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Local small business owners pursue the American dream

The American spirit of entrepreneurship was on full display recently in Fort Dodge. Four small business owners laid out their plans for growth during the IGNITE Vendor Fair and Spark Your Business Pitch Contest in the Opera House at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village. They were Valerie Walburn, owner of Wild Spirit Design LLC; Rebecca McCrady, owner of Boss Bombs and More; Kyrie Borsay, owner of KD’s Over the Moon; and Sheila Roberts, owner of Sheila’z Sweetz Treatz. Roberts’ plan to buy a new double oven so that she can bake more cookies, cakes and buns won her a $1,000 ...

New name for veterans park is right move to honor Moehnke

Terry Moehnke was inspired by something he saw at a Georgia Army base while visiting his soldier son. It was an area filled with trees planted to honor the memory of troops killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere during the war on terror. At the base of each tree was a marker bearing the name of the fallen soldier. Moehnke envisioned something like that for the Fort Dodge area that would honor all veterans. So in 2007 he went to work promoting his idea. That idea caught on quickly, and the first phase of Veterans Memorial Park was started in 2008. However, Veterans Memorial Park ...

CJ Bio America is valued member of the local community

A unique international business has been flourishing in Webster County since 2013. CJ Bio America has a major facility west of Fort Dodge in the ag industrial park called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation, and it is growing. A $20 million expansion was formally launched last week with a ribbon cutting ceremony. It is the second expansion of the plant, which started production in November 2013. CJ Bio America receives fermented dextrose from the Cargill plant next door and uses it to make amino acids that are added to livestock feed. It also makes a liquid soil amendment. The ...

Bipartisan cooperation on gun bill is historic

Fifteen Republicans in the Senate and 14 in the House joined with congressional Democrats recently to break more than 25 years of inaction on gun safety. That these Republicans, many of whom had ratings of A or A-plus from the National Rifle Association, defied the gun lobby with their support of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act suggests they saw the political peril in doing nothing about the gun violence gripping the country. Indeed, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who voted for the bill, admitted as much when he said he hoped GOP support for the measure “will be ...

Check out the 2022 Farm News Ag Show

An upcoming event will give people a chance to hear from their favorite Farm News columnists, get some insight on the latest developments in the commodities markets and check out the offerings of various ag businesses. And don’t forget the food, which will include a free watermelon feed. The event that will offer all of that is the 2022 Farm News Ag Show. It will be held June 29-30 at the Palo Alto County Fairgrounds, 2101 Madison, in Emmetsburg. The show hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 29 and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 30. Karen Schwaller, a longtime writer for Farm News, will ...

Help celebrate Hometown Pride

In every town there are special people who contribute to the success of the community through the giving things they do. These folks — whose selfless contributions make life better for others in their hometowns — sometimes go unacknowledged. That’s unfortunate because many of the people who work without much fanfare to enhance the lives of others truly are accomplishing exceptional results. Similarly, there are organizations that have that type of impact. That’s one of the reasons that each year The Messenger publishes a magazine supplement called Hometown Pride. The goal is to ...