Former admissions professional forms College Connections of Kansas

WICHITA — Parents helping their children choose colleges can sometimes have a difficult time guiding them.

Don Hapward wants to help.

Hapward spent more than three decades doing college admissions work across the country.

He’s now starting College Connections of Kansas to help families in the greater Wichita area through the college application process.

“I can see it from the other side,” Hapward says of handling applications. He’s seen “thousands of them over the years.”

When Hapward and his wife came to Wichita several years ago, his plan was to retire. Instead, he found himself teaching at Wichita Collegiate School, where he still helps coach golf and bowling.

Parents of Collegiate students are who encouraged him to start his business.

“There are so many people who would like to have your expertise,” is something Hapward says he’s heard a lot.

“I’ve just heard that desire from a lot of parents. ‘I just wish we had someone we could go to.’ ”

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Antoine Toubia’s son opens Bocconcini catering

nathanWICHITA — One of Antoine Toubia’s sons is back in business in Wichita.

Nathan Toubia is the only one of five sons of the late founder of Latour Management to still be in Wichita.

A few years ago, the sons had a well-publicized split from the business that their aunts still run.

“We get along, and we left it as business, and it never affected our personal relationship,” Nathan Toubia says.

He had been working for Lidia’s in Kansas City but returned a year ago and worked for Latour’s food operation at Wichita Collegiate School.

Now, he’s started his own catering company: Bocconcini.

Toubia hopes his business one day grows into a restaurant.

“It is a difficult time to open a restaurant with the state of the economy,” he says. “Hopefully with a brighter economy and love of my food and service, a restaurant will be in the works.”

Toubia will focus on fresh pastas like Lidia’s makes.

“I just think that Wichita lacks any really good Italian restaurants.”