MEMBER-TO-MEMBER: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR APRIL 24, 2015

From Ryan Craig
Executive Director
Logan County Chamber of Commerce
ryancraig@loganchamber.com

  There are locally grown products available all over Logan County, and perhaps my favorite "local" product is maple syrup. Our newest Chamber of Commerce member produces Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup from Logan County trees, and it is beyond delicious. (What else would you expect something produced from the trees you grew up climbing and swinging in to taste like, right?) Let's all welcome O' Brother's Maple Syrup. They don't have a storefront yet, but their operation is located on Stevenson Mill Road – I gave you their address so there wouldn't be any cheesy "O' Brother's Where art thou?" jokes – and their product can be purchased at Piggly Wiggly and Farmers Hardware. For more information, call 270-542-6283. (A photo is provided so you can recognize their logo and buy their syrup.)

   So, here's to our newest member: may their trees be sappy and their bottles fly off the shelves!

 

 

DON'T FORGET TO FILL OUT YOUR MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

   In less than a week, we have had 60 fill out our membership survey. Those are the complete surveys (we have a few incomplete ones as well) and we are looking for at least another 60 so we can have a good sample size of our membership. There will be a drawing for two $50 gift certificates. Fill out the survey and have a chance to help shape the chamber and to get some spending money.

   Here is the link for the survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C29WSC5

 

CREEKWOOD TEA AND NETWORKING

We had a great time, good food and a good crowd for the tea and networking event at Creekwood Place Nursing & Rehab Center on Wednesday. If you missed it, you missed a great opportunity for fellowship. Thanks to Misty Carlock, director of Admissions and Marketing, and the staff at Creekwood for being so kind and welcoming.
 

RIBBON CUTTING AT LEWISBURG BANK NEXT TUESDAY

There will be a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, April 28, for Lewisburg Bank (Hopkinsville Road location in Russellville) starting at 7:30 a.m. with the ribbon cutting at 8 a.m. We have had great crowds so far this year at our ribbon cuttings and let's try to have as many members as we can show up to support the fine staff at Lewisburg Bank.

   Also, there will be a ribbon cutting for Southpoint Risk Advisors (merged Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance and the Insurance Place) – May 6 @ 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with the ribbon cutting at 8 a.m.

 

 

LT. GOV. VISITS ADAIRVILLE
 

A big congratulations to the City of Adairville and its citizens for receiving $577,700 to improve the city's water and sewer systems. Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen presented the check to Mayor Donna Blake and the City Council on April 15. A great day for Adairville!

 

 

That is all for now, as this is being sent out on Thursday since I'm off to the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for a seminar on Friday. Have a great rest of the week and don't forget to fill out your survey!!!

 

 

Ryan

SMALLBIZSURVIVAL.COM GIVES TAKE ON TINY BUSINESS VILLAGES

Rural economic development idea: tiny business villages

 

An empty lot, plus some garden sheds, plus some hard work, plus people equals the Tionesta Market Village. Photo courtesy of Forest County IDA/IDC.

 

By Becky McCray

Smallbizsurvival.com

 

When you bring together the idea of pop up (temporary) businesses with the tiny house movement, you get tiny business villages. They make great sense for small towns and rural places.

Garden Sheds Turned Incubator: Tionesta Market Village

Tionesta, Pennsylvania, (population 500) had a lot that was vacant for 10 years after a fire in the downtown, reader Julia McCray told me when she was with Forest County IDA/IDC. The Industrial Development Corporation bought the lot and created a micro-retail incubator. Julia said it’s really a pop-up facilitator.

They started with standard outdoor sheds, then designed 1800s style false fronts for them. The buildings have no heat, so they are seasonal. The investment came to about $40,000 with site work, furnishings and buildings.

 



The empty lot before the village was started. Photo courtesy of Forest County IDA/IDC



They are leased annually, so people can try their business idea with minimal investment (about $500 start-up) and no long-term commitment. Rent is just $50 – $70 per month plus electric, and the tenants share the cost of collective advertising. They have had a waiting list for these buildings from the very beginning of the project!

“The goal was to create healthy traffic in the downtown that would help boost sales at our existing businesses, spur new businesses, encourage façade improvements, and attract a developer to the site,” Julia said. “It’s working! Our coffee shop and art gallery extended their hours and saw a boost in sales. A vacant building was purchased and is being renovated for mixed-use. We have a lot more traffic in our downtown, and that depressing vacant lot is now vibrant and attractive. The original intention of the project was that it be a temporary solution, but the community loves it! Artisans are selling their products; tourists are coming to see ‘the Village'; residents and seasonal residents are coming back to the downtown; a couple of the shops have hired part-time help. This project shows that “pop-ups” work and are good tor a community!”

Read more about it at Tionesta Market Village.

Cottages Anchor a New Shopping District: Anchor Square

Pascagoula, Mississippi, (population 22,000) created a tiny business village out of donated cottages. Tripp Muldrow told about it at the Oklahoma Small Town Conference.

There are 17 cottages under 1000 square feet each. These are former Katrina Cottages, temporary housing provided after Hurricane Katrina, donated by the state emergency management department. All the cottages are connected by a deck that gives more outdoor selling space. The cottages are arranged around an open green space that’s now a popular public gathering spot.

What used to be described as “a big dirty lot” is now a thriving business center. Read more about it here at Gulf Live.

Benefits

I see a lot of potential benefits to tiny business villages.

• It pulls down barriers to entry so people can try a business idea for significantly less money. That means a failure can be a learning experience, not a financial catastrophe.
• It also means more people can participate. If it takes a few thousand dollars instead of tens of thousands to get started, more people can try.
• Businesses that could never afford their own storefront can afford a tiny business. Your artisans, crafters, food producers, and other tiny enterprises benefit from the added sales and exposure that couldn’t otherwise afford to access.
• This smaller business can be a stepping stone to a larger business because of what business owners learn and what they earn.
• It converts a nonproductive empty lot into a lively business place.
• It draws traffic to the area.
• Surrounding businesses benefit from that extra traffic.
• The outdoor public space can be a gathering spot, a recreation area, or any other public use of it. Give people a reason to stay and hang out. Tionesta Market Village even offers free wifi to encourage lingering.
• Participating tiny businesses can cooperate on shared advertising and promotion.
• They’ll all automatically benefit from shared exposure. Because you get a variety of different little businesses, they each draw different customers. It’s easy for those customers to discover the other tiny businesses, because they’re all together in the little village.

MEMBER-TO-MEMBER: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR APRIL 17, 2015

From Ryan Craig
Executive Director
Logan County Chamber of Commerce

ryancraig@loganchamber.com

  I remember a time, many, many moons ago, when I was but a cub reporter for a daily newspaper and my managing editor stood up from behind his desk in his office and yelled thunderously how he hated the person who invented e-mail. Before e-mail, when someone wanted to write a letter to the editor, they had to take the time to compose their words on a typewriter or longhand, then look it over really good before sending it through the mail. He moaned for a simpler time when it wasn't so easy to give one's opinion.

   I wonder what he would think of how things are now? You can give your opinion on thousands of places thousands of times until you are typing with your knuckles - even then it might not stop some. As I've gotten older (still young at heart, but slow in body), I too have lamented for the old days before Facebook and even MySpace when you had to take the time to write an e-mail to give an opinion. So it goes ...

  Today, and for the next couple of weeks, we DO want your opinion. The Logan County Chamber of Commerce is putting out what we hope to be an annual survey for you, our membership. Normally, this will be a something we do toward the end of the year (in that sweet spot between the Tobacco and Heritage Festival and our Annual Dinner) but this year we need your opinion now so we can get the membership's instruction for our upcoming Strategic Plan.

   Please hit the link below and go to the survey we have set up on Survey Monkey and fill it out. Also, don't miss the last question, which asks for your name and phone number so you can be entered into a drawing for two $50 Chamber Gift Certificates. We want your opinion so badly that we are not above bribery!

 

 

MEMBERSHIP SURVEY LINK

   Here you go: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C29WSC5

BASEBALL/SOFTBALL PARK INITIATIVE

   After a presentation from Chamber President Shane Hayes, the Chamber Board voted earlier this week to put Chamber resources behind a possible baseball/softball facility here in Logan County. The facility would be similar to facilities in Hopkinsville, Central City, Owensboro and Elizabethtown. With multiple fields it could be a site for great revenue-generating tournaments while also help meeting the needs of the local children. If you want more information or want to help with the initiative, contact the me at the Chamber and look for much more on the initiative soon.

CUSTOMER SERVICE WORKSHOPS

   At this week's Chamber Board meeting, we heard Leslie Witty, the program manager at WKU's Career and Workforce Development center, give a report on ways to get more workforce training in Logan County. Witty recommended to the board on ways to give the business community customer service training. Witty said that she thinks great customer service is the key to bolstering the local workforce. We already have some great interest among the board members. If you, or your business, could benefit from a customer service workshop, give me a call or shoot an e-mail to the Chamber. Training our workforce is key and this will be a good opportunity to partner up with WKU. Also, there may be an opportunity for retail/restaurant customer service workshops later in the year as well.

RETAIL INITIATIVE AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

   The Chamber Board also approved the formation of a committee to help direct our upcoming retail initiative and development program. We had five members of the board of directors volunteer for the committee, but we are also looking for some of the membership who might have retail or retail development experience who would want join the committee. We have information, we have key areas to concentrate on and we even will have a unique plan looking at the next five years and what kind of unique and tech-savvy businesses we want to attract. As before, if you are interested on serving on the retail committee, contact me.
 

RIBBON-CUTTING AT RUSSELLVILLE ATC
 

We had a great time Monday morning at the ribbon-cutting for the Russellville Area Tech Center's new student-run store. The proceeds from the store will help benefit the student leadership organizations - FBLA, HOSA and SkillsUSA - and will help allow the students to attend regional and state leadership conferences. Thanks to Principal Beth Frogue, advisor Paulette Smith and the students for a great day

    Ribbon cuttings/events coming up:

•     Lewisburg Bank (Hopkinsville Road in Russellville location) – April 28 @ 7:30 a.m. with the ribbon-cutting at 8 a.m.
•    Southpoint Risk Advisors (merged Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance and the Insurance Place) – May 6 @ 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with ribbon cutting at 8 a.m.

   We will also be having a Tea and Networking hour at Creekwood Nursing and Rehab Center on April 22 starting at noon. 

ROADMAP TO A HEALTY WORKPLACE

I had a great meeting with Johnny White, the Benefits, Health and Wellness Leader at Logan Aluminum, earlier this week and learned about a health initiative being held on April 29 at The National Corvette Museum. If your workplace needs a wellness action plan, you shouldn't miss an opportunity to attend. I put the flyer for the event on this blog just below this post.
 

VISION PLAN ADOPTED

As part of our strategic plan, the Chamber Board passed the Vision Plan this past week. It is straight-forward, but I ask all to take special note to the last bullet point. Improving the quality of life for all in Logan County should be, at the end of the day, our greatest concern.
 

VISION PLAN:

·  To support and inform our membership and be attentive to the needs of those we serve.

·  To be a champion of Logan County businesses and to recognize and publicize innovation, success and growth of those businesses.

·  To collaborate with the business community, local, state, and federal governments, and other like-minded organizations in accomplishing growth, and sustainable economic goals.

·  To enhance our quality of life.

 

That's it for this week. I'm looking forward to visiting with many of you soon!

Ryan

ROADMAP TO A HEALTHY WORKPLACE

Here is the information on the upcoming seminar from the BRIGHT Coalition. Thanks to Johnny White, the Benefits, Health and Wellness Leader, at Logan Aluminum for getting us this information.

MEMBER-TO-MEMBER: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR APRIL 10, 2015

From Ryan Craig
Executive Director

Logan County Chamber of Commerce

ryancraig@loganchamber.com

 

   Spring flowers are abloom (those that didn't get torn to shreds by the storm early Friday morning), the bees are abuzz and everything is anew here in Logan County. With a slight breeze, the sun shining warm and the colors coming back to the landscape, we can almost forget the ruthless winter we just barely escaped and feel alive in this new  season.

   Speaking of the start of things, we have much to talk about this week, and after the Chamber Board meeting Tuesday morning, we may have even more to discuss in the next newsletter.

   Exciting days are ahead!
 

MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

   There are still a few tweaks to be made and the final board approval to be gained, but next Friday we will be announcing the start of our Annual Membership Survey and we want everyone who can to take it. We will administrate the survey through Survey Monkey, but if you want to do it on paper, let us know and we will get you a copy.

   Don't worry about it being a laborious survey. There are nine questions and the last question is for your name so we can ENTER YOU IN A PRIZE GIVEAWAY! That's right, if you take our survey you are entered into a drawing for a prize, and these prizes are nice!

   The plan is for the Annual Survey to normally be either late or early in a year - sometime in that sweet spot between the Tobacco and Heritage Festival and our Annual Dinner - but this year we are using the information from the survey to have some cold hard data while we set our long-term goals for our upcoming Chamber Strategic Plan.
 

RETAIL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

   A few weeks back I teased on this blog about some information we were able to get from the TVA and the wonderful Melissa Halsell, who is the program manager for economic development. Melissa provided us some great places to start in looking to either bring in new or lost retail back to Logan County.

   We have taken many proactive steps already and will be using the next few months to weave together both a short-term and a long-term plan. Look for more on both plans in the coming months, but for those of you who missed the numbers we provided a few weeks ago I leave you with this:

• We "leak" or spend outside of Logan County about $13.5 million in food and drink dollars. That is $490 per person or $1,960 per family of four spent somewhere else on dining.
• We "leak" out a little more than $25 million in money spent in grocery stores.
• We also "leak" out more than $9.5 million in clothing purchases.

We know these levels of leakage didn't happen overnight and we don't expect for it to quickly change, but what we can start doing right now is supporting our retail base here, identify what we are missing and begin the recruitment process. Stay tuned for more information about our retail development program!
 

RIBBON CUTTING AT BROOKS & HENDRICKS

   We had a wonderful crowd Monday for the ribbon-cutting event at the new law firm of Brooks & Hendricks. The weather was just right, there were many members who showed up to support Ami and Joe, and the country ham biscuits were sublime! The law firm is located on 4th Street in Russellville just across from the Justice Center.

Let's also make sure we show up this coming Monday to the RUSSELLVILLE AREA TECH CENTER  at 10 a.m. for their ribbon cutting of their new student store. Let's have as many members as possible showing up to support the students!

Ribbon cuttings/events coming up:

•    Russellville Area Tech Center  – April 13 @ 10 a.m.

•     Lewisburg Bank (Hopkinsville Road in Russellville location) – April 28 @ 7:30 a.m.

•    Southpoint Risk Advisors (merged Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance and the Insurance Place) – May 6 @ 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with ribbon cutting at 8 a.m.
   We will also be having a Tea and Networking hour at Creekwood Nursing and Rehab Center on April 22 starting at noon.

   That's it for this week. Next week, with a board meeting, another ribbon-cutting, and some exciting programs getting underway, it should make for a Jim-Dandy of a newsletter!

   So, remember to get out and smell the roses (or insert name of presently blooming flower or weed here) but just make sure there isn't a bee, wasp or hornet inside. I'm not saying my snout has ever been stung while sniffing a flower, but I'm not saying it hasn't either ...

Ryan

SMALL BUSINESS PLANNING FROM SMALLBIZ.COM

Think Process, Not Product, When Doing Small-business Planning Posted: 09 Apr 2015 08:07 AM PDT Photo (CC) by Robert Scoble, on Flickr Is 2015 the year you want to start your small business?  If so, have you sat down to develop your business plan yet?  Check out most how-to business guides and you will find a section on writing a business plan. Yet ask business owners and you often hear that they did a plan only because it was recommended by books and consultants or they wrote it to get money. Thus, the business plan has gotten to be something that is beginning to seem less and less valuable in the popular press and academic writings. Business plans are seen more and more as something that the banker requires. The business owner is more likely to view them as something, once written, get put on the shelf to gather dust. Business owners also are likely to hear from their peers that they started a business without putting everything down on paper. This view that a plan is unnecessary, however, misses the important aspect. It’s not the plan, which is just a thing, but the process or the doing of the plan that is the value. Developing a business strategy and thinking about the why of developing the business, the who will benefit from the business, and the what it means to the potential customer and to the world are crucial when developing a successful business. Developing these elements means coming somewhat from a different mindset. It also means that the owner is thinking how all of the elements may change. Change becomes part of the strategy. A plan often becomes the end in itself. It is static and may not reflect the passion and excitement of the owner. A strategy gives a sense of what you want the final goal to be. By stating that, the path on how you get there opens up the options on how you reach the goal. President Eisenhower focused on this difference between the process and the end result when he stated, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” So if you are headed into business in 2015, you need to go through the planning process to increase your chances of business success. If you already have a plan but haven’t looked at it in some time, maybe you should revisit it with these thoughts in mind.

MEMBER-TO-MEMBER: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR APRIL 3, 2015

From Ryan Craig
Executive Director

Logan County Chamber of Commerce

ryancraig@loganchamber.com

 

Act fast! I have a bunch of Doughnut Seeds
and am looking to move them!

   The news is reporting there was a tiny (if there is such a thing) 3.6 magnitude earthquake in southeast Missouri this past Wednesday night (which was April Fool's Day). A radio station in Hopkinsville said people there felt it, but I felt nothing as I snored away in Russellville. At first, I thought it was one of those elaborate hoaxes the Internet is now so famous for, but when I saw it reported in about 10 other reputable news outlets, I decided that maybe it wasn't a joke.

   And since it was a real earthquake, it is a good time to remind you to make sure you have an up-to-date disaster plan for your business. If you don't, and need help, contact me at the Chamber, and I will be glad to help you with one.

   And speaking of things that happened on April Fool's Day, I have some special DOUGHNUT SEEDS available for anyone who wants to buy some. I was given a one-time offer by a guy, in a van, down by the Red River. I was told they grow the best doughnut bushes out there! They are available for $5 a packet, which is not much more than what I paid for them. I have 27 boxes available! Hurry, they are going fast!
 

BROOKS & HENDRICKS, PLLC RIBBON CUTTING

   We will be celebrating the new law firm of Brooks & Hendricks with a ribbon cutting event on Monday, April 6 starting at 9 a.m. The law firm is located at 348 W. 4th Street in Russellville just across from the Justice Center. So, don't let the weekend make you forgetful and let's all come out and support Ami and Joe!

   Other ribbon cuttings/events coming up:

•    Russellville Area Tech Center  – April 13 @ 10 a.m.

•     Lewisburg Bank (Hopkinsville Road in Russellville location) – April 28 @ 7:30 a.m.

•    Southpoint Risk Advisors (merged Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance and the Insurance Place) – May 6 @ 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. with ribbon cutting at 8 a.m.
   We will also be having a Tea and Networking hour at Creekwood Nursing and Rehab Center on April 22 starting at noon.

 

 

OFFICE DEPOT PROGRAM

   A month or so ago we were sent some information from the group that handles the Office Depot Discount Program that said for us to keep the program we had to provide the names, information and addresses of all our membership. Seeing a lot of spam and unwanted solicitations heading your way, we decided not to renew our contract with the program. We will be looking for another, similar program as a replacement. If you know of one, or have any ideas at all about added membership incentives, give me a call or an email at the Chamber. I'd love to talk with you.
 

MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

   In the next couple of weeks, we will be releasing the membership survey. It is something we hope to make an annual event and normally it will be at the end of the year so we can use it to help the board draft goals for the following year. But right now we are in the middle of crafting the Chamber's Strategic Plan and we want the membership's input. It is a short survey and it can be done online, by email or we will also send you a paper copy if you want to fill one out the old-fashioned way. Basically, we want your opinion. Also, did I mention we are going to give a couple prizes away in a drawing of the names of those who filled the survey out? Well, now I did. Be thinking about what you want from YOUR chamber and be looking for the survey soon.

   With Easter weekend approaching, I'm wrapping this up and posting it a day early for all of those who aren't working on Good Friday. Have a wonderful weekend and try to refrain from eating the ears off of your children's or grandchildren's chocolate bunnies!

Ryan

 

Are you smart? Or are you Google smart?

Searching Online May Make You Think You're Smarter Than You Are

Could the characters in the sitcom "The Office" be inflating the sum of their knowledge via the Internet?
 NBC via Getty Images

From NPR
   Using the Internet is an easy way to feel omniscient. Enter a search term and the answers appear before your eyes.
   But at any moment you're also just a few taps away from becoming an insufferable know-it-all. Searching for answers online gives people an inflated sense of their own knowledge, according to a study. It makes people think they know more than they actually do.
   "We think the information is leaking into our head, but really the information is stored somewhere else entirely," Matthew Fisher, a doctoral student in cognitive psychology at Yale University, tells Shots. Fisher surveyed hundreds of people to get a sense of how searching the Internet affected how they rate their knowledge. His study was published Tuesday in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
   To read the entire article go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/04/02/396810355/searching-online-may-make-you-think-youre-smarter-than-you-are