bring in the skills and personnel to change policies, systems and environments. “Our clinic has seen a consistent decline in the total number of clients over the past 10 years,” he adds. “But the complexity and severity of the problems they are experiencing has increased.” With this federal funding in place, “people of every skin color and life situation have the opportunity for wellness.” Cynthia Lewis, CEO, Douglas County Visiting Nurses Association (VNA), a not-for-profit organization that cares for anyone regardless of their ability to pay, is seeing an increasing number of younger patients (40s, 50s, 60s) in its hospice program. “Despite medical advances,” she says, “there comes a point in chronic illness or disease progression that curative treatment is no longer feasible. “Staffing is a huge issue for us just as it is across health care,” she says, especially with the increases in patients needing VNA services. “Finding creative ways to recruit and retain exceptional people is at the top of my list now and likely for many years to come.” Improving public health is top of mind for both Partridge and Lewis, and this work starts with equity. “By working to reduce the wellness gap across the racial and economic continuum,” Partridge explains, “we believe we improve the public’s health. We want our workforce to not just be diverse but be committed to health equity.”
V N A ’ s commitment also extends to all people regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc. “A culture of inclusion and equity has been and always will be essential to meeting our mission,” Lewis says. Partridge agrees. “Our work starts with a focus on equity and the differential health outcomes we see within our community,” he says.
Personalized Wellness Mental health has been front and center as of late, and for good reason. The world today is not what it was a decade ago. The isolation of COVID-19, the increased violence of a divided country, the anxiety of not knowing what tomorrow brings. Brandon Zoeller, owner, American Shaman-Lawrence, has noticed in the past few years an increase in the number of people who are trying or consistently using CBD (cannabidiol). Ranging from 18 into their 80s, more people are searching for relief from a world seemingly in turmoil. 23
AND THE BEAT GOES ON...
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“Our company’s goal is to spread health and wellness at an affordable rate, and to give our customers back their quality of life,” he says. “CBD benefits all people, young [and] old. There is no specific person that could potentially benefit from this.” Zoeller says he is getting more business from people who are seeking something to help them cope. “COVID definitely presented challenges last year, but we made it through, and I think it helped us actually expand our market. More people are willing to try a product that could potentially help with anxiety and stress,” he says. “My job is to spread the word that everyone can potentially have a better quality of life.” That quality of life is exactly what Dr. Samantha Durland, owner of Simple Wellness, strives to help her patients achieve. Consumers have begun to move away from the standard health and nutrition advice of the past toward personalized health and wellness recommendations from specialists. “We all want the same thing, I believe: peace within ourselves,” Durland, a former OB/GYN, says. “I think that more folks are starting to understand and become engaged in their journey, and many are stepping outside the box and are accepting of it.” She says the last five years have been an opportunity to see how her vision is valued by her patients as she tries to help people understand that they are so much more powerful than they may think. “Thinking about our body as a whole and understanding and connecting with it is not taught so much in our culture,” Durland explains. The clinic’s environment is meant to be kind, helpful and transparent in pricing. “I love helping people reconnect with themselves and feel the empowerment of their whole being,” she says. These medical services are for those who want to get better and are engaged in participating in a program of self-improvement. Simple Wellness offers food and allergy testing, migraine therapy, hormone and weight-loss programs, skin and sexual health services, revive IV (intravenous) therapy and overall women’s and men’s wellness services, among other offerings.
(785) 843-7700 / 3430 Iowa St. Lawrence, KS 66046 24
www.CrownAutomotive.com
Durland does her best to be aware of what clients value in her practice. It’s important that her patients are able to pursue whatever service or combination of services suits them best. “I look in folks eyes and feel that I just can see whom they are,” she says. “I don’t know what car some-
LEFT: Brandon Zoeller owner of American Shaman (2019Q4; Dr. Samantha Durland owner Simple Wellness (2019Q4)
one drives, the color of their skin or hair. I just want to help whomever comes feel better in whatever way that I have to help.”
Plant-Based Diets With California and the entire West Coast of the country leading the way, plant-based diets have definitely grown in the last 10 years. Millions of Americans now seek to incorporate plant-based foods into their diets. Although the number of vegetarians and vegans has not grown significantly, sales of plant-based foods are exploding. Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN, is a renowned celebrity nutritionist, healthy cooking expert and founder and CEO of Nutritious Life. In the Nutritious Life article “The Biggest Wellness Trends of the Past Decade,” she explains: “When fast-food chains start selling the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat, you know plant-based diets have gone mainstream. With growing environmental and health concerns, lots of people are reducing their intake of animal products as a way to address these issues.” Nationwide, there are a lot of issues surrounding equity in the food system and access to fresh foods like fruits and vegetables, explains Valerie Taylor, marketing director, The Merc Co+op. “And Lawrence is not without those issues. That access, as well as affordability, can make following a plant-based diet challenging for some folks.” She says the term “plant-based” in and of itself is a trend. “Rather than label a product by an individual’s diet, like ‘vegan’ or ‘vegetarian,’ labeling something as ‘plantbased’ is more approachable and inclusive of all diets, which can give these foods and products a broader appeal.” Plant-based foods are much more common than they were 10 years ago, Taylor adds. What was once a diet very much based on whole foods now includes a lot more processed foods and a variety of options across many categories. “As new plant-based products have developed, there is increased access to products that use almond or coconut, and now oats or nuts like cashew, macadamia or hazelnut,” she continues. “Today, there are so many more options for ‘alt’ milk and cheese, and companies are getting better at approximating flavors.”
Paul Heimbach, bike shop manager at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop and J Jenkins co-owner of Ad Astra (2020Q4)
Because food and cooking are more a source of entertainment than they have been in the past, people today have access to much more content that can open their minds to cultures, dishes and values to which they may not have been exposed otherwise, Taylor explains. “It makes for exciting opportunities to experiment and try new things, including more plant-based foods. Anyone, regardless of if they adhere to a particular diet, can incorporate more plants into their daily routine.”
A Product Revolution When it comes to buying accessories to help maintain a healthy, happy lifestyle, people today are more willing to hand over the cash. Whether it be ecofriendly apparel, devices to help monitor steps, heart rate and calories burned, or equipment like a treadmill or elliptical, a higher price tag doesn’t seem to deter buying these days. “Customers today appear more willing than they once were to pay a little more for premium products,” says J Jenkins, co-owner of Ad Astra, a specialty running store focused on helping individuals live their happiest, healthiest lives. “Our biggest contribution to sustainability comes from the decisions we make regarding the brands we carry. Many boutique apparel brands we carry are leading the way on sustainable materials.” Jenkins explains that community is the driving force behind the business. “We live here and want to use our resources to make this a better place for all to live. Profit is important, has to be to remain open, but never the exclusive and preeminent consideration,” he adds. Much more today than in years before, sustainability has become a key issue. Paul Heimbach, bike shop manager at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, says his shop’s mantra is that life is bet26
ter when outdoors. “We want to provide the best equipment and knowledge to our customers so they can experience the same thing,” he explains. He believes one of the most impactful events from the last 10 years has been the ability to purchase products via the internet. “Companies such as Amazon have made it possible to buy whatever you want at a few mouse clicks away, 24 hours a day.” So to stay relevant, Sunflower has implemented its own website where customers can buy items from the shop. Jenkins agrees online sales have become an important aspect of shopping, admitting they “have not pursued online sales to a great extent due to the custom nature of the services we provide,” he explains. “But we may need to transition to a hybrid approach in areas where custom fit is less necessary.” In the last few years, Sunflower employees have learned how to better choose the products people want and then sell it on the website. “This has been a positive way to embrace the changing landscape of retail,” Heimbach adds. But most important at Sunflower is offering new experiences to its customers and creating an environment that makes them want to be there when not at work or home. “Customers want to have experiences, so that is what we are trying to build upon at Sunflower, a place to come get geared up for your next adventure outdoors. We are looking to provide other experiences for our customers that will hopefully have them coming back for more.”
All in All Being mentally and physically healthy and happy has become an even more important part of our world in the past decade for so many reasons. But the ways in which we pursue that balance looks very different than it used to. People are less hesitant about spending money on things that will make them look and feel good. They are trying to become their best selves by eating better and taking control of their mental and physical health. They’re seeking advice about how to do that from specialists who have focused their studies on specific aspects of health and wellness. “Change has to be viewed as a positive,” the Health Department’s Partridge says. “When bad news comes our way, we look for the opportunity it presents to try something new.” p
LBM Cover Real Estate Issue (2013Q2), Portrait of North Lawrence (2018Q4) and Portrait of East Lawrence (2020Q2) Lawrence Venture Park (2014Q2), Train track in East Lawrence (2020Q2) and Jeff Hatfield, owner of Larry A. Hatfield Appraisals (2012Q2)
Ten Years in Real Estate – by Emily Mulligan, photos by Steven Hertzog
The real estate market in Lawrence has gone through a process of change in the last 10 years that’s inexplicable to many in the industry.
Let’s all clear our hindsight vision. Look back through the haze of this past 18 months and get a full picture of real estate and development the past decade in Lawrence. This 10-year period, 2011 through 2021, in Lawrence’s history may just have some of what could become the largest and most impactful events and developments for the city as a whole ever. Places that will exist for decades to come, decisions and intentions that will forever leave imprints, and, of course, outside forces that permanently have wound their way into the city’s fabric.
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2011 to 2015 Local experts agree it took about six or seven years for local residential real estate and development to recover fully from the 2008 market crash. “Lawrence has mirrored what has gone on in the country as a whole and has done a good job of trying to control uncontrolled growth since the recession in 2008,” says Jeff Hatfield, owner of Larry A. Hatfield Appraisals.
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W e A d s i ’ t R i ld I To bring this time period into focus, the first residences in the Warehouse Arts District opened in 2012, along with art galleries and the beginnings of other building renovations that would lead to multiple new businesses. “We can see now those buildings were becoming an eclectic mix of workspace. Multiple-use groups allowed for a vibrancy in East Lawrence that we hadn’t seen in a long time,” Hatfield explains. With new multifamily residences on-site in revamped older buildings and other East Lawrence rental and owneroccupied homes nearby, the Warehouse Arts District reflected growing national interest in urban cores. “Walkability and convenience to amenities was important to both young and older buyers, and the library and new businesses in East Lawrence affected that,” says Oliver Minnis, partner in Stephens Real Estate.
In 2014, the city financed two large projects: Rock Chalk Park/Sports Pavilion Lawrence, in what expanded the city’s western reach, and the Lawrence Public Library renovation, in central Lawrence. Rock Chalk Park is a partnership between the city and the University of Kansas, and Sports Pavilion Lawrence provides a community center for the west side of town, as well as a large facility for sports tournaments. “When we travel, we run into people all the time who say they know Lawrence because their kid played in a volleyball or basketball tournament at Rock Chalk Park,” says Bryan Hedges, Hedges Real Estate and Location Properties. “It didn’t take long for that to catch on.” The library’s downtown location was expanded to include green space for events and a parking garage, in addition to the extensive remodeling of the original building.
from the downturn, it was still affecting overall finances several years afterward.
(top l-r) Oliver Minnis and Chris Earl owners of Stephens Real Estate In front of their new building (August 2021) and former owner Pat McCandless and Chris Earl (2017Q1) (bottom l-r) Bryan Hedges owner of Hedges Real Estate (August 2021) and in (2013Q2)
“The recession turned the tap off for a lot of development activity we had seen previously. That gave our office the opportunity to look out in the long range in areas where we hadn’t before. We focused on neighborhood planning efforts in the county, and those plans gave us insight into Plan 2040, which we are just completing,” Crick says.
2016 to 2018 Possibly the single most significant development in Douglas County in the past decade was the long-awaited opening of the South Lawrence Trafficway in fall 2016. Connecting Interstate 70 and Highway 59, and also allowing for traffic to bypass the core of 23rd Street, the Trafficway has forever changed the flow of traffic in and around Lawrence.
As more retirees were drawn to Lawrence, local condo developments such as Bella Sera at the Preserve and the Hobbs Taylor Lofts saw increased demand during this time frame for maintenance-free, congregate living.
“Before then, the Trafficway stopped at 37th and Iowa, which a lot of people forget. Places like the VenturePark development are beginning to grow because of the accessibility to get around the city. And now we’re looking at four lanes,” Hatfield says.
Hedges and Minnis say many Lawrence homeowners held on to single-family properties after the 2008 market crash, even as they moved out of the area, and many of those homes became rentals for years until owners felt like they could recoup the value by selling them.
The transportation access that the Trafficway allows for definitely has commercial appeal, but the ability to bypass the city also has been a game changer for residents who commute to Topeka or Kansas City.
Hedges Real Estate’s sister company, property-management company Location Properties, had major growth during this period postrecession because of all the additional rentals as a result of the recession, Hedges explains. Location Properties became more of a focus for his business, with individual owners-turned-landlords.
“It has helped all the neighborhoods that border it and the overall flow for the community. The access coming and going northwest has aided in all the great activity in southeast Lawrence, for example, plus it makes us more appealing and accessible for people outside of town to come into Lawrence,” Minnis explains.
New-home construction all but ceased for single-family homes for a time immediately following the 2008 crash and, by 2011, was beginning to crawl back. Numbers of new homes increased each year from 2011 to 2015, but even by 2020, new construction had not reached prerecession rates. Jeff Crick joined the City of Lawrence Planning and Development office in 2013, and he says city planners were still working on projects that involved recovering from the recession at that time. Even though they knew the area eventually would emerge 30
Planning the interchange of the Trafficway with Bob Billings Parkway was a major project for Crick and the city planning and development staff during this time. Bob Billings extended west to connect with the Trafficway and exchange traffic via entrance and exit ramps. The environmental cleanup and mitigation of VenturePark was wrapping up in the middle part of the
decade. “Our office was planning, plotting and permitting VenturePark during this time,” Crick says. New-home construction was not bouncing back in 2016-18 as many thought it would. Minnis says many of the construction trades were lost during the recession, and that was still affecting building during this time period. But existing home values began to climb during this same time frame, he says, as people moved out of the rentals and leases where they lived during the economic recovery. Residential real estate in Lawrence shifted to a sellers’ market.
Top left: Jeff Crick from the City of Lawrence Planning and Development Director masked up at a public hearing (above) Kansas Food Truck Festival (2019Q2), Hardwood Basketball Classic at SPL (2017Q3)
The Warehouse Arts District continued to grow both in popularity and size, and it began to affect the surrounding neighborhoods. “We saw a lot of investment property improvements happen, especially in more homes east of Mass Street, where they were investing to expand and do things like add another bathroom—tenants don’t want to share bathrooms anymore,” Hedges says.
2018 to Early 2020 The two years preceding the pandemic were successful, if gentle, times in Lawrence residential real estate. “Homes were selling in months, not days, and there were really nice homes available in the $200,000s and lot sales from $30,000 to $50,000. We were helping investors and banks sell from the downturn, and we were starting to see homes selling in the $500,000-plus range,” Hedges explains. People started buying second homes in Lawrence, he continues, particularly condos and areas with homeowners associations (HOAs) so they would not need to maintain the residence themselves. Homes of all sizes and values were selling well throughout Lawrence, Hatfield adds. “There was a good balance. We had southeast Lawrence with their price point for entry and west Lawrence with higher price points,” he says. “We hadn’t seen that for a long time, and at the time, it was sustainable. The development at O’Connell Road was totally different than at Langston Hughes, and they were all complementary.” The city’s development and planning office saw businesses developing older commercial properties and converting properties that had been vacant on West Sixth, East 23rd and South Iowa streets, Crick says. “We also saw an interest in smaller neighborhood-focused business models in the middle of town, like in North Lawrence and on 19th Street.”
2020 to 2021: Pandemic
All of the experts are running out of words to describe what has happened to the residential real estate market since the pandemic began in March 2020. Words like “unprecedented” have become overused, although the residential real estate market certainly is that. 32
Much of 2020, everything was shut down, but people were still buying and selling homes out of necessity. Local real estate companies, inspectors, appraisers and banks found safe ways to continue operating—often employing digital signatures and, of course, Zoom and FaceTime calls. In fact, Minnis’ partner at Stephens Real Estate, Chris Earl, says all of that remote work to close a home sale has led to what will be a permanent change in their business: the amount of time it takes from signing the contract to closing and moving in. “Before the pandemic, we would spend an average of 60 to 75 days in the pending process. Now, it is about 30 to 35 days. Being able to sign and do everything digitally has accelerated us toward a quicker process. The time period is forever compressed from contract to close,” he says. The funky avant-garde art world of East Lawrence (2020Q2)
A pond on the Venture Park site (2014Q2)
Beginning fall of 2020 and continuing all of 2021, things have become inexplicable—sales and prices are at all-time highs; home inventories are at all-time lows. The prices are very high, and the inventories are almost scary low, experts say. “Craziness” may be the word most employed when trying to articulate what has unfolded. Interest rates are low, so those who have kept their jobs throughout the pandemic also can more easily afford to buy. It’s just that in Lawrence, things are a little bit competitive. “In my 31 years of being in this business, it has been the wildest ride in terms of increase in home values,” Hatfield says. In order to appraise a home’s value, he continues, the appraiser needs data. Typically, data from the previous one to three months is used. But because homes are so scarce, and there is demand and pent-up demand, homes are receiving multiple offers above the list price. The data appraisers are using now to understand the market price is often most accurate within just 10 days. “If you have five offers, is that the market? What does that mean for the value of this house? We are seeing escalation clauses in contracts, which automatically increase offers above the highest offer—I had never heard of an escalation clause,” Hatfield says.
Appraisers’ conversions with real estate agents have been crucial to understanding the home values, as well, he adds, because the appraiser can find out how many offers there were and how long the home was on the market before it went under contract, and that can be factored in. Interestingly, the competition is equally fierce for homes in all parts of Lawrence, Hedges says. “We’ve had them in Prairie Park go for more than list price and out west go for more than list. Even some areas that weren’t usually popular are more so,” he says. Commercial development does not seem to be keeping up with residential—so far, at least. That may be due to a shortage of materials and increased prices for materials that are available, but there were significant dips in the numbers of permits and project submittals up to mid-2021, Crick says.
2021 and Beyond So, what about the next 10 years? “We are still seeing people process 2020. What will businesses take away from all of this that will change and shape their buildings? Maybe more walk-up windows and bringing the outdoors in with windows and doors that open,” Crick says. “The way that we talk about what we want out of our neighborhoods and communities may change. That will be a thing to watch.” p 34
LBM Covers, Multi-Modal (2020Q4), The Green Team (2013Q3) and Sustainability, a Community Effort (2020Q1) RIght: The Baker Wetlands and Ben Postlethwait, (2020Q1)
Energy Evolution & Sustainability By Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog
Lawrence and Douglas County are ahead of the curve when it comes to the awareness, popularity, engagement, and execution of sustainability practices.
Sustainability is one of those nebulous terms that can take on various definitions depending on the context in which it’s being considered. Perhaps most widely addressed and debated these days is environmental sustainability—expanding the use of clean, renewable energy and improving the quality of the environment in terms of cleaner air, water and land, leading to a more livable environment for future generations. But there’s also social sustainability, which promotes wellbeing within organizations’ workforces by establishing greater diversity, equity and inclusion within those workforces. And there’s governmental sustainability, which involves company leaders working closely with state and local politicians to enact environmentally friendly legislation that promotes sustainable practices. Of course, it all goes hand in hand within the overarching 36
narrative of what is sustainable and what will leave Mother Earth a better place to grow and live for our descendants. One aspect of sustainability that looms as a commonality among all its varying definitions: The growth of sustainable innovation and rate of change is moving at an almost exponential rate. When it comes to sustainability, all involved—which essentially is all of us—can agree the rise in awareness, popularity, engagement, and execution is nothing more than a tiny reflection compared to what the next 10 years holds. “There’s been a lot of change and things going on with sustainability over the last 10 years,” says Jasmin Moore, sustainability director for Lawrence/Douglas County. “But I think we’re all going to see things really take off these next 10 years.”
Indeed, the City of Lawrence and Douglas County have been on the fast track to sustainability during the last decade, approving green bond issues for upgrades to city facilities (Moore says the city has saved $1.7 million in energy efficiency thus far), improving fuel conservation within its fleet of public vehicles and engaging in agricultural sustainability through cooperation with local farmers and food services. But the city recently approved two major policy decisions it hopes leads to Lawrence being 100 percent renewable-energy dependent in the next 14 years. “Actually,” Moore says, “for city operations, we’re 100 percent renewable now. We get 100 percent wind energy from Evergy.” For its part, Evergy, which supplies power to around 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, continues to walk the tightrope of trying to serve both fossil fuel and renewable energy sources, but as it has the last 10 years, continues to increase investments in wind and solar power. “We always have to be adapting,” says Ben Postlethwait, senior manager of conservation and sustainability at Evergy. “It’s in the mission of this company to be sustainable. It all works hand in hand. With or without external pressures, we’d be making plans and moving toward more efficient ways to produce energy.” Sustainability and renewable energy have been riding such a wave, two solar energy companies and a hydro-
power company in Lawrence, Cromwell Solar, Good Energy Solutions and Bowersock Mills & Power Co., thrived even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the worst appears to be behind us, both companies expect business to soar even higher. “It’s a crucial time,” says Clint Idol, vice president of operations at Cromwell Solar. “Interest is growing, particularly in solar power. We’re seeing the beginning of growing interest in solar in what’s an uncertain time. There’s lack of security in the power grid. With solar and energy storage, we can combat that.” All indications point to it being a critical period in American—actually, world—history with regard to climate and fossil-fueled climate change. It appears environmental, social and governmental action—in a word, sustainability—is in position to forcefully launch in an effort to save the planet and its population.
Moving to All Renewables In March of last year, as COVID-19 began its wicked trek throughout the world, the City of Lawrence approved two policy decisions regarding sustainability. It put in writing goals of 98 percent use of renewable energy—beginning with electricity then moving to all renewables, including transportation—by the year 2035. Part of those initiatives, for instance, include a fleet of five allelectric buses on the streets of Lawrence by 2023. 37
Various solar projects by Good Energy in Lawrence
Other policy direction related to sustainability principles are along the lines of those in the federal government’s Green New Deal, such as: • net zero greenhouse gas emissions • creating jobs with livable wages • investing in infrastructure to meet the challenges of the 21st century • secure for all people clean air and water, as well as climate resiliency • promote justice and equity. To that last initiative, the city recently created the position of director of equity and inclusion, and made equity a core commitment in its strategic plan. Another recently created position within city government directly addresses another key sustainability issue facing cities and businesses the next 10 years—the existence of cyber threats and overall cyber security. Sustainability director Moore says the city also has been working hard to secure its food systems. The goal is to support economic prosperity among food-producing businesses and food systems. Recent efforts drew more than $700,000 to food systems through Kansas Spark funds. Twenty-four monetary awards went to food producers and retailers, ethnic food services, nonprofits and other small businesses, giving Douglas County the highest number of awardees by county in Kansas. Moore’s office also recently secured a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture aimed at reducing food waste in the community. “There’s been coordination with farmers to glean food 38
using volunteers to walk fields following harvests,” she says. “We then give that food to the local food bank and homeless shelter.” Moore says that program has recovered 800 pounds of produce in the past several months. Another program collects electronic waste, like old computers and printers, for recycling. In the last seven months, 90 tons of electronic waste has been collected. Meanwhile, the city continues to ramp up initiatives like adding electric charging stations for vehicles as well as solar arrays to help power infrastructure. “We’re working to engage people who live here and local businesses on a climate action plan,” Moore says. “We’ve set priorities, from how to preserve open space to the transition from gas to electric vehicles. “It’s an exciting time,” she adds.
Being Proactive & Innovative A large power company like Evergy constantly has many masters to serve, especially in these times. Innovative, new renewable energy sources are being created and improved upon all the time and are competing for a place on power grids historically dominated by fossil fuel companies, which obviously want to continue to thrive. There’s another stakeholder, however, that has the loudest voice of all when it comes to Evergy’s plans. “We feel pressure from our customers to lower their carbon footprint through energy use,” Postlethwait explains. “We’ve always felt that our role as a company is to be
Cromwell Solar receiving the Footprint Award at the LBM Foundation awards 2015 Right: Aron Cromwell poses with Mid America Bank Execs in Baldwin City after installing Solar Panels on their roof (2013Q2)
innovative, and we’re trying to be as proactive as possible.” To that end, he says Evergy has retired numerous coal-burning plants during the last decade and foresees more closing over the next. The company is constantly shifting its energy portfolios, adding more renewable sources and providing more resources to customers to reduce their carbon impacts. Evergy has seen a 51 percent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 totals. A goal is to reduce it by another 70 percent by 2030 and be net zero by 2045. Twenty-nine percent of the company’s energy sources were renewable in 2020. And that number will only increase over the next decade. None of these moves is made lightly, Postlethwait says, especially when it comes to displacing employees at fossil fuel facilities. “These decisions are impacting our communities, our customers, our employees,” he says. “We take seriously our responsibilities to transition these employees. There’s a smart way to do it, a good way to do it.” Internally, Evergy has revamped its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program during the last three years, a program that reports directly to the company’s CEO. In its last sustainability report, released in June, 23 percent of the company’s workforce was female, 15 percent minority and 55 percent represented by a union. Evergy also is making cyber security a top priority. It works with business and industry peers, and government agencies to share information to stay aware of cyber threats and best defense practices. “We make defense an in-depth approach so that if one layer of protection is compromised, additional measures are in place,” Postlethwait says. 40
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Sun Is Rising on Solar Malcolm Proudfit, CEO of Good Energy Solutions, says his business experienced something interesting during the year of COVID. The company enjoyed a 50 percent increase in residential business year-over-year in 2020. Residents expected a drop in a tax credit—one that never materialized because of the pandemic—so rushed to install solar systems in their homes. However, Good Energy also suffered a 75 percent loss in commercial revenues. “Businesses were being prudent with funds,” Proudfit says. “They weren’t using any money for capital improvements, because it was all going to payroll and keeping workers employed. “2020 was hard for us,” he continues. “But in 2021, we’ve come back in a real way.” Good Energy had 26 employees at the beginning of the year. That was with no layoffs during the pandemic. Now it employs 43 and plans on adding more by the end of the year.
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“We’ve had a 50 percent increase in top-line revenue, and we’ve had a chance to be part of some pretty big things,” Proudfit says. Those include a 1.2 megawatt (MW) solar farm in Baldwin City, a 1 MW system for a building in North Kansas City and a partnership with Evergy to install a 10.8 MW solar array in Missouri, which will generate power for 1,440 homes annually. Cromwell’s Idol explains, “We saw some growth in 2020 and continue to in 2021.” The company has 36 full-time employees and expects to jump to somewhere around 50 soon. He says Cromwell is working more and more with the health-care industry, ensuring that hospitals have dependable power sources at all times, under any circumstances. Cromwell also recently developed and rolled out a nationwide solar inspection service, which includes a repairs department, that operates in all 50 states.
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As for the next 10 years, Idol says, “Storage is where it’s at.” The further development of batteries that can store more and more solar power is paramount to the long-term success of the industry.
puts a renewed emphasis on hydropower.
“We’ve seen the cost of solar drop precipitously over the last 10 years to where it’s really cost-effective,” says Scott White, research and project analyst with Cromwell Solar. “Payback is less than 10 years for residential, five to eight years for commercial. Ten years ago, it was 15 to 20 years. Most companies going ahead with solar are doing so on economic bases.”
Bowersock points out that only 3 percent of all dams across the U.S. are used to create hydropower. But she suspects that’s going to change.
He says a standard solar panel that would have put out 135 watts of power 10 years ago puts out 340 watts today, 2½ times the energy. “For those who want to be energy independent, there’ll be whole new ways to generate your own energy off the grid,” White says. Another sometimes forgotten energy source is hydro— water—and Bowersock Mills & Power Co. has been supplying hydropower through the flow of water down the Kansas River since the late 1800s. In fact, Bowersock was one of the first generators of electrical power west of the Mississippi River. Business has been so good for Bowersock that, in 2013, it added a second powerhouse, tripling its annual cleanenergy production to more than 32 million kilowatt hours, enough to serve 3,140 to 3,150 residential customers. The company sells its energy to the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, in Kansas City, Kansas. Bowersock owner/operator Sarah Hill-Nelson says the infrastructure bill being pushed by the Biden administration
“Hydro is a very consistent power source,” Hill-Nelson says. “With hydro, you’re not consuming or polluting water. You’re just borrowing water temporarily for its weight.”
“More and more people are returning to hydro,” she explains. Cromwell, Good Energy and Bowersock also are on the move and improving when it comes to social sustainability. In a historically male-dominated industry, Good Energy has eight female full-time employees and 11 minorities, and is working diligently to improve on that, Proudfit says. Cromwell recently has started an initiative to add veterans to the workforce. “We understand how diversity in the workforce leads to positive outcomes,” Idol says. “Different perspectives are good.” The company’s president is female—Sarah Cromwell— and sets an example of an approach of equal rights for all genders and associations. Another example is that Cromwell offers employees parental leave for both mothers and fathers. Bowersock employs two men and two women among fulltime and part-time staff. With the continued efforts, initiatives and innovations of these companies and the city, Lawrence, Douglas County, the state, country and world will be a better place to live for all genders and all people of all ages. p
Sarah Hill-Nelson, owner-operator of Bowersock Mills & Power Co. with her dad Steven Hill and some of their team at the site of the northside power facility (2012Q3)
42
The Arts Experience
by Mike Anderson, photos by Steven Hertzog
Past, Present & Future Lawrence has been an arts hub in the Midwest for many years, but in the uncertain world today, it needs the support of the community, civic leaders, and government to thrive. The arts make up a significant portion of the identity of Lawrence, a city world-renowned artists call home. This city houses citizens on the “Time Magazine” The Most Influential People lists. It welcomes Oscar winners, internationally touring musical groups and producers. Langston Hughes, William S. Burroughs, and countless other artists have stayed here. The arts are not only what make Lawrence unique, they help support the economy. “We want to make sure the business of art is seen as part of the economy of Lawrence,” former Lawrence 44
Arts Center (LAC) CEO Susan Tate says. “The creative economy is an important part. Arts jobs are real jobs.” To help celebrate the arts, Lawrence Business Magazine asked a panel of Lawrence artists to help highlight some of the most memorable arts events of the last 10 years. The following artists contributed to this list: Stan Herd, worldrenowned artist; Vanessa Thomas, critically acclaimed vocalist; John Sebelius, perennial Best of Lawrence artist winner; Susan Tate, former CEO of the Lawrence Arts Center; Margaret Weisbrod Morris, current CEO of the Lawrence Arts Center; Derek Kwan, executive director of the Lied Center; Mary Doveton, executive director of Theatre Lawrence; Jon Niccum, movie producer and film critic; Stephen T. Johnson, world-renowned artist.
LBM Covers, Let Us Entertain You (2019Q2), The Impact of Art (2016Q3) and Business as Art (2011Q3) The Free State Festival presents Public Enemy 2016Q3 (photo courtesy of the LAC), Margaret Weisbrod Morris (2017Q4), Baron Wolman and the poster for his show at the LAC and his book “RollingStone® Every Picture Tells A Story” - courtesy of Baron Wolman (2011Q3)
Ten Years of Expression (not a complete list)
Postcommodity: The Night Is Filled With the Harmonics of Suburban Dreams. An interdisciplinary artist collective that showcased what exists in the world beyond what is monetized. At this particular exhibition, nothing was for sale. This particular show didn’t have any earning power, it was just a chance for the artist to take a risk without worrying about selling something. 2011
Free State Festival: What once started as the Free State Film Festival, this festival has evolved into an impressive display of different mediums of art. In one of the larger outdoor gatherings for live music for the festival, award-winning and nationally recognized hip hop group Public Enemy played on New Hampshire Street for part of the festival. Johnny Winter, among others, can also be added to the list of New Hampshire Street performances during the festival. This festival has highlighted local artists as well as nationally and world-renowned artists. 2012–present
Baron Wolman: Every Picture Tells a Story,
The Rolling Stone Years, at the Lawrence Arts Center. The original chief photographer for Rolling Stone, Baron Wolman, shared some of his most intimate photographs from rock ‘n’ roll legends and historic musical events. Some of these photographs had never been seen anywhere. 2011 45
“Jayhawkers” Premiere: (top to bottom) Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis perform Rock Chalk Suite (photo credit Frank Stewart), Rock band Kansas sells out the house at the Lied Center 2019Q2 (photo credit Meg Kumin), Vanessa Thomas performing with the Doc Severinsen Band (2016Q3)
directed by Oscar winner Kevin Willmott and filmed almost exclusively in Lawrence, “Jayhawkers” premiered at the Lied Center. This film highlighted Wilt Chamberlain and the University of Kansas (KU) Jayhawks basketball team. Bill Self and the KU basketball team attended the premiere. The film was also shown at several festivals around the globe. 2013 NOTE: Kevin Willmott brought his Oscar home to Kansas, winning the Academy Award with Spike Lee for Best Adapted Screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman.” 2019
Kansas: The rock band Kansas performed at the
Lied Center. The event was part of KU’s 150th anniversary celebration, and the band almost blew the roof off the building with its energy and sound. To top it off, the packed house of attendees received a wonderful surprise when original band members Kerry Livgren and Lawrence native Robby Steinhardt joined in on a couple songs. 2015
Vanessa German Show: The award-win-
ning multidisciplinary artist was part of the group exhibition “Platform” at the Lawrence Arts Center. This exhibition showcased young, powerful, African American women using mixed media. 2016
Simple Gifts Concert:
Lawrence’s own Vanessa Thomas was the soloist with the Lawrence Sinfonia and the Lawrence Children’s Choir at the Lied Center. This relationship led into the Lied Loves Lawrence Pop-Up Performances. 2016, 2020–2021
Chicano Batman:
As part of the Free State Festival, the high-spirited Latin soul band played at the Lawrence Arts Center just before its members became RIGHT: international stars.Mike 2017 (top to bottom) Anderson, host of the Not So Late Show (photo
credit Back Story Photography), Art Tougeau (photo courtesy of Lawrence Arts Center ,, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis perform Rock Chalk Suite (photo credit Frank Stewart)
46
Last Episode of the “Not So Late Show”: For seven years, this live-to-tape local talk show entertained the community. In August 2017, the final show was filmed as Channel 6 ended. The show lasted 239 episodes and featured interviews and performances of many community leaders and artists of Lawrence. 2017
LiveOnMass:
Conceived and produced by Mike Logan and his staff, this outdoor musical concert blocks off the 1000 block of Massachusetts Street for a night of music that has featured The Wailers, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Split Lip Rayfield and the first ever headliner, Lawrence’s own The Get Up Kids. 2017–present
Cheech Marin: As
part of the Free State Festival, renowned actor Cheech Marin gave a lecture about the origins and cultural significance of Chicano art. He kicked off the festival by sharing stories, his art, why he started collecting and his dream of completing the nation’s first Chicano art museum. 2018
Rethink: I am a Veteran:
an ethnographic theater production at the Lawrence Arts Center about female veterans. This was a theater show produced by the performers. Some veterans were in Vietnam, while others just got back from Afghanistan. The moving production featured women telling their stories about being in the military. 2018
Art Experience: St. Luke AME: As part
of a fund-raiser to help restore the beautiful stained glass windows of St. Luke AME, artist John Sebelius teamed with up visual designers Jeremy Rockwell and Adam Johnson, and musicians Martinez Hillard and Chris Luxem to create a live art experience inside the church. 2019
9th Street Rhythms:
As part of an ArtPlace grant, Stephen T. Johnson crafted 81 colored pencil and monoprint works that were inspired by the words of Langston Hughes and the East Ninth Street Neighborhood. 2019
Time Lapse: Or, The Whale: Jos Sances exhila-
rating exhibition at the Lawrence Arts Center was an impression exhibition because of the scale (50 feet wide) and intricate detail carved in each square of the drawing. The scratchboard drawing was inspired by “Moby Dick” and the history of whaling in America. 2020 47
Local crop artist and painter Stan Herd has travelled the world creating his earthworks, and locally created the national ad campaign for Power to the Patients with Susan Sarandon
The Penguin Project: Disney’s
Aristocats, KIDS: For three sold-out performances, disabled children of ages 10 through 21 filled all the roles of this timeless classic. Each youth artist was partnered with an onstage peer mentor of similar age. 2021
Power to the Patients: a piece outside
of Lawrence by muralist and painter, Stan Herd. Herd has spent the last 10(plus) years creating several earthworks that have received global attention. Stan created earthworks in South America, China, and several places in the states. His most recent work, Power to the Patients, was an earthwork and mural - a quarter acre in size using wheat grass, corn kernels, corn husks, brown mulch, and cocoa shells - featured in an advertisement that ran during the 2021 Oscars. 2021
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The Future of the Arts in Lawrence Hope and optimism are two words most Lawrence artists would use to describe the future of the arts in the city. At the Lawrence Arts Center, the word of the year is hope. “We all need a lot of hope right now,” says LAC CEO Margaret Weisbrod Morris. The arts scene in Lawrence took a serious blow five years ago when the original Ninth Street Arts Corridor Project was rejected by the city commission. After several years of planning and community input, three city commissioners voted against the project, forcing the Arts Center to return the majority of the grant money received from ArtPlace. Although two of the three commissioners who voted against the project remain on the city commission,
there is hope the city, the commission and the community want to do more to support the arts. For example, public art installations are now a part of the new Downtown Master Plan, which passed on Aug. 10. The plan calls for enhancing and broadening Downtown arts and culture. “The city strategic plan and the planning in the last year or two has specially mentioned arts and culture where previously that hasn’t happened,” Morris explains. “This shows me the decision-makers get it, how important the arts are to life.” She reminds us that when people experience trauma, it is important to have a vibrant arts community that can become integrated into our lives. Theatre Lawrence’s Doveton argues, “The very nature of arts is to bring people together. It is going to take a collective community to sustain the arts. We can’t relegate arts to a couple blocks area. Let’s open up artistic possibilities to a diverse geography.” She sees this idea of coming together everyday in the rehearsals and the productions of the plays at Theatre Lawrence, where each show might include a cast and crew with people as young as 5 and as old as 80. She envisions different degrees of ethnicity, wealth, and education, all with an objective to form a creative company. Providing an opportunity for more children to experience the arts is an optimistic goal for the arts community. “Part of our vision of equity and diversity involves providing financial support to make sure every child has the opportunity to participate in visual and performing arts,” Tate explains. “By doing this, we are demonstrating what has always been important.” Financial support from the city is vital for the future of the arts. Tate would like to see the city staff and voters recommit themselves to making Lawrence a city of the arts. “This involves the city committing itself to financial support and staff support for public events that showcase the arts. Providing venues, staff, police and underwriting events will help everyone have access to the same experience in arts,” she says. Nonprofits like Theatre Lawrence and Lawrence Arts Center rely on federal funding and matching funds from foundations in the federal government. When deciding where to fund, the federal government often looks heavily at whether there is a) a committed funding for the arts from people who are living in the town, and b) committed funding for the arts from the local government. Several local artists have a clear picture of the benefits of these investments into the arts. “Arts are a two-way street,” Doveton says. “Arts require investment, and the arts provide a huge return on that investment in terms of a financially and community healthy spirit.” “Lawrence is fueled by a creative economy, and it
makes people want to live here,” Tate adds. Artists who currently live in Lawrence agree.
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“I am hopeful the art scene in Lawrence will continue to grow and blossom. This town celebrates collaboration and experimentation, and is full of gifted makers, musicians and writers,” Sebelius says. “To ensure our creative stability, Lawrence should make funding for the arts and funding for the people who make the art a priority in future budgets.” “I am extremely optimistic that the Lawrence arts scene will continue to thrive for decades to come,” The Lied Center’s Kwan adds. “There are too many talented artists, creative thinkers and arts lovers for there not to be a wonderful environment that nourishes this scene. This doesn’t mean things will remain the same. In fact, a healthy arts scene is constantly evolving.” Festivals, concerts, artist showcases, Final Fridays, guest exhibitions, movie premieres, outstanding plays, choir performances and more will continue to highlight the future of the arts in Lawrence. Vanessa Thomas, critically acclaimed vocalist, explains, “I hope in the coming decade, Lawrence continues to remember the value of ‘the formal concert’ and not just live music, in general, and I hope they’ll never forget the power of art as a way of improving lives. As a resident, I like that I can blend in living here, but I truly love the opportunity Lawrence has given me to stand out.” The arts were hit incredibly hard by the pandemic. During this current climate, Lawrence is fortunate to have such a vibrant arts scene. “The U.S. is looking inward … artistically … turning away from the inanity and insanity of the coasts. Unique, creative, ‘superhip’ Midwest cities like Lawrence, Kansas, are getting the attention of those who used to believe you had to ‘make it’ on the coasts. We have always been a wellspring of ‘cool’ here in progressive Lawrence, Kansas, and our arts future looks bright,” Stan Herd says. p
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A Decade Embracing Change By Anne Brockhoff, photos by Steven Hertzog
The agriculture industry has adapted to many changes during the last decade, including new technologies, labor shortages, rising land prices and new ways to distribute products. Drive any direction from Lawrence, and agriculture looks much the same as it did a decade ago. Cattle grazing pastures, rows of corn and soybeans, tractors pulling implements. Within the city limits, urban farms dot neighborhoods, and farmers’ markets are flourishing. Look closer, though, and signs of change are everywhere. Farmers are embracing new technologies and markets even as they grapple with the pandemic. Consumers are hungrier than ever for local food, while organizations and policymakers tackle issues like food access and waste. Together, they’re all shaping Douglas County’s food system into one of the state’s best. “I still think this is the greatest place to be a farmer in the state of Kansas,” says Jill Elmers, owner of Moon on the 52
Meadow Farm and chair of the Lawrence Farmers’ Market board of directors. She’s not alone. Douglas County had 998 farms in 2017, a 6 percent increase over 2012, according to that year’s Census of Agriculture, which is published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every five years. It’s hard to predict what the 2022 census will show, but that number is likely to hold steady or decline slightly in keeping with national trends, suggests Tom Buller, the horticulture Extension agent for K-State Research and Extension-Douglas County. What those farms produce and how much it’s worth may also change. Cattle, grain and oilseeds generated the bulk of the county’s $65.9 million in agricultural sales in 2017. Producers here led the state in fruit and vegeta-
LBM Cover, Agriculture (2014Q2) The Nunemaker-Ross farm in North Lawrence, Mary & Pat Nunemaker, Kent & Lyle Nunemaker (2017Q1)
ble production, and those sales probably rose thanks to the expansion of existing and new operations including Juniper Hill Farms, in Lawrence, South Baldwin Farms, in Baldwin City, and Big Springs Berries, in Lecompton, Buller explains. Another fact expected to remain true: While most of the county’s farms are small (77 percent have fewer than 180 acres), its biggest will continue generating most of its agricultural sales. “There are number of large agricultural producers who really are the bedrock of the ag industry” in Douglas County, he continues.
Big Farms Are the Bedrock Among those larger farms is Nunemaker-Ross Inc., which is owned by Kent and Debbie Nunemaker, and Pat and Mary Ross, and dates back to when Kent and Mary’s great-grandfather began farming more than a century ago. The business now includes about 5,000 acres of leased and owned crop ground, and an 800-head cattle
feedlot. The family is using an established succession plan to gradually transfer most of the crop ground to the Nunemakers’ kids and their spouses—Lowell and Krystale Neitzel, and Lyle and Shelly Nunemaker, who together own Bismarck Farms Inc. Mary Ross says she and Pat will continue overseeing the feedlot. “It’s important for the farm to continue,” Mary Ross says. “We want to help them all we can.” Certainly, theirs is a hard-won legacy. The farm survived the Kaw Valley Flood of 1951 and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, only to be continually tested by roller-coaster commodities prices, weather and, lately, the pandemic. Outbreaks of COVID-19 shut down many of the region’s meatpacking facilities early last year, leaving NunemakerRoss with pens of market-ready cattle they couldn’t sell. Fortunately, soaring demand for local beef provided an alternative market. “We sent a lot of cattle to Bichelmeyer Meats, in Kansas City, and Steve’s Meat Market, in DeSoto,” Mary Ross says of the operation, which typically sources steers from within 100 miles of Lawrence and feeds them until they reach market weight using, in part, spent grains from Kan53
sas City’s Boulevard Brewery. “We’re doing more local, which we like.” Conditions are better now, but concerns persist about inflation, seasonal labor shortages and rising land values. Still, Mary Ross says they remain focused on operating as efficiently and sustainably as they can while contributing to the local economy. Farming and commodity agriculture are important “not only to our family but to our community and the lifestyle it represents, and to the economic well-being of us all,” Mary Ross says. “We’re striving more and more to do everything sustainably.”
Sustainable Legacy Practices such as no-till farming and planting cover crops have become more commonplace during the past decade on farms like Nunemaker-Ross, as has precision agriculture. That approach incorporates a range of technologies to improve efficiency while reducing wasted seed, fertilizer, fuel, time and other inputs. Tractor guidance systems, variable-rate technology that allows farmers to control the amount of any input used in a specific location, GPS-guided soil-sampling and computer-based applications that create precise field, crop and yield maps and management plans— precision ag can do it all. It’s high-tech, for sure, and it’s completely changed how Scott Thellman, owner of Juniper Hill Farms, operates. In July, Thellman spoke from the cab of his John Deere tractor while cultivating organic soybeans destined to become tofu. At one time, he would have stopped the tractor to talk, because driving down soybean rows as a cultivator turns 54
LEFT: Scott Thellman, owner/operator of Juniper Hill Farms (2020Q1) RIGHT: Jill Elmers, owner of Moon on the Meadow (2017Q1)
the soil around plant roots would have required his full attention. And now? “I’ve got my headphones on and am hands-free thanks to the GPS I purchased last year,” Thellman says. “The tractor is for the most part driving for me.” Thellman started farming in 2010, and he produces both organic and conventional produce and row crops that he sells at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market, The Community Mercantile, area restaurants, food processors and other wholesale clients. Thellman also owns JH Fresh, a food distribution business that carries products from farms
including Meat LLC, which is owned by chef and restaurateur Michael Beard. In 2020, Thellman and Beard launched Sunflower Provisions, an online grocery store. He plans to expand his wholesale business beyond the immediate region; toward that end, Juniper Hill recently became GAP certified, a designation that’s short for “good agricultural practices” and demonstrates compliance with USDA food safety requirements. Thellman is also building a processing kitchen to turn surplus produce into marketable food products. Did he anticipate any of this back when he started? “Not in a million years,” he says. “I’ve had a supportive family and community, and great employees over the years,” says Thellman, who serves on the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. “That’s the reason I’m here today.” 55
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Thellman is optimistic about the future, although he notes produce sales will continue to lag until his school, restaurant, corporate and other wholesale customers are able to fully reopen. Finding employees is tough, too. Juniper Hill has eight full-time and three seasonal workers. Thellman wants to hire more workers but isn’t sure he’ll be able to find them.
Of Climate and COVID Another worry: climate change. Farmers say they’re experiencing more—and more extreme—weather events such as flooding and drought, and researchers are compiling evidence of what climate change will mean for the crops they grow. For example, researchers at Kansas State University and North Carolina State University recently showed that warmer nighttime temperatures associated with climate change disrupt key biological processes like photosynthesis and respiration in rice. Similar studies at Kansas State University indicated a 5 percent reduction in wheat yield for every 1°C increase in temperature. “Plants use nighttime to recover from the stress of heat during the day,” Moon on the Meadow’s Elmers explains. “When our nighttime temperatures keep rising, plants don’t have that opportunity to rest and regenerate.” Elmers’ certified organic farm has grown steadily over the past 20 years, and she sells produce at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market and through the Common Harvest CSA, a collaboration with Mellowfields Farm and six other area food producers. Her farm in 2019 posted record sales, and Elmers went into 2020 thinking she’d slow down a bit. But then—COVID. “Everybody wanted our food,” Elmers says. “I mean everybody. There was no way we could let them down.” She increased production and launched an online store that delivers within Lawrence’s city limits, relying more than ever on her six seasonal employees to help get it all done. A Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant allowed her to meet her goal of paying employees through December 2020. The funds also enabled capital improvements, including revamping the area where produce is washed and packed, and building a drying barn for garlic, shallots and onions— things Elmers considers “game changers.” Sales have so far held steady in 2021, but Elmers is now not thinking so much of slowing down as she is about helping younger farmers become established. “It’s our responsibility to educate (younger) farmers and support them in whatever farming looks like to them,” she says.
Butterflies at Pendleton Farms and Michael Steinle, Hugh Carter and Kim Criner Ritchie listen together at a Douglas County Food Policy meeting (2019Q4)
Resilience at Pendleton’s Forging your own path isn’t always easy, as John and Karen Pendleton, of Pendleton’s Country Market, well know. The couple began farming with John’s parents 40 years ago, helping manage a cattle feedlot and about 1,000 acres of row crops—just as drought, high interest rates and a grain embargo on exports to the former Soviet Union spawned the Farm Crisis. Diversifying into asparagus, hydroponic tomatoes and bedding plants helped them hang on, and by the 1990s, they were growing primarily vegetables, flowers and other plants for sale at their farm store through a CSA and at farmers’ markets. Things were
going well. Then, in March 2006, a powerful microburst damaged or destroyed almost every building, vehicle and piece of equipment on the farm. They rebuilt only to be hit by an EF-3 tornado in May 2019. The Pendletons were still recovering from that when the pandemic began. Like other producers, they experienced a surge in food demand during 2020. Customers flocked to the farm store to collect orders and pick their own asparagus and other vegetables, often driving in from Johnson and other counties to do so. But that was nothing compared to what happened when they launched their online store. “Oh my gosh, the floodgates opened,” Karen Pendleton says. Sales remain robust in 2021, and most customers have returned to in-person shopping. The challenge currently lies with their supply chain, as some wholesalers prioritize large chains, leaving smaller independent retailers scrambling. “We couldn’t get seeds (last spring), we couldn’t get certain plants or potting soil,” Karen Pendleton says. “Our sources dried up.” The Pendletons, however, are nothing if not resilient. While they hope to eventually find a buyer for their business, they are for now happy serving what has proven to be a loyal customer base. “People just want to be a part of our farm,” she says.
Forging Food Connections Deepening such connections is clearly important for Lawrence and Douglas County residents, so much so that in 2010, the Douglas County Food Policy Council (DCFPC) was formed to advise local government about opportunities and challenges throughout the food system, particularly as they pertain to the regional food economy, natural resource conservation, food access, food equity and food waste. The DCFPC’s Food System Plan was adopted in 2017 by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners and the Lawrence City Commission, and it has since become a vital resource as city and county leaders consider a variety of issues pertaining to how food is produced, accessed and disposed of. That’s a broad remit but one that has yielded visible results, explains Kim Criner Ritchie, Sustainability and Food Systems analyst for the LawrenceDouglas County Sustainability Office. Among those is Common Ground, an urban agriculture program
Karen and John Pendleton pose in their hydroponic tomato house (2020Q1) and John gives a tour of their farm to elementary school students (2013Q1)
that has grown to 10 sites within Lawrence. Those include community gardens and orchards, a permaculture site, communal gardens that donate food and host tours, and a 41/2-acre incubator farm for aspiring growers. The Food System Plan was also essential to winning a USDA grant that now finances the county’s nascent gleaning program, Criner says. The effort brings volunteers together to harvest leftover produce from area farms and distribute it to Just Food, the Sunrise Project, the Lawrence Community Shelter and other agencies. The Food System Plan is also being used during development of the city’s economic development strategic plan, Downtown Master Plan, transit planning and other initiatives. It all helps strengthen the ties between food and community while creating a vibrant agricultural identity for Douglas County that respects tradition as much as looks to the future. “We’re definitely on the right track when it comes to the cohesion our food system has throughout the community,” Criner says. “It’s all about the connections and partnerships people are building.” p 59
Bioscience Leaps & Bounds By Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog
The Bioscience and Technology Business Center pharmaceutical companies continue to make advancements in technology and biosciences, and are confident the next 10 years will far exceed the last. It’s long been believed that, according to laws of accelerating returns, the pace of technological progress throughout the world increases exponentially as time passes because of common forces driving it forward. After all, technology is an evolutionary process, and being exponential, it’s widely believed, is all about evolution. So it has been for technological and scientific advancements over the last decade or so in the Lawrence area. The proof lies in the leaps forward by three local companies/organizations that have made great technological strides and meaningful advancements in the areas of biosciences and pharmaceuticals. The Bioscience and Technology Business Center, located on the University of Kansas West Campus and an incubator for entrepreneurial start-up companies in the bioscience and tech realms, has more than doubled its tenant companies and more than quadrupled aggregate payroll since launching around 2010. During the next 15 years, it plans on adding 600,000 to 800,000 square feet of space 60
in a new KU Innovation Park that will rival any such facility in the country. Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a downtown Lawrence company that develops cancer-fighting drugs using kinase inhibitors, received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-2020 for its first medication, QINLOCK, for the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Deciphera has three additional oncology drugs currently in clinical trials, including Vimseltinib, Rebastinib and DCC-3116. The company has multiple research programs in its pipeline for the next wave of cancer-fighting drugs in the years to come. CritiTech Particle Engineering Solutions, which largely works with existing drugs to make them more efficiently absorbed and delivered in the body, also has a number of cancer-fighting drugs in development, two of which are in clinical trials. In recent years, the company has constructed and developed facilities in North Lawrence, which continue to grow and are expected to expand through the next decade.
Even a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that shut down much of the world economy couldn’t slow the Goliath that is technology and biosciences. “We had a couple of companies that didn’t make it during COVID,” says LaVerne Epp, executive chairman of the Bioscience and Technology Business Center. “But we had others that rebounded strongly. The last two quarters were probably the most robust we’ve had. A combination of pent-up demand and new product delivery … opened new markets for sure. “Companies that are innovative took advantage of the opportunities,” he adds.
An Unbeatable Collaboration The Bioscience and Technology Business Center (BTBC) is an enterprise with a unique combination of four stakeholders: the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and KU. Each stakeholder has equal shares and a position on the governing board. However, the BTBC operates independently from those stakeholders. “Whatever success the BTBC has had, it’s been because of this unique collaboration of government, city and university,” Epp says. “All are committed to the primary fo-
Opposite page) LBM Covers, New and Growing Technology (2014Q4) and How Lawrence Recruits (2015Q4) (Above) E. LaVerne Epp, Executive Chairman of KU Innovative Park (formerly BTBC) with staff
cus of the organization. The whole intent was to get these four entities to collaborate in helping the local economy.” What the BTBC essentially does is provide resources, in the forms of workspace, creative and intellectual consultation, and other resources, to start-up companies looking for help. In 2014, the BTBC had under its collective roof in its original West Campus facility 27 companies, 130 employees and an aggregate payroll of $6 million. Today, there are 62 companies in the BTBC system. They account for 450 jobs and an aggregate payroll of around $27 million. The BTBC also added a couple locations: an expansion facility at Wakarusa Drive and Bob Billings Parkway, and a facility at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. “We didn’t anticipate demand,” Epp says. “Within 18 months (of opening the original facility in 2010), we had filled all the space in the original building.” That demand and need for more space has only continued to grow over the years. In the past 12 months, Epp explains, the BTBC’s board and management team decided to change the organization’s name and embark on a new, aggressive growth strategy. 61
KU Innovation Park was effectively launched. That immediately involves an extension/expansion of the West Campus facility, creating more workspace for existing companies and more opportunities for more start-ups. It evolves by 2036 into construction of eight to 10 new buildings accommodating 72 to 85 larger companies, as well as current companies’ growth. “The number of jobs created will be more robust than ever,” says Epp, who anticipates 2,000 to 2,500 jobs and a $120- to $150-million payroll, 3 to 3½ percent of Lawrence’s total economy. “We’re very intentional about creating a more diverse and robust economy for Lawrence,” he continues. “An environment that is more sustainable and resilient. “We really care about these businesses,” Epp adds. “We want them all to succeed.”
Fighting Cancer by Inhibiting Kinases Daniel Flynn founded Deciphera Pharmaceuticals in 2003. Through his vast clinical research, he and his colleagues discovered that many cancers were driven by mutations or overexpression in kinases. Kinases are proteins that serve as a circuit board of sorts for communications and regulation of cell activity. There are more than 521 human kinases, and each must remain in control of its shape for a body’s cells to remain healthy. “Each kinase has a switch control mechanism which regu-
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lates their on and off shapes,” says Flynn, executive vice president and chief scientific officer. “In many cases, these switch controls are broken through acquired mutations, and the shape, or switch, of these kinases are dysregulated, resulting in uncontrolled signaling. “We’ve made big strides in the last 10 years understanding kinase switch control mechanisms,” he says. Flynn explains that Deciphera has used a technology called Xray crystallography to capture atomic-level pictures of switch control mechanisms in kinases and use these pictures to design their switch control kinase inhibitors. “In essence, what our drugs are doing is binding into cancer-causing kinases and shutting down the on switch,” he says. “It’s not chemotherapy but targeted therapeutics which hone in on the molecular cause of cancer.” FDA-approved QINLOCK has proven it can improve overall survival rates in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) for more than a year. A second Deciphera medication, Rebastinib, is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Other drugs in the pipeline include Vimseltinib, which treats patients with tumors in joints that hit early in life, and a yet-unnamed product, DCC-3116, which treats cancers caused by RAS/RAF mutations, the most common activating mutations of all cancers. RAS mutations are a primary mutational cause of cancers with significant unmet medical need, including pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma. Flynn says Deciphera is in the midst of doubling its research facility, which takes up half a block between Sixth and Seventh streets on Massachusetts Street, including expanded lab space and office space for the research site’s 60 employees. The company’s corporate office is in Boston, and Flynn says it recently established an international headquarters in Switzerland. Deciphera had its initial public offering in 2017 and is now traded on NASDAQ “It’s exciting times for us,” Flynn says. “In the next 10 years, we hope to have multiple drugs on the market and an even more robust research engine. Creating drugs that will keep cancer in check or eradicate it, so that patients have years of quality live … that is my mantra.”
Crititech President Mathew McClorey, in suit and tie, discussing new technology with his lab partners (2014Q4)
Improving Existing Medications, Creating New Ones CritiTech was founded in 1997 around a proprietary technology called Supercritical Precipitation. The technology addresses solubility issues with new and existing drugs, or the ability of a medication to be absorbed efficiently into the body and delivered to the area of need. A key feature of the Supernatural Precipitation technology is the ability to engineer drug particles large enough to stay in a diseased area but also possess a greatly enhanced surface area that enables the drug to dissolve at a rate sufficient to effectively treat the disease or condition, improving patient outcomes from both a safety and efficacy standpoint. “We spent the last decade in large part refining the Supercritical Precipitation technology so it can produce drugs on a commercial scale,” says Matthew McClorey, president of CritiTech. Engineering and constructing commercial manufacturing equipment that utilizes the Supercritical Precipitation technology was a major breakthrough for the company. Once that occurred, CritiTech began expanding its drug production facilities in North Lawrence. “Establishing our manufacturing facilities in North Lawrence has been critical to our growth,” McClorey says. “It’s one thing to have the technology. It’s another to scale it up.” CritiTech partnered with NanOlogy, a clinical-stage oncology company, which is developing four cancer drugs with the Supercritical Precipitation technology. NanOlogy has completed or is in the process of completing eight Phase 2 trials using NanoPac and NanoDoce to treat various cancers, including pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer,
ovarian cancer, pancreatic cysts, bladder cancer, lung cancer and cutaneous metastasis. “NanOlogy’s drugs have performed well in the clinic, demonstrating excellent safety and generating positive efficacy data,” McClorey says. A primary goal moving forward for CritiTech, which has 16 employees, is continuing working with NanOlogy to advance its oncology drugs through clinical trials and into the marketplace, he continues. The company also has started a respiratory drug development program that is using the Supercritical Precipitation technology to engineer particles that are ideal for direct delivery into the lungs, particles that result in much higher concentrations and longer retention times in the lungs that can be achieved with standard of care drugs. Supercritical Precipitation is a platform for developing drugs for direct injection into solid tumors, direct delivery into the lungs for treating respiratory diseases and conditions, and direct delivery for the localized treatment of pain and infection in tissues. “In the future, I believe drugs will become increasingly much more customized and tailored to certain patients,” McClorey says. “I think treatments will be much more targeted with more precision.” One thing seems certain. When it comes to working in the areas of biosciences and technology, whether it’s the Bioscience and Technology Business Center, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals or CritiTech Particle Engineering Solutions, advancements and improvements in what they do promise to move much more quickly in the next 10 years than they did the last. These companies wouldn’t have it any other way. p
The Backbone of a Community by Matt Petillo, photos by Steven Hertzog
Serving a community through government or nonprofit comes with many of the same concerns as a business but can have many more people to whom they must answer. Governmental and nonprofit entities are, in many ways, like any other business. They have to worry about funding, recruitment and retention, and standing in the community. The only difference is they aren’t beholden to an owner or set of owners—they’re accountable to the people they serve and those who pay the taxman (or the endowment, your pick). During the last 10 years, they’ve endured many issues in an attempt to achieve their main goal: to serve the people of Lawrence and Douglas County. Working at City Hall and in public service, Assistant City Manager Diane Stoddard has seen it all. She’s been working there since 2007 and last spoke to Lawrence Business Magazine in 2014. Since then, she has worked to create programs and initiatives to keep Lawrence running. In 2015, Stoddard was named interim city manager, a position she kept for 66
nine months. About her time in that position, she says: “Honestly, there were some pretty major challenges that had come to the city during that period of time, and personally, I am extremely proud of how our elected officials [and] our staff handled everything during that year.” Some of those challenges included the resignation of a mayor, which Stoddard says has never happened in the history of the city. The other issue: The Oread Hotel. “During my tenure as interim city manager, the city made a decision to proceed with filing a lawsuit against The Oread based on what we had learned.” The lawsuit accused the hotel developers of fraudulently collecting tax rebates and was settled in 2017 in favor of the city. More recently, Stoddard was involved in planning Lawrence VenturePark and the Economic Development Strategic Plan, both meant to stimulate the economy and bring big business to Lawrence while keeping the small-town feel intact. The VenturePark
“is the second industrial park I’ve been involved with in my career,” she says. “Getting the first inaugural tenant into a business park is a big deal. It’s an even greater challenge when you have a park that is a remediation site, so it has some special qualities.” The City opened up requests for proposals and ended up selecting VanTrust Real Estate, out of Kansas City, to be the developer of several key lots. “They have been able to bring the Pretzels Inc. project that has just been completed,” she adds.
Job Upgrade In addition to career bureaucrats, city government is also made up of common citizens elected to represent the people. Commissioner Patrick Kelly, who was elected in 2018, wears many different hats and serves as the executive director of curriculum and instruction for USD 497. Between 2014, when he was last interviewed for a story in Lawrence Business Magazine, and the time of publication, he was promoted to director of the Lawrence College and Career Center, then to his current position. These two jobs have a lot in common: “There’s been quite a bit [of crossover] because [of] those issues that come up at the county level, whether it’s public health or how we just support families.” Kelly says it’s not all about health orders and vaccine clinics, though. It’s also about supporting vulnerable populations through housing. LBM Covers: Community Impact-Public Safety (2015Q3), Community Impact (2014Q3), Impact of Giving (2018Q3), Impact of the Essential Worker (2020Q3) Massachusetts Street looking south, and Diane Stoddard (2014Q3)
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LEFT: DCCCA CEO Lori Alvarado standing by sign and at her desk in a meeting (2014Q3), ABOVE/RIGHT: Mark Bradford, former Fire Chief poses in front of a fire truck with Lawrence citizens and hands a fireman’s pin to a young boy (2015Q3), BELOW: Firemen and women prepare to greet visitors at an open house (2015Q3) and EMT members learn new techniques from an instructor (2018Q1)
Because Douglas County has had a large increase in community members’ stress about housing, mental health issues have moved to the forefront. Douglas County Commission is very concerned about all of these things. “Those all also impact our families and our students and staff. Making connections [and] being able to recognize the multiple partners it takes to make Douglas County great, it’s certainly a benefit to working at both places,” he says.
Kids These Days
As executive director of curriculum and instruction, Kelly also had to help weather COVID-19 and help teachers completely revamp their curriculum for the classroom. He helped support students and parents, all of which, he admits, was and still is quite tough. “We got to support teachers in providing professional development on new ways of instruction. Most teachers were not trained to provide pandemic instruction.” He says he looked at curriculum standards and had to determine how to make adjustments in curriculum based on the new instructional models, what the most important standards were that were critical for that next level and which were priorities.
DCCCA CEO Lori Alvarado knows a lot about working with children herself as head of a nonprofit organization that, across four states, runs several programs aimed at children and teens. Since 2013, DCCCA has expanded beyond Kansas and Oklahoma to Iowa and Nebraska, as well. Inside Kansas, however, Alvarado says the biggest expansion is the family preservation project. “We have the contract with [the] Kansas Department for Children and Families [DCF] to provide family preservation services in the Kansas City region, which is five counties, and the Wichita region, which is 10 [counties]. So we cover all the referrals that come from DCF. The purpose of that program is to strengthen families so that they can retain their children safely and in a way that makes progress toward goals.”
Communicating with families, spending a lot of time helping them help their young learners, that was a priority, he adds. Because most often, they were still at home when they were learning.
Funding for a nonprofit can be hard, and in 2013, resources were shrinking in the field. However, as Alvarado states now, resources can go back and forth between plentiful and scarce. “I think those situations ebb and flow as either
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Hiring problems aside, getting help to a struggling person in need is the main goal of paramedics. However, that help doesn’t necessarily need to be provided by paramedics exclusively. Getting citizens trained in CPR is a way for bystanders to help save someone’s life, and under Coffey, they’ve found a simple way to do that. “As we look to the future, one of the things you’ll see coming out … is an application called PulsePoint.” The app is for smartphones, and it’s a community-driven initiative to get bystander CPR. “We want to have more people be able to reach out to other community members and push hard and push fast. It can make a big difference,” he adds.
County Commissioner Patrick Kelly (2014Q3)
the federal government and state government change priorities, and make funding available in different ways. So I would say in some instances, it’s gotten better, and in some instances, it’s not. It’s always a challenge when you do work that we do with vulnerable populations, whether that’s families, people who have substance-use disorders [and] communities that are struggling with suicide and mental health challenges.” She explains when you’re working with clients and families with those challenges, resources are at a premium, because with even more resources available, so much more can be done to help.
Technological Trade-Off Working with people is also something Lawrence Fire and Medical Chief Shaun Coffey does on a daily basis. He has been in the office since 2018, first as interim and then permanently as of 2019. Lawrence Business Magazine interviewed his predecessor, Chief Emeritus Mark Bradford, in 2015, and at the time, anyone who wanted to apply to be a paramedic had to have experience in the field. However, hiring circumstances have changed. Schools can’t produce paramedics fast enough, and the pool of applicants has shrunk, Coffey explains. “I don’t know what it is for sure, to be honest, but I know for hiring paramedics, the colleges and the programs can’t put them out fast enough for the demand that’s there.” Some of the programs they send their firefighters to, such as Central Jackson, include people in the class who are already working for other agencies. “I think it will continue to be a battle for the next couple years,” Coffey says, adding that believes the economy has something to do with it. “When things are going well with the economy, the demand is less for people who want to participate.”
The app would give a notification to those within a certain radius that there is a medical emergency happening near them, so the person with the app could go help. However, this does create the possibility for gawkers at the scene. “There is somewhat of a trade-off with that concern,” Coffey admits. “One of the nice things about the application is that we can control how far it sends notifications out. We can send it to only people who are nearby. We can set it for a quarter-mile [or] a half-mile radius.” If a person has responded multiple times, and there’s no record they’ve participated, authorities can reach out and offer that person a CPR lesson. Eventually, if a person seems to be participating just for observational view, he or she can be removed from the app.
What the Future Holds Looking ahead, these leaders know what the future has in store. Coffey believes the Fire and Medical department will continue to embrace technology. “I think [the department] is going to continue to evolve, and we, as an organization, have continued to evolve. One of the things we’ve tried to do … is maximize technology wherever we can.” Alvarado wants to expand DCCCA’s services to better serve families. “I see us integrating our services even more effectively to address multiple issues (or challenges) for families and clients.” The main issue she says the organization wants to concentrate on in the next three to five years is becoming an even stronger agency that addresses women’s and children’s issues. The City’s Stoddard is hopeful community investment will reap dividends down the line. “We’re going to see that we have made investments in infrastructure and in people and in neighborhoods that we are seeing pay off and continue to pay off in 10 years,” she says. Commissioner Kelly hopes for inclusivity, both with students and the citizens of Douglas County. “What I hope for is that no matter what your background is [or] what your experience is, whether you’re in the school district or the county, we can create a space for you to thrive,” he says. p 69
LEFT: Ann and Steven in younger days BELOW: Steven & Ann with Baron Wolman
From Movies to Mags By Mike Anderson
The Lawrence Business Magazine publishers have a unique past that has led them to where they are today. Ann Frame Hertzog and Steven Hertzog are the real-life couple behind the magazine you are currently reading. Ann, editor-in-chief, has overseen the creative direction of every issue every year of the magazine’s existence. Steven has been the chief photographer, documenting the evolution of the community over the last 10 years. The magazine was started to highlight the business community of Douglas County when the local Lawrence 70
newspaper decided to no longer publish a business section. The first issue was a precursor of the tone the magazine would take on with the cover story on the business of art. Susan Tate, then CEO of the Lawrence Arts Center, was on the cover of the first issue, which highlighted an exhibition from Rolling Stone’s founding photographer Baron Wolman. “Steve and Ann brought their personal and professional influence to the Lawrence Arts Center. Their son enrolled in our arts-based preschool, they celebrated and
supported the successes of the entire place. Because of them, we brought … Wolman himself to Lawrence, and our exhibitions director, Ben Ahlvers, gained access to Wolman’s entire archive and curated an extensive show of his work. “In Steve and Ann’s definition, ‘Lawrence business’ includes facets of Lawrence beyond the traditional, corporate or small business world,” Tate continues. “They bring joy and curiosity, and a keen sense of inquiry to stories about art-making processes, the business of selling art and bringing performance and arts education to the community. Steve and Ann ask the best questions, and they generously connect people of Lawrence through their magazine, as well as their involvement in so many civic organizations. I remember when they decided to make Lawrence their home, and it was a very good day for all of us.” On the surface, it may sound like any other story of supply and demand. However, it is the history of the Hertzog’s that makes this story a bit different. Their background in the business of art has led to the success of this publication.
From the Beginning Ann was born at Lawrence Memorial Hospital when her father was in law school, grew up in western (Kinsley) Kansas and received her degree from The University of Kansas (KU) in computer science. Her first jobs were in sports. During college, she was a tri-chair of the Kansas Relays student committee, which led to her first job after KU—a sports coordinator for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles. Eventually, she oversaw all of the personnel logistics at the main Olympic event at the Coliseum. After the Olympics, Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the 1984 Olympics, became Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). Ann moved to New York City for a couple of years to work for the MLB Commissioner’s Office in the media relations office, then in the newly formed Corporate Marketing Department, before returning to Los Angeles to work in the motion picture industry. Steven was born and raised in New York City and New Jersey. He graduated from Emerson College, in Boston, with a fine arts degree in film and photography. After working on documentaries and with local news teams in Boston, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he started his
motion picture career by editing national commercials and the Hollywood film trailers for the motion picture industry. He worked his way up through the business to become an in-demand editor for trailers on key Hollywood films. Steven and Ann met while working in the motion picture business in Los Angeles, and both have fantastic stories. Ann became a vice president of motion picture marketing and advertising at Universal Studios. She worked on the print end of the business by directing the creation of movie posters and print campaigns. She has several stories about photographing “A list” actors as well as stories that involve traveling to Australia to photograph the perfect pig for the “Babe 2: Pig in the City” movie poster. Steven continued to work as an editor on movie trailers and became partner in a creative boutique. He crafted the movie trailers and worked on the marketing campaigns for such movies as “Spinal Tap,” “Willow,” “The Princess Bride,” “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Last of The Mohicans,” “What Lies Beneath,” “Cast Away,” “The Terminal” and others. “In a time when local news is shrinking nationally, Steven and Ann have succeeded in bringing local business news to Lawrence in a way that makes you anticipate the next issue. You cannot go into any professional office in town and not see the Lawrence Business Magazine proudly displayed,” says Brad Finkeldei, Lawrence mayor. Ann and Steven’s careers were the ideal prerequisite for eventually putting out a magazine like Lawrence Business Magazine (LBM). As Steven puts it, “When working on high-end commercials and film, you can never send in mediocre work. If you do it just once, you might not be asked back.” Ann explains that her trigger words are “that’s good enough.” From their more than 20 years in the highly competitive film business, they have learned the importance of looking for different and creative ways of doing things. “Creating a movie poster is like trying to solve an ego,” Ann maintains. She knows she is crafting a piece of art that will hang on the walls of producers and directors for years to come. Steven looks at things differently when editing movie trailers. Studio producers used his version of the “Nell” trailer because of his ability to flip the story and look at the narrative differently. He championed the idea to edit in the love 71
story between Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt in the trailer for “Cast Away,” wanting to give the trailer heart and substance. And he fought to put Wilson the volleyball in the trailer. The studio executives told him, “Nobody is going to want to watch a movie with Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball for two hours.” But luckily, he was able to change their minds. Steven looks at each issue of LBM as a minidocumentary. He started out working on documentaries in Boston. He loves meeting new people, talking with people and photographing their stories. This focus on storytelling is something both Steven and Ann learned from their years in Los Angeles. Ann recalls a time working with Jim Carrey on the poster for “The Grinch.” She showed Jim a mock-up of the teaser poster for the Christmas movie, a photograph of the Grinch’s hand holding a Christmas ornament. He liked the idea, but knew it wasn’t his Grinch hand in the picture. The stand-in holding the ornament wasn’t holding it right. “He needs to be holding it like it is poisoned; he doesn’t want to touch it,” Jim said while illustrating the movement. “He picked up an ornament from the set, and grabbing the tiniest part of the ornament as possible, he fanned out the rest of his fingers, keeping them as far away from the ornament as possible,” Ann describes. “It was beautiful.” Working in an industry with this level of detail and precision, and their experience with pulling emotion and interest from a scene or poster influences the Hertzogs and each issue they create of Lawrence Business Magazine. “Ten years ago, the Lawrence Business Magazine began to provide timely and relevant business news to our citizens,” says Bonnie Lowe, president and CEO of The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. “Ann and Steven have successfully crafted the magazine with articles and photos to effectively tell the story of area businesses, while encouraging others not familiar with Lawrence to pay us a visit. We look forward to many more decades of this publication displaying the spirit of our community.”
together and feed off of each other’s ideas when solving a problem,” Ann explains. Steven adds, “Ann and I are very close, and I value her opinion on anything.” With Lawrence Business Magazine, the Hertzogs wanted to put out a publication that would highlight business and showcase how businesses were positively impacting the community. They wanted to talk about business holistically by finding ways to educate the reader and highlight diversity, a word one will often hear when talking with the Hertzogs. As Steve puts it, “Diverse communities are not dying out, they are growing.” When the Hertzogs took over sole publication of the magazine in 2015, a major goal was to make sure it was accessible to everyone. They wanted to expand what the word business means to people and try to cover a wide range of what business is and how it impacts Douglas County. In recent years, LBM has featured issues on health care, sports, the arts, nonprofits, multimodal transportation, essential workers and the impact of diversity. “Every issue, we discover something new about Douglas County,” Ann says. The Hertzogs come up with issue ideas both together and working with the magazine’s writers, then together they flesh out the ideas and focus of each issue. “We have wonderful writers,” Ann brags. “They are talented and dedicated professionals who are very vested in telling the stories and working to make sure we create as complete an issue as possible on the subjects we focus on each quarter. The mantra of the magazine is to ‘Make a Positive Impact,’ and we can’t emphasize enough the positive impact that our writers have on writing and creating each issue.”
In the mid-2000s, Ann and Steven made a decision to move to Lawrence. The decision to move was made for several reasons. Most importantly, their son, Sam. They wanted to be hands-on parents (Sam was 2½years old at the time). The LA lifestyle and the commute alone would have made it difficult to spend time with Sam. So in 2006, they moved to Kansas and started their next chapter.
An overarching goal of the magazine is to highlight businesses that are giving back to the community and those businesses that have shown success. “To have a business survive for five years, 10 years, takes a lot of work,” Steven says, “and our writers showcase that hard work.” In the last 10 years, Ann and Steven have marveled at the high level of strategizing they have seen from businesses. They see a youth movement in Lawrence with entrepreneurs starting their own business and taking care of their employees. They are happy to see a younger generation of business owners adding to the quality of businesses in Douglas County. They relish in a more diverse community with entrepreneurs using technology to expand their businesses.
While most of us might think twice about working so closely with a spouse, Ann and Steven wouldn’t have it any other way. They can work together because they have trust in one another. What particularly works well for them is that they complement one another. While they might have the occasional disagreement, they share the same sentiment for the creative process. “We problem-solve well
In addition to writers and businesses, the Hertzogs can’t
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“Lawrence Business Magazine is a true institution in our community. We are so fortunate to have this resource that provides a unique and necessary perspective on local commerce. Ann and Steven are simply wonderful folks, and I salute them on the magazine’s 10-year anniversary,” says Derek Kwan, executive director of the Lied Center.
say enough about the support they have received from their advertisers, “without whom we certainly wouldn’t be able to publish the magazine,” Ann explains. “It is their support and dedication to this community, supporting us, a local business, telling the stories of local businesses that make it all possible.” One of the unique elements of Lawrence Business Magazine is that it is not only locally owned but committed to telling the stories of the local community. You won’t see stories in the magazine about businesses in Missouri. The Hertzogs believe we have more than enough great stories to tell locally. Even more distinctive, they do not place ads in the magazine from outside of Douglas County. “You won’t see ads in our magazine about shopping in Missouri and taking your money outside of our community. We are dedicated to local Lawrence and Douglas County businesses, and that includes only accepting advertisers with a vested interest in our community.” The biggest joy Steve and Ann receive is when they run into someone on the street who thanks them for a particular article. They get a big kick when someone reads one of their issues and says, “I didn’t know that.” As for the future, the couple has no intent on stopping anytime soon. They both still very much enjoy the magazine. Ann views it as their love letter to Lawrence. And they are two admirers that Lawrence is lucky to have. p
Keep on Rockin’ – Turning 70 by Sophia Misle, photos by Steven Hertzog
Celebrated daytime radio station KLWN turns 70 this year, and its longtime announcers remain consistent and timely.
At 7:15 the morning of Feb. 22, 1951, Arden Booth said to the city of Lawrence, “Good morning. This is KLWN, Lawrence, Kansas,” and the daytime radio station on 1320 kHz debuted. Booth had found out a 1320 frequency owned by an individual in Texas would be available for Lawrence while he was helping the local newspaper in Oroville, California, put a radio station on the air. He got a group of stakeholders together, and they got to work. “They took all of their combined money that they put into the business, including his brother, who was one of the primary stockholders, and built KLWN from the ground up, brick by brick, stone by stone, for about $50,000 with all the equipment, with everything in it to broadcast,” says Hank Booth, son of the late Arden Booth.
This year, KLWN celebrated its 70th birthday, and many of the people who made the station what it is today are still as consistent and timely as ever. Hank Booth is one of those people. At 75 years old, he has educated Lawrencians about fascinating people and current events for many years through his show “According to the Record.” The first episode aired when Hank got back from military service in 1973. He has taken occasional breaks from the show, including when he ran for county commission. “Otherwise, I’ve done the show nonstop for all those years, even with my other jobs as head of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce and head of the Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce, and other positions that I’ve held after I officially retired,” Hank says.
After Arden’s death, the Booth family sold the station to the Zimmer family in the late 1990s. Hank says the Zimmers did a great job taking care of things after the transition. The Zimmer family grew up with a father who understood the importance of starting a radio station from the ground up, because the family did that in its hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. When the Zimmers purchased KLWN, they maintained the hometown connection it had with Lawrence. As an independently owned family company, it was important to the Zimmers to keep family tradition going, so Hank Booth remained on the air to maintain the deep, local connection established by his father. And now as a part of Great Plains Media, Hank continues that legacy.
The best part of hosting “According to the Record,” he says, has been meeting people and finding out what their hopes and dreams are. Former president Barack Obama was interviewed by Hank before his presidential election. He has also interviewed and maintained relationships with many local and state government officials throughout the years, such as Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, State Sen. Marci Francisco (D-Kan.) and State Rep. Barbara Ballard (D-Kan.).
When the Booths started KLWN, operations took place in a small building on what is now 31st and Iowa streets. Today, KLWN is located on West Sixth Street as part of Great Plains Media Inc., with several studios and office spaces. The expanded space needed to accommodate KLWN’s growth and its sister stations, “92.9 The Bull” and “105.9 KISS FM.” In 2009, “92.9 The Bull” became the contemporary country station most Lawrencians know today. The Top 40 station, “105.9 KISS FM,” came along in 2012, replacing KLZR, “The Lazer,” at the 105.9 FM frequency which has been part of the KLWN family since it first signed on Aug. 20, 1963, as KLWN FM.
He says he was never expected to follow in his late father’s footsteps in broadcast journalism. His father encouraged him to find another niche, but Hank believes Arden secretly wanted him to be in radio and take over the business.
“That’s the thing I love about the show is listening to people’s stories, asking the questions for them to tell their dream, their wish, their aspirations for their club, their organization,” Hank explains.
As a young man, Hank thought of himself as more of a writer and wanted to work for a newspaper in San Francisco. He never thought he would end up in Lawrence for as long as he has, especially working in radio. However, things changed after serving in the army and meeting his wife. The couple met when Hank was 75
working at a radio station in Wichita to see if he could make it on his own in the business without his father. He worked as the news director at KLEO, an AM-only station.
Hank Booth
Clenece Hills
“AMs were still the thing, and FM was just creeping along back in the ’60s,” Hank says. After working in radio in various places, including Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Denver, Hank and his wife moved to Lawrence. He thought they’d be in Lawrence about two years to help his father sell advertising for KLWN while Arden was in the Kansas senate. “We’re still here,” Hank says. “We’re still going. Forty-five years later, we still haven’t escaped to San Francisco.”
Joel Becker
Matt Llewellyn
Steven Hertzog
Hank says he’s stayed in Lawrence for as long as he has because he and his wife loved raising their kids here with the great schools and teachers. The only thing that has been consistent throughout his years in Lawrence, he says, is “According to the Record.” Clenece Hills is in her 80s and has been a part of KLWN since 1958, when her family moved to Lawrence. Hills wrote to KLWN inquiring about a job opportunity, and she received a note written on the back of a 4-H livestock sale premium from Arden asking her to come to the station. As a junior at the University of Kansas, Hills began her journey with KLWN and estimates she has contributed about 9,000 hours since she started her shows “Class Act” and “Timeline.”
On April 11, 2005, Hills began “Class Act”, a weekly talk show from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday mornings. It featured good news about people in the listening area. Students, teachers, coaches and many others who were making news for good deeds and successes were interviewed during the two years the show was on the air. Then in 2012, Hills created her show “Timeline,” which is still on the air today on Monday mornings and covers local and area history. “I look forward to every ‘Timeline’ program because I prepare my guests, I spend a lot of time, and I prepare myself,” Hills explains. She is looking forward to many of her upcoming guests, including Leonard “Kris” Krishtalka, recently retired, head of Lawrence’s Natural History Museum. Krishtalka will be a guest Sept. 27 on “Timeline” to discuss his new novel, “The Body on the Bed,” which will be released on Sept. 26. The station continues to stay true to its original purpose of broadcasting local news, weather and sports through shows like “According to the Record” and “Timeline.” Additional shows include “Radio for Grownups,” with Joel Becker, from 9 a.m. to noon weekdays, and “Rock Chalk Sports Talk,” with Derek Johnson, from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays. “The Clinton Parkway Nursery Garden Show,” with Ann Peuser, airs at 7:30 a.m. Saturdays, and “The Schmooze with Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel” is at 8:30 a.m. Sundays. And, for in depth stories on local businesses and community leadership tune into the “Lawrence Business Magazine Radio Show,” with Steven Hertzog at 9 a.m. Thursdays. If listeners cannot listen to these shows at their designated time, all of the shows are uploaded in podcast form on SoundCloud and can be accessed via KLWN’s website (klwn.com). KLWN also has an app through which Lawrencians can access KLWN anytime, anywhere. This fall, KLWN listeners can look forward to more local sports programming. KLWN is the home of KU sports, with live coverage of football and basketball (which can also be heard on sister station KKSW 105.9 Kiss FM), and Royals baseball. Each, Lawrence High and Free State High School football games, as well as many boys and girls basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball and softball games are broadcast – so if you can’t go in person, listen live. Hank and Hills agree KLWN will continue to stay relevant and thrive another 70 years by providing local coverage. “Stay local, stay local, stay local,” Hank says. p
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NEWS [MAKERS] & PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Whitney Lang has been promoted to Associate Principal at Gould Evans Whitney Lang, AIA, LEED AP BD+C | Architect, is a skilled leader and project manager, who excels at bringing together a wide range of perspectives to artfully solve design problems. She’s comfortable in the messiness and exploration of the early design stages but excels at building consensus and clarity as projects move forward. She brings a deep sense of empathy and compassion to her work, and enjoys building partnerships with community organizations in her hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. Whitney Lang
“We’ve been gifted with a moment in history that demands process iteration. With humble ears, I want to hear more people’s perspectives and help provide new opportunities for shared experience, stability, and joy.”.
Peaslee Allen Press Announces Mark Kohlhase, CEO Peaslee Mark Kohlhase has been named Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Kohlhase had been serving as the Interim CEO since January 2020. As CEO, Kohlhase will continue overseeing all aspects of the company and setting long-term strategic goals and objectives. “Providing excellent customer service has been and continues to be my primary focus,” Kohlhase said. “As CEO, I believe that a servant leadership approach and a laser-like focus on our customers’ well-being will help us create long-term stability for Allen Press.” Kohlhase will continue to focus on the core competencies of commercial printing and scholarly publishing services that are Allen Press mainstays. Recent technology upgrades and long-term partnerships with scholarly service leaders in peer review and online publishing have created a solid foundation upon which the Allen Press team serves independent commercial and scholarly publishers.
eXplore Lawrence announces Kim Anspach as Executive Director The eXplore Lawrence Board of Directors is pleased to announce Kim Anspach as the new Executive Director of eXplore Lawrence, the organization devoted to improving the local economy by attracting visitors, meetings, conferences, and events to the city. A nationwide search was conducted for the position after the retirement of Michael Davidson. Anspach has most recently served as Interim Director of eXplore Lawrence since May 2021. She has excelled in o!ce management and community relations roles since joining the organization in 2014.. Kim Anspach
EnvistaCares Challenge Highlights Lawrence Habitat for Humanity Envista Credit Union is pleased to announce that it will highlight Lawrence Habitat for Humanity through the EnvistaCares Challenge during the month of September. Envista is challenging the community to give to Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, and for every dollar given to the organization during the month of September, Envista will match up to $2,500. Giving can be done online at www.envistacares.com. 80
Lied Center of Kansas Reopening for the 2021–22 Season The Lied Center of Kansas will open at full capacity for the 2021–22 season with some new performances in the lineup. A few highlights of the season include Grammy Award-winning artists, like Rosanne Cash, America–50th Anniversary Tour, the Steep Canyon Rangers and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, as well the Broadway hits BEAUTIFUL–The Carole King Musical, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and much more. The Lied Center will also continue presenting its Folk, Chamber Music and Just Friends Jazz Series’ performances. The first event of the season is September 17, and it will mark the first in-person Lied Series performance in the venue since February 2020. During the pandemic, the Lied Center continued to fulfill its mission of sharing performing arts experiences with the community by offering dozens of free virtual programs and more than twenty outdoor pop-up performances. Tickets for shows in the 2021–22 season are on sale now at the Ticket Office or by phone.
Truity Credit Union adds Audra Fussell and Mallory Schwank to Lawrence Team
Audra Fussell
Truity Credit Union is pleased to welcome Audra Fussell as the newest Lawrence Branch Manager and Mallory Schwank as a Mortgage Loan Officer. “We are thrilled to add both of these professionals to our team in Lawrence,” said Vice President and Lawrence Market Manager Kaylee Johnston. “They each bring a wealth of experience and knowledge which will be great assets to the credit union, our members and the community.”
Mallory Schwank
Fussell brings 10 years of management and two years of networking and marketing experience to her new role as Branch Manager at Truity’s 31st Street location. She currently serves as the Lawrence Chamber Envoy Co-Chair as well as the Membership Chair for the Lawrence Women’s Network. She is also involved in Lawrence Young Professionals and Lawrence One Million Cups. She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Before joining the mortgage team at Truity, Schwank worked 4 years in real estate and another year in insurance. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas and currently serves as a youth group leader at her local church. She has a husband, a daughter, a stepson and is a longtime Lawrence area resident.
Good Energy Solutions Recognized as Top U.S. Solar Installation Company The U.S. solar industry is on the upswing, thanks to a pro-renewables presidential administration and increased concern over climate change. Good Energy Solutions has had a front-row seat to this action, with business increasing over the last year. Solar Power World has recognized the company’s installation success by ranking Good Energy Solutions at No. 369 on the 2021 Top Solar Contractors list. The Top Solar Contractors list is developed each year by Solar Power World to honor the work of solar installers in the United States. Solar firms in the utility, commercial and residential markets are ranked by number of kilowatts installed in the previous year. Companies are grouped and listed by specific service, markets and states. Good Energy Solutions currently employs 42 workers who installed 623.41kilowatts of solar power in 2020. Since its founding in 2007, the company has installed 12,466 kilowatts of solar. The company expects to see more growth in the commercial solar and energy storage sectors in the coming year. 81
WH OS E DESK ? ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Be the first to correctly guess correctly two of the four flashback desks pictured. Winner receives a $50 gift card to 23rd Street Brewery. facebook.com/lawrencebusinessmagazine
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