Daily Archives: Sept. 20, 2012

You don’t say

Sept. 20, 20122:35 p.m.

“I don’t get a lot of sleep.”

– Kirby’s Beer Store owner Alex Thomas, who says great employees enabled him to also purchase Lucky’s Everyday at 1217 E. Douglas in addition to working a day job

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Bars, You don't say | Comments Off

Former city expediter Curtis Bowen starts CBC Expediting to serve as liaison

Sept. 20, 20121:16 p.m.

WICHITA — After seven years of handling expediting for the city, Curtis Bowen is now heading out on his own to do the same thing.

“I’m not quite completely ramped up,” Bowen says of his new CBC Expediting.

His plan is to help companies get their commercial blueprints to the right place at the city.

“They need someone to be kind of like a liaison between them and the city,” Bowen says. “This works well for out-of-town businesses.”

Often, he says that “they’re working on a wing and a prayer that they get to the right area.”

Bowen worked for the city for a couple of decades, including 14 years as a building inspector.

He says he decided to take a buyout from the city and start his own company.

His office is in 1,300 square feet at 434 N. Ohio, which is where Rep. Mike Pompeo’s Wichita campaign headquarters was.

Bowen says his career is unique.

“Just about every major city has one,” he says of expediters.

He thinks he’s the only one here, though.

“I know I’m the only one because you have to know the city’s system to be one.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Uncategorized | Comments Off

Despite verbiage in legal filing, Community Bank of Wichita is not selling

Sept. 20, 201211:59 a.m.

WICHITA — Steve Carr knew before he even looked at the paper this morning that he’d have some questions to answer.

There’s a legal notice in today’s paper that makes it appear that theater owner Bill Warren and lawyers Mark and Andrew Hutton are buying Community State Bancshares, parent company of Community Bank of Wichita, but that’s not the case.

“Nothing’s really changing,” says Carr, chairman and president. “The bank isn’t being sold.”

The bank is buying back stock from some stockholders, one of whom died and one of whom got divorced, and was forced to do a public notice about it.

“It’s a totally regulatory deal,” Carr says.

It’s one that he didn’t expect, either.

“We said, ‘Really? Seriously?’” upon learning there would have to be a notice.

The legal filing says Luxury Development Partners intends to apply for permission to get control of the bank, “and, thus, to become a bank holding company.”

Warren and the Huttons are owners of Luxury Development.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Banks, Legal | Comments Off