Great Bend speakers

Carolyn Dunn

Carolyn Dunn is executive director of Stafford County Economic Development. Initially operated as a county department beginning in 2011, the decision was made to form a nonprofit corporation and as of January 2012 Stafford County Economic Development Inc. is operating as an independent entity. Early accomplishments include being chosen as a Kansas Entrepreneurial Communities Initiative, Kansas Rural Opportunity Zone, NetWork Kansas E-Community and American Farm Bureau County of Excellence.

A member of USD 350 school board and active in Kansas Farm Bureau, Dunn passionately believes that a proactive, locally-driven approach to development is essential for maintaining services and quality of life for rural citizens. She had the opportunity to share this perspective on a national stage as a speaker at the 2008 Republican National Convention on the topic "Rural America."

Dunn has a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University and a master's degree in business administration from Johns Hopkins University. She lived in Washington, D.C., working at the USDA on the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee staff, and was Sen. Sam Brownback's legislative assistant for agriculture before returning to Kansas to marry a constituent. She lives in St. John where her husband, Brian, farms and together they are raising their three young sons.

Jeff Hofaker

Jeff Hofaker has encouraged development activities in Phillips County, Kan., in an official capacity for nine years. Originally hired by Phillips County Economic Development, Inc, or PCED, Inc. in November 2002, Hofaker was the first, full-time economic development director working within Phillips County. After a county-wide sales tax for economic development was passed by residents in fall 2005, the economic development organization changed to a county department. During this transition, Hofaker was contracted for three months to act as interim director for the newly formed county department. After a search, he was officially hired on Jan. 1, 2006, to continue his local leadership role.

Some of the most recent programs PCED has implemented with Hofaker's leadership: the Entrepreneurial Business and Enhancement Program; a four-year commitment toward sponsoring businesses to attend Schallert Bootcamp training for marketing expertise; the Discover Phillips County initiative; becoming designated by Network Kansas as an Entrepreneurial Community; the formation of a E-community loan program; assisted with more than 25 entrepreneurial business startups and many business expansions; and other community and economic projects.

Hofaker has been very active with regional development groups, such as: western Kansas Rural Economic Development Alliance, Kansas Economic Development Alliance and the Solomon Valley Resource Conservation and Development. Working with these organizations and others, he has served on many executive boards, committees and projects as a Phillips County representative at the regional, state and national development level.

Hofaker graduated from Fort Hays State University in 1990 with a bachelor's in computer information systems and business administration. He then moved to Overland Park and worked with Primerica Financial Services and Smith Barney in sales, management, and employee and organizational training. In 1994, he made a life choice to move back to his home town of Logan in Phillips County to pursue an entrepreneurial vision of running a business in rural America. He started a niche custom harvesting business, Hofaker Harvesting, which over a period of nine years was very successful. At the same time, he was -- and still is -- a partner in Triple J Farms, a fourth generation family ranch/farm.

The most enjoyable aspect for his life choice to move back to Phillips County was the opportunity to raise a family in the rural atmosphere. Hofaker met his future wife, Stacey, in Lenexa before moving back to Logan. He and his wife have three children Destiny, Tristan, and Daelynn.

Mary Jo Taylor

Taylor Mary Jo Taylor and her family have lived in Stafford since moving there in 1996. For five years, she served as middle/high school principal. In 2001, she became superintendent of the school district. It didn’t take too long for Taylor to realize that a natural role for a superintendent of a small district to play is to become an economic development “expert.” She is active in the local Chamber of Commerce and Stafford Main Street where she works to figure out the best ways to grow the community from within, attract entrepreneurs and entice young people to move back to the area after post-secondary training.

These challenges led to the development of the Stafford Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, or SEED Center. This course of instruction is located in a store front in downtown Stafford. High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors can elect to take marketing and entrepreneur classes while running their own business. Students do not participate in a simulation. They actually create, develop, and market products in a business they run on a day-to-day basis. The program is versatile and can be geared toward college and/or career readiness.

The school district is very interested in providing opportunities that provide authentic engagement for students. Consequently, other successful career and technical education courses include health sciences, FFA, FCCLA, and building trades.

Taylor received her bachelor’s degree in social sciences at Fort Hays State University. Her master’s degree and doctorate were both earned in educational administration at Wichita State University. Taylor has been active in the Kansas School Superintendents’ Association, currently serving her second term on the board of directors. In 2010, she was honored to receive the Governor’s Award. It was presented by the Kansas State High School Activities Association for distinguished service to secondary education in Kansas.

Elaine Johannes

Elaine Johannes is an associate professor and extension specialist in youth development in the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University. Johannes has a bachelor's degree in psychology, a master's degree in adult and community counseling, and a doctorate in lifespan human development from Kansas State University.

Johannes focuses her work in four areas:

* Supporting the development of positive life skills (e.g., promotion of healthy living, adult-youth partnerships, community youth development)

* Reduction of problem behaviors among youth (e.g., prevention of bullying, school dropout)

* Building capacity in communities, networks, organizations for positive youth development (e.g., rural areas, small towns, military communities, Kansas PRIDE groups)

* Building the capacity of youth workers and youth-serving organizations (e.g. professional development, graduate-level teaching)

As a member of K-State Research and Extension, Johannes supports youth development programming through Extension systems primarily working with rural/small towns to support community youth development through health promoting projects. She is also the co-director of Kansas Operation Military Kids, and a co-principal investigator of the seven-state Community Program to Prevention Childhood Obesity funded by USDA/AFRI for $4.5 million. She is also a member of the national research study of building community social capital through 4-H which is supported by USDA.

Johannes has directed two, five-year USDA grants for $1.5 million in the prevention of youth-related problem behaviors (e.g., substance abuse, teen pregnancy, school dropout, delinquency and violence) through effective after-school programming in Kansas.

As a member of the graduate teaching faculty, Johannes directs the Great Plains-IDEA youth development graduate program, preparing students across the world for professions in youth development. She teaches courses in: Adolescents and Their Families; Program Administration and Management and Administration; Army Families; Transition to Adulthood; Adolescent Health; and Grant Development and Management

Prior to joining Extension in 1991, Johannes provided community-based services to older adults and their families in 18 counties as director of community services for the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging. In that capacity she also established a rural housing authority and a housing rehabilitation function for the agency.

Leon Atwell

Leon Atwell, business and community coach, brings more than two decades of broad-based business experience helping organizations grow, change and improve, and over the last decade, improving the sustainability of rural Kansas communities. Recent examples of his work include:

* Helping lead statewide collaboration and a coaching team implementing the Kansas Entrepreneurial Communities Initiative in 12 rural Kansas communities.

* Assembled and led a coaching team for the Kansas Hometown Prosperity Initiative to help three pilot communities implement Hometown Competiveness framework.

* Working with the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and the HomeTown Competitiveness team from Nebraska help rural communities grow and become sustainable.

* Member of Affiliate Faculty and Leadership Coaching Team with the Kansas Leadership Center, working to integrate its leadership framework in rural communities and provide coaching to community leaders.

* Established Advancing Rural Prosperity Inc., a not-for-profit, to combat rural community decline.

Raised on a western Kansas farm and a fourth-generation Kansan, Atwell earned an undergraduate technical degree from Kansas State University in 1979 and a graduate behavioral degree from Sam Houston State University in 1990. Currently living in north central Kansas, he enjoys being Dad and helping run a family business.