HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A new company is coming to Hutchinson. At the same time, a staple of the downtown area will come back to life. eNGines-LPG announced its plans Thursday to begin operations at the former Betts Bakery facility at 120 E. 3rd Ave. eNGines-LPG is a family-owned and operated industrial engine distributor and generator manufacturer. This facility will serve as the company’s flagship headquarters where it will assemble, distribute, sell and support product lines. It will serve as a showroom for innovation for current and future products.

President of eNGines-LPG, Matt Roeser, explains, “Protecting the environment is our passion and culture — providing environmentally-safe engine solutions. eNGines-LPG is a concept to operate an engine which can run off both natural gas (NG) and propane (LPG) fuels while maintaining the lowest emission output and below the U.S. EPA required standards. Our products range from 5 HP – 250 HP natural gas (NG), propane (LPG) and diesel (D) fuel engine solutions. All of which focus on our promise of providing environmentally-safe engine solutions.”

“Since March, Greater Hutch — the economic development division of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce — worked in concert with the Kansas Department of Commerce, City of Hutchinson, Reno County, and JP Weigand & Sons to help attract eNGines-LPG to Hutchinson,” Debra Teufel, president/CEO of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber, said. “We are excited to welcome eNGines-LPG to Hutchinson. Their entrepreneurial spirit and company culture will be a great addition to the Reno County business community.”

The company was seeking a location for its production facility that would give it the logistical advantage of a central location with excellent access to its current and future customer base, as well as a strong workforce.

“With our central location, and as a leading state for companies in the energy industry, we know eNGines-LPG has made a great choice in relocating to its new home in Hutchinson, Kansas,” Robert North, interim secretary for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said. “We are pleased to welcome this great company to Kansas and are looking forward to being a part of their future success.”

Future build out and upgrades include plans to update a majority of the building into warehousing and cross-dock storage. Furthermore, they envision converting a portion of the building to other start-up entrepreneurs who are looking for manufacturing space to grow and develop their business.

“Our family roots drew us to Kansas, but what ultimately attracted us to Hutchinson was the culture of the community. Your hospitality, sincere approach and desire to assist in our vision for growth was evident from our first visit,” Roeser said. “The building at 120 East 3rd is a true gem, and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to help be her caretaker. The sheer size of the building provides great potential. It is large enough to suit our immediate needs and long-term vision while also providing unique character in a vibrant, downtown setting.”

Economic development has been a top priority for the Chamber, carried out by Greater Hutch staff, as they focus on bringing new investment and jobs to Hutchinson and Reno County. “We appreciate the teamwork of our city, county and state partners to bring resources to bear that will lead to the creation of over 50 new jobs,” Teufel said. “We are excited to secure another economic development win for Reno County with a company that will create quality new jobs.”

eNGines-LPG will begin to transition into the space immediately with an operation date targeted for second quarter 2019. Hiring is expected to begin immediately for key positions, with support staffing ramping up in the beginning of 2019. Prospective employees should submit online résumés to information@engines-lpg.com.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The first set of historic consoles used by NASA flight controllers to manage the first missions to land astronauts on the moon left the Cosmosphere SpaceWorks facility in Hutchinson on Wednesday. The panels were loaded up in a NASA Super Guppy aircraft and flown out of Wichita.

According to the Cosmosphere, the panels arrived in Houston and a second set of panels are being loaded onto trucks and should arrive at SpaceWorks sometime next week.

When completed, the $5 million restoration will return Mission Operations Control Room-2 inside the Mission Control Center to how it looked at the time of Apollo 11, the first mission to land humans on the moon.

Space Center Houston, the visitor center for Johnson Space Center, together with NASA, Texas Historical Commission and the National Park Service are overseeing the project, with the goal of having it ready in time for the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing next year. The Park Service gave its approval for the restoration in 2017 given the room’s status as a National Historic Landmark since 1985.

The consoles were first used for NASA’s Gemini 4 mission in 1965 and retired after STS-53, the 52nd space shuttle mission in December 1992.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The first in a series of face-to-face meetings with the Kansas Association of School Boards and USD 308 regarding the next superintendent is set for both Thursday morning and evening. The public is encouraged to attend.

The district is looking to hire its next superintendent and is asking for public input on what they are looking for in the district’s next leader. The first meeting will run from 10 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. The evening meeting is from 6:30 until 8. Both meetings will be held at the HCTEA building at 800 15th Circle.

Additionally, the district continues to run a survey online. Members of the public can voice their opinions about the superintendent position online until Nov. 19 at www.research.net/r/hutchsupt.

The district hopes to name its new superintendent by the middle of January.