It’s all about personal authenticity and engageing with the community for this banquet hall and catering business owner.
| 2019 Q3 | story by Tyler J. Allen | photos by Steven Hertzog
Steve Maceli in front of Maceli’s
In a small college town, small businesses keep the community connected and progressive. Here in Lawrence, Mass Street, and the downtown area as a whole, is a perfect example of where community engagement and constant economic drive take place. With plenty of activities in which to partake, ranging from entertainment to trying new cuisine, Downtown Lawrence hosts a plethora of businesses that keep the city lively year-round. More importantly, with Lawrence being a college town that caters to students from all across the globe, it is key that business owners are able to reach and maintain diverse audiences. Their ability to do so contributes to Lawrence’s goals of cultural engagement and economic success.
Steve Maceli, owner of Maceli’s Banquet Hall & Catering, is a prime example of business owners who live and work to engage with the community. Located in the 1000 block of New Hampshire Street, Maceli’s is known for hosting business meetings, KU banquets, private functions, weddings, community events, fund-raisers and more. For the past five years, Maceli’s has been voted the No. 1 caterer by the Best of Lawrence and strives to live up to that title every day.
Maceli, a University of Kansas (KU) graduate, started his catering business in 1995 while living in the home of a professor who was on sabbatical. He never thought the offer to help friends with parties would result in him building his first commercial kitchen in 2000. Not five years later, Maceli would move his business to its current location and, within five years, become the largest private caterer in the city. Today, he hosts many community groups weekly, including the Lawrence and Jayhawk Rotary Clubs, and the Kiwanis Club of Lawrence. As a business owner, he strives for a space that is open and welcoming to the community as a whole.
Identifying as an openly gay man, Maceli’s sexuality has only helped his entrepreneurial success. Within his business through social advocacy and community engagement, he feels “philanthropic dollars” are used in an effective manner. In support of the LGBTQ+ communities in Lawrence and the surrounding areas, he has served as a member of the Douglas County Aids Project and the Headquarters Counseling Center and Health Care Access boards, in order to contribute to LGBTQ+ health initiatives. This has helped to raise awareness about marginalized communities and the issues within them, and better the Lawrence community as a whole.
Maceli uses his business to accomplish this same goal. Over the past decade, his company has hosted many of the LGBTQ+ events in town, some of which included NetworQ meetings and community forums. He has organized and hosted New Year’s Eve and Halloween parties that are open and welcoming to all members of the community. This past June at a community Pride party, guests brought health-care products for displaced gay youth in Franklin County. In August, Maceli’s hosted the Unity Tour: Spreading the Message of Love and Acceptance Through Song, performed by Choral Spectrum, Kansas City’s LGBTQIA+ and Supporting Chorus.
As a business owner, Steve Maceli’s philosophy of engaging diversity and economic success is simple but notable. It is a reflection of his honest character and “true intention of [his]deeds.” He says one of the reasons he is successful is he makes a concerted effort to learn from his mistakes to prevent them from recurring. You have to “continue to be open to new ideas, opportunities and relationships,” he explains. When you venture out, you expand your business, community relations and economy.
Steve and his staff prepare lunch for their Monday Rotary Club
And when thinking about how any business can contribute to the community’s economy, Maceli believes in smart growth. As a business owner, you must continually reinvest in your business and maintain it from the inside out. Beyond equipment, you must be able to keep staff that help move your business forward.
“I have five full-timers, and I try my best to provide them with competitive wages and benefits. You have to pay your workers,” he says. “When you get more dollars in more people’s pockets, they are able to spend their wages keeping our local economy vibrant.
“We need to help our friends and neighbors by buying from them,” he continues. “It’s a battle when people shop online when there are stores here with the same product. And then we complain about the loss of retail on Mass St. There is a disconnect about why that is happening.”
Maceli is proof that diversity impacts a community’s engagement and economy. Through his business, he has successfully served and continues to make marginalized groups feel welcomed and advocates, raises awareness and gives back to the Lawrence community, its LGBTQ+ communities as well as those in neighboring cities. He has contributed to Lawrence’s economic progression by making sure his employees can contribute, as well.
Maceli knows it is 100 percent possible to successfully own and run a business while being your authentic self. His constant practice of innovation, perseverance and entrepreneurship contributes to Lawrence’s liveliness and, in turn, makes this a place you’d like to call home. p