Bethany College Presents the 20th Biennial Business Career Conference

LINDSBORG, KAN., Sept. 22 – The Bethany College Business Department will present the 20th biennial Business Conference on Thursday, October 7, 2021, on Bethany College campus. Please join us for a keynote address, starting at 10 am in Burnett Center and a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the renovated Wallerstedt Social Science at 11 am outside the main entrance. The conference will offer presentations for Bethany students in the afternoon. 

The conference’s primary purpose is to give Bethany students more knowledge about career opportunities by providing dialogue with successful alumni from different business fields.  Although focused primarily on business, the conference is open to all interested Bethany students.

Panel presentations will be given by alumni representing businesses such as accounting, banking and finance, human resources, sales, marketing and customer service, small business and entrepreneurship, insurance and investing. Since the first Business Career Conference in 1983, more than 260 alumni volunteers have readily returned to Bethany to speak about their career paths with students.

At 10 a.m. in the Burnett Center, keynote speaker, Roy Applequist, will share his business knowledge and experience in manufacturing businesses. The Applequist family has contributed greatly to the Smoky Hill River Valley; first as immigrant homesteaders in 1868 and machinists, toolmakers, and by 1946 manufacturers of mowers and grain handling equipment. 

After graduating from North Park University in Chicago, Applequist returned to the Salina area to join the family manufacturing business, Roberts Industries, until 1976 when it was sold to Federal Mogul Corp, a Fortune 500 company.  Applequist then founded Great Plains Manufacturing, headquartered in Salina, KS, to make grain drills for area farmers.  With manufacturing plants in eight other central Kansas towns, Great Plains Manufacturing grew into a multi-million dollar international, diversified business with over 1,400 employees in two manufacturing lines, trucking, and a finance division.  In 2016, Great Plains was sold to the Kubota Corporation of Japan.  Ever the entrepreneur, in 2018 Applequist started Applequist Manufacturing in Smith Center, Kansas.

Roy was inducted into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Salina Business Hall of Fame in 2006 and shares his knowledge and experience in service to various boards and organizations. 

The ribbon cutting ceremony at 11am celebrates the completion of Wallerstedt Social Science renovations starting last April and finishing just before classes August 24. Social Science houses the Business Department faculty and business courses. 

Over the years the Applequist family has contributed greatly to Bethany college in various ways, for many different causes; more recently fully funding the ongoing Warner renovation and also contributing to the renovation of Social Science.  Contributions of the Applequist family also provided a foundation for approval of grants Dr. Mauch, President, was awarded last year. The Applequist gifts incentivized the college to pursue other grant funding through the Sunderland and Mabee Foundations in 2020, all which will support the upcoming Path to Your Purpose initiative and ultimately students on their academic journey.

Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to educate, develop, and challenge individuals to reach for truth and excellence as they lead lives of faith, learning, and service. At Bethany, students join a community of dedicated educators and caring mentors who walk alongside them as they discover, explore, and navigate the path to their purpose. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu and is located in Lindsborg, Kansas, the fine arts and crafts capital of the state.

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