By SALINA POST
Kansas businesses and entrepreneurs were honored Thursday night during the Kansas Department of Commerce’s 2024 To The Stars: Kansas Business Awards ceremony at the Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau. The event recognized their outstanding contributions to the state’s economy and communities.
It was announced at the ceremony that Nu Life Market in Scott City won the 2024 Governor’s Award of Excellence, and KSi Conveyors in Sabetha earned the 2024 Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award.
“Nu Life Market and KSi are both large contributors to our state’s growing economic success in the agribusiness and food processing industries,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “By honoring and showcasing their accomplishments, we aim to inspire other businesses to keep reaching for new opportunities across our state.”
A record 346 businesses, organizations, and individuals were nominated in nine categories for this year’s To the Stars: Kansas Business Awards. Nominees were reviewed and scored for various criteria, such as business expansion, employee recruitment and retention practices, training and educational programs, capital investment, and support of local community events. A total of 226 Merit Awards and 45 Regional Awards were presented at the event. Additionally, one nominee in each category was designated a Statewide Winner, making them finalists for the Governor’s Award of Excellence.
“Our state has been reaching unprecedented heights in terms of business investment and economic growth in Kansas thanks to companies such as those we’re honoring here,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “Each of the nominees play a critical role in the new era of Kansas we are creating — they are truly the pillars of our success and more than worthy of being celebrated.”
The following businesses and businesspeople were named 2024 Statewide Award winners:
Nu Life Market, Scott City — Agribusiness Award
Midwest Energy, Hays — Apprenticeship Champions and Partners Award
Hydrograph Clean Power, Manhattan — Business Innovation Award
Community Foundation of Dickinson County, Abilene — Health care/Nonprofit Award
DaVinci Roofscapes, Lenexa — Manufacturing/Distribution Award
Goodwill Industries of Kansas, Wichita — Non-Traditional Talent Pools Award
Arthur’s Pizza and Mexican Foods, Ellis — Retail/Service Award
Ellie Bowman, Prickly Pear Farm & Home, Kinsley — Under 30 Entrepreneur Award
Julie Lyon, The Cannonball Extended Stay Accommodations, Kingman — Welcome Back Award
The 2024 Governor’s Award of Excellence winner, Nu Life Market, is the largest grain sorghum milling food processing company in the United States and is a leader in regenerative agriculture and utilizing sustainable sorghum. The company’s mission and goals are to ensure their products undergo strict food safety protocols in a dedicated gluten-, peanut- and soy-free facility. Their environmentally friendly sorghum helps reduce water usage and CO₂ emissions. Nu Life Market combines the dedication and skill of professional farmers, food scientists, and nutritionists to provide customers with high-quality flours and grain products that are trusted to be safe and healthy options.
The 2024 Governor’s Exporter of the Year award has been given annually to a Kansas company for more than three decades. The award brings statewide recognition for their exporting efforts and showcases them as role models of exporting success in Kansas.
The 2024 Exporter of the Year winner, KSi, was founded nearly 25 years ago with an innovative technology that changed an entire industry. KSi is a family-owned business with operating offices and manufacturing facilities in Kansas and Illinois, as well as regional representation, strategic partnerships, and offices throughout the Midwestern United States, Canada, and South America. Their development of the original, patented, cleated belt conveyor technology — specifically designed to gently and efficiently move seed and other valuable materials at steep angles — helped establish KSi as the standard in quality and ground-breaking developments in bulk systems, seed treatment application equipment, and state-of-the-art automation and data management technology in the agricultural industry.
Regional Award Winners – Apprenticeship Champions & Partners
East Central
Full Service Chimney
North Central
1 Vision Aviation
South Central
Wichita Electrical Joint Apprenticeship & Training
Southeast
Crossland Construction