Originally published in the Iola Register on Nov. 15, 2010:
Thrive tallies successes
By SUSAN LYNN susan@iolaregister.comMonty Rogers doesn’t come across as the dreamy sort. As a pharmacist, he deals in medicinal formulas and measurements. As a businessman, his eye stays focused on the bottom line. But as an entrepreneur, Rogers lets his thoughts take flight.
AS KEYNOTE speaker at Thrive Allen County’s annual meeting Friday night, Rogers beckoned an audience of 225 to “dream with me for a moment” as he walked them through some “out-of-the-box” scenarios that might develop jobs locally — a keen need since the recent closure of Haldex Brakes Corp. and subsequent loss of 165 jobs.
Rogers is a native of Iola, graduating from Iola High School in 1980. Today, he is an Overland Park pharmacist licensed in Kansas and Missouri. He is president of two companies, has ownership in eight pharmacies, and is an adjunct professor of pharmacy at the pharmacy schools of both the University of Missouri in Kansas City and at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, his alma mater. He also serves as a consultant to independent retail and specialty pharmacies.
His most recent venture is GROW IOLA, a partnership with Ryan Sparks, in which the duo manages rentals and has begun to build single and multiplex homes throughout Iola. In hindsight, perhaps, Rogers can see a path that led to these successes. However they came about, they began as dreams that were fueled with passion, drive and focus.
For Allen County, Rogers proposed recruiting “ambassadors” to spread the word of the area’s many benefits to businesses looking to expand their capacities. In his role with a prescription benefit management company, Rogers said he has the opportunity to meet with business owners looking to “increase their capacities in the most efficient manner.” Sometimes that means outsourcing to foreign countries.
How about Iola or Humboldt becoming their destination, instead, he proposed. Southeast Kansas can as easily be the base for a call center or a computer-programming hub as India, he said.
People whose jobs take them on the road or abroad should also take advantage of those trips to promote their hometowns, Rogers said. Rogers’ talk was in line with the night’s theme of investing in one’s community. THE BANQUET also was a celebration for things accomplished over the past year and a look to what lies ahead. The highlight of the evening was celebrating the decision by Allen County voters to enact a quarter-cent sales tax as the final leg in funding a new Allen County Hospital. The core group of organizers was awarded The Donna — the award that recognizes community excellence. The award is named after the late Donna Talkington and was especially poignant because she served as chairman of the hospital advisory board. “She would have been pleased,” said her daughter, Jacki Chase.
It was at last year’s Thrive banquet that Iola and Allen County commissioners announced their decision to make 2010 “The Year of the Hospital.”
Other big news was the gift of $25,000 by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City for the recruitment of doctors and dentists to Allen County.
Steve Roling, president and chief executive officer of the foundation, said Thrive’s efforts to build healthier communities “have impressed us.” Roling noted “the positive energy in this room tonight,” and said, “Your can-do attitude is an inspiration to other rural communities.”
Iola Industries, represented by its president, John McRae, contributed $10,000 to the recruitment fund and it was noted that the Hospital Corporation of America, which leases Allen County Hospital, also lures professionals with advancements. Another award winner was Abby Works, a senior at Iola High School, for spearheading last March’s Earth Hour event. Works orchestrated a “lights out” event throughout the county while educating groups about the impact an individual can have to conserve resources. The Iola Earth Hour had the distinction of having the largest registered community participation in Kansas.
Works’ award was in the category of education. Other nominees were The Iola Family Reading Festival, put on by Iola Public Library and the City of Iola, and the new LaHarpe Library and Museum.
In the category of recreation, the Walter and Helen Fees Memorial Park in Gas was the winner. Its sponge-like walking track “is like walking on the moon,” said award presenter, and Gas resident, Don Burns.
Since 2000, residents have worked to develop the donated land into a park. The city of Humboldt was the other nominee for the recreation award for two projects: its outdoor fitness circuit in Centennial Park and its River Park project on the banks of the Neosho River.
The Elm Creek Community Garden on the south edge of Iola won the health and wellness award. The site, “was an eyesore,” said Carolyn McLean, who with her husband, Val, donated the land for use as a public garden. Today the garden has 122 plots for gardeners, including those who are disabled. McLean thanked the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, who has awarded the garden a grant, “for believing in us.” Today, “towns all across Kansas are coming to Iola to see what we have done,” she said.
Other nominees for the award were the Allen County Farmer’s Market and the Back Pack Ministries, which supplies food items to school-age children to carry them through the weekend. Members of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church began the food program three years ago. Today, Wesley United Methodist Church shares the responsibilities of the program.
Humboldt’s Peg Griffith was recognized as a volunteer extraordinaire. Griffith was noted as a person Thrive staff could count on, no matter the situation.
THRIVE’S IMPACT on the region continues to grow, said David Toland, Thrive executive director. In less than three years’ time, the non-profit has gone from an annual budget of $50,000 to one of almost $400,000, primarily through securing grants from a variety of sources. The Reach Foundation of Kansas City and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City provide two-thirds of its funding. Other sources include the Kansas Health Foundation, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the City of Iola and private donations. The City of Iola’s $25,000 commitment to the Vision Iola program generated a $50,000 buy-in by the Kansas Health Foundation, Toland said. The fact-finding and participants’ preferences have been completed as to how Iola can upgrade its parks, entrances and downtown, but to date no action has been made by city commissioners to follow through on suggestions.
“We don’t like plans that just sit on the shelf,” Toland said, in what was his single note of exasperation for the evening. He noted that Thrive’s economic impact to the area has been $2 million since it began in 2007. This summer’s Charley Melvin run, for instance, brought 603 participants to Iola for the late-night event. Thrive’s biggest challenge is in its pursuit of a higher ranking for Allen County as a healthy place to live. Allen County currently is ranked 94th among 105 counties in Kansas as having a healthy lifestyle, according to the Kansas Health Institute. Thrive has set it as a goal to raise that number to 85 by 2015.
This summer Thrive organized a Southeast Kansas Initiative to pursue a region-wide effort to increase and improve offerings in health care especially to the elderly and poor. “We cannot build a wall around ourselves and make it just a goal of Allen County,” Toland said, citing the interchange of residents between neighboring counties.
“We’re all rowing in the same direction,” Toland said. “We need to have a unity of purpose that raises us all to a higher plain.” Ever the optimist, Toland ended his presentation saying, “There’s nothing that’s wrong with Allen County that can’t be fixed with what’s right with Allen County.”
