Business Connections for Summer 2020

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 7 // Business Connections Karen Seaberg had a warm welcome to her hometown of Atchison. “I was born on a hot day at the old hospital in Atchison, and my mother told me there was no air conditioning back then,” Seaberg said with a grin. Atchison has been home to Seaberg ever since. Why has she stayed? She replied, “Where else could I go where I can enjoy small town living—with no traffic issues—and help to make a difference with people who care about their community? When I want the experience of a major city, I’m only about an hour away from Leavenworth, Lawrence, Saint Joseph, Kansas City, and Shawnee.” Trips of much longer distances have long been a treasured part of Seaberg’s life. “I haven’t considered living anywhere else but Atchison, but I sure do love to travel. For 25 years, I worked as a travel agent and outside travel consultant, and I still dabble in it a little bit now for family members.” Seaberg currently serves on the five-member Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation Board. She noted, “The foundation has just one full-time employee and one part-time employee. We work together to achieve the vision of an aviation museum that honors the accomplishments of Amelia Earhart.” She is also Chairman of the Board at MGP Ingredients and a board member of the Cray Medical Research Foundation, whose mission is to provide long-term diabetes mellitus research. “If I had to name what I like most about Atchison, it would be the people here who are so dedicated to making things work. There’s such an incredible group of young people coming back to Atchison after being away for years. My message to young people is this: I know it can be challenging in a small town, but we need more professional jobs in Atchison. So come back and help make it happen.” Normally this page features “Returning to Your Roots” articles about people whose career paths brought them back to their hometowns. In this issue, we instead showcase someone who stayed close to home—Karen Seaberg, Chairman of the Board of MGP Ingredients and Chair of the Amelia Earhart Festival on the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation Board. Karen Seaberg Been Here, Never Left