New businesses recognized at the ACDC annual meeting included McGinness Game & Tackle, LLC (Josh McGinness), Holmes Automotive (Trevor Holmes), Hawthorn Salt Sauna and The Hawthorn Room (Dara and Donovan Spears), and Cooper Properties (Sheila Cooper).

 

Milestone Achievement Awards were presented to Kelly’s Welding & Repair (Kelly and Nancy Daugherty), David L. Scarbrough, DDS, LLC (Dr. David Scarbrough), and Fuzzy’s Harvesting Repair (Kenny and Joy Clapp).

 

Community Improvement Awards were presented to the Fairfax Improvement Foundation, Fairfax Kiwanis Club, and Tarkio Parks & Recreation. Pictured, from left to right, are Matt Straub, Bob Carlock, Danny Kemerling, Aimeé Seymour, Marilyn Alldredge, Bob Alldredge, Roseann Nemyer, Shannon Cole, Dr. Jason McDowell, Karly Hicks, and Ashlee Driskell.

 

Perry Plumbing and Septic, LLC, received a Business Expansion Award from ACDC’s president Lori Seymour. Accepting the award were Kinsley Perry, Kaden Perry, Kaylee Perry, Kyler Perry, Kade Perry, Travis Hicks, Skyler Alsup, and Karly Hicks.

 

Lori Seymour presented the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer Award to Joanna Burke.

 

The Atchison County Development Corporation (ACDC) held its annual meeting Wednesday, September 30, 2026. President Lori Seymour welcomed nearly 80 guests to the Fairfax R-3 School cafeteria, recognizing elected officials in attendance. Roger Martin, board member, led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and offered the invocation. Guests enjoyed a dinner prepared by Crystal Woodring (and family) and dessert from Keeling’s Dairy Diner.

Jill Davis, board member, presented New Business Awards to the following:

• Cooper Properties (Sheila Cooper, Rock Port) buys and renovates homes to be used as rental properties.

• Dara and Donovan Spears (Tarkio) own two new businesses. The Hawthorn Room, LLC, is a beautifully curated event space on Main Street, featuring a kitchen, tables, chairs, and a serving buffet.  Hawthorn Salt Sauna, LLC, a halotherapy sauna offering halo salt therapy, red light therapy, infrared heat, and chromotherapy, is located at The Hawthorn Room.

• Holmes Automotive (Trevor Holmes, Rock Port) is an auto repair facility that offers everything from routine maintenance to major mechanical repairs on anything from scooters to diesel trucks.

• McGinness Game and Tackle, LLC (Josh McGinness, Tarkio) is a bait and tackle shop that offers a wide variety of live bait, along with nightcrawlers, frozen bait, fishing tackle, and other supplies, including custom bank poles.

Other new businesses that were unable to attend include:

• Anden Wright Detailing (Anden Wright, Tarkio) offers professional auto detailing and maintenance services for cars and trucks, SUVs and farm equipment. Services include full detailing, tire changes/balancing/rotations, oil changes, and more.

• Crowleys Auto Repair, LLC (Gage Crowley, Fairfax) is a mobile mechanic, offering repairs and diagnostics, and covering everything from brake jobs to transmission replacements.

• Gibson Blades (Jacob Gibson, Rock Port) makes quality handmade knives with hard work, craftsmanship, and passion behind every blade.

• Hays Bookkeeping Services, LLC (Marshal Hays, Rock Port) provides accurate, dependable bookkeeping, account reconciliation, and clear financial reporting for small businesses.

• Keeling’s Dairy Diner, LLC (Mallory Fisher, Fairfax) is an ice cream diner that serves up sweet treats like Stackers and Bulldogs, as well as coffees, dirty sodas, energy drinks, lemonades, and Sunday food specials.

• Lucas Honey (Levi Lucas, Rock Port) harvests local honey which is available for sale at Do It Best Hardware in Rock Port.

• McNaughton Construction & Land Management, LLC (Shane McNaughton, Westboro) repairs tile and intakes, builds small basins with intakes, and offers small tree, field edge, CRP, and pasture clean up.

• Mac’s Meats (Jake McEnaney, Tarkio) offers retail sales of Atchison County-grown beef, pork, fresh eggs, and other farm fresh products.

• Oswald Drone Application (Cameron Oswald, Fairfax) uses a sprayer drone to apply fungicide and herbicide on everything from full fields to ditches and fencelines, and everywhere in between.

• Rock Port Oil and Tire (Nate & Kelsey Chard, Rock Port, new owners) provides automotive services, including oil changes, tires, brakes, suspension, air conditioning, and more.

• Stoner Midwest Realty, LLC (Tierra Stoner, Rock Port) offers local, personalized real estate services, specializing in residential homes, acreages, land, commercial properties, and investment properties.

Mary Ann Hull, board mem-ber, presented a Business Expansion Award to Perry Plumbing and Septic, LLC, who recently established a physical location in Tarkio and purchased their own pump truck.

Milestone Achievement Awards

Hull, Martin, and Eryn Stepp, secretary, then recognized the following businesses with Milestone Achievement Awards and thanked them for their decades of service to Atchison County:

• In 1987, a young dentist named David Scarbrough and his wife, Jennifer, moved to our beloved corner of the world and joined Dr. Cleveland’s dental practice. In 1989, the Scarbroughs purchased the practice and David L. Scarbrough, DDA, LLC, was born. For nearly 40 years, Dr. Scarbrough and his staff have served their customers with care, professionalism, knowledge, and efficiency.  Dr. Scarbrough’s love for and dedication to his patients, especially kids, is evidenced by the many individuals and families who have trusted him for decades.

• In the late 70s, a John Deere mechanic (and his wife, Joy) moved from Burlington, Kansas, to Atchison County to work at the newly built Tarkio Equipment (John Deere dealership). Lucky for us, in 1985, that mechanic established Fuzzy’s Harvesting Repair. Kenny Clapp initially worked out of a small shop north of Tarkio, though more often he took his uniquely outfitted truck to the field to repair tractors and combines there, a practice that was novel at the time. Around 1990, Joy joined Kenny at the new shop location and parts store on Hwy. 59 south of the Y, where they served their customers for 30 years. In August 2019, Fuzzy’s returned to the place it all began, only this time he worked in a new, climate-controlled garage where the combines started coming to him.

• Ted and Vickie Simmons began Simmons MFA Service in 1976 in Fairfax. Ted’s brother, Bud, worked for them in high school and after graduating and being away for couple of years, he returned and joined them full-time in 1981. Ted had a huge heart for service and when Bud joined, the service and business side of things grew even stronger.  In 2017, Bud and his wife, Lyn, purchased the building from MFA and the business became Simmons Service, LLC. In 2021, our community lost Ted to cancer, but Bud has continued the family business. Over the years, Simmons has employed several school-to-work students, one of them being Bud’s nephew, Blake, who went full-time after graduation and is now helping with the tire side of the business.

• In the late 1960s, Kelly Daugherty and his wife, Nancy, bought a few acres on Hwy. 136 east of Rock Port. Kelly started Kelly’s Welding and Repair, working out of his garage and serving customers on nights and weekends when he wasn’t working at the packing plant. His hired man was a heavy-duty 1969 International boom truck, which he still uses occasionally to this day. In 1972, he built the building you see today and went full time, working six to seven days per week.

Community Improvement Awards

Stepp presented two Community Improvement Awards. The first award went to the Fairfax Improvement Foundation and Fairfax Kiwanis Club for raising $112,130 (including a $37,000 grant from The Patterson Family Foundation) in 30 days for the Fairfax School to honor the 100th anniversary of the original school building. The second award went to Tarkio Parks & Recreation, which fundraised to renovate the tennis and pickleball court (at a cost of $70,000) in Tarkio, in between all the community-building events they host throughout the year.

Outstanding Volunteer Award

Stepp presented an Outstanding Volunteer Award to Joanna Burke for her heart for kids in our county. A few years ago, she saw a need for kids to connect with caring adults in the community and started the GuidingFlight mentoring program at Rock Port School. In 2024, Joanna took her vision one step further by spearheading the creation of the first chapter of TeamMates (a multi-state mentorship program) in Missouri at the Rock Port School and introduced the idea to the Tarkio School, which has now established its own chapter.

Shelby Hurst (Atchison County Library) and Jaycee Nell (KG Buds Designs by Jay), two outstanding Atchison County natives, shared their stories of choosing to establish their careers and lives in their home county.

Seymour presented the current slate of ACDC officers: Lori Seymour, president; Mary Ann Hull, vice-president; Eryn Stepp, secretary; and Craig Corken, treasurer.

Monica Bailey, Executive Director, highlighted several ACDC efforts:

• Traditional economic development through incentive creation and management, working regionally on workforce issues and responding to leads from the state for businesses looking to establish a new location

• Business Improvement Grant for existing businesses and helping new businesses get started

• Shop local efforts: Annual Shop AC event (November 19 this year), #ShopAC Facebook group, and the fifth annual Atchison County Artisans Holiday Makers Market (November 7 at Rock Port Elementary Gym)

• Emerging workforce programs: Careers on Wheels, Youth Professionalism Workshop, 8th Grade Career Day, and Job Shadowing

• ACDC Scholarships for graduating seniors, local individuals enrolled in Tarkio Tech programs, and a new scholarship for adult learners

• Nonprofit Support Grant, Community Cleanup Grant (Tarkio Renewal mural project), and Youth Beautification Grant (Westboro youth gazebo and park clean-up)

• Community Enrichment Fund (Leadership Northwest, Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation, Battle of the Books).

• Staff support of Tarkio Renewal and Restore Rock Port

• Promoting and advocating for Atchison County (including Great Northwest Day at the Capitol).