SBA head Linda McMahon visits Fanestil Fresh Meats

“I named the tour, the ‘Ignite Tour’ because I’m on fire to get things done, and I want everybody else to be on fire,” McMahon said. “Ignite means we’re creating ideas and innovation. So when I’m out visiting small businesses, I want to know what their issues are; what’s been on their minds; what we’re doing to help them; and what can we do to help them more?”

McMahon said, while out on tour, she was hearing a lot of common themes among small businesses.

“Prior to tax cuts being passed, I heard a lot of hopefulness of it being passed,” she said. “Now that tax reforms have been passed, we’re seeing the continuing growth and optimism from our small businesses around the county. I am learning a lot, and being here at Fanestil Meats — it is the American dream and it’s the American business story that I love so much to hear.”

Dan Smoots purchased Fanestil Meats in 1998. By 2005, he and wife Jan had bought out a partner and began expanding. They attribute SBA financing, and particularly SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loan programs to their continued success. The couple was named the Wichita District Office Small Business Persons of the Year in 2016.

“Jan and I started in 1996, trying to come up with a way to buy Fanestil Meats,” Dan Smoots said. “We met with Wayne Symmonds, who helped us with an SBA loan. That’s where it all began.

“The SBA also helped us with this last addition we built — this 23,000 square-foot facility. We used an SBA loan and a bank loan. We’re very excited to be working with them. SBA is a very important part of helping people get on their feet and get going.”

The Smootses said they were thankful McMahon chose Fanestil Meats as one of her small business destinations.

“Having Linda here today — representing the SBA and the way SBA has worked with us and the way it works with small businesses — is a real gesture of how they want to get down to the grassroots and find out how people are really doing,” Smoots said. “They’re doing a great job. Our new store has been a big success, and we’re excited about all the great things happening for Fanestil Meats. We really appreciate everything that Mrs. McMahon is doing, bringing a lot of recognition to our little company.”

More than 99 percent of all businesses in Kansas are small and employ more than 51 percent of the workforce — more than 600,000 people — making it a key driver in the state’s economy.

Small businesses added 11,000 net new jobs in fiscal year 2016 and were awarded more than $454 million of the $2.2 billion small business federal contracts awarded in SBA’s Region VII.

Fanestil Meats was one of two businesses McMahon toured in the state, along with Reverie Coffee Roasters and Cafe in Wichita.

“What struck me first, out of the box, about Fanestil Meats was it is probably the cleanest place I’ve ever been in my entire life,” McMahon said. “I could have lunch back there on the floor; it’s so clean. All of the displays and all the different varieties of everything are great, but really what you see most importantly — through Dan and Jan, the proprietors — is their commitment to what they are doing.

“I talked to them about regulation and they said, ‘The EPA is here, FDA is here, USDA is here — we even go above and beyond that by getting third inspectors to come in and tell us even more, because we want to go above and beyond.”

McMahon said the Smootses were true examples of entrepreneurs.

“Hearing some of their issues is important, but what is incredibly impressive is how they continue to grow and develop new products and are continuing thinking,” McMahon said. “That is what true entrepreneurs do. They are never satisfied and continue to look for that next service, the next product to help them grow.”

McMahon has been touring businesses all over the county and has now been to 35 states. By the end of March, she will have been in 40 of the 68 SBA districts across the country.

“I’ve talked to over 650 businesses in roundtables around the country,” she said. “One of the themes that is very consistent that I am hearing is a shortage in workforce, either in trained, skilled workforce or a workforce that really wants to come to work. As we are starting and growing businesses, we must figure out how to grow our workforce.”

Senator Jerry Moran joined McMahon on her tour of Fanestil and said Kansas is a great place for small businesses.

“The growth that occurs in most of our communities across our state like Emporia and my hometown of Hays occurs when a small business is created and when a small business grows,” Moran said. “We want an SBA that recognizes the value of job creation in small communities across our state.

“The administrator’s visit here today is confirmation that she understands what our mid-size and rural communities have to offer and it honors the fact that there is someone here in Emporia who created a company — a husband and wife.”

Moran said the Smootses and Fanestil Fresh Meats demonstrate true entrepreneurship.

“It demonstrates somebody who has an idea and brings it to market,” Moran said. “It demonstrates how successful they have been. To this region of Kansas, it means 100 jobs. It’s great to see an Emporia company recognized and to have Dan and Jan receive the pat on the back that they are so deserving of.”