By Debra Teufel
On Thursday, I opened a message from the Tribune publisher offering the opportunity for an op-ed column. I spent Labor Day pondering this important assignment. With so many noteworthy happenings, the question wasn’t where to begin, but what would make the cut.
Last Tuesday, we hosted a dinner under the canopy of a Kansas sky with golden sunflowers nodding in attention at Gaeddert Farms’ Kansas Maze near Buhler, where a farm-to-table dinner recognized community boosters.
Wednesday, we advocated for a job creation incentive at Reno County Commission with Wifco Steel, planning to add twenty more jobs this year. Later that morning, over 300 Kansas Commerce staff converged on Hutchinson—where the Lt. Governor Toland marveled at our Cosmosphere, giving a nod to the work that our community partners are doing to advance economic development countywide.
This week, the next step toward the $1 billion Evergy power plant in Reno County begins with a rezoning hearing in South Hutch. All are worthy topics, but instead I decided to reflect on an historic event, years in the making.
In case you missed it, last week was an official birth announcement—Volume 1, Issue 1 of The Hutchinson Tribune, born in print on August 28, 2025. Hutchinsonians began posting to their social accounts about getting their hands on this edition in newsprint.
After two decades of daily social media influence, the anticipation is no doubt rooted in the hunger for hyperlocal journalism. I’m not discounting the efficiency of digital media in our lives, but the excitement was proof positive that local news is print-worthy.
Very few get to see the birth of a new enterprise, but some of us had a front row seat, watching Michael Glenn and Gina Long showing up at public meetings, to early meetings with Joey and Lindsey Young asking, “what if,” and witnessing Jackson Swearer on his own entrepreneurial journey.
It warmed my heart to see our new mural on the front page and Joey Young’s column, “All roads lead back to Hutchinson”, complete with a nod to the artwork coming to life at the Chamber of Commerce at 2nd & Walnut. I’m looking forward to this new era, celebrating all things local and newsworthy.
Could there be a direct correlation between local print media and success of new business starts on Main Street? I often find myself touting the number of small businesses opened in the last decade in Reno County. With thirty or more ribbon cuttings per year, I hope this new era of local journalism is a turning point, turning a page back in time where community news and local advertising was the first thing we read after school.
My local newspaper certainly had an impact on my formative years, with the ritual of opening the newspaper to read about local issues, political opinions from a local publisher, local celebrations, marriages and anniversaries, births and obituaries, achievements and honor rolls, spelling bees and speeding tickets, honor rolls and scholarships, touchdowns and takedowns, and who made the local cheerleading squad.
I remember clipping the stories and tucking them in scrapbooks. Sometimes a family friend would laminate an accolade and send it via snail mail with a handwritten note.
Last week, Gary Ediger showed up in the office with a smile and a laminated clipping from the front page of the Tribune. Let’s celebrate The Hutchinson Tribune founders for bringing this local ritual back into our lives. We are all here to cheer you on!
Debra Teufel is President/CEO of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at debrat@hutchchamber.com