The Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University has honored the owners of Fanestil Meats at its annual banquet.
Dan and Jan Smoots, the owners of Fanestil Meats, were honored with the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award. The Boyd Institute honors the Smoots and Fanestil for its growth as a “processor of ready-to-eat, fresh and smoked and cooked, value-added meats,” as well as its move several years ago from the Cottonwood River floodplain just south of Emporia to a 23,000-square-foot administrative office and retail store next door to a 47,000-square-foot production building just west of Emporia.
Fanestil was founded in 1942. The business was recognized as the Kansas Small Business of the Year in 2022.
