Image courtesy Canva
Nearly 500 people attended the 2025 To The Stars: Kansas Business Awards Thursday night at Pittsburg State University’s Robert W. Plaster Center, where the Kansas Department of Commerce recognized businesses and entrepreneurs for their contributions to local communities and the state economy.
Grey Snow Management Solutions received the Governor’s Award of Excellence, while GeoProbe Systems was named Governor’s Exporter of the Year. A record 431 nominees competed across 11 categories, with 372 Merit Awards, 59 Regional Awards, and several statewide honors presented.
The ceremony also inducted Marci Penner of Inman and historical honoree Emerson Carey Sr. of Hutchinson into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame. Two new awards debuted this year: the Small Business Champion – Corporate Partner Award and the Mainstreet Momentum Award, celebrating corporate partnerships and downtown revitalization efforts.
The 2025 Statewide Award winners included:
- Agribusiness: Liquid Art Winery and Estate, Manhattan
- Apprenticeship Champions and Partners: American Implement, Garden City
- Business Innovation: Shed Lifestyles, LLC, Kansas City
- Healthcare/Nonprofit: Special Olympics Kansas, Inc., Mission
- Mainstreet Momentum: Grand Central Hotel and Grill, Cottonwood Falls
- Manufacturing/Distribution: LeDuc Memorial Designs, Concordia
- Non-Traditional Talent Pools: AllMetal Recycling, LLC, Wichita
- Retail/Service: Grey Snow Management Solutions, Cloud
- Small Business Champion – Corporate Partner: Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, Inc., Norton
- Under 30 Entrepreneur: Braiden Werth, Werth Eye Group, P.A., Hays
- Welcome Back: Davey and Kim Froman, Miners and Monroe, Pittsburg
