Chamber Executive Kentucky Digest - September

Kentucky jumps 45 places in national entrepreneurship rankings

A recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln study shows Kentucky's entrepreneurial environment is improving. The State Entrepreneurship Index ranked Kentucky No. 4 for its ability to create new businesses. Kentucky climbed 45 places from its No. 49 ranking in 2012.

"I think it's a wonderful validation of the energy that has gone into early-stage ventures," said Kent Oyler, CEO and president of Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce. Oyler is a serial entrepreneur and former managing partner of OPM Services Inc., an investment and financial services firm that works with entrepreneurs across the state. Read more: Louisville Business First

Jobs, exports topics at Maysville-Mason County Chamber luncheon

The state of economic growth in the Commonwealth was the focus of Friday's Maysville-Mason County Chamber of Commerce business meeting. The guest speaker was Robin Lee with the Kentucky Cabinet of Economic Development, Business Development Department.

During a PowerPoint presentation, Lee presented statistics on how Kentucky is performing in the area of new jobs, financial investments into new and existing business, what industries lead the job markets, and how small businesses can take advantage of tax credits offered through the Cabinet. Read more: Ledger-Independent

Kentucky Chamber president stresses importance of pension oversight

Referring to the state’s unfunded pension liability as a dark cloud over Frankfort, Kentucky Chamber President & CEO Dave Adkisson stressed the importance of oversight to the Public Pension Oversight Committee last week. With billions of dollars at stake, Adkisson suggested the committee strongly consider contracting with a professional investment firm to help provide adequate oversight of the investment of public dollars. His comments followed a formal presentation of the investment returns, which indicated the Kentucky Retirement System (KRS) investment returns were lower than other benchmark funds for the last ten years. Read more: Kentucky Chamber of Commerce blog

Chamber Executive Ongoing Education Weekly New Idea: "Worth Every Penny - Build a Business That Thrills Your Customers and Still Charge What You're Worth" by Erin Verbeck and Sarah Petty

A revelation for small business owners: creating a profitable business is possible without getting into a slash-and-burn price war with your competitors. Many small business owners feel pressure to discount their products and services, especially when times are tough. After all, how else will they keep up with the low prices offered by their discounting competitors? What they don't realize is that discounting is the last thing they should be doing if they want to win big. Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck are here to show you that there's a radically different way to run a small business-- one in which the owners focus on creating specialized offerings and an over-the-top customer experience, not on matching the prices of their competition. Worth Every Penny encourages you to explore and use this model, which is designed to maximize your advantages over the big-box stores and other discounting competitors.

You'll learn how to:

--Build a brand that lays the foundation for you to charge what your offerings are worth.

--Create products, services and high-touch customer experiences to achieve healthy margins and an outspokenly happy and loyal client base.

--Understand how to use a pricing strategy that allows you to create demand and attract the right customers instead of discounting.

--Throw traditional advertising to the wind and implement a boutique way of marketing to excel in this competitive business environment.

--Learn the relationship-based sales skills needed to close every sale and have your clients clamoring for more.

The authors' strategies are enhanced by real-life business experiences and vivid anecdotes from all types of business owners--restaurateurs to contractors to professional service providers and photographers. With the advice in Worth Every Penny, you will be inspired to live your passion and pass your enthusiasm on to your customers. The result: a profitable business that avoids succumbing to the pressure to discount. Source: Barnes & Noble 

Kentucky Women's Business Summit - Renew & Take Control

The Women’s Business Center of Kentucky is hosting its Inaugural Women’s Small Business Summit: “Renew and Take Control” of your small business on September 26, 2014 in Erlanger, KY. Breakfast featuring keynote speaker Donna Salyers, owner of Fabulous Furs, Covington, KY; luncheon featuring keynote speaker Crystal Kendricks, owner of The Voice of Your Customer, Cincinnati, OH. Plus breakout sessions:  

(1)   Certification Workshops: Get Certified as a Women Owned Small Business. Certification panel – Federal, State and the Ohio River Valley Women’s Business Council  

(2)    Show Me the Money: Financing for your Small Business – Panel Discussion with local lenders

(3)    Keeping up with Social Media – Rebecca Volpe, Director of the Northern KY University Small Business Development Center (NKU SBDC)

(4)    Leadership Doesn’t Require a Title – Debbie Simpson, President of Multi- Craft, Newport, KY

2 Locations for your convenience! Only $25! Click the link below to register today!

SEPT 24 CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY

SEPT 26 ERLANGER, KY

Kentucky Business Summit: Powerpoint Slides: Presentations from the 9th Annual Business Summit and Annual Meeting. 

Click the links below to download.

DAY 1
Focusing on a Rapidly Changing Future: Kentucky's Path to Economic and Workforce Competitiveness 
Ted Abernathy, Managing Partner, Economic Leadership LLC

DAY 2

The Future of Toyota, the Auto Industry and Kentucky’s Economy
Wil James, Jr., President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.

The Future of Coal and Kentucky’s Economy 
Robert M. “Mike” Duncan, President and CEO, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity

The Future of the Nine Economic Regions of Kentucky 
Dr. Paul Coomes, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Louisville and Senior Economic Advisor, Kentucky Chamber 

Top Issues Facing Kentucky's Next Governor
Dave Adkisson, President & CEO, Kentucky Chamber

Chamber Event: Beer garden comes to NIBROC

NIBROC will see its first beer garden in Sanders Park. Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bruce Carpenter said the chamber applied for a special event license early Monday. State approval came Tuesday, and city approval followed shortly thereafter.- See more at: Times-Tribune

One Southern Indiana chamber chief asks state to help ease toll burden on businesses

The Southern Indiana chamber of commerce is asking state officials to consider changes to traffic and toll plans in an effort to ease the Ohio River Bridges Project's financial burden on local businesses.

The president and CEO of One Southern Indiana, which represents Clark and Floyd counties, sent the suggestions in a July 30 letter to the Indiana Finance Authority, the agency in charge of the project's financing.

Among the recommendations, based on input from chamber members, are limiting the Clark Memorial Bridge to passenger cars and trucks and restricting the span to one-way traffic during rush hour periods, Wendy Dant Chesser wrote. Read more: WDRB.com

157 Rules for Executive Success in Organization Management (and your Chamber of Commerce)

RULE #8 - Recruit board members that sign the front of the checks, not the back. - Patrick McGaughey