Chamber Executive
Kentucky Digest
March, 2016
#Chamber news: Aetna Says Kentucky
Is Only Area Where It's Made A Real Estate Commitment
Fears
that another major employer will send jobs out of state are sparking debate
over Connecticut's tax and spending policies just days before the legislature
begins its annual session.
The
pledge by the chief executive of Aetna
Inc. that Louisville, Ky., will be the "only
community" where the health insurer operates its government-related work
is making some business advocates and elected officials nervous. General
Electric Co. announced less than three weeks ago that it's moving its
headquarters to Boston, ending a 42-year run in Fairfield.
Aetna CEO
Mark Bertolini told investor analysts Monday that Aetna will make Louisville,
the site of Humana that Aetna is proposing to buy for $34 billion, headquarters
for Medicare, Medicaid and other government insurance plans.
Louisville
is "actually the only community where we've made a real estate
commitment," he said. Last week, he told the Louisville area's chamber of
commerce that Aetna will be looking at "all of its real estate."
"But
we've made a commitment to only one community as a location for the most important
part of our business, and that's Louisville," he said.
Aetna has
not commented beyond saying it "remains headquartered in Hartford."
The insurer, which dates its presence in Connecticut to the 19th century,
employed about 6,000 workers in the state at the end of 2015, a spokesman said.
Read more: Hartford Courant
Danville-Boyle
EDP named one of America’s leading economic development corporations
The Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership was
named one of America’s leading economic development corporations by Global
Trade Magazine.
The California-based Global Trade is a media brand focused on
domestic and global expansion processes, logistics efficiencies, strategic
location, information technology and intelligent banking solutions for U.S.
manufacturers that export and their logistics partners.
In its February print edition, the company highlighted 18
economic development organizations and their accomplishments, and the
Danville-Boyle County EDP was selected for its unique model, which proves there
is “strength in numbers.”
In
its February print edition, the company highlighted 18 economic development
organizations and their accomplishments, and the Danville-Boyle County EDP was
selected for its unique model, which proves there is “strength in numbers.”
(Photo Provided)
“What a nice compliment this recognition is to the vision of
those in our community who created the EDP and to the good work of the
professional staff who make the partnership such an effective organization for
economic development in Boyle County,” said EDP Board of Directors Chairman
Richard Trollinger.
The EDP is an alliance of the Boyle County Industrial
Foundation, Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce, Danville-Boyle County
Convention & Visitors Bureau, Heart of Danville Main Street Program, Main
Street Perryville, and the local governments of Boyle County, and cities of
Danville, Junction City, and Perryville.
The EDP was organized in 2006 from the former Danville-Boyle
County Community Development Council.
“An alliance between nine local organizations, the EDP unifies
Boyle County, Kentucky’s economic development efforts,” the magazine states.
“It’s a unique model, but EDP members say the alliance proves that there’s
strength in numbers. One of the EDP’s recent successes involved three member
organizations working together to help the Danville-based Wilderness Trail
Distillery (WTD) find a new production site. At first, the WTD mulled moving to
another county, but the EDP showed the distillery how investing $5.6 million in
a local venue would be good for business.” Read more: KY Forward
New chairman takes gavel at Bowling Green
Area Chamber dinner
The
Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce’s 81st annual dinner Thursday at Sloan
Convention Center was on a timer and set to music.
The chamber set a large digital clock at 50 minutes and quickly
recognized outgoing chairman Tommy Adams and incoming chairman Mark Iverson,
plus saw Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon swear in the new chamber
officers and ambassadors.
The dinner ended with 43 seconds to spare.
Western Kentucky University’s Vocal Spirit a capella group
provided transitions between various portions of the program, at one point
serenading women chamber ambassadors and chair-elect Robbin Taylor while the
women sat on stage.
During a recognition of Independence Bank, the men broke out in
harmony to start “The Star-Spangled Banner,” ending with the company’s tag line
“revolution.” Also honored during the spotlight segment were US Bank, M&L
Electrical Inc. and Bluegrass Supply Chain Services.
The more than 600 guests heard outgoing chairman Adams thank
chamber staff and members for support in 2015. The chamber had a banner year in
2015 with $943 million in capital investment and the creation of 1,040 jobs in
southcentral Kentucky. The chamber also ended the year with 1,232 chamber
partners, a record.
Adams said assuming chairmanship of the chamber in 2015 showed
him how much he didn’t know about Bowling Green and Warren County. He met new
acquaintances at ribbon-cuttings and “had a lot of fun” serving in the post, he
told the dinner guests.
Adams said Charles Moore of Charles A. Moore Insurance
introduced him to chamber activities years ago and encouraged him to get
involved.
“Charlie Moore loved the chamber,” Adams said.
Adams participated in the gavel-passing ceremony with incoming
chairman Iverson, and several past chairmen lined the front of the stage.
Adams expressed confidence in his successor.
“If you know Mark, the chamber is in good hands,” Adams said.
Iverson said he’s a blessed man who’s fortunate to live in
Bowling Green and he receives compliments about Bowling Green from visitors. He
said faith has brought him to his current place in life and he praises God
“from whom all blessings flow.”
Iverson said Bowling Green and southcentral Kentucky benefit
from what he called “a secret sauce.”
“It’s you!” he said, looking out in the audience. “You look to
find solutions for the common good. I hope 2016 looks a lot like 2015.”
The chamber executive committee includes Ron Bunch, president
and chief executive officer; Iverson, chairman; Taylor, chair-elect; Adams,
past-chairman; and vice presidents Steve Davis, Joy Rogers, Dave Tatman and
Eric Walker.
Paducah Area Chamber Completes Trip
to Frankfort
 |
| Sandra Wilson, Paducah Chambe |
The Paducah Area Chamber of
Commerce recently visited the state capitol, and took several dozen city
officials and business owners with them to talk about the needs of western
Kentucky.
Paducah Chamber President Sandra Wilson says the more than 50 people
from Paducah had to opportunity to talk about multiple issues to different
state officials and elected representatives and senators.
Among the push for the chamber this year is a request to lift the
nuclear moratorium in Kentucky so Paducah could have additional options with
the nuclear trained workforce that exists after decades of experience at the
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Wilson says they also talked with State Budget Director John
Chilton, who has been busy working on statewide cuts to help balance the budget
and begin to figure out the issues with the state pension plans. Read
more: West Kentucky Star
Kentucky Chamber: Unfunded Pension Liability: How bad is it?
If all 4.3 million Kentuckians were
asked to pitch in to fix the 36 billion pension deficit, it would take $8,268
from every man, woman and child in the Commonwealth.
A July 2015 report by the Pew
Charitable Trusts compared state pension funding levels for all 50 states. (The
Public Sector Retirement Systems Project at Pew annually tracks state pension
funding and has advised the Kentucky General Assembly on pension reform.)
Kentucky ranked 49 out of 50 states—only Illinois ranked lower. The report
found the national average state pension funding level to be 71.8%. Kentucky’s
combined funding level for all its systems was only 44.2%.
To put this in a different
perspective: Kentucky’s total unfunded pension liability of $36.4 billion in FY
2015 was more than three and a half times the total General Fund tax revenue
the state collected in that entire year. More Information: Kentucky Chamber
Chamber Chuckle - Wacky
Wednesday Weirdest Chamber Requests
“Where do I buy
goldfish?”
Kyndle Tech Tuesday to focus on cybersecurity threats to businesses
Michael Ramage, director of
the Center for Telecommunications Systems Management at Murray State University
will be the presenter at the next Kyndle Tech Tuesday luncheon on March 1.
Ramage will focus on four
topics related to cybersecurity: Examining the mind of a hacker; overview of
current threats in cybersecurity; how to use passwords to improve your business’s
security position; and tips, tools and actions to improve security.
Ramage earned a master’s of
science from Murray State University, holds an information assurance graduate
education certificate from Purdue University and is currently pursuing his doctorate
of philosophy in technology management from Indiana State University.
At the end of the luncheon
Kyndle will give away one free year of Microsoft Office 365. Read more: Lane Report
December 18, 2015
John, I want to thank you for an outstanding map which you produced for our Valpo Chamber.
In my 43 years as a CEO in the chamber field, it was the smoothest project I have ever seen done. You made all the deadlines, your print quality and cartography were second to none. And of course you paid us in exactly the time frame you said you would so we could count the Royalty Check towards our current year revenues.
Life is very good when dealing with Town Square Publications.
You have the right of first refusal on our next map. You are a great partner for our chamber, We are living proof that a printed map is still very much in demand by both advertisers and consumers.
It would be my pleasure to recommend Town Square Publications as a firm Chambers and Tourism Bureaus should use when considering a printed map or other print publication.
Sincerely,
Rex G. Richards CCE
President, Valparaiso
Chamber of Commerce
#BestChamber
Practices – The Ambassador Program – Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce (Part
7 of 14) – The Ambassador Points Program
Every year, an Ambassador
of the Years is Selected based on points.
It’s Simple…..
20 Points:
Recruit New Chamber Member
10 Points:
Deliver New Member Packet
10 Points: Attend
New Member Orientation with New Member
10 Points: 6th
Month Personal Visit to New Member Assigned to You
5 Points: Attend
Monthly Ambassador Meeting
5 Points: Attend
Monthly Chamber Luncheon
5 Points: Attend
Ribbon Cutting/Ground Breaking
5 Points: Wear
Chamber Shirt to Chamber Event
5 Points: 2nd
Month Phone Call to New Member Assigned to You
5 Points: 3rd
Month Phone Call to New Member Assigned to You
10 Points: Golf
Classic Registration Table AM or PM
10 Points: Golf
Goody Bag Preparation
10 Points: P/Up
or Delivery of Items to Golf Course
10 Points: Golf
Hole-In-One Watch
10 Points: Golf
Golden Ticket Prize Table
5 Points: Golf
Golden Ticket Prize (5 pts. Each)
5 Points: Wear
Chamber Shirt to Golf Classic
10 Points:
Ambassadors’ Luncheon – Bringing Soup or Dessert
10 Points:
Ambassadors’ Luncheon – Staying to Participate in Luncheon
20 Points: Annual
Dinner Set-Up
10 Points: Annual
Dinner Registration Table
10 Points: Annual
Dinner Greeter/Host or Hostess
20 Points: Annual
Dinner Clean Up
20 Points: P/Up
or Delivery of Items to Annual Dinner
10 Points:
Volunteer at State Fair Booth
10 Points:
Volunteer at the Kentucky Wine & Vine Festival
Award will be announced and recognized at the Annual Membership Meeting.
Ambassador of the Year will receive a new nametag with the recognition on
it, be featured in the Chamber Newsletter & Tuesday Tidbits, as well as have
their name, bio and photo in Ambassador Display for one year in the Chamber
lobby.
We award this every year— Might as well be YOU
The Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce celebrated a
"successful 2015" by 'betting' on business
The
Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce celebrated a “successful 2015” Friday
at the Danville Country Club by “betting on business” and recognizing
outstanding community leaders.
With a
theme of “Betting on Business: Deal Me In,” the yearly event is an opportunity
to bring the community together.
“Tonight is
really a celebration of our community and the wonderful things so many have
done,” said Paula Fowler, executive director of the Danville-Boyle County
Chamber of Commerce. “It’s just a fun way of getting members of our business
community together.”
Following a
banquet-style dinner, the awards were presented to several “outstanding”
individuals and businesses.
The School
Bell Award is presented annually to a lay person chosen by their school
districts who has done considerable work for the school system as a volunteer.
This year’s recipients are Rachalle Brandt of the Boyle County School System,
Lucy Minichillo of the Danville Independent School System and Clyde Mohan of
Kentucky School for the Deaf.
The
Ambassador of the Year came from a core group of “recruitment and mentoring”
Chamber volunteers. Emily Toadvine received the award for her “dedication, hard
work and dependability.” Read more: Advocate-Messenger
Bowling
Green Area Chamber outlines accomplishments
The Bowling Green Area
Chamber of Commerce released its 2015 annual report, which showed the year
included nearly $1 billion in capital investment and the creation of more than
1,000 jobs in southcentral Kentucky.
The chamber received three
Awards of Excellence from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and was reaccredited
as a Five-Star Chamber by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a designation received
by less than 1 percent of chambers across the United States.
The Bowling Green chamber
announced $904 million in expansion projects, including the No. 2 and No. 5
projects in Kentucky for capital investment.
The chamber also sold the
fifth speculative building in the Kentucky Transpark within three months of
completion and broke ground on a sixth speculative building, also in the
Transpark. Read more: Bowling Green Daily News
Kentucky
Chamber event: Gov. Bevin proposes spending $59 million of lottery money on new
workforce development scholarship
Gov. Matt Bevin got some applause Tuesday night
when he proposed ending the legislative practice of diverting millions of
dollars generated by the Kentucky Lottery from college scholarships to the
General Fund.
But Bevin is not
proposing to put that money back into the need-based financial aid programs for
which it was designated. Instead, $27 million in 2017 and $32 million in 2018
would form a new scholarship program to help students attend special workforce
programs, said Carl Rollins, executive director of the Kentucky Higher
Education Assistance Authority, which would administer the fund.
Need-based aid funds
would remain flat.
Bevin also is proposing
to issue $100 million in bonds for workforce development construction projects,
which he said would allow schools and private industries to partner and create
innovative workforce training programs.
The new
scholarship fund would “help students pay to attend new programs that would be
created by the workforce development fund,” Rollins said. Read more: Lexington Herald-Leader
Paducah
Chamber honors community members at annual meeting
The
Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Business Celebration
sponsored by Lourdes and CSI was held Friday at the Julian Carroll Convention
Center, and the chamber honored several community members.
The
award winners are:
Young
Leader of Western Kentucky - Donald Shively. This award is selected by the
Four Rivers Business Journal.
Leadership
Paducah Alumnus of the Year - Ralph Mounts. This award is selected and
presented by the Leadership Paducah Foundation.
Chamber
Volunteer of the Year - Janice Cleary with Paducah Bank.
Summit
Award - Michael and April Cochran with the Market House Theatre.
Entrepreneur
of the Year - f.a.c.e. Makeup Artistry and owner Erin Hendley.
Small
Business of the Year - Socially Present and President Jonas Neihoff.
Business
of the Year - Beltline Electric and President Jason Siener.
Generations
Award - Ray Black & Son.
At the
event, outgoing board chair Bryan Carner with US Bank officially passed the
gavel to Bruce Wilcox with Henry A. Petter Supply as the board chair for 2016.
Read more: WPSD6
A note to share from Jim Baumann, Executive Director of the Boyne
City, Michigan Chamber of Commerce:
(Hi
John), Wondering if you might post this on your blog or a future newsletter?
Would you like to live and work in a cool little town - Boyne
City, population 3,700, in Northern Michigan? Your office would be in a log
cabin on the waterfront of Lake Charlevoix. Jim Baumann has had this great job
for nearly 8 years and will be retiring in early November. We're looking for my
replacement and would like to start interviewing in March so the new person
could work with me for awhile during a transition period. You'd also get to
hire your own Associate Director - we're holding the position open with some
part-time people for awhile. That's the staff - two. Budget is $150k, healthy
reserve fund, 360 members, great board, great community where everyone works
well together. Job description: http://bit.ly/1nv1eDb
Thanks!
Jim
Baumann
Northern Kentucky’s Jordan named
Director of Special Projects for Education and Workforce Cabinet
Rick Jordan knows something about workforce development.
As vice president of LSI Graphic Solutions in Erlanger, Jordan
was one of the leaders in the effort to develop a quality workforce in the
advanced manufacturing industry. He recognized years ago that expansion of
Northern Kentucky operations by companies in the industry, coupled with looming
retirement of baby boomers, would create a gap in the pipeline of qualified
workers.
In 2011, a coalition of Northern Kentucky advanced manufacturing
leaders that included Jordan, armed with just a $65,000 grant, began working
with Gateway Community and Technical College to help build that workforce.
The Northern Kentucky Industrial Park Industry Partnership was
instrumental in developing the spirit of cooperation that has fueled
apprenticeship programs and collaborative efforts, such as Kentucky FAME,
throughout the state.
Jordan, who retired from LSI Graphic Solutions after 20 years,
now looks forward to a new challenge. He has been named Director of Special
Projects for the Kentucky Education and Workforce Cabinet.
“I am excited about this new position in the Education and
Workforce Cabinet,” Jordan said. “One of the major areas of focus will be
increasing the required technical skills of Kentuckians to meet the ever
changing job requirements of Kentucky companies so that the pipeline shortages
will be filled.”
Jordan, who lives in Walton with his wife Vicki, will manage the
successful Kentucky
Work Ready Communities Program and will be involved in a
number of other special projects that are in the works.
Jordan attended Franklin and Ohio State Universities after
serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
His career has spanned more than 43 years, involving a number of
management duties which also included manufacturing operations. He has held
management positions with the Tappan Appliance Company, the Chef Company, and
as Vice-President with the Maytag Corporation. Read more: Northern Kentucky
Tribune
#FamousChamber
of Commerce Quotations: (Volunteers)
Volunteers are paid in six figures...
S-M-I-L-E-S. ~Gayla
LeMaire
Top Five Daily Postings in the last month at Midwest Chamber of Commerce
blog – click to go there or Google search
“Midwest Chamber of Commerce blog”
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Feb 18,
2016
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Feb 5,
2016
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Feb 12,
2016
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100
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2016
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2016
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If
you would like delivery of a no-cost gloss chamber directory or map in
September or October 2016, please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Last Month’s Stories
Chamber news: 12th Annual Best Places to Work in Kentucky Award
Winners Announced To register for the awards
dinner click here. Also: View the complete list of winners!
GLI Chamber initiative: EnterpriseCorp Services Overview - EnterpriseCorp. - A Greater Louisville
Initiative
Paducah Mayor Gayle Kaler,
McCracken County Judge Executive Bob Leeper to Speak at Paducah Chamber
Breakfast West Kentucky Star
Chamber Executive Ongoing Education Weekly New Idea: Get
Out of Your Own Way by Robert Cooper Barnes & Noble
Bowling Green Chamber recognizes four
volunteers for 2015 Bowling Green Daily
News
#BestChamber
practices: Great food makes great events! --- from Pat McGaughey,
www.chambermentor.com Introduce the Chef to your audience. Great food. Great meeting.
#BeatChamber Practices:
Jessamine Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Program Handbook --- Part 5 of 14
sections --- Retention Program Amy Cloud, CEO at 859-887-4351
Introducing the Greater Louisville
Inc. Member Perks program.
Save money every day on everyday business expenses as a GLI member. GLI Member Perks
Save money every day on everyday business expenses as a GLI member. GLI Member Perks
John
John Dussman | Chamber Manager
jdussman@tspubs.com | 847-427-4633 | Town Square Publications
Daily Herald Media Group
155 E. Algonquin Road | Arlington Heights, IL 60005
jdussman@tspubs.com | 847-427-4633 | Town Square Publications
Daily Herald Media Group
155 E. Algonquin Road | Arlington Heights, IL 60005
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