Makayla and I braved the cold weather Saturday to watch local soccer team, Sporting Kansas City take on I-70 rivals Saint Louis FC (picture here). If you’ve been following SKC’s season at all, you’ll know that we head into games with relatively low expectations (boasting a 0-1-5 record leading up to this game). But… we watched them snag their first win of the season! Hopefully a sign for better results ahead (and warmer games too!).
Fashion Inc.: Ottawa’s Hidden Giant
Last Friday, Franklin County Development Council members gathered at Fashion Inc. in our north industrial park. This family-owned company has been in Ottawa for 33 years, and they still believe that it was a great decision for their family and business. Fashion has three generations working amongst their 150+ employees. Fashion takes its workplace culture very seriously, emphasizing the importance of retention. This is highlighted by a banner that hangs right inside their factory wall. This banner lists the names of those who have been with the company for 5+ years, lumping together these groups by every half a decade. It’s pretty incredible to see how many employees they have under the 20+ years column. A perk of being a locally owned family business is the ability to take real good care of your people.
Though their name suggests they might be in the clothing industry, they couldn’t be much further from the case. Fashion is the nation’s leading manufacturer and installer of canopies, metal roofing, carports, walkway covers, and more. They serve a diverse clientele, such as gas stations, convenience stores, car washes, and restaurants, to name a few. This entails working with almost every gas station brand in the country and supplying every Chick-fil-A drive-through overhang (pictures here). It was shared that the infamous Buc-ee’s has approached them every year for the past five years, hoping Fashion would work on their stores. Allen Bell, President and COO, shared that they turn them down because of the workload that would need to be dedicated to bringing those projects to fruition. For example, it would take around 90 days to finish a project for Buc-ee’s, compared to the 5-7 days it takes to finish a drive-through for Chick-fil-A. This allows their workload to stay diverse and keeps these several-decade-long relationships maintained.
Fashion Inc. manages the entire production process in-house, from cutting/bending steel to delivering finished products. This approach allows them to offer customized solutions tailored to specific requirements, including various sizes, shapes, styles, and colors. From a design standpoint, an arm of their company called Universal Sign creates all the imagery displayed on these structures (example here). Juggling their workload capabilities is no easy task, as they continue to grow yearly. Some of that growth can be attributed to their investment in automation (picture here). This technology allows robots to cut, shape, or combine certain products 24/7. After showing these off, one of the first questions asked was, “Did these machines take jobs that employees could fill?” The quick reply was no. Fashion has grown by 15 employees since last year! Automation has allowed staff to move to different areas to support the company and bring the best out of their skill sets. Because of this need for growth, Fashion has recently purchased the Ernest Spencer Custom Coatings building right next door. This 45 thousand-square-foot building will allow them to continue to keep up with demand and expand their operation to new and existing customers. Thank you Fashion for choosing Ottawa 33 years ago, and continuing to grow in our community. We’re lucky to have you!
Brave Beginnings
Saturday morning I hopped on Ottawa University’s campus, along with 170 other prospective students and their families. This fun-filled day was the start of an annual visit opportunity called Brave Beginnings (pictures here). This entailed tours of campus and the community, as well as chats with coaches, teachers, and alums. I had the pleasure of participating in the alumni panel with six other former Braves (pictures here). We shared our thoughts and experiences from our time on campus, which included a span of 30+ years between tenures. There has been pretty drastic change at the university throughout that time period. I continue to find myself seeing positive shifts on campus every time I visit (and I’m relatively recently removed). Even through the different time periods of attendance on the panel, the testimonies were quite consistent; OU’s intentionality towards creating spaces for individuality and community is why so many choose to attend this local private college.
Goodbye Junk, Hello Gems
Our office has been planning our summer annual events over the last few months, and I want to take this opportunity to share an upcoming one with you! For the past 17 years, the Chamber has been responsible for the downtown shopping event in May, historically called Flea, Junk & Trunk. This event has evolved so much over the last five years, having formerly taken place on Main Street, oftentimes out of the trunks of vehicles. This event has been located at Legacy Square since 2021, and as a result, the nature of the event has changed in more ways than one. Because of that reason (and also because I’m not sure we want to refer to any of the contents sold that day as “junk”), our Events and Promotions Committee has rebranded this annual event. On May 17th from 9am-3pm, we invite you to “Treasures in Ottawa” – A Shopping Day Full of Hidden Gems (more info here). Though the name has changed, the fact that vibrant and eclectic vendors will be selling their goods in downtown Ottawa will remain. Really, we hope that the many visitors who end up in Franklin County because of this event take the chance to visit all our fantastic retail businesses, and we hope you do too!
Home Is Where the Care Is
We had the pleasure of gathering this morning at Angels Care Home Health, located at 318 S Main Street (photos here). Tony Erisman, local Ottawan and their newest employee, recently joined as their Account Executive six weeks ago. He shared about the essential services Angels provides to our community. While he’s new to Angels, he brings over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, joining the nine other staff members at the local Ottawa branch. Angels Care has been serving Ottawa as a Medicare-certified home health agency for ten years now, which also marks its tenth year as an Ottawa Chamber Member! Its mission is to provide high-quality, cost-effective care directly in the patient’s home, tailored to individual needs and guided by the patient’s physician.
A common mistake is thinking that home health is only for those bound to their home, which is not always true. To qualify for their services, patients must have an ailment that limits their ability to get to a doctor, whether due to mobility issues, a compromised immune system, or other factors. Angels offers 24/7 on-call staff, ensuring help is always available when needed, directly to the patient's home. All services are 100% covered by Medicare, which is a major benefit for many families navigating tricky healthcare decisions.
Tony highlighted a few of the agency’s specialized programs, including their growing behavioral health initiative, which serves patients coping with conditions like depression and anxiety. Another important program mentioned is called Care Connections. This program is designed for individuals diagnosed with chronic, incurable illnesses, such as dementia or Parkinson’s. These individuals utilizing this program don’t need hospice care, but benefit from additional support and resources as they navigate their illness. Beyond in-home visits, Angels Care also reaches into the community through educational health classes at places like Cedar Square Apartments and Washburn Towers. These sessions help meet people where they are, both physically and in their health journeys while offering practical knowledge and preventive care tips. Conversations around home health can sometimes be difficult or confusing—but having local providers like Angels makes it easier for families to navigate these moments with confidence and support.
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We’re splitting our family’s Easter into two weekends, with Makayla’s side up first! We’ll be hopping to Topeka for food, family and festivities. I hope your weekend will be as eventful as ours. Talk to you soon!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
