We Business Directory -

Whenever you are wanting to shop local and keep your business in Wellsville and the surrounding areas, please visit our website at https://wellsvillechamber.org/business-directory/ where you will find Chamber businesses broken out by industry. We are planning a marketing piece with all Wellsville businesses listed by industry as well. (The marketing piece will be coming later his year.)

You can also read Entrepreneurial and Organizational Leader Spotlights here.

If you would like to showcase your business by hosting a Chamber meeting and/or luncheon at your location, please let us know. This is a great way to familiarize other business owners with the tools and resources you have to offer the community and show off your physical space. Or you can cater the lunch and hold it at the Wellsville City Library or Wellsville Health and Rehab has also offer their space and can cater on site.

LUNCH IS SERVED -

• Oak Star Bank will host lunch at Wellsville Health and Rehab on May 9th at 11:30AM. Meeting will begin at noon.

• USD #289 will host on October 10^th and provide a tour of all the new updates at the high school. FACS class will provide food. Additional details to follow.  

Entrepreneurial Spotlight - Dr. Jake Meggison

Dental Elements was founded by Dr. Jake Meggison in 2012. Currently, Dental Elements has approximately 28 employees in four offices around the Kansas City metro area. They are in Shawnee, Leawood, and Wellsville, Kansas and Grandview, Missouri.  Dr. Meggison tells us, “As a student, I knew I wanted to have my business in the healthcare field. That was a major factor in choosing dentistry. I could not see myself in the hospital setting with the schedules that they keep, so medicine was never in my future.” He added, “I had a clear vision of the type of atmosphere that I wanted to create and work in. I had worked in other offices prior to going out on my own and none of them had the feel that I was looking for – a more casual atmosphere of support, as opposed to production being the driving force.”

When asked how he built a successful customer base, Dr. Meggison said, “This answer is surprisingly simple. Say what you do and do what you say. The most basic values and virtues we are taught as children are the most important lessons to follow. For building that customer base, we asked about Dental Elements’ marketing practices and what has brought the most successful outcomes. Meggison stated, “Our most successful marketing has been internal. Our patients and our team send 10 times more referrals than any outside marketing could produce. When we do market it’s a grassroots effort throughout the community. I also really like contributing to local events. This helps both us and the event put on the best showing possible.”

Dr. Meggison was telling us about the culture of Dental Elements and how he created it. He mentioned, “Culture is probably the part of our organization that I am the proudest of. From the beginning, I was fascinated with companies that were able to create loyalty from their teams simply by taking care of them on every level. I wanted to do the same in my office. Treating every single team member as if they were family and truly listening to their concerns and needs and following through has taken us further than anything else. It has created an atmosphere that makes you want to not only work towards the success of the company, but for your coworkers as well.”

Jake Meggison met his wife Ashley in Lawrence while attending Kansas University. They were married in 2009. They have two children, ages 8 and 10. We asked Dr. Meggison how being an entrepreneur has affected his family life. He told us, “It affects it on every level. When you have everything on the line, every decision you make determines the quality of life at both work and home. There are ups and downs and they can be extreme. In the beginning it consumed all my time. Dentistry in general does not allow much flexibility. I am typically scheduled down to the 5 minute marker nine or more hours a day, 4-5 days a week, and several months in advance. Any work on the business must happen in the evenings and on weekends. That said, putting that time in early has allowed me to create a schedule that is much more flexible over this past year. I am still putting in a couple of nights a week but can spend time with my wife and kids on weekends without falling behind.” The doctor told us a surprising fact, that dentists today have to work three times harder and make half the money that dentists did back in the 1980s. 

Next, we moved our conversation on to the topic of motivation and new ideas. When we asked Meggison what motivates him, he responded, “I love the challenge of finding solutions to issues and creating opportunities out of obstacles. I have learned to look at things from different angles over the years and love the feeling of overcoming a situation that could or should be a barrier for us. Seeing the overall growth of our company would be the short answer. Sometimes that is in physical size and sometimes it’s in the numbers, but those are both the result of solving countless issues.” As for new ideas, Dr. Meggison responded, “Most of the time it’s out of necessity. If there is an issue or inefficiency in a process we are doing, to find a solution we need to think outside of the box. I also set aside time every week to unplug and reflect on everything that has happened in the last few days, weeks, and sometimes months.” An example of one of these ideas is their Freedom Plan. This is a plan Dental Elements created as a benefit for patients who don’t have dental insurance. It is great for retirees or young people coming off their parent’s plan. It is a unique membership plan that is an office solution to help patients get the care they need as well as to stabilize patient flow between busy and non-busy months. 

We then had a discussion about how to manage fear and what is the greatest fear for Dental Elements. Dr. Meggison replied, “I would say letting down the people that depend on me to be a leader. Our business is responsible for the livelihood of the families that keep us running as well as the wellbeing of the patients that trust in us. Making sure that I stay true to the spirit of why we are here in the first place is imperative. We religiously use a set of core values to evaluate all decisions we make. We even evaluate the core values on a regular basis to make sure that they are still working. That fear keeps me motivated and focused. I manage this by staying alert to what is going on in every aspect of the company, with patients, doctors, team members, etc.” When asked about those core values, Meggison tells us they are Patients First, Excellence Every Day, Strive to Thrive, and Ride or Die.

Fear can drive success and satisfaction. We continued our discussion with how he defines success. Dr. Meggison pondered, “This is a tricky one. Being a small business is not always profitable and if I was to hang success on that alone I may have tapped out by now. For me, I take great pride in having a brand that I am proud of with a great reputation in the communities that we serve. I love having people recognize our brand and getting internal referrals. Our growth both with patients and within the dental community makes me happy. Having a brand that my family and team are proud to be a part of is a huge part of our long-term vision, which can be a moving target.” Then we asked him about a satisfying moment he’s experienced over the past few years. He replied, “I don’t know if I can answer this question. I am still in the middle of the whirlwind and have not really reflected on things this way. That’s the downside of always seeking out the issues to solve, reflection on success is often overlooked. If I must answer I would say our 10-year anniversary. Looking around at what has been created and the fact that it has lasted this long felt great. The idea that we are improving the lives of the people around us feels amazing!”

We then asked Dr. Meggison if he believes there is a pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur. He giggled as he mentioned, “I believe that certain personality traits give an advantage for sure. I have read a lot of the books on this topic, and they believe in patterns or habits. I watched some of my friends that are entrepreneurs over the years and do see similarities in the way they process the world. Whether I am one of them or not is to be determined.” When we asked what he felt those traits were, he said, “My friends who are amazing entrepreneurs are very matter of fact. They easily make decisions because they are clear about the direction, mission, and vision of their company. They don’t have much ‘gray area’ in their decisions.” We then asked about his favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur. To this question, Meggison quickly replied, “The challenge. I would never be able to clock in and out for my entire career. I must have the pressure and the possibility of unlimited growth, or I get burned out quickly.”

Our conversation continued to what advice Dr. Meggison would give to college graduates who want to become entrepreneurs. His advice was along the lines of what we’ve heard from other successful entrepreneurs as he responded, “Find something that you can’t stop thinking about and then fully commit. Focus on making some kind of difference but never on chasing the dollar. Anything less is a path to zero satisfaction or bankruptcy.” We then began a discussion about what he would do differently if he had the chance to start his career over again. He told us, “I made some decisions early on that stunted our business growth both physically and financially. It has taken some serious time to overcome this. I try not to dwell on them but it’s hard not to wonder how much further we would be without those setbacks.

When asked what he feels are the top three skills a successful entrepreneur would need to possess, he said, “Vision, persistence and a solid moral compass.” We discussed what tricks Meggison has discovered to keep him focused and productive in his busy day-to-day schedule. He humbly admitted, “Know your role and hire or delegate for the rest. As a business grows you need to remain focused on what you do best. Anything other than that needs to be done by a specialist or someone that is better than you at it. It is impossible to be great at everything. The minute you see that you are slowed down by or distracted by a task it’s time to find the correct talent to take over and allow you to excel at your primary focus.” Some key activities for entrepreneurs are not what you’d expect. When we began talking about what those are for him, Meggison tells us, “Every business is so different. I know a big part of my focus is fitness. I try to have 30-60 minutes of physical activity a day. When you feel better and are healthier, you are more productive. That is universal. I also get a lot of my ideas when exercising. Another key activity for me was finding an organizational system to run meetings and set goals. There are tons of them out there and it may take some time and trial and error to find one that fits your goals, lifestyle, or model. Finding one will help your business greatly.”

As we began to wrap things up, we talked about Dr. Meggison’s greatest inspiration. He admits, “I would have to say my mom. She ran her own business successfully for over 30 years and was self-taught. I have a ton of respect for what she was able to do.” When asked what his mom’s business was, he says, “she started a preschool and was the director. She became accredited and grew her K-6 school to 150 children.” The business quote he remembers most from his mom is, “You have to watch your cash flow.” Also, most entrepreneurs enjoy reading and learning from others. Meggison is no exception. He tells us one of his favorite books is one called Traction. He tells us it is a book about getting organized and prioritizing for growth. Another of his favorites is called Extreme Ownership, a book about how Navy seals lead and win.

If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Jake Meggison or Dental Elements, you can visit their website at https://dentalelementskc.com/wellsville/, call 913-383-0440 or stop by at 616 Main Street in Wellsville, 11912 Shawnee Mission Parkway in Shawnee, 13018 State Line Rd in Leawood or in Grandview, MO at 13010 Fuller Ave.  

Annual American Legion Easter Egg Hunt Success-

The American Legion, WJRC and Chamber of Commerce appreciate all you do to support our community and its traditions.  

Wellsville Chamber Sign Advertising program -

Have you noticed the beautiful banners displayed every two weeks on the Wellsville Chamber sign sitting on Highway 33 in the field next to Bert's and across from Auburn Pharmacy? If not, take a look next time you are driving by. We have received lots of positive feedback about the program. You can use the sign to celebrate a milestone, award, an employee or anyone or anything about our town.

If you would like to advertise to the thousands of cars passing by our billboard on Highway 33 each day, we can help produce and display a banner designed just for your business. This Chamber sign is especially important to your business if you are a business located somewhere other than on 33 highway. Many people who live outside Wellsville or are coming off the highway to stop at Bert's or Casey's don't know what other businesses Wellsville has to offer. They might make it a point to use your services each time they are in town if they only knew where you were!

We have a few dates remaining for the 2022-2023 Chamber year. If you would like one (or a few) in 2023, now is the time to book your dates! Please reach out if you would like to book a spot.

City Wide Spring Clean-up!!!

This annual event is held in conjunction with Franklin County's free "Communities" landfill weekend (free roll-off dumping is scheduled for April 12th thru April 15th) and is scheduled for Saturday, April 15th.

• Beginning Wednesday, April 12th, the City will have large roll off dumpsters available at the public works department parking lot located at 730 S. Main Street to accommodate your trash and salvage items.
• The transfer station will be open to the public on Friday, April 21st & 22nd.

The City Council has placed a dumpster at the Public Works department at 730 S. Main in the gravel lot.

• It is JUST for yard waste and limbs and will be marked as such. This service is provided to the residents free of charge.

Reminder: You are able to put up to 8 bags of yard waste out on trash day. They will also take limbs if they are cut up no larger than 4ft and tied together.

Please stay tuned for updates in May.

Receptionist/Office Assistant - Wellsville Health & Rehab -

Due to a retirement, Wellsville Health & Rehab is looking for a Receptionist/Office Assistant to join our incredible team! The ideal candidate should be personable, friendly, outgoing, and willing to take on any task. Organization, dependability and basic proficiency in Microsoft Office products are must-have skills. Finally, the ideal candidate is willing to have FUN!

We offer a competitive wage, great benefits package, and a genuine appreciation for our employees. We also pride ourselves on our PHENOMENAL resident-centered care. Apply online now at www.wellsvillerc.com!

Vaccination NOT required but preferred.

Please let us know if you have any special promotions you'd like to share with the Wellsville Chamber members and the Wellsville community.

If you are a Chamber member with a commercial space opening, contact us with details and we will gladly post in our next Chamber newsletter.

Monthly FCDC Report -

Workforce -

Paul Bean will be working with our industry and our school districts on a new communication piece. He will work to submit monthly a “Know Your Local Industry” letter that will feature a Franklin County Industry. The target audience will be parents of high school students in Franklin County. This would be disseminated by our school districts and will provide information to parents, so they have a way to understand the career opportunities more fully for their kids. 

This month for the first time in a long time it was reported that more high school students are choosing not to go to college than are choosing to attend a higher education institution. It is important for our community and our industries to build stronger connections with students and parents about the opportunities for a great career waiting for them here in Franklin County after high school graduation. I hope to also have a similar article published in the Ottawa Harold monthly.

Paul has also begun discussions with an individual industry and USD 290 about a direct pipeline program for workforce development. If we can come together on a plan, we think is viable I will work to create other programs for other interested FCDC members with all/any of our Franklin County School districts.

The KHRC has announced the grants that are awarded for the most recent round of Moderate-Income Housing Grants (MIH). The grant submitted for 64 units in Wellsville has been awarded funding. This will be a big boost to housing needs in Franklin County.  

Franklin County Optimist Club -

The next Optimist meeting is Monday, April17^th at 6pm at the Wellsville City Library.

The Franklin County Optimist Club is pleased to recognize WMS Student of the month:

• Tatum Gardner – 6^th Grade
• Ralynne Galloway – 7^th Grade
• Gracie Bell – 8^th Grade
• Each student received a certificate from the Optimists
• Each student received a gift card from Hot Off The Press donated by Bill Lytle

Unsung Heroes Program -

This is a program to recognize students that wouldn’t get recognized for scholarship, athletic or extra-curricular activities. We’re looking students that are cheerful, helpful and kind. The ones that help hold everything together. Students were nominated by teachers at the high school and selected by members of the Optimist from Wellsville. 

The following students will be recognized at our Optimist meeting at Prime Time Grille , 6 pm on the 20^th:

• Koy Randel and Emily Livingston, 12th grade
• Connor Nesslage and Jaden Hylton, 11^th grade
• Avery Morin was the only nominee for 10^th grade.
• There were no nominations for 9th grade

Wellsville FBLA Achieves Top Honors

Wellsville FBLA rose to the top once again as it earned the title of the Outstanding Kansas FBLA Chapter for the sixth time in eight years. The award was not presented in 2020 and 2021 during COVID-19. With 91 high school chapters in attendance and over 1,400 Kansas FBLA members competing, Wellsville FBLA had 36 competing itself. Of those 36, Wellsville had 24 members qualify to compete at nationals.

The Outstanding Kansas FBLA Chapter award is earned by the FBLA chapter obtaining a combination of the highest number of points from Top 10 placings received at the Kansas FBLA State Leadership Conference and by the number of activities that the chapter performs throughout the year. There are 70+ business-related events that the students compete in at the conference.

“I am extremely proud of the Wellsville FBLA program and the program that has been built over the past 30 years under my advisership. I have strong expectations for the students when they tell me they want to earn a spot to compete at nationals. I expect the students to have the ability to compete against everyone at the national conference. Whether they are competing against states that have 30,000 members or students from other countries or schools that are 10 times our size, I push the kids to compete against them all. It has been difficult knowing that I am retiring this year, but I still know we have things left to do and things to accomplish. The underclassmen are amazing, and I expect to see great things come from them even after I am gone. As long as they continue their hard work and strive to persevere, they will be successful, and they will continue the success of the Wellsville FBLA chapter.

But my biggest hope is that every student who has been involved with Wellsville FBLA somehow learned a skill or developed a quality that will benefit them personally, in the work force, or in the community, to make them a better individual.” stated Dawn Rottinghaus, Wellsville FBLA adviser for the past 30 years.

Seven senior members were awarded the Quality Member Award—Morgan Adams, Ailie McClellan, Jack Lytle, Jake Richards, Shelby Harter, Elliot Kelley and Maggie Brungardt. While sophomores Mason Lytle and Avery Morin were elected to the 2023-2024 Kansas FBLA State Officer Team as Treasurer and District VII Vice President, respectively.

Although Kansas FBLA allows the Top 4 placings in each event to compete at the National Leadership Conference that will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, this summer from June 26 through June 30, Wellsville FBLA allows only the members who have placed in the Top 2 to compete.

Following are the Wellsville FBLA members who placed in the Top 10 at the Kansas FBLA State Leadership Conference that was held in Topeka, Kansas, at the Stormont Vail Events Center on March 29 through March 31. Although many of them are fortunate enough to choose which event they would like to compete at nationals in, they are only allowed to compete in one event, unless it is a chapter event (American Enterprise Project, Community Service Project, and Local Chapter Annual Business Report). A star indicates the event that Wellsville FBLA members will compete in at the National Leadership Conference. There are a total of 24 Wellsville FBLA members who have qualified to compete this summer.

*American Enterprise Project—1^st (Morgan Adams, Jake Richards, Owen Dalton)

Banking & Financial Systems—4^th (Elliot Kelley, Mile Reed, Owen Dalton)

*Broadcast Journalism—1^st (Maggie Brungardt, Kaileigh Fletcher, Avery Morin)

Business Calculations—2^nd (Miles Reed)

*Business Financial Plan—1^st (Miles Reed, Hackathorn, Elliot Kelley)

Business Management—1^st (Ailie McClellan, Calvin Dwyer, Owen Dalton)

Client Services—Aistin Henry (3^rd), Mason Lytle (6^th), Maggie Brungardt (7^th)

*Community Service Project—1^st (Joclynn Johnson, Kelsey Johnson, Mason Lytle)

*Digital Video Production—2^nd (Lucy Face, Jack Lytle, Jaylee Kauffman)

*E-Business—1^st (Owen Dalton, Calvin Dwyer, Aistin Henry)

Economics—6^th (Miles Reed)

Help Desk—1^st (Miles Reed)

Hospitality & Event Management—4^th (Kendra Kemp, Calvin Dwyer, Mason Lytle)

Impromptu Speaking—9^th (Miles Reed)

International Business—2^nd (Owen Dalton, Mason Lytle, Miles Reed)

*Introduction to Business Presentation—1^st (Oliver Dwyer, Sofia MacDonald, Carter Wilmarth)

Introduction to Event Planning—1^st (Oliver Dwyer, Sofia MacDonald, Mason Lytle)

Introduction to FBLA—8^th (Mason Lytle)

Job Interview— Kendra Kemp (3^rd), Joclynn Johnson (4^th)

Journalism—9^th (Lucy Face)

*Local Chapter Annual Business Report—1^st (Kendra Kemp, Ailie McClellan, Lola Kline)

Management Information Systems—2^nd (Miles Reed, Aistin Henry, Owen Dalton)

Marketing—1^st (Jack Lytle, Jake Richards, Calvin Dwyer)

Network Design—1^st (Miles Reed, Aistin Henry, Owen Dalton)

Networking Infrastructure—3^rd (Owen Dalton)

Personal Finance—1^st (Miles Reed)

*Publication Design—1^st (Kendra Kemp, Ailie McClellan, Morgan Adams)

Supply Chain Management—10^th (Elliot Kelley)

*UX Design—2^nd (Maci Randel)

*Website Design—1^st (Lola Kline, Jake Richards, Mason Lytle)

Future Business Leader—10^th (Joclynn Johnson), 8^th (Kendra Kemp)

Who’s Who in FBLA—6^th (Joclynn Johnson), 7^th (Kendra Kemp), 8^th (Mason Lytle)

Wellsville FBLA Middle School State FBLA Leadership Conference Results

Annual Chapter Activities Presentation—1^st (Emmy Lytle & Kaylee Wood)

Business Etiquette—2^nd (Liam Dalton), 5^th (Emmy Lytle)

Community Service Presentation—1^st (Zarek O’Neil & Ethan Selk)

Critical Thinking—2^nd (Liam Dalton, Blake Lyman & Emmy Lytle)

Digital Citizenship—1^st (Liam Dalton)

Elevator Speech—1^st (Jenna Roberts), 2^nd (Emmy Lytle), 3^rd (Blake Lyman)

Exploring Computer Science—1^st (Blake Lyman)

Exploring Economics—1^st (Blake Lyman), 3^rd (Josh Toman), 5^th (Liam Dalton)

FBLA Concepts—3^rd (Kaylee Wood)

FBLA Mission & Pledge—1^st (Pete Dorsey), 2^nd (Josh Toman), 5^th (Mara Dreiling)

Interpersonal Communication—3^rd (Josh Toman), 5^th (Emmy Lytle)

Multimedia & Web Design—1^st (Liam Dalton & Ryker Robertson)

Running an Effective Meeting—5^th (Emmy Lytle)

Wellsville School District Projects and Programs -

Facilities Update

Updates coming in May!

Monthly Meeting -

• May 9th at noon at Wellsville City Library. Lunch provided by Oak Star Bank at 11:30AM.

Library Updates -

Kaw Valley Wine Rally - June 24th from 5-8 PM

Join us for the second annual Kaw Valley Wine Rally on Main Street in Wellsville! Guests will be able to sample from 10 of the best local Kansas wineries, breweries, and distilleries! There will be live music from local artists, Food trucks, corn hole, local artisans, boutiques, and crafters.

This event is rain or shine. Tickets are non-refundable.

All of Kansas’s best will be pouring at this fest! Join us for a day of sipping, shopping, and sweeping you off your feet on the charming main street of Wellsville!



Tickets will be available at the gate for $40

Sunday Service -

• Three identical in-person services at 8:00AM, 9:30AM, and 11AM
• Live online service at 9:30AM

Helping Hands Food Pantry Grocery Distribution -

• Fri April 21st
• Sat April 22nd

Sunday Service -

• One in-person service 9AM
• Sunday School for all ages at 10:30AM
• Potluck on the 1st and 3rd Sundays at 11:30AM

Bible Study -

• Wednesday mornings from 9:30-10:30AM
• No matter how little or how much you know about the Bible, we guarantee you’ll learn something new at this study
• All are welcome to join us for an hour of study followed by a visit to Hot Off the Press for snacks

Men’s Bible Study -

• Tuesdays at 7PM

Revelation Bible Study -

• Wednesdays at 9:30AM

Youth Group -

• Wednesdays from 6:30-8PM

Small Groups -

• Wednesdays from 6:30-8PM (starting this summer)

Homeschool Co-op -

• Thursdays from 9AM-12PM

Men's Breakfast -

• Saturdays at 8AM

Women's Brunch -

• Every third Saturday from 9AM-12PM

Sunday Service -

•  In person worship and Church@Home - 10:45AM

2022/2023 Wellsville Chamber of Commerce Officers