El Dorado Today

In March of 1988, El Dorado City officials and business leaders were ecstatic by the announcement that Pioneer Balloon Company planned to locate an operations center for its Home Entertain-ment Division in El Dorado. The new 80,000 square foot plant, to be located in the El Dorado Industrial Park, initially employed 30 to 50 people.

Today, El Dorado continues to be blessed by the presence of Pioneer in our community and the growth they have achieved.

Pioneer Balloon is going strong , having expanded its facility to

200,000 square feet and its work-force to approximately 250 em-ployees. Additionally, Pioneer provides jobs to some special needs adults in the El Dorado community through a contract with Flint Hills Services, which is just one example of their com-mitment as a partner within the El Dorado community.

The El Dorado facility is the company’s flagship plant and main distribution center. It is also the anchor tenant of the El Dorado Industrial Park. The El Dorado plant manufactures the company’s entire line of foil balloons, and is the main printing

and packaging facility for their latex balloons.

Pioneer Balloon is one of the world’s leading producers of balloons and a leading supplier of advertising and entertainment products, and operates facilities worldwide. Pioneer’s presence is one of the reasons we are able to enjoy the “Fine Art of Living Well” in El Dorado.

Pioneer Balloon marks 20 years as Industrial Park anchor

On August 5th voters in El Dorado once again voted to renew the community’s 1% sales tax. And with good reason. Originally approved in 1989, and overwhelmingly renewed in ‘93, ‘98, and ‘03, revenues from the sales tax have been dedicated to street rehabilitation, property tax reduction, economic develop-ment/job creation and capital expenditures. The city’s award winning street program is largely possible due to the sales tax. To date, 721 blocks have been improved, including replacement of

216,520 feet of curbing. In 2008, twenty-three blocks are scheduled to be rehabilitated. The largest portion of the sales tax money has been dedicated to property tax reduction. Proposed allocations for 2009-2014 are 60% to City Property Tax reduction, 26% to street rehabilitation, 2% to economic development and job creation, and 12% uncommitted. Officials estimate that without the sales tax, city property tax rates would be approximately 45% higher.

Other capital expenditure projects to benefit from excess sales tax have been the El Dorado YMCA, McDonald Stadium, Baseball Hall of Fame, City park improvements and sidewalk im-provements.

News from El Dorado, Kansas October 2008

Volume 2, Issue 4

Water reclamation system creates wildlife habitat

2

Construction begins for two businesses

2

“Stars on Main” 2

Job Fair brings employees, employers together

3

A passion for history 3

Community celebrates Courthouse Centennial

3

Christmas starts early in El Dorado

4

Inside this issue:

Special points of interest:

• “Come Grow with Us!”- El Dorado will host a booth at the League of Kansas Municipalities Annual Conference Trade Show at Century II on October 12 and 13. Stop by to meet El Dorado City staff members and El Dorado Inc. staffers. Pick up a packet of flower seeds and “come grow with us!”

Bridge on El Dorado’s newly opened bike path

El Dorado community renews city sales tax

Last August, City Manager Herb Llewellyn and Public Utilities Director Kurt Bookout traveled to New Orleans to receive the Environmental Project of the Year award from the American Public Works Association at their national conference. The award is for the City’s Wet-lands and Water Reclamation Facility, which has saved the city millions of dollars in construc-tion costs, resolves the problem of sewage bypasses caused by wet weather events, produces high quality effluent year round, and provides a prime wildlife habitat on the city’s edge, as a bonus.

The wetlands purify the excess waste water coming in during extreme precipitation events, and under normal flow conditions, receive ultra violet disinfected effluent from the treatment facil-ity. Effluent from the facility flows into the polishing pond, a significant aesthetic feature of the facility. The water then flows through the pond, through a wetlands within the pond, and then cascades into the Walnut River– two million gallons of clean water each day. The solids left behind, formerly known as sludge, are now referred to as bio-solids. Nutrients and

organic matter are put through a digestive, dewatering process and then composted with wood chips into a Class A bio-solids material which is applied to the adjacent city-owned farm ground. The wetlands created by this system are prime habitat for breeding, nesting, feeding and cover for many types of wildlife, as well as a diverse plant com-munity. El Dorado has plans to use the wetlands to enrich envi-ronmental education in the com-munity. For more information contact Kurt Bookout at 316-321-9100.

sessions located at the El Dorado Senior Center and B&B Theaters. The Kansas Main Street Program is a self-help program which helps communities in revitalizing their central business districts, capitalizing on the downtown’s history and identifying resources of the community. The state program, which started in 1985, provides man-

Three hundred Kansas Main Street volunteers from across the state will congregate in El Dorado for the annual Main Street Conference, hosted by the Kansas Department of Commerce, on October 22 through 24. The majority of conference activities will take place at the El Dorado Civic Center, with some breakout

agement training, consultation visits, local program evaluation, design assistance, business enhancement strategies, incentive dollars and ongoing training. El Dorado has been a Main Street City since 1998. This year El Dorado will win a de-sign award for District 142 and the Volunteer of the Year award.

Wildlife habitat oasis is created by city’s award winning wetland water reclamation system

“Stars on Main” gather in El Dorado for Main Street Symposium

pleased that M6, a valuable member of our industrial com-munity, has chosen to relocate in the El Dorado Industrial Park. The El Dorado Industrial Park also welcomes a new property owner. Consolidated Oil Well Services, LLC has purchased four acres fronted by Oil Hill Road, immediately north of the M6 Concrete Accessories property. Consolidated Oil Well Services,

LLC is an oil and gas well ser-vicing company engaged in well cementing, and well stimu-lation including hydraulic frac-turing and acidizing. They have been in business for more than 50 years and are headquartered in Chanute, KS. They have a total of nine service centers, including Eureka, Ottawa, and Thayer, KS, as well as Bartles-ville, Cushing and McAlester, OK., and Gillette and Wor-land, WY. The company cur-rently has 190 employees.

Construction begins for two businesses in El Dorado’s Industrial Park Site work has begun on the new 20,000 square foot facility, located on Oil Hill Road, which will be the new home of M6 Concrete Accessories. The new facility will double the size of their current building, also located in the El Dorado In-dustrial Park. Management is hoping to occupy the new fa-cility in late 2008. M6 specializes in manufactur-ing rebar, and currently em-ploys 5 individuals from El Dorado. City officials are quite

Page 2 E l Dorado Today Volume 2, Issue 4

Dawn concrete pour at M6 Concrete Accessories

El Dorado’s wetlands provides habitat for wildlife.

Job Fair draws 170 job seekers

Community celebrates Courthouse Centennial

background in early childhood education, and grew up with a mother who was a Civil War buff and a father who was an avid antique collector.

Today Lisa is the Education Coordinator for the Butler County History Center/Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado. She provides in depth research for the outstanding permanent exhibits there as well as the changing special events such as the Creepy Crawly Tours on the last two weekends in October. The walking tours will celebrate Halloween by recapping tales of murder, madness and mayhem from the dark side of El Dorado’s

A passion for history brings richness to community

Job Fair participants using computers in Kansas Works Mobile Unit

Butler County Courthouse is 100 years old.

On Friday, September 19th from 2 to 6 p.m., and Saturday, September 20th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., El Dorado Inc. and the Kansas Department of Commerce sponsored a job fair at the El Dorado YMCA. Fifteen businesses and 170 job seekers attended. The Kansas Works Mobile Unit from the Kansas Depart-ment of Commerce was onsite, equipped with computers to access tools such as the Kansas Career Pipeline, through which

job seekers took interest and skill assessments. 88 people visited the unit, of which 41 received services. Job placement professionals from Butler Community College were on hand to assist workers with creating effective resumes. Job seekers were able to com-plete employment applications and/or leave their resume with interested employers. A post event survey showed that a number of hires were

made through the job fair. All job seekers were encouraged to register at the Job Fair so that a data base may be estab-lished, through which updates on job openings may be emailed. “The El Dorado YMCA was ready and willing to partner with us in holding this event. We truly appreciate the com-munity spirit the staff there has,” said Linda Jolly, Executive Director of El Dorado Inc.

history. For more information visit kansasoilmuseum.org.

Allen has, with the help of a volunteer board, established the World War II History Center in El Dorado, which officially opened on September 27th. A work in progress, the WWII History Center features a tribute gallery to WWII veterans, an exhibit area, a research library containing books, periodicals and documentaries pertaining to WWII, and a gift shop. For more information visit wwiihis-torycenter.org.

Their passion for history has truly enriched El Dorado’s community.

It was a match made in cyberspace.

Lisa and Allen Cooley– one growing up in Towanda, the other in Newton– may never have met if it hadn’t been for an online dating service question-naire that queried, “What was your favorite subject in school?” They both answered history. On their first date, after 30 minutes of small talk, they talked for hours about what else- history.

Allen, a business degree holder and pipeline coordinator for Koch Industries, has been a World War II re-enactor whose father was a history teacher at Circle High School. Lisa has a

as Master of Ceremonies over the event, which began on the courthouse lawn with a hot dog/hamburger social. The program included music, a reenactment speech by Hatte-burg, placement of a new time capsule, and remarks by other officials. The Courthouse Lawn Social culminated nearly a week of events tied to the Courthouse Centennial, including tours of

One hundred years ago this December, the corner stone for Butler County’s new court-house building was laid. A box containing copies of the city’s newspapers, a Masonic Direc-tory and other articles was placed in the cornerstone. This October 2nd, the time capsule was unsealed and the contents revealed at a celebration of the Butler County Courthouse’s Centennial. Popular photojour-nalist Larry Hatteburg presided

the historic building, History Day sponsored by the Butler County History Center, and poster and essay contests. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, this 1901 Richardsonian Roman-esque style courthouse was built at a cost of $100,000. George P. Washburn, one of the best known 19th Century Kansas architects, designed this structure to be the domi-nant building in the community.

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Allen and Lisa Cooley

The magic of Christmas can be found at Walters Flowers in El Dorado.

El Dorado Inc. is a public/private partnership with the City of El Dorado whose mission is to further the economic development of the El Dorado area and its environs. The primary objectives of El Dorado Inc. shall be to benefit the community as measured by increased employment, payroll, business volume, housing starts and similar factors. For El Dorado Inc. membership information, contact Linda Jolly at 321-1485 or lkjolly@eldorado-inc.com

El Dorado Inc. 201 E. Central P.O. Box 350 El Dorado, KS 67042

We’re on the web! Visit us at www.eldorado-inc.com and www.visiteldoradoks.com

Phone: 316-321-1485 Fax: 316-321-5419 E-mail: lkjolly@eldorado-inc.com

El Dorado, Kansas—Where we enjoy the fine art of living well!

News from El Dorado, Kansas

Camera, Action!” for December 5th. All retailers are encouraged to create individual store pro-motions for the day, capped off by a Christmas Parade which will culminate in the lighting of the Christmas decorations downtown and a visit from Santa.

District 142 at the corner of Main and First Streets will be planning special promotions throughout the season, including a “Sip ‘n Primp” wine tasting by Beyond Napa Private Cellars with free mini-makeovers by Salon Knotty on November 29 (reservations needed), and fashion events by Pink Saloon.

Robin’s Women’s Apparel in downtown El Dorado will host a special series of promo-tional events which feature

It seems that El Dorado shop-pers know that the Christmas season has started when Walters Flowers has their Holiday Open House. Famous for their award winning home décor and floral designs, Walters attracts shoppers from far and wide throughout the year, but during the Christmas season, the store is an absolute holiday wonderland! This year the Open House has been sched-uled for October 26.

Other reasons to make a trip to El Dorado for shopping would be a collection of retailers whose creativity and service-oriented attitudes will bring shoppers back for repeat visits.

The Main Street Organization and El Dorado Chamber are planning “Christmas Lights,

Christmas starts early in El Dorado food, sometimes music, and special discounts for the day.

Elsewhere in town, Silver Hill, Stone Creek Nursery and Sutherlands Home Design Center all plan notable holiday retail promotions, as well as national retailers Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware and others.

Visit www.visiteldoradoks.com for more details

Silver Hill European Market features antiques, gifts, flowers.