Cottonwood Falls ? Several small, rural communities in southern Kansas are working together to keep crucial businesses in the area so that towns can continue to survive.

The 24-hour Wash-O-Rama laundromat is evolving into a destination point in Cottonwood Falls, a town with fewer than 900 residents.

Wash-O-Rama owners Christy and Luke Davis view the business as their vision in helping support rural Kansas quality of life.

“There are a lot of economic stories based on both internal and external surveys on what the economic needs in the community were,” Christy Davis said. “I was sitting in a meeting where they identified the number one need as a laundry mat. I thought, ‘This isn’t rocket science. Someone should do that.'”

Kansas has regional “pockets of goodness,” said Erik Pederson, vice president of the Entrepreneurship NetWork Kansas, a state organization assisting businesses that start and expand in rural communities.

“These are the quality-of-life businesses — the grocery store, the hair salon, auto repair, pharmacy and laundromat are all quality of life — the things that enable a rural community to continue to thrive so the residents don’t have to travel great distances to get core needs satisfied,” Pederson said.

The facility was awarded a Kansas Historic Preservation Award in May for a $200,000 renovation on the building, the Wichita Eagle reported.

The Davises say they have the “prettiest laundromat in the most beautiful town in Kansas.”

“We designed the system so local farm hands and cowboys could come in and wash their horse blankets and people working third shift could drop their laundry in the machines and come back in the morning to pick them up,” Christy Davis said.