Wichita Business Magazine Summer 2022

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FAMILY BUSINESS WITH WINGS | SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR | TALLGRASS GOLF CLUB | LAST WORD

Photos by AARON PATTON

10 08 Russian Sanctions and Possible Cyberattacks Expert: Cy Sturdivant, CISA®, FORVIS

10 Made in ICT

Learn how five entrepreneurs transformed their zeal for salsa, donuts, coffee and pasta into thriving enterprises.

CONTENTS

28 How to Build a Brand

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Expert: Sonia Greteman, Greteman Group

30 Family Business with Wings Clemens Aviation makes business a family affair.

36 Lessons Learned from a Serial Entrepreneur Derek Sorrells shares the secrets behind his success.

44 Blame Philosophy

Expert: Brandon Gaide, Sevenfold

46 Tallgrass Golf Club

Investment in renovation and improvements make it a destination spot in Wichita.

50 Last Word

Q&A with WIBA President Wendell Funk.

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Photo by DAVID EULITT

SUMMER 2022

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Get expert business advice and up-to-date information on business in Wichita at

WICHITAbusinessmagazine.com Send your news releases to news@wichitabusinessmagazine.com.

CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHER Tara Dimick EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lisa Loewen CREATIVE DIRECTOR & DESIGNER Janet Faust MANAGING PARTNER & SALES DIRECTOR Braden Dimick braden@wichitabusinessmagazine.com 316-706-0178 COVER PHOTOGRAPHER Aaron Patton CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Laine Alter Samantha Egan Kim Gronniger Eric Smith

Experience Wichita

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS John Burns David Eulitt Aaron Patton Fernando Salazar

@experiencewichita

CONTRIBUTING EXPERTS Brandon Gaide Sonia Greteman Cy Sturdivant, CISA®

2022 Wichita Business Magazine is published by E2 Communications, Inc. Reproduction or use of this publication in any manner without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Every effort was made to ensure accuracy of the information in this publication as of press time. The publisher assumes no responsibility of any part for the content of any advertisement in this publication, including any errors and omissions therein. E2 Communications, Inc. makes no endorsement, representation or warranty regarding any goods or services advertised or listed in this publication. Listings and advertisements are provided by the subject company. E2 Communications, Inc. shall not be responsible or liable for any inaccuracy, omission or infringement of any third party’s right therein, or for personal injury or any other damage or injury whatsoever. By placing an order for an advertisement, the advertiser agrees to indemnify the publisher against any claims relating to the advertisement.

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Russian Sanctions and Possible Cyberattacks

Cy Sturdivant, CISA® Director, FORVIS

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As many countries implement sanctions against Russia, an increase in cyberattacks is to be expected.

It’s crucial now more than ever to be mindful and vigilant with your technology and activities to limit losses due to business interruption and protect yourself and your organization from cyberattacks.

The following list outlines the predominant attack vectors to be cautious of.

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Emails and Attachments If you weren’t expecting it, be cautious.

This includes Spam, Phishing, and direct targeted emails from compromised accounts. These will typically either have a URL to a malicious site, or an attachment with malware (excel macros) in it.

Internet Marketing and Advertisements These run code in your browser.

Advertising hosting sites are commonly used to promote malware through malicious advertisements. Be careful with clicking on advertising links, URLs, and banners.

Malicious Software Typically, free/low cost (freeware) software. Freeware is used to promote malicious code through easily accessible software that appears legitimate. These may contain ransomware, viruses, remote access controls, etc. Be cautious when installing, running, or utilizing these solutions.

Fake Support Hackers and scammers will be taking advantage of the crisis. This applies to emails, marketing and advertisements, and software donating proceeds. Prior to interacting, donating, or purchasing anything in support of Ukraine, please properly research the entity to ensure you, your devices, and your organization stay secure.

While it is impossible to eliminate all cyber risk, these actions can help shore up common issues and vulnerabilities. All in all, the key threat to avoid by being aware of these vulnerabilities is a ransomware incident. The impacts from a successful attack are very damaging. Industry reports show that it is likely to cripple business operations for 21–30 days, at a minimum.

Most companies are not prepared for this type of disruption or attack. Are you?

A great tool you can use to help identify control gaps is the CSBS Ransomware Self-Assessment Tool (RSAT).

If you cannot check yes to certain questions, your focus should shift to find out where your deficiencies are and what you can do to improve. In particular, a few of the questions cover best practices for backing up your data. It is crucial to have the ability to recover data after a ransomware attack.

It’s no longer about “do we have backups.”

It is now more of “are they air-gapped, immutable, and tested” to ensure we can recover in a timely manner. If you do not know those answers, that is a great place to start.

Finally, if a cybercriminal successfully takes down our power grids, how successful would you be in supporting your customer base for days or even weeks without primary electricity? How effective will your disaster recovery process be for an extended power outage? Do you have generators to power your main operations or data centers? If so, how will you obtain fuel?

This is definitely a worst-case scenario but it’s worth considering in terms of how well you are prepared to address this specific situation as well.

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By KIM GRONNIGER Photos by AARON PATTON

Small businesses contribute to the character of communities and build ties to the products and the people who make them. Bold entrepreneurs offer welcome choices for discerning customers and boost the bottom lines of area suppliers who help bring their innovative ideas and the items they sell to market. Learn how five proprietors transformed their zeal for salsa, donuts, coffee and pasta into thriving enterprises that invigorate the local economy and satisfy enthusiasts in Wichita and elsewhere around the country.

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TRICIA HOLMES | OWNER

HOLMES MADE SALSA

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As a pre-teen, Tricia Holmes helped her father, Bruce, make salsa from vegetables grown in the family garden. Both father and daughter were raised in the produce business established by Holmes’ grandfather, Ollie, in 1924. Managed later by Bruce and his brother Wendell, Holmes Produce became the largest wholesale grocer in South Central Kansas.

“My dad was always a chili head and competed in cookoffs, so making salsa was something we could do together in the summer,” said Holmes.

After working for a couple of decades in sales and management positions for jewelry retailers, Holmes said the long hours and required weekend and holiday shifts prompted her to consider a career change in 2003.

Taking the summer off to work on her resume and assess her prospects, she sold a single type of salsa on a card table at the Old Town Farm & Art Market, where her uncle still kept a booth, so she could make a little money and keep herself occupied as she contemplated her future.

“By then, my dad was retired and disabled but he still had so much passion for produce,” said Holmes. “I saw how pumped he was about our efforts, and I had so much fun hanging out with him and my uncle and interacting with customers that summer. Although I didn’t want to grab the first thing that came my way, that’s exactly what I did.

I always envisioned owning a boutique or a flower shop and never in a million years thought I’d make a career out of selling salsa.”

Holmes set up a commercial kitchen and enlisted her mom and best friend to chop the produce her dad sourced through his contacts.

“Dad would show up at my shop at 5 a.m. to label the jars or pick up produce or printing for me because he wanted to do his part,” said Holmes.

“Later, when I opened the shop at 2252 N. Coolidge, he liked to wait on customers. A motivating factor for starting this business was having my family involved with me and I like knowing that our work together gave my dad’s life purpose at the end.”

WORK HARD, PLAY HARD Holmes spent years honing her customer service skills in retail positions but knew she would need professional resources to assist with the practicalities and legalities of producing edible products on a larger scale. She sought assistance and expertise from the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Land of Kansas program and the Kansas State University Food Science Department.

She also completed food safety training through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration program.

“These were fantastic resources, and the food science department was especially helpful with testing acidic levels, creating nutritional information panels and establishing process control measures,” she said.

Holmes also worked with the Sedgwick County Extension Office to take advantage of grants and entrepreneurial development programs and visited with farmers market leaders and vendors to seek additional assistance to boost her company’s viability and visibility in the marketplace.

“I was always a daddy’s girl and he was full of good advice too,” Holmes said. “Even in the 1960s he told me behind every successful woman is herself

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Holmes Made Salsa makes and sells 12 kinds of salsa along with mustard, barbecue sauce, relishes, pickles and fruit speads.

and he urged me to not let anyone tell me I wasn’t as good as they were because I was a woman. His mantra was ‘work hard, play hard’ and he encouraged me to give whatever job I did my all.”

Photos by AARON PATTON

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INNOVATION & DISTRIBUTION Today Holmes Made Salsa makes 12 kinds of salsa along with a smoky mustard, barbecue sauce, relishes, pickles and fruit spreads, including a limited-edition sand plum version made from wild plants native to the area. Products are sold in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma at farmers markets, festivals, grocery stores, restaurants and retail outlets.

Monday through Thursday Holmes oversees production and taste testing for every batch made and spends weekends cultivating new customers at Midwest festivals in the spring and fall months and at farmers markets throughout the summer. During the holidays, she and her team assemble gift boxes for shipping across the country and year-round nurture relationships with wholesalers.

Though successful now, Holmes remembers her early entrepreneurship days of barely making ends meet and credits the supportive relationships she’s developed with other business owners with establishing her brand and expanding her offerings over the years. Chairwoman of the Kansas Grown Farmers Market, Holmes derives “great joy” from helping other entrepreneurs with a taste for independence find their niche.

A tenured presence at farmers markets and food festivals, she said, “I can’t wait to see customers line up at my booth. The shows are so fun and there are some that I’m never going to quit attending.”

She’s particularly fond of the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City where her husband, Rich Lahar, proposed.

Holmes uses a variety of herbs and spices in her creations and enjoys experimenting as she expands her line. Personal interaction with customers at events also provides opportunities to get instant feedback on new flavors and glean ideas for additional combinations.

The brand’s Orange-Pineapple Salsa originated from a customer suggestion for a fruit-based version. When a local peer selling green chilies suggested incorporating the vegetable into a salsa, Holmes created Marty’s Roasted Green Chile Salsa, which won first place in the Big Chili Cookoff in Wichita and placed at the Fiery Food Challenge in Texas. Her Spicy Blackbean w/Corn Salsa also placed third in the Texas competition.

The Doo Dah Diner sells Holmes’ strawberry jalapeno jam under its own label.

“My dad used to tell me that as long as I loved what I was doing, he’d be proud of me,” said Holmes, “and I definitely love what I’m doing. I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

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Photo by AARON PATTON

KHLOE HINES | OWNER

HUNGRY BUNNY VIRTUAL DONUT SHOP 16

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Early in 2020, Khloe Hines worked for a telecommunications company doing repetitive tasks that left her feeling drained and unfulfilled.

“After my position was eliminated, I decided that instead of finding another job within my comfort zone, I’d start the business I’d been writing about in my journals for years and bet on myself instead,” said Hines.

Raised in a family that revered nightly desserts “as the cherry on top of their days,” Hines consulted the notes in her journals for ideas first jotted down in 2015 to shape plans for an online mobile delivery dessert system.

“I knew it was now or never,” she said. “I wanted to be more in control of my career and do something I enjoyed.”

She centered her business concept around cake donuts because of her love for them and their ties to fond childhood memories of her grandfather.

“He was the patriarch of our family and would take me and my sister to get donuts, so donuts have always had a nostalgic vibe for me,” said Hines. “Really, who doesn’t like donuts?”

SOCIAL MEDIA FACILITATION She watched YouTube videos featuring entrepreneurs engaged in similar enterprises and sought the services of Sahara Small, a local entrepreneur who designed Hines’s Hungry Bunny Virtual Donut Shop logo and website.

“She gave me great advice and shared articles I should read and tips for taking better photos of treats with my phone,” said Hines, who launched her homebased company in April 2020. “I realized that a person could basically start a business with a phone alone. Who knew?”

Hines followed influencers on Instagram, particularly Black-owned businesses, and established a network of entrepreneurial pen pals in multiple states willing to answer questions and recommend resources.

Hines’s boyfriend, Lawrence; then 4-year-old daughter, Nina; and family members were supportive of her business venture but reactions from others ran the gamut.

“Some people asked whether I really thought this was a good idea and others were like ‘hell, yeah’ and ‘hurry up’ and ‘when can I buy,’” said Hines.

Social media helped facilitate buzz for the business, and the contactless nature of transactions during the pandemic appealed to housebound customers craving treats.

“With the world basically shutting down, people became more comfortable using DoorDash and Uber Eats during COVID-19, so it turned out to be the perfect time to launch,” she said. “It was extremely liberating to feel in control of my own destiny.”

Just weeks after opening, Hungry Bunny was featured in a Forbes magazine article about promising Black women entrepreneurs written by Yola Roberts, a senior contributor and Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School acquaintance of Hines’s.

“The national exposure was phenomenal, and the opportunity would have been missed if I’d waited even one month longer to open the business,” Hines said.

Still, there were obstacles to overcome, including costs and logistics associated with shipping perishable goods.

“Initially, shipping was super expensive and showing up at the post office to send multiple

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boxes to different addresses was time intensive,” she said. “I quickly learned how to set up a shipping account with the post office so I could pre-label boxes and track orders.”

Even local deliveries were challenging at first, prompting Hines to enlist her boyfriend and sisters to assist as drivers to meet demand throughout the metro area.

FAVORITE FLAVORS & VARIETY Hines offers several different varieties of small-batch donuts, all of which pay tribute to some aspect of her childhood, including a Golden Ticket nod to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” a beloved book.

“I’m in charge of quality control, so I only make things I actually like to eat,” she said.

Her personal favorites, in order, are Chocolate Crunch, Maple Weeknder and, tied for third place, OG, “a plain Jane glazed donut” and Birthday Cake, which is covered in multi-colored sprinkles.

“I always had two Oreos in my school lunches and if we went out for donuts, I was always Team Maple,” she said.

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She experiments with limited edition flavors like Lavender Lemonade, Cereal Killer and Flower Power, a rose-flavored confection topped with an edible blossom.

Hines’s company name is also derived from childhood memories.

“I was made fun of for my overbite in school, but I like my teeth,” she said.

“They make me who I am. I was also always hungry as a kid, so it seemed like a great name.”

Hines adopted a vegan diet after developing a dairy allergy as an adult.

One of her most gratifying moments was when the mother of a 10-year-old boy with a severe milk allergy reached out to say Hungry Bunny had provided him with his first donut.

“Can you imagine having never had a donut?” asked Hines. “I cried thinking about kids not being able to participate in something so central to my childhood and knowing that now they can.”

Well into Hungry Bunny’s second year of business, Hines continues to add new items that will appeal to a growing clientele across the country, including a line of bite-size baby donuts inspired by her 1-year-old twins, Nori and Nasir.

She’s shipped orders for employee appreciation events, holiday gifts

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and International Women’s Day celebrations, created special occasion donut bouquets and provided treats in customized colors for bridal and baby showers and graduation parties.

For local clients, she offers consulting services and donut cake options.

She also makes a variety of cookies, including chocolate chip, Churrotica, gluten-free devil’s food and a popular Slutty Bunny cookie with a creamy peanut butter and Oreo chunks center.

“My sisters and I loved ‘The Parent Trap’ movie and started dipping our Oreos in peanut butter after seeing the characters do it,” said Hines. “So good!”

Hines advises others interested in starting companies to accept moments of self-doubt and commit to hard work.

“You’re never going to be fully ready, so run toward your fear,” she said. “Everyone’s scared at first about whether people will buy their products. It’s all trial and error.

But there is always a podcast or an interview or an order that comes through to remind you to keep at it to realize your dream.”

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Photos by AARON PATTON

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COLBY SHORT & JASON GARDNER | OWNERS

LOCAL ROASTERS

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In 2018, Jason Gardner and Colby Short decided to combine their skills in business and coffee roasting, respectively, to broaden consumer options for their favorite beverage. But unlike most coffee purveyors, they eschewed providing a complementary cafe service for their products, preferring instead to focus exclusively on roasting techniques.

“We really wanted the freedom and simplicity to do that,” said Gardner.

Short said that although the partners were committed to a roast-only model, contractors and others were disbelieving.

“Throughout the whole process of getting permits and constructing the space, people kept asking whether we would eventually serve coffee and our answer has always been and always will be

no,” he said. “Our philosophy is to keep things simple and stick to roasting coffee well and let the businesses that serve our coffees handle that side of things.”

Local Roasters offers 25 small-batch coffees sourced from countries around the world and fulfills orders online and in its own retail space. Customers include churches, businesses, high-end restaurants and coffee shops. Coffees are also sold at local retail shops, and the partners work with wholesale partners to scale their business, which includes several national accounts.

They also offer coffee subscription services so loyal customers can ensure they never run out of their favorite variety. More adventurous connoisseurs can sign up for a premier curated coffee experience with monthly mystery options handpicked by the staff and delivered to their door.

Short’s career has been steeped in the coffee business as a barista, roaster and lifelong consumer.

TURNING POINT “My first taste was as a tiny child drinking motel coffee, the worst ever, but I kept drinking coffee anyway,” he said.

“I was staying in New York City when I was around 19 or 20 and had my first good cup and it sparked my fascination.

Once you taste good coffee, it’s a turning point.”

Photo by AARON PATTON

Short, whose go-to brew now is a straight espresso, loves the science behind coffee—how soil composition and weather conditions in different parts of the world and roasting temperatures and durations can define taste.

Local Roasters rotates about half of its inventory at any given time to accommodate new flavors.

“There’s no happier Colby than roasting Colby,” said Gardner. “He’s all about the craft.”

Gardner, a fan of drip coffee and Americanos, said some customers will express a preference for a light or dark roast and stick with their choice, while others return eager to try whatever is new.

“I enjoy seeing the reactions of people when they sample something unexpected here,” said Short, who hopes to one day mimic wineries in offering tastings to expose people to higher-end selections.

“Colby’s the alchemist,” said Gardner. “He mixes fun coffees and gives them cool names.”

From Colombia Cattleya and Copy Cat to The Modernist Espresso and Dominican Republic Barhona, Local Roasters coffees facilitate loyal connections, whether it’s to the product itself or to a network of fans.

“We sell to people who really care a lot about coffee, and we get to know many of them,” said Gardner.

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“There’s no happier Colby than roasting Colby. He’s all about the craft,” says Jason Gardner about his Local Roasters Partner Colby Short.

“We’ve even hired some awesome people who were passionate about our product and even before they joined our team.”

One of the first steps in establishing Local Roasters entailed securing a roaster and then a building to accommodate it and other necessary equipment. Gardner and Short found their spot at 2828 E. Douglas, although permitting initially was problematic because officials were perplexed that they weren’t opening an adjacent café or brewing coffee onsite.

“At one point, they wanted us to install a grease trap that we would never have had a need for,” said Short.

The partners enlisted their friend Matt Cartwright, owner of MJC Architecture, to help with design and connect them to engineers and contractors who could configure the space.

“If you’re starting a business, it’s good to have friends who can help you get clear answers and who are eager to see you grow,” said Gardner.

In the early days, the partners also studied competitors’ packaging and researched methods they could adopt so their small-batch coffees would stay fresh as long as those sold at Trader Joe’s, Dillons, Whole Foods and other

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national retailers. They committed to bagging their products by hand and using a nitrogen-flush process to ensure maximum freshness for up to six months.

They also sought the expertise of the Gardner Design staff to create a compelling logo and shape brand image through packaging and promotional efforts.

“Full disclosure—Bill Gardner is my uncle, but he and his people are just phenomenal,” said Gardner.

PIVOTING & PROSPERING The pair never imagined that two years in they’d be navigating through a pandemic but because of their passion for their products and perseverance, they were able to pivot and even prosper.

“We discovered that coffee was a great product to have during COVID,” said Short. “As our church, café and corporate clients dropped off, our online retail business exploded and has continued to grow. People were working from home and isolated and wanted good-tasting coffee.”

“Literally, in one day we shut down our retail store at the same moment everyone began staying home,” said

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Gardner. “It was nerve-wracking at first, but the orders kept picking up. We just happened to be in a fortunate space where coffee became really popular.”

SERENDIPITY & BLESSINGS Short daydreamed about establishing Local Roasters for about five years while working as a roaster and pursuing a music side hustle scoring films and producing solo albums.

“I thought about it a long time before I even talked to Jason about it,” said Short. “I really tried to think things through, and I read a lot. I had the barista and roasting experience, but the business side was a mystery.”

Gardner, who is employed as general manager of Spectrum Promotional in addition to his Local Roasters role, provided business and merchandising knowledge acquired through years of marketing web stores, customized apparel and companybranded giveaways.

“Along the way there have been not just ‘oh, boy’ serendipitous moments but also big blessings,” said Gardner.

Short agrees. “It’s been awesome to say this is what we want to do and then do it. Things have worked out really well.”

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KRISTINA GRAPPO | OWNER

VIOLA’S PANTRY

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Kristina Grappo grew up in a family adept at entertaining. Her mother, an educator, and her father, a state department diplomat, made sure guests at their various homes in Oman, Jordan, Portugal, Dubai and Saudi Arabia always felt welcomed and well-fed.

Through her pasta company, Viola’s Pantry, Grappo continues the tradition by replicating favorite family recipes and experiments with flavorful combinations using locally sourced ingredients to help customers enjoy hearty Italian food in the comfort of their homes. The business is named for Grappo’s paternal grandmother, a first-generation Italian American and real estate entrepreneur who fortuitously bequeathed her pasta maker to her granddaughter in 2015.

Photo by AARON PATTON

“My parents both had crazy jobs but always put a heavy weight on family dinners,” said Grappo. “Even if I went to a friend’s house to spend the night, I had to eat at home first because they placed such a high priority on family mealtime. My dad made a lot of deals over dinner, and even in the Bible Jesus breaks bread to show his affection for his followers.”

COOKING TO PASS TIME An established entrepreneur with a freelance marketing and consulting company for hospitality clients, Grappo arrived in Wichita in June 2019 as a newly married Air Force spouse. When she lost her clients because of COVID-19 venue closures, she began cooking and creating recipes to occupy her time.

“I was eating too much of my own cooking, so I asked friends and neighbors who were working from home if they wanted me to make them some meals, and I got a lot of interest,” she said. “I always thought I might become a chef someday and open a pasta shop when I retired, but the pandemic made me think seriously about the possibility of doing it sooner. I’d worked with restaurants and independent chefs in Los Angeles and Austin and in other places, so the idea wasn’t too far out of left field.”

Grappo received certification through a 15-month online program offered through the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, finishing in August 2021. While completing her coursework, she took advantage of Reverie Roasters’ commercial kitchen space to

create meals for Friday delivery to customers.

Last summer, she sold items at the Old Town Farm & Art Market and Shop & Grub. While considering her next move, she found commercial space at 156 N. Cleveland in October and opened her grab-and-go business on November 14.

PASSION FOR PASTA While her paternal grandmother’s staples centered on Italian American classics like spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna, her mother’s influence on Grappo’s strong repertoire of culinary

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creations stemmed from an international high school exchange program in the 1970s.

“My mother lived in Cerre’, a remote mountain town,” said Grappo. “Her host family ran a truck stop with a restaurant, lodging and a disco, so she joined all the women in the village in making pasta while she was there.

Italian truck stops offer some of the best food you’ll ever get.”

Grappo’s early cooking experiences and affinity for a career in hospitality occurred under her mother’s tutelage.

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“Part of my passion is to bring pasta making to others through recipes and techniques for people who want to fall in love with cooking for their families,” she said. “Making pasta isn’t like baking with exact measurements and temperatures. Pasta can be affected by weather conditions and other factors, so you have to just lean in and learn what good dough feels like and make small corrections as you go along.”

Today, Grappo’s parents live in Italy and even from afar offer suggestions.

“My mom will send me weekend updates about places they’ve visited and dishes I should make,” said Grappo.

“It’s definitely a family business, and everyone has a hand in it.”

INSPIRED BY ART Viola’s Pantry offers Italian staples but also popular eclectic selections incorporating artistic shapes and ingredients obtained from local farms.

“My maternal grandmother was a painter and found art in all the little things of life, so I’ve always been inspired by shapes and colors,” said Grappo. “When people are paying for food, I want them to be able to get flavors, colors and patterns they might not be able to get without taking classes.”

For example, Sunset Picnic has a caramelles shape that looks like candy and is tinged pink from beets purchased from Firefly Farm and RISE Farms. The center is stuffed with winebraised cherries, ricotta and rosemary.

The Wichitan and the Keeper of the Plains dishes contain ingredients sourced from Elderslie Farms and Orie’s Farm. Sauces include Bolognese, herbed brown butter, classic cream and a classic red passed down through generations.

RIDING THE ROLLERCOASTER Grappo credits her success to Andrew Gough, owner of Reverie Roasters, for not only providing commercial kitchen space for budding chefs during the pandemic but also in facilitating meetups with other makers

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Kristina Grappo, owner of Viola’s Pantry, replicates favorite family recipes and experiments with flavorful combinations utilizing locally sourced ingredients.

for encouragement and problem solving.

Being able to sell food at the Old Town Farm & Art Market and Shop & Grub helped her establish a clientele before opening her store, and the Wichita State University Business Development Center staff assisted with a business plan.

She also sought advice from previous hospitality contacts and marketing clients, and benefited from the mentorship of Janelle King and the Cleveland Corner she created as a retail space for aspiring entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

For others considering entrepreneurship, Grappo likens the

WICHITA Business Magazine

experience to a rollercoaster you can’t get off of.

“Just do it and don’t think about it very long or you’ll find all the reasons in the world why you shouldn’t,” said Grappo. “You’ll figure it out.”

Grappo loves the entrepreneurial ride and is proud to introduce Wichitans to la dolce vita—the sweet life—a philosophy embracing “family meals and a lot of naps” to bring balance and joy.

“Since I’ve moved so much in my life, I’ve always craved community, and I’ve found it as a business owner with the customers who come in every week and the people I work with,” she said.

“I’d never heard of Wichita until I moved here, but it’s been a great ride.”

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BRAND MARKETING

How to Build a

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Brand Sonia Greteman President & Creative Director Greteman Group

TAP EMOTION Over time, we have come to realize that your outreach efforts build your brand, but they are not your brand. Whether you’re developing a new brand or refining an existing one, your brand is how people think—and feel—about you. It’s emotional.

If you want to build a brand, start at the most basic level: your essence. In 1997, Dr. Jennifer Aaker identified five core dimensions of brand personality—sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness.

Answering this question guides everything else.

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How we think about brands has changed since we launched our agency 33 years ago. Back then, our brand development centered around a logo then rippled out to collateral and promotional items. Think brochures, business cards, letterhead, wearables, and signage.

Those things are still needed, but now we incorporate SEO, website

user experience, social media engagement, digital ad buys, geofencing, email campaigns with robust databases, appropriate content deployed to the right channel, video and more video. And occasionally a well-done direct mail piece.

They’re back in style—and effective. Decide on your strategies then deliver content with consistency, great visuals and powerful messaging.

IT HELPS TO HAVE A MAP We follow a four-step process that we call Ascend. It’s not magic, but the results can be. We’ve experienced it firsthand many times.

TIME TO GET REAL Over the course of our three-decade-plus history of brand-building, we’ve encountered clients who wanted to be something they weren’t. That’s a problem of operations not marketing. If you want to be the down-to-earth, keep-it-real type who always tells things like they are—but people perceive you as the opposite—well, you need to fix that. Be more authentic, open and honest in your communications. Make yourself accessible and accountable.

You may have the opportunity to build a brand from scratch—say a new entrepreneurial business or a needed nonprofit initiative. For most people though, your brand building will be in the form of evolving your existing brand. Changes in product/ service offerings, leadership and ownership can all trigger the need to rethink your brand. Whether you’re starting from a clean sheet or a rich legacy, many of the steps are the same.

Identify your unique value proposition, that thing that makes you truly different. Think about the reactions you hope to evoke from others and the activities that might be needed to get you there. How can you amplify your message so it’s not just noise and deploy a marketing strategy that delivers the desired results?

• Fuel kicks things off. Conducting research. Surveying current/prospective customers and stakeholders. Doing a discovery workshop where we do a Vulcan mind meld with your key stakeholders. Building target personas so we fully understand who we’re talking to. Identifying your brand personality.

Looking at the competitive landscape.

Transforming data into insights.

• Range puts things in motion. It explores a strategic mix of paid, earned, shared and owned media designed to engage at key points of relevance. Everything should be integrated and coordinated for maximum outcomes. Digital tools provide once unheard of immediacy, trackability and adjustability.

• Arrival is where rubber meets the road. Here we measure efforts against desired results. These lessons learned inform future efforts.

Maybe you’ll want to double down and invest more in similar tactics. Or maybe you’ll decide to change course drastically. Proceed backed by the power of data.

• Lift comes next. It’s my favorite stage.

That’s where we create vision boards and concepts that creatively tell your story in a way that builds connection, meaningfully resonates with your target audiences, and sets you apart from—and above— the competition. Then we develop brand assets that you can deploy in a variety of channels and can repurpose for the greatest value.

LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN You want your brand to connect with people and feel relatable. To engender their trust and confidence. To stand apart from the competition in real and meaningful ways. Just as you prefer doing business with someone you like, you choose brands that reflect shared attributes and values.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” And

that’s true for brand building. Relax.

Make connections and enjoy them along the way. Celebrate the wins. If something’s not working like you hoped, change things up. Keep trying. Never lose sight of your audiences. Stay close so you’re attuned to their changing needs and perceptions. Good brands have chemistry. And heart. Keep yours beating strong.

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FAMILY BUSINESS

WITH WINGS

By LAINE ALTER Photos by JOHN BURNS

“We’re just a family business that loves our jobs.”

—DWAYNE CLEMENS

Photo by JOHN BURNS

Dad, Grandpa & Co-Owner Clemons Aviation

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DWAYNE & JULIE CLEMENS | CLEMENS AVIATION

To make sure all the family feels their own connection to the company, each of them has a percentage of the business.

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When you walk into Dwayne Clemens’ office at Clemens Aviation, you see exactly what one may expect, a huge window overlooking a runway with a jet just waiting to whisk clients off to a vacation or business trip. What’s unexpected is the baby crib in the corner of the room.

“My daughter, Lizzie, is getting ready to have a baby,” Dwayne says proudly when asked about it. It’s not there just because Grandpa will be babysitting though. Dwayne’s daughter, Lizzie, along with his wife, Julie, and his sons Alex and Austin all work at Clemens Aviation as well.

“We’re just a family business that loves our jobs,” Dwayne said. “When you love to come to work it makes it fun.”

WICHITA Business Magazine

Oldest son, Alex, runs the company’s maintenance shop. Lizzie and Julie are both pilots and help with dispatching planes. Even 19-year-old Austin is a co-pilot with more than 2,000 hours of flying under his belt.

“It works really well; we all have our own roles and do our own thing,” said Julie.

Flying in the family actually started with Dwayne’s dad who was a crop duster in Parsons where Dwayne grew up. It didn’t take long for him to realize his passion for flying as well.

“I’ve always loved airplanes and helicopters,” he said.

Dwayne’s dad got him into the cockpit as a child, and right out of high school Dwayne started flying charters

Photo by JOHN BURNS

and even teaching flying. Eventually Dwayne started working at Beechcraft in Wichita, performing flight testing and as a demo pilot. On the side, Dwayne and Julie were buying and selling smaller planes out at Benton airport.

Eventually their business grew enough for them to buy and expand the airport and then open the Stearman restaurant.

“Dwayne is the dreamer in the family,” Julie said. “He has very good vision of what he wants to do.”

Dwayne may have had the vision but there was one area he felt he needed some help at the time.

“I didn’t come from business,” he said.

That’s where client and friend Steve Clark came in.

“Our airplane was the first that Dwayne started managing and he’s built that into a really admirable business that is a great service to the people in Wichita,” Clark said.

Clark did have a background in business and through a mentorship advised Dwayne along the way. Clark, however, doesn’t feel he can take much credit for Dwayne’s success.

“I have never seen anybody that gets things done like Dwayne,” Clark said. “He really provides a good value.”

That value grew in 2021 when the need for more room and a larger runway spurred the family to open Clemens Aviation at Jabara airport. With 25 jets in its fleet, the business offers clients the chance to buy into a share of a plane, SUMMER 2022

pay a monthly fee and per flight fee and have use of it for 80 days a year. The family still runs Stearman as more of a hobby plane airport with roughly 200 aircraft based there.

When Clemens Aviation opened its doors, many businesses were struggling to adapt to changes brought about by COVID. Their search for alternatives to commercial flights during the pandemic was a boon for the private aviation business.

“With Covid and people not wanting to fly (commercially) our business has just gone nuts,” Dwayne said.

Dwayne said most people may look at flying privately as a luxury for businesses but it can make a

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Photo by JOHN BURNS

Brittan Boettcher performs routine maintenance on one of the 25 jets owned and operated

by Clemens Aviation. lot of fiscal sense. If a company has to get employees from Wichita to a meeting and it does not want to pay for extra meals and hotels, flying privately can get employees there and back in one day.

Dorothy Cohen became a client with Clemens in 2021.

“For Wichitans it’s exciting to have fractional jet ownership that is based in your own city with planes that are readily available, and their ability to fly on short notice is incredible.”

Cohen, who has worked in aviation and flown privately before, and was surprised when she saw Clemens’ prices.

“It just seemed too good to be true,” she said.

Dwayne and Julie said they manage by keeping overhead low. Their business model includes 20 of their 25 jets all being the same model of plane.

“All the crews train in that same aircraft and all the maintenance is the same. It’s just so much simpler,” Julie said. “The most successful way to run a flight department is using one airplane.”

The model is working well for Clemens as it continues to grow. Dwayne said that feedback from customers has been great, and he takes that seriously.

“Word of mouth is everything. We’ve never advertised,” he said. “Aviation is a small community.

Wichita is a small town, so if you’re not operating a perfect business, you’re in trouble. You’ve got to have trust

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in the industry, and we’ve got it, but you have to work hard and keep it.”

“It’s just grown so much and there was such a need for it,” Julie said.

As for future growth, the family will continue to do that together. Not only do they all work at Clemens, they are all neighbors as well.

“Of course you know family can always butt heads,” Dwayne said. “My main goal as Dad is to make sure we all get along.”

To make sure all the family feels their own connection to the company, each of them has a percentage of the business.

“They’re owners just as much as I am,” Dwayne said.

“If you’ve got family, they’ve got your back.”

Dwayne’s grandchildren range from newborn to age 10. He flies with them in the family’s Piper Cub trainer plane.

When asked what it’s like teaching his own kids and grandchildren to fly Dwayne thinks about his father teaching him. He only passed away a few years ago, so he was able to see the family’s flying success in action.

“He loved it. He was proud,” Dwayne said.

“We want to keep growing strategically,” said Lizzie.

Her husband is also a pilot at Clemens so when they are both flying, she will make use of that crib in the office.

“I’ll just bring the baby into work,” she said. “My Dad will love that!”

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What’s the secret to a successful business?

Ask someone who’s built 4 of them.

Photo by AARON PATTON

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM A SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR

By SAMANTHA EGAN Photos by AARON PATTON Derek Sorrells’ first business ventures might look a lot like yours. Hustling for pocket change, he opened lemonade stands and sold magazines as a kid. But, today, his resume has gone from relatable to remarkable. If you don’t know Sorrells, you probably know at least one of his four businesses: The Arcade, Sweet’ n Saucy, Papa’s General Store and Scion Capital Partners.

But before Sorrells was adding fun, fresh businesses to the Wichita scene, he was a 19-year-old with plenty of trial and error ahead of him.

Sorrells teaches his business acumen at three different colleges. But you can skip the homework and take in some free lessons from a guy who can’t help but be an entrepreneur.

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Lesson 2:

acher

ood Te re is a G

Failu

Lesson 1:

erators

vs. Op Owners

As a kid who had to work for every dollar of his spending money, Sorrells had an early start in the working world. Determined to save for his own phone line, he lied about his age to get his first job at age 15.

As he bussed tables for $3.35 an hour, he had his first realization about entrepreneurship.

“I quickly learned I could make more money doing something myself,” Sorrells said. “If you take the initiative, you can write your own ticket.”

Sorrells opened his first business at age 19. Not long after starting a job for a company that transferred 8-millimeter film reels to VHS tapes, he decided to go out on his own.

After getting a bank loan to purchase equipment, Sorrells converted reels from his home. While he grew a steady stream of clients, he soon maxed out his earning potential as a team of one. That realization brought him to a lesson he believes many entrepreneurs miss.

“There’s a very big difference between owner and operator,” he said.

“Operators have to be there every day, all the time. Owners are involved but not necessarily in the business.”

Eager to do more, Sorrells sold the business to One-Hour Picture Perfect.

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The same pattern repeated itself when Sorrells worked as a salesman at a cell phone store in the late 1990s.

Not long after starting, he got the familiar itch to open his own shop. With just $1,500 in cash and two credit cards with a combined credit of $1,500, he signed a lease. It was a high-risk move, but Sorrells said he was too young to be scared.

“I was going at things 100 miles an hour without much thought about what could go wrong,” Sorrells said. “It was the exciting part about being an entrepreneur—and the dangerous part.”

Learning from his first business, Sorrells brought on a part-time employee to allow the business to expand. But he soon faced another challenge as the cell phone market began to evolve. During his third year in business, his revenue dropped to less than one-third of what it was two years prior. Sorrells pivoted by selling his store to a competitor so he could open a new store with the new cell phone company on the scene.

But his next leap led him to his first fall. Sorrells closed after just one year. The sting of failure made him look back on what went wrong.

“When you’re in the race, you don’t have time to look at what’s behind you,” he said.

“Sometimes entrepreneurs are so focused on where we’re going, we don’t look to see if the road is still there.”

As Sorrells reflected on his shuttered business, he saw many things he could have done differently. He didn’t analyze his numbers enough.

He overlooked the nowobvious market saturation.

But one of the most gleaming errors he saw was his location.

“Location, location, location is absolutely true,” Sorrells said. “If you pick something just because you can afford it, that’s never a good decision.”

Sorrells’ failure didn’t keep him down for long. In 2002, he opened an eBay resale store, this time at a great location. But two and a half years in, Sorrells again got the urge to sell.

Realizing he was still acting as an operator, not an owner, he began seeking his exit strategy.

“Entrepreneurs have a certain mindset not to run a business, but to start a business,” Sorrells observed.

“We get bored and try to figure out how to do something different.”

After stepping away, it was years before Sorrells started another venture. When he finally got back in the race, the pull to nostalgia once again called his name.

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Photos by AARON PATTON

The Arcade features a total of 60 nostalgic games from the 1980s.

Lesson 3: Do

are?

Even C People

In 2010, Sorrells had collected 48 arcade games from the 1980s. The games were just as fun as he remembered, but most of the time, they sat turned off in his basement. So, Sorrells decided to open an arcade.

Sorrells recruited his co-owner, Michael Jensen, after meeting him through a local arcade group on Facebook. Jensen and Sorrells combined their collections to reach a total of 60 games. But where to put them? Sorrells spent five months looking for the perfect location in Old Town. Then, things moved quickly. After signing the lease, The Arcade opened 19 days later, determined to make the most of the holiday rush.

Charging customers just $10 to come in and play for as long as they wish,

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Sorrells calculated they would need 50 customers a day to break even. “‘Do 50 people in this city even care?’”

Sorrells recalls wondering. “I always ask entrepreneurs, ‘Other than you, who is going to want what you’re selling?’”

Wichita soon gave him an answer. On grand opening day, it took just 24 minutes for the place to reach capacity. There was a three-hour line to get inside, even in the chilly December weather.

It’s been well over the 2.5-year mark, where Sorrells typically would’ve grown restless. But as Sorrells talks about the future of The Arcade and his plans to evolve it, it’s clear the spark is still alive. Leaving the dayto-day operations in the hands of others, Sorrells has given himself the capacity to research and dig into the strategy side.

Sweet ‘n Saucy has 400 different sauces, 300 glass bottles of soda and tons of retro candies.

Lesson 4:

nique

U Make it

Finally settling into the owner role opened Sorrells up to invest in two other businesses: Sweet ‘n Saucy and Papa’s General Store. Both embody the lessons he learned about location and honing unique yet marketable concepts.

The inspiration from Sweet ‘n Saucy came from a hot sauce shop Sorrells visited in Austin, Texas.

Falling in love with the concept, he thought about how he could make it his own. The answer came when his travels took him to an elaborate candy store in Las Vegas. Rather than choose between the two concepts, Sorrells combined them.

“I wasn’t sure about the hot sauce, but I know everybody loves candy,” said Sorrells. “So, I took two divergent ideas and pulled them together into one crazy idea.”

Today, Sweet ‘n Saucy has 400 different sauces, 300 glass bottles of soda and tons of retro candies.

But it was socks that surprised him. After selling

Papa’s General Store sells novelty socks along with 12 extreme shakes on its fountain menu.

novelty socks on a whim, Sorrells sold over 5,000 pairs in the five and a half weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, a sock shop seemed like it would be his next venture.

Sorrells jumped at the opportunity to lease a space in Clifton Square. Then came the twist: the building was equipped to make and sell ice cream. So, the concept for Papa’s General Store, named for Sorrells’ father, was born.

After over a year of selling ice cream, root beer, coffee and socks, Sorrells wasn’t getting the numbers he wanted.

“Simple sundaes weren’t going to do it,” he said.

“I can’t compete with Starbucks or Baskin Robbins. I needed something unique.”

To draw in crowds, Papa’s General Store released a menu of 12 extreme shakes. The response was almost instant. In four months, the shakes brought in more sales than the previous eight months combined.

“The thing I forgot was: If it’s not working, you need to make changes,” Sorrells said. “The biggest enemy is staying stagnant. You need to give things time to work, but if you’ve got a hole in your boat, you have to try to plug it up.”

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“Some people get a thrill from jumping out of a plane. And then there are those of us who want to take that risk in a different way.”

—Derek Sorrells Entrepreneur

Finally:

gether

all To utting it

P

Sorrells has come a long way since his days of converting reels. Since his first business, he’s not only in tune with what makes a business tick but with what will keep his own passion flowing.

“Some people get a thrill from jumping out of a plane,” Sorrells said. “And then there are those of us who want to take that risk in a different way.”

Outside of his own portfolio of businesses, Sorrells gets the additional hits of dopamine through Scion Partners, the firm he started to guide and invest in entrepreneurs who are ripe for their big break. Through Scion, he’s invested in 22 Kansas companies.

“As you get involved in your own businesses, you no longer have the ability to see all the great ideas out there,” Sorrells said.

“Young people see things differently. They allow me to step back and look through their lens, so I can see why they’re excited.”

Whether Sorrells is mentoring new entrepreneurs or working on his own ventures, to him, it’s all about the thrill of the journey.

“The successes I’ve had are just as exciting to me as winning a NASCAR race,” Sorrells said. “Running a business is like being in a race.

You have to make changes if you’re going to win. To me, that is really exciting.”

WB Photo by AARON PATTON

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STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

Brandon Gaide Principal Consultant Sevenfold | A Hutton Company For decades, leaders have crafted detailed strategic plans, only to see those strategies languish on a shelf when they fail to be implemented. When this happens, managers tend to blame employees for their lack of buy-in, and employees tend to blame managers for lack of adequate communication. But I’m here to offer a third party to blame: Philosophy.

When I say philosophy, don’t think of heady questions like, “Is there really a table?” Instead, think of philosophy as the starting point in how we make decisions.

For example, where we steer our cart in the grocery store can reveal some of our philosophy. If we tend to stay on the periphery of the store, close to produce and meats, we probably value fresh foods.

If we often find our cart in the freezer aisle, we might be more concerned with the convenience of quick foods.

Our philosophy largely goes unnoticed. This is just how we shop for groceries. It’s only when our philosophy stops working that we look for alternatives.

If we start working longer hours, for

Struggling with strategy implementation?

BLAME PHILOSOPHY. example, the extra work to prepare fresh foods might become burdensome.

This might prompt us to reexamine our philosophy, and give new consideration to a philosophy that can accommodate frozen pizza.

In the realm of strategy implementation, we have used the same philosophy for decades. It leads us to use a well-worn process to implement a strategy: identify objectives, define metrics, build a Gantt chart, create accountabilities, and then watch for hockey stick growth. But is it working?

A recent estimate by Paul Argenti pegs the strategy implementation success rate at 22%. And this is consistent with other sources. Something is broken in how we implement a strategy. We have tried various interventions to improve this statistic, but none have significantly moved the needle. So rather than trying to reconfigure the pieces yet again, what if we looked upstream to examine the philosophy on which we base our approach to implementation?

Sources: hbr.org/2021/09/the-secret-behind-successful-corporate-transformations www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/886158/000119380522000426/ex991to13d13351002_03072022.htm

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The following are two intellectual starting points we inherited from Western philosophers. If we can spot these philosophies in our organizations, we might discover new possibilities to make implementation a more realistic endeavor.

ARISTOTLE & ANALYSIS

PLATO’S BIG IDEA

If we want our strategies to have value, the idea cannot be the main thing. Our strategies must intersect with reality. The word must become flesh. This means adjusting our intellectual starting Our first jaunt down the alleys of point—our philosophy—and letting go philosophy begins with Plato. Plato gave of the hubris that suggests everything organizations what we might call “The will work out exactly as we had imagined.

Idea is The Main Thing.” Plato suggested Instead, we could embrace the that the physical world is flawed, but we can conceive of a world that is perfect. In gritty realities of implementing the strategy. The strategy will encounter saying this, he placed a greater value on resistance. It will get lost in translation. what we can imagine in our minds.

In organizations, we tend to put great It will battle bureaucracy. It will make people uncomfortable. These are not faith in strategic ideas and plans. We can “obstacles” to an ideal plan. If the plan imagine a strategy playing out flawlessly.

We might even plan a strategy down to the does not take reality into consideration, it is the plan that is flawed. most granular tactics.

One practical way to do this is by But this preoccupation with our ideas leaving white space in the strategy’s can be problematic because it can be disconnected from reality. Activist investor script. Airbnb, for example, encourages Ryan Cohen made just such an observation new employees to implement new about a strategy Boston Consulting Group features on their first day at the company. This is a signal from leadership gave to Bed Bath & Beyond: “From our that employees are not just recipients of vantage point, Bed Bath’s strategy looks an idealistic, grand plan. In recognition far better in a PowerPoint deck than it that strategy is inextricable from does in practice.” When a strategy is not rooted in reality, there’s little chance it will implementation, employees are given space to co-create the strategy. succeed.

A second philosophy we inherited comes from Aristotle, who introduced “analysis” to help make sense of cause/effect relationships in the world.

Analysis is an incredibly powerful tool, supremely useful for solving very complicated challenges.

But organizations often put too much faith in the toolkit of analysis. As a result, implementing a strategy is regarded as just another cause/effect relationship.

If we just get the inputs right—so the logic goes—the strategy will be successfully implemented.

But reality is rarely so straightforward. In our excitement to find the right equation, we overlooked the fact that Aristotle gave us another equally powerful (but lesser known) toolkit, which he called “persuasion.” This toolkit is intended for situations that are not strict cause/effect relationships. This includes situations like how to govern a nation, how to parent a child, and—you guessed it—how to implement an organization’s strategy. There isn’t a single right answer. So we have to persuade people toward the most compelling course of action.

To do this, organizations might opt for typical forms of persuasion: compensation or threats. But these are superficial. We can do better.

If our goal is successful implementation, we might start thinking of employees as customers.

Great companies know their customers inside and out, and find ways to persuade them to buy. When we make employees the customers of strategy, we don’t assume they’re bought in. We listen to them, adjust our offering, ask for feedback, observe their behavior, and follow up.

Implementing a strategy is not easy. It is a perennial leadership challenge. But we have struggled with strategy implementation for so long that there must be a better way. Instead of insisting that it’s just our tactics that are wrong, consider turning upstream to rethink your organization’s philosophy.

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IMPROVEMENTS MAKE IT A DESTINATION SPOT IN WICHITA www.TallgrassGolfClub.com

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WICHITA Business Magazine

Tallgrass Golf Club

By ERIC SMITH Photos by DAVID EULITT

Dramatic renovations to one of Wichita’s most reputable golf courses and plans for major updates to the clubhouse have locals excited to hit the links for 18 this summer.

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Photo by DAVID EULITT

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Photo by DAVID EULITT

Photo by DAVID EULITT

Brett Klausman, president of GreatLIFE, said that his first priority for Tallgrass Golf Club was to bring its course back to its original prestigious reputation.

Tallgrass Golf Club, a local golf staple since 1981, recently underwent a $3 million renovation to its course that includes new bunkers, cart paths and updates to the irrigation system.

“We basically remodeled the entire golf course,” said Brett Klausman, president of GreatLIFE, about the private club at 2400 N. Tallgrass, between Rock and Webb on 21st Street in Northeast Wichita. “It was a long process, but it looks like a brand-new golf course now.”

The refreshed top-tier par-71 course at the private club was also reseeded, had hundreds of trees removed and some holes were restored while others were redesigned.

One of the more dramatic updates, Klausman said, occurred on holes 3 and 4, where a pond was cleaned up, cleared out and dredged. The transformation

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made the pond a feature of those holes, where before, members really didn’t even see it.

Tallgrass officials describe the new course as being “filled with beautiful, native grasses that give the course a lush and natural look. As one of Wichita’s favorite private golf clubs, the Arthur Hills-designed and Todd Clark-renovated 18-hole championship golf course challenges players of all skill levels with five sets of tees and a variety of play. Dramatic views, lush fairways, and pristine bentgrass greens offer an unforgettable golf experience.”

Klausman and his family took over majority ownership of GreatLIFE in 2019, which came with the oversight of about 14 courses, including Tallgrass.

The mentality Klausman believes in is that the golf course is the biggest

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asset and the most important thing at a private club.

“So that’s where we put our money first. We want the course to really shine,” he said. “Tallgrass had a good reputation in the past; it had just been neglected prior to our ownership. The renovation not only brought the course back to its original prestige, but also gave us the opportunity to make some terrific enhancements.”

The updates were completed in November 2021, and with winter and a cool spring, the warm-season Bermuda grass on the fairways is just starting to take shape for members.

“As far as the layout goes, and all the changes we’ve made, people are very, very excited about it,” Klausman said. “We’ve had tons of good reviews.”

RENDERING SUBMITTED

The next significant improvement for the Tallgrass Golf Club is the clubhouse renovation, which will include a five-star public restaurant and patio overlooking the 18th green. Rendering shown is tentative; final design may vary.

The other significant improvement to keep an eye out for at Tallgrass is the clubhouse renovation, which will include adding a five-star public restaurant and an extraordinary patio overlooking the 18th green that is “going to hopefully be the talk of the town,” Klausman said. “It’s going to be where people want to hang out.”

Currently, Tallgrass offers amenities that include a private bar and grill, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a private driving range and a family-friendly pool. Members also enjoy exclusive social events hosted just for them. Additionally, the golf club has a pro shop with two PGA professionals.

Klausman said with the clubhouse renovation, they’re looking to mirror the “tremendous success”

they’ve had with Canyon Farms Golf Club in Lenexa, which also saw the addition of a public restaurant inside of a private golf club.

The plans for the Tallgrass clubhouse update are currently in the works, and the hope is to start the remodeling process at the end of this year or early 2023, Klausman said.

“We want it to be a community asset for many years to come. The restaurant scenario is great because it activates the club,” Klausman said.

“You think of a traditional country club, and there may only be 250 members. So, at any given time at a restaurant, you may only have let’s say 10% of those people eating. The public aspect creates a lot of vibrancy for the club and allows us to continue to improve the club over time.”

Klausman said Tallgrass is unlike other private golf clubs in several ways, including some key differences: • At Tallgrass, there are no food and beverage minimums. Most traditional country clubs charge food and beverage minimums in addition to the monthly dues. Members rarely spend all their food and dining minimums, so they end up paying for food and beverage they don’t get or need.

• Carts are included with membership at Tallgrass. Some country clubs make members pay more for a cart when they play—on top of the membership dues. That’s not the case at Tallgrass.

The membership price includes unlimited play and carts with every round.

• From a cost perspective, a membership to Tallgrass is considerably less than its private club competitors, Klausman said, “we’re really able to get more people to enjoy a golf club.”

• Belonging to Tallgrass comes with access to several other clubs in Kansas and Missouri.

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LAST WORD

Q/A with

WENDELL FUNK

President Wichita Independent Business Association (WIBA)

Why are you committed to businesses in Wichita?

My passion for helping businesses in Wichita started when I was in my 20s. I was inspired by an interview I heard with Tim Witsman, WIBA president at the time, and he talked about helping businesses be successful and being an advocate for them. I wanted to be able to do that as well. When the WIBA position became available in 2020, I applied and began this new adventure. Everything I experienced as a

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business owner and leader feeds my passion to help other businesses. I love being a part of helping businesses launch, improve, grow and build for the future!

How can a business owner plug into the Wichita business community?

Business owners should make it a strategy to simply talk to other business owners, community leaders and leaders of other companies and find out how they have been successful and what suggestions they would have for you. Then ask each of them to connect you to someone else. Of course, you should join the WIBA family and take advantage of all resources we have to offer. Also, attend non-profit and community events because they are a great way to learn about our community and meet new people.

How does WIBA support local business?

WIBA is a voice and an advocate for small business. WIBA develops leaders through committees, serving on our board, leading life groups and through helping lead key business initiatives. WIBA supports and encourages business owners/leaders through our Business Life Groups. WIBA has Ambassadors that serve in the business community and help connect people.

What is your vision for WIBA? My vision for WIBA is to do everything possible to help businesses be successful in the Wichita area by providing opportunities to connect,

WICHITA Business Magazine

Photo by FERNANDO SALAZAR

Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey.

My entrepreneurial journey started 13 years ago. I left my corporate career of 20 years at the end of 2008 and decided to start my own business. Starting my entrepreneurial adventure during an economic downturn presented some challenges, but it turned out to be a great opportunity to grow a business.

As I was processing what type of business to start, I was asked to do some consulting for an existing business that was experiencing significant challenges and put together a plan for them. I ended up putting myself into the business plan and became President and part owner of Inspired Koncepts—our main publication was SPLURGE! magazine. We grew significantly and then launched SPLURGE! OKC in Oklahoma City—this was my true entrepreneurial experience because it was a new market to me and no one had heard of me or of SPLURGE! I learned a lot of lessons and experienced many ups and downs. I loved the fact that as an entrepreneur you can be nimble, take risks and do what is best for your clients, readers and the community.

to do business with each other, to provide learning opportunities and to help support and encourage each other. We simply get to focus on being pro-business and believe that strong businesses build a strong community.

And we also include some fun along the way – because doing business should be fun! My vision also includes taking risks to grow the organization and launching some BIG ideas such as a Business Academy, a Coaching & Culture Startup Community Plus Community, a deeper relationship with the city and county, growing our Business Life Groups and expanding our Women’s Leadership Alliance to a much higher level. My vision includes having 500+ engaged businesses in the WIBA family, which equates to 1,000-2,000 members.

We are on our way with 40% growth of our membership in just 15 months.

What should people know about you and WIBA? I love Wichita and our business community.

I genuinely care about people and want to do whatever I can to be helpful. Business owners should know that WIBA works. Our organization provides a tremendous amount of value that is affordable for any business.

And everyone is welcome to join the WIBA family.

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SCHEDULE YOUR PREVIEW ROUND AT TALLGRASS GOLF CLUB Our $3 million golf course renovation was completed in December, and it is a sight to see! Join Tallgrass Golf Club today and see for yourself why we’re the best private golf club in Wichita!

• Private course reserved for members

• Enhanced practice facilities

• Easy access to tee times booked online or through our pro shop

• Access to pool and fitness

• Carts & driving range included

• Access to member-only social events

• No food & beverage minimums

Visit TallgrassGolfClub.com or call 316-799-0287 to schedule your preview round today.

2400 NORTH TALLGRASS, WICHITA, KS 67226 TALLGRASSGOLFCLUB.COM 316-799-0287 SUMMER 2022

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