By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
With more than four decades of business in Great Bend, CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc., became one of the largest employers in the city. The firm, established in 1972, handled retirement plans and payroll for companies across the nation. Jon Prescott, a former president at CPI, said it's time to bring all the employees together once again.
"I bet over the 40 years that CPI was in business, I bet we had just shy of 1,000 people who worked there at some time or another," he said. "I thought, wow, this could be big."
With the help of Sheryl Cheeley and Renee Dykes, Prescott began organizing a reunion scheduled for Friday, Sept. 26, which will coincide with the Final Fridays on Forest Event in downtown Great Bend. Prescott reached out to Mark and Andy Mingenback about using The Landing, located at Forest and Williams, as the site of the reunion. Prescott said nearly 500 employees worked at CPI at its peak, and all employees throughout the company's 40-year history are welcome at the reunion.
"It put a lot of money into Barton County, that's for sure," he said. "We had people all over Barton County, Rush County, who drove in to work for us, Stafford County."
In 2014, CPI was sold and rebranded as CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions. In 2022, CUNA sold the property at 1809 24th Street to USD 428 at a discounted rate. The location is now home to Little Panthers Preschool, the Panther Lair wrestling facility, and the District Education Center.
The reunion will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 26. Armor Ink in Ellinwood has created t-shirts that will be available for purchase at the event.