connections www.rainbowtel.net 800-892-0163 SUMMER 2025 • VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 1 BUSINESS KSI Is Setting the Standard KSi Named Governor’s Exporter of the Year 3 Spotlight on KSi 4 AI Use Is Booming Among Small Businesses 6 Returning to Your Roots 7 Skylar Fish assembles a KSi belt conveyor, featuring the company’s flagship patented, cleated belt.
2 Summer 2025 Business Connections is a publication of Rainbow Communications, 608 Main St., Everest, KS 66424. Editorial and Circulation Contact: Jackie Petersen 608 Main St. Everest, KS 66424 800.892.0163 x1105 Extra issues are available to business customer employees on a limited basis while supplies last. Contact: Jackie Petersen 608 Main St. Everest, KS 66424 800.892.0163 x1105 All brand names and product names used in this publication are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright® 2025 by Rainbow Communications and Cornerstone Publishing Group, Inc. Postmaster send changes to: Jackie Petersen PO Box 147 Everest, KS 66424 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Ideas are seeds that grow into something more. They start out small, but with time and nurturing, can become technology with huge impact.The seed theme for this summer issue of Business Connections was inspired by the Business Spotlight on KSi, which you’ll find on pages 4 and 5. KSi developed a patented, cleated belt technology that outperformed conventional augers and belt conveyors for moving seed. The family-owned business, with locations in Sabetha, Kansas, and Cissna Park, Illinois, is known for innovation. Rainbow is proud to partnerwithKSi tomeet their high-speed Internet needs in Sabetha. Page 3 provides a preamble to the Business Spotlight, KSi Named Governor’s Exporter of the Year. Rainbow joins all Kansans in congratulating KSi and thanking them for helping our state grow into something more. KSi uses industrial automation and AI to address challenges like rising labor costs, labor shortages, and operational inefficiencies. Have you experimented with AI at your business yet? Check out AI Use Is Booming Among Small Businesses on page 6 for implementation ideas. Don’t miss Returning to Your Roots on page 7, which features Duane Kaeb, Director of Technology at KSi. After college, he returned to his Sabetha roots for years, and he now connects virtually from his home office in Riverview, Florida. No matter what field your business is in, Rainbow encourages you to plant seeds for growth. Please contact us to discuss the communications technology required. Sincerely, The Rainbow Customer Relations and Business Development Team connections BUSINESS First row: Suzanne Schuster, Julie Bergman, and Deanna Lanter Second row: Cheryl Moon, Jenny Haislip, and Jennifer Hermesch Third row: Angie Kreider, Jerad Enneking. and Madelyn Coleman Not pictured: Mikayla Parsons SUMMER 2025
BUSINESS connections Summer 2025 3 KSi is changing the agricultural industry and paving the way for the creation of evenmore innovative technologies here in Kansas,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Their focus on quality products, ground-breaking developments, and a strong international footprint make them the best choice for this prestigious award.” The Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award is the top export business award presented by the State of Kansas. KSi received the award last October during the Kansas Department of Commerce ToThe Stars: Kansas Business Awards banquet in Wichita. “KSi is humbled and honored to host the Governor and Lieutenant Governor in our Kansas facility. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire KSi team, and it reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality solutions to the agricultural industry,” said KSi Chief Executive Officer Paul Kaeb. “We’re proud to represent Kansas on the international stage and look forward to continuing our global growth and contributing to the state’s economic success.” KSi is a family-owned business with operating offices and manufacturing facilities in Kansas and Illinois, as well as regional representation, strategic partnerships, and offices in the MidwesternUnited States, Canada, and SouthAmerica.The company’s expertise led to the development and design of Bulk Seed Site conveyors and related equipment, including the creation of one of the most sophisticated and user-friendly automation control systems available. The company is reliably moving seed around the globe in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. “KSi’s strategic approach to innovation is directly impacting our local and state economy—while their Kansas-made products are improving lives across the globe,” said Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland. “KSi is a perfect example of the type of company Kansas needs to drive growth in our state’s vibrant food and agriculture sector. Our state’s world-leader status is furthered by KSi’s advanced technologies and reliability.” KSi was one of three finalists for the award, joined by GeoProbe Systems in Salina and Lubrication Engineers in Wichita. You can read more about KSi in the Business Spotlight on pages 4 and 5. KSi Named Governor’s Exporter of theYear Rainbow congratulates KSi on this award Governor Laura Kelly and Lieutenant Governor David Toland visited KSi in Sabetha on February 6, 2025, to officially honor the company’s selection as the 2024 Governor’s Exporter of the Year.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT 4 Summer 2025 Moving seed and moving forward Setting the Standard Around the Globe KSi’s technology and focus on seed quality helped the company establish a reputation within the industry as the standard for high-quality conveyors and seed handling equipment. This spirit of innovation—combined with a dedication to integrity and service—soon led to ground-breaking developments in bulk seed systems, seed treatment application equipment, and stateof-the-art automation and datamanagement technology across the agriculture industry. As the leader in this industry niche, KSi has developed partnerships and engineered products in conjunction with some of the largest multinational agricultural equipment manufacturers and input suppliers, resulting in KSi products being sold throughout the world. Today, KSi seeks to discover partnerships and/or opportunities that expand its global footprint, specifically in equipment and technology for seed treatment application and agrichemical processing systems. These efforts have increased sales internationally, especially in the targeted areas of Canada and Brazil, with additional, steady growth in other areas of Latin America, South Africa, and Europe. The company has 115 employees worldwide, including approximately 50 employees based in both its locations in Sabetha, Kansas, and Cissna Park, Illinois. Those locations have a total of over 90,000 square feet of production and office space. Partnering With Rainbow To keep the Sabetha location operating efficiently, KSi has long counted on Rainbow services. KSi It all started with a belt. In 2000, the four Kaeb brothers founded KSi and developed a patented, cleated belt technology that outperformed conventional augers and belt conveyors. It moved seed more quickly and efficiently, had the ability to perform at an angle up to 40 degrees, and could gently handle material with very little damage to the seed. Jason Kaeb and Todd Strahm review project status reports in the KSi Sabetha office. Robert Mosteller installs a hydraulic valve body onto the swingaway inlet on a KSi belt conveyor. Dustin Millsap wires up a control panel for a liquid pumping stand used in KSi seed treatment application systems.
Summer 2025 5 BUSINESS connections Jason Kaeb, Chief Operations Officer, said, “KSi has partnered with Rainbow since 2013, when Rainbow installed high-speed Internet service to the western edge of its Sabetha service area, where it could then be broadcast (via tower) to our KSi office and manufacturing facility, located approximately three miles west of town. Prior to this, KSi struggled to get stable, reliable Internet service to our rural location at a time when the company was seeing rapid growth.” In 2022, Rainbow proudly worked with KSi to bring fiber Internet directly to their Sabetha location to support the company’s growing technological needs and enhance daily operations. The project required approximately threemiles of fiber infrastructure, incorporating both aerial and buried fiber lines. A key part of the installation included a continued partnership with the City of Sabetha, utilizing city-owned electric poles to extend aerial fiber to the facility. This collaborative approach not only streamlined the installation process but also demonstrated the power of public-private partnerships in rural broadband development. Kaeb noted, “The newfound reliability and faster connection speeds of Rainbow’s fiber Internet brought significant benefits. It facilitated better communication with our business partners, improved capacity and reliability for the critical remote technical support services that KSi provides during busy seasonal demands, and facilitated a seamless user experience for network functions and file sharing among our Kansas, Illinois, and global facilities (such as in Canada and Brazil). In recent years, KSi has expanded our service portfolio to include many complex and sophisticated IT and cloud-based solutions. The tremendous speed and reliability of Rainbow’s fiber Internet, as well as responsive and capable troubleshooting and support, meet our ever-growing technology needs and allow us to keep providing industry-leading technical solutions and support to our customers.” Expanding Industrial Automation As a technology provider to multiple segments of the agricultural industry, KSi is finding new and innovative ways to address challenges like rising labor costs, labor shortages, and operational inefficiencies. “Industrial automation—including the use of AI—has become essential for achieving ROI, reducingmanhours, and enhancing accuracy and consistency across systems. Industrywide, there’s a strong emphasis on improving accountability and integrating systems to maximize efficiency, reflecting a broader shift toward smarter, more connected operations,” said Kaeb. What’s ahead for KSi? Kaeb replied, “In 2025, KSi is focused on expanding the capabilities of our automation and technology solutions to better serve our agricultural and industrial customers. We continue to invest in advanced systems, including AI and cloud-based innovations, to enhance operational efficiency and customer support. With strategic hiring initiatives aimed at strengthening our engineering, technical support, and service teams, KSi is positioning ourselves for continued growth while maintaining the high level of service and innovation our customers expect.” The tremendous speed and reliability of Rainbow’s fiber Internet, as well as responsive and capable troubleshooting and support, meet our ever-growing technology needs and allow us to keep providing industry-leading technical solutions and support to our customers.” — JASON KAEB, CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, KSi Rod Farwell and Skylar Fish discuss the impact of some engineering design updates in the assembly process.
6 Summer 2025 According to the 2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s report, “Empowering Small Business: The Impact of Technology on U.S. Small Business,” generative AI use has nearly doubled to 40%, compared to 23% in 2023. These businesses are mostly using generative AI for marketing tasks and to better understand and communicate with customers. What are some examples? Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Adobe Firefly can help with content creation for all types of marketing and advertising applications—including blog posts, social media, and emails. AI-enabled Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can help drive sales or identify marketing opportunities based on its learnings from customer behavior and data, such as offering incentives based on order value and frequency. It can also help predict future customer behavior and provide suggestions related to developing trends. Adding a chatbot to a website is another example of AI use. Chatbots can field common requests from customers and free up time for employees to address more complex issues. They also extend customer service hours beyond the usual hours of operation. Is your business currently using any generative AI tools? If not, these benefits may encourage you to start: • Improved efficiency: AI can increase employee productivity by decreasing the time required for rote or recurring tasks. • Reduced costs: AI can help optimize inventory management to minimize costs associated with overstocking and stockouts. • Enhanced customer experience: AI can assist in personalizing content or business offerings to offer more customers a unique engagement with the brand. • Increased growth opportunities: Many AI programs incorporate machine learning algorithms, which can offer an enhanced understanding of customer behavior via pattern recognition that improves over time. This can lead to better sales and revenue growth. • Better decision making: AI can provide and interpret analytics on large volumes of key business data to facilitate better problem solving. It’s important to note that you’re probably already using common technology that’s in some way enabled by AI technology, such as mapping apps, financial management tools, and virus detection. It could be time to go from dipping your toes in the AI water to jumping in! AI Use Is Booming Among Small Businesses
BUSINESS connections Summer 2025 7 We periodically highlight people in our community whose career path brought them back to their roots in northeast Kansas. This issue features Duane Kaeb, Director of Technology at KSi. “I grew up a few miles west of Sabetha, right where the pavement turns to gravel. As a little boy I could be found in the tractor’s buddy seat beside Dad, and by high school I was running the grain cart with KU football booming on the radio. Summers meant swimming, tearing around the countryside on four-wheelers, and driveway basketball—where I would consistently get schooled by my older brothers,” said Duane Kaeb. After Kaeb graduated from Sabetha High School in 2009, he headed to K-State in Manhattan, Kansas, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems. “I moved back to Sabetha in late 2012 and married the love of my life Amanda (another small-town Midwesterner) in 2013. We built 12 rich years there—settling into church, work, and a close circle of friends as well as welcoming five children and experiencing unforgettable generosity from the community, especially when we adopted our daughter and, just three months later, welcomed a newborn son,” Kaeb said. He added, “Over time those friends relocated, andwhen a remotework option with KSi became available in 2024, we prayerfully took a leap of faith, packed up our family, and moved halfway across the country to Riverview, Florida, a suburb of Tampa.” Kaeb works as Director of Technology from a dedicated home office opposite the kids’ homeschool room. He oversees IT operations alongside KSi’s internal SysAdmin who handles the day-to-day IT, and designs and reviews hardware-and-software solutions, writes code, sets architectural direction, and leads marathon Teams calls with engineers. He noted, “Because my team was already distributed across the USA, the transition to remote work went smoothly. I typically travel to KSi’s Kansas or Illinois locations about once a quarter.” What does Kaeb miss most about living in Sabetha? He replied, “I miss the wide-open spaces, built-in freedom, and everyday sense of adventure. Those are things our children simply can’t experience in Riverview.” When Kaeb visits Sabetha now, he’s struck by several things: “For a corner of northeast Kansas, the industrial footprint of Sabetha is astounding, and it’s exciting for KSi to be part of that. The community spirit hasn’t budged, whether it’s Friday night lights, a benefit supper, or a quick project at the ball fields. People still show up for each other in a way big cities envy.” Returning to Your Roots
Cornerstone Group©2025 FIBER INTERNET MAKES HOME VALUES GO UP According to the Fiber Broadband Association, homes with fiber Internet access have sold for as much as 4.9% more than homes without fiber access. What else goes up thanks to fiber? Internet speed goes up, business values go up, and interest in rentals goes up. Rainbow proudly provides fiber-to-the-home in our cooperative regions and is expanding our fiber reach in other communities. Things are definitely looking up! For fiber updates, visit www.fiber.rainbowtel.net.
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