Mentorship Opportunity Through Ottawa University
This week, I had the privilege of meeting with Ottawa University Junior, Micah. He is a basketball player who is majoring in Marketing. After this semester, he is headed into his third year at OU. I bring this up because we were connected through a new OU initiative called Push Far. This is an online platform that pairs college students and community members, with the aim of providing them with a local contact to refer to, expand their networks, and support their goals before and after graduation.
Micah and I shared about our time at OU, where we’re at now, and where we’re headed. He had questions about the community and is interested in stepping out more than he has in the past. He’s currently interested in gaining more marketing experience, as much of his work to date has been in the classroom. If you’d like to chat with Micah about an opportunity, I’d love to connect you!
If you have an interest in mentoring an Ottawa University student, you absolutely can. Our friends at Career Services just need you to send them an email (email them here). This is extremely low-stakes and minimal work. They do the matching and encourage meetings just a couple of times a semester (or more if you’d like). Connections like this are one of the reasons I chose to stay in Ottawa after graduation back in 2019. If it weren’t for a meeting with John Coen my senior year, who knows where I’d be now! All that to say, little moments like this can cause a large ripple effect in the lives of those you touch. If you have questions about my experience, I’m happy to talk about it further.
Young Entrepreneurs Shine at Franklin County YEC
We had a great time yesterday at Ottawa University, as our local Franklin County E-Community hosted this year’s Young Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC). This is the third year running for this program, and it’s always been such a joyous event. Yesterday was no different. There’s something about youth ingenuity, community collaboration, and positive conversations around entrepreneurial growth that makes you feel like the future is bright. We saw 17 students spread across seven businesses represented at the event—each competing for a prize and learning valuable lessons along the way. There were 12 judges across our four event components, representing a range of industry types. Nearly 50 community participants stopped by to encourage, support, and cheer on our entrepreneurs. In the end, over $2,500 in prize money was distributed among the teams.
Before talking about the businesses, I wanted to give you a glimpse of what the event is like so you can fully appreciate the work these students put into the competition. Each team is tasked to represent a legitimate or conceptual business. Once decided, the team must submit an Executive Summary, which counts for 25% of their total score. This mini business plan includes their market opportunity, their business model, management capability, and ultimately, the product/service they are offering. On the day of the event, each team is tasked with a Presentation, delivering an Elevator Speech, and producing a Trade Show booth open to judges and the public. Each of these four categories contributes to its total score. As a result, they’re judged on their writing, performance, proof of concept, and showmanship—all skills needed by real entrepreneurs!
We saw a wide range of ages and school district representation at the event. The youngest was a 6th grader, and the oldest was in 11th grade. West Franklin, Ottawa, and Wellsville all had entrepreneurs represented in the competition—and each business really showed their skills, making for a really fun day. Here are the seven amazing businesses that entered this year’s YEC. Anytime Oven (picture here), Evershine (picture here), Fallon’s Furry Friends (picture here), Focus Bands (picture here), Kash’s Kitchen (picture here), Next Up Sports (picture here), and Flory Family Farms (picture here).
Part of the fun is that the prizes for teams that placed are no joke, with 1st place winning $1,000 cash. Here are those who made the podium: the winner of the People’s Choice (chosen by community members who stopped by the competition), and 3rd place went to Next Up Sports. In 2nd place was Focus Bands. The winner of the 2026 Franklin County YEC was Flory Family Farms (pictures here)! Evie is only in 6th grade and is representing the middle schoolers very well. Along with her prize money and bragging rights, she will be headed to the state competition in Manhattan in April. Way to go, Flory Family Farms!
The best way to grow this program is by word of mouth. People talking to teachers, students, and parents help expand the reach of this impactful program. If your kids, grandkids, or neighbors’ kids are in middle or high school next winter, make sure they know about YEC and their chance to win real cash prizes! If you would like to be added to the list for more info, I’ll make sure you don’t miss an update. A job well done to all the students who participated. We’re already looking forward to next year!
Victory Auto Group Doubles Down on Ottawa
In September of 2024, Victory Auto Group expanded its local Chrysler, Dodge, RAM, and Jeep dealership in town by building a state-of-the-art facility to sell, maintain, and fix vehicles for customers. When they cut the ribbon back in ‘24, they shared that this dealership was just the first of two, and they unveiled plans to open a Chevy dealership next door. Fast forward a year and a half, and Victory Chevy is open and ready for business (pictures here)!
Chamber members were able to step in and see this beautiful dealership for themselves and learn more about the impact Victory plans to have on Ottawa and Franklin County. Kallan LaForge, Owner/Manager of Ottawa’s two Victory dealerships, shared that this organization has evolved substantially in the past 8-9 years. It started with a vision Kallan had for Ottawa: not just to expand the lot size or sell more vehicles, but to provide a level of service that would change how our community thinks about buying and maintaining vehicles. In 2018, Victory had 9 full-time employees. Fast forward to today, they currently employ 71 individuals with capacity for nearly 100. Growth of that magnitude takes immense strategy. Part of that plan was to bring in further leadership, which Kallan has done with Jason Sheafer, who will help manage both locations. It also looks like taking care of the folks you have. He mentioned that several of his staff have been with him since 2018 and have grown into leadership positions on the team. Kallan knows that retaining consistent employees benefits both staff and customers, as they see familiar faces over the years. This is easier said than done! Thank you to Victory for investing in these employees who keep this business thriving.
These two locations on East 23rd do more than sell new cars; they have a large on-site inventory of used cars (around 200) and access to the Victory Auto network of 10 other dealerships throughout the metro. If you see something online, like up in Kansas City or over in Paola, they can help make sure you get it here in town. They are also full-service. Whether you’ve purchased a car through them or not, their service team is ready to go. They have 22 bays at the CDRJ location and another 13 on the Chevy side. Open seven days a week, you can visit either location to get taken care of for all your auto needs.
Kallan mentioned that the Chevy dealership has only been open for a month or two now and has already seen incredible numbers, even surpassing the sales of the CDRJ side next door. This is just the beginning! Thank you, Victory, Kallan, and his team for the investment in our commercial district, in your employees who live and work here, and in the future of our business community. Many years of success!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
