Each small business development region could choose two winners
Posted: March 6, 2015
By Megan Hart
megan.hart@cjonline.com
http://cjonline.com/news/business/2015-03-06/topeka-retailer-honored-business-year
A downtown Topeka store will be honored as one of 16 “businesses of the year” by the Kansas Small Business Development Center.
The Merchant, 913 S. Kansas, sells used clothing, accessories, collectibles, art and books. Owner Lisa Boyd will be honored with the owners of the other 15 winning businesses Tuesday before the Kansas House of Representatives and Senate.
Each of the eight regional small business development centers was allowed to recognize an existing business that had been around for at least four years and an “emerging” one that had existed between two and four years.
Karl Klein, director of the Washburn University SBDC affiliate, said they chose Boyd as one of the winners for the region because of her commitment to her business and efforts to implement advice from the SBDC counselors she worked with, as well as her success continuing the business during construction that limited customer access on Kansas Avenue.
“It’s been a challenging environment and she’s overcome a lot of those challenges,” he said. “I think they’ve done well with attracting business.”
Boyd said she started out renting a space in a building at 718 S. Kansas in 2009, and the Washburn University Small Business Development Center helped her develop her plans and get a loan in 2011 to buy the building where the business currently is located. The SBDC also helped with accounting questions as she learned on the job, she said.
“I don’t really look at it as I’ve had challenges,” she said. “I just look at it as running a business and learning as I go.”
The other winner for the region was Manhattan-based Kansas Regenerative Medicine, Klein said.
The clinic uses adult stem cells derived from a patient’s fat to attempt to treat degenerative diseases and was chosen because of its “innovative” concept, he said.
Kansas Regenerative Medicine is researching whether the therapy helps a variety of conditions, including joint problems, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, lupus, Crohn’s disease and macular degeneration. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved that type of stem cell treatment for the conditions Kansas Regenerative Medicine is researching, so it can’t make claims that the treatment will help, according to the business’s website.
The other winners for existing businesses are: Garden City Propane, Garden City; CS Gas Inc., Atwood; Leading Edge Aerospace LLC, Wichita; The Walters Farm, Burns; McDonald Marketing, Bonner Springs; Enhanced HomeCare LLC, Overland Park; and Advanced Systems Homes Inc., Chanute.
The winners for emerging businesses are: Women’s Specialists of Liberal PA, Liberal; Kingsbury Service, Smith Center; ReJuvv’ Spa, Winfield; Flint Hills Music, Emporia; Cat Clinic of Lawrence, Lawrence; Velo+ Maps Coffee, Lenexa; and Art in Iron, Garnett.
Posted: March 6, 2015
By Megan Hart
megan.hart@cjonline.com
http://cjonline.com/news/business/2015-03-06/topeka-retailer-honored-business-year
A downtown Topeka store will be honored as one of 16 “businesses of the year” by the Kansas Small Business Development Center.
The Merchant, 913 S. Kansas, sells used clothing, accessories, collectibles, art and books. Owner Lisa Boyd will be honored with the owners of the other 15 winning businesses Tuesday before the Kansas House of Representatives and Senate.
Each of the eight regional small business development centers was allowed to recognize an existing business that had been around for at least four years and an “emerging” one that had existed between two and four years.
Karl Klein, director of the Washburn University SBDC affiliate, said they chose Boyd as one of the winners for the region because of her commitment to her business and efforts to implement advice from the SBDC counselors she worked with, as well as her success continuing the business during construction that limited customer access on Kansas Avenue.
“It’s been a challenging environment and she’s overcome a lot of those challenges,” he said. “I think they’ve done well with attracting business.”
Boyd said she started out renting a space in a building at 718 S. Kansas in 2009, and the Washburn University Small Business Development Center helped her develop her plans and get a loan in 2011 to buy the building where the business currently is located. The SBDC also helped with accounting questions as she learned on the job, she said.
“I don’t really look at it as I’ve had challenges,” she said. “I just look at it as running a business and learning as I go.”
The other winner for the region was Manhattan-based Kansas Regenerative Medicine, Klein said.
The clinic uses adult stem cells derived from a patient’s fat to attempt to treat degenerative diseases and was chosen because of its “innovative” concept, he said.
Kansas Regenerative Medicine is researching whether the therapy helps a variety of conditions, including joint problems, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, lupus, Crohn’s disease and macular degeneration. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved that type of stem cell treatment for the conditions Kansas Regenerative Medicine is researching, so it can’t make claims that the treatment will help, according to the business’s website.
The other winners for existing businesses are: Garden City Propane, Garden City; CS Gas Inc., Atwood; Leading Edge Aerospace LLC, Wichita; The Walters Farm, Burns; McDonald Marketing, Bonner Springs; Enhanced HomeCare LLC, Overland Park; and Advanced Systems Homes Inc., Chanute.
The winners for emerging businesses are: Women’s Specialists of Liberal PA, Liberal; Kingsbury Service, Smith Center; ReJuvv’ Spa, Winfield; Flint Hills Music, Emporia; Cat Clinic of Lawrence, Lawrence; Velo+ Maps Coffee, Lenexa; and Art in Iron, Garnett.