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FAST LANE - December
2001
“Success in economic development depends on forging effective partnerships with local, county, regional, state and private sector leaders,” notes Gene Strong, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. “Effective leaders are a key ingredient.” Jim Booth, of Inez, is president of Czar Coal Corporation, which supplies over six million tons of coal annually to eastern U.S. electric utilities and employs some 1,130 people in Kentucky’s eastern region. Booth’s community involvement includes serving on the boards of the Inez Deposit Bank, Pikeville College, the Honey Branch Economic Development Authority, Martin County Economic Development and Morehead State University. As president and CEO of Central Bank & Trust Company in Lexington, Luther Deaton, Jr. adheres to the idea that a bank should be a cornerstone for civic and community activities. Deaton serves on the boards for the Kentucky Economic Development Partnership Board, the Child Development Centers of the Bluegrass, the Bluegrass Community Foundation, the Ronald McDonald House, and is chairman of the Carol M. Gatton Business and Economic Development Council’s board, to name only a few of his involvements. Though now in private practice, William Fuqua of Russellville has previously served as a circuit judge in Logan and Todd counties for 25 years, was Russellville’s city attorney for 10 years and served as a justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court in 1995. He is active in a number of state and regional legal associations, is a charter member of the board of directors for Leadership Kentucky, and served on the Logan County Economic Development Board for 36 years. Martha Johnson, vice president of the Ashland Inc. Foundation, focuses her talents on Ashland’s philanthropic efforts and has demonstrated a commitment to improving the workforce throughout Kentucky. Johnson is a member of the U.S. Chamber’s Education Committee and is the founding chair of the Board of Regents for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. STATE
“The devastating effects of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome will leave our horse farmers in desperate need of assistance of over the next few years,” noted Kentucky Representative Ernie Fletcher. “This will ensure that they are not forced to sell their farm. This important loan program takes us a step closer to ensuring that we do not lose the culture and heritage of the Bluegrass.” Farmers are eligible for the loan program if 30 percent of the mares owned or boarded by the farmer failed to conceive, miscarried, aborted or otherwise failed to produce a live, healthy foal. The term of the loan cannot exceed 15 years or $500,000. STATE Verizon Communications has agreed to sell all of its 101 local telephone exchanges and approximately 596 telephone lines in Kentucky to ALLTEL, an Arkansas-based communications and information services company, for $1,907 billion.
The sale, which is dependent on regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the second half of 2002. FRANKFORT
Prior to the attack, PlanGraphics, Inc., a Frankfort-based company that specializes in spatial information technology, had developed and implemented a Web-based application designed to help direct New York residents to shelters in the event of weather emergencies. In response to the September 11 attack, the company has expanded the capabilities of the application, providing information on car and pedestrian restrictions, utility outages and other necessary information involving the area around “Ground Zero.” Members of the PlanGraphics staff have been maintaining the emergency information Web-site for the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management and are also helping to staff the Emergency Mapping and Data Center for New York’s emergency operations center. STATE Griffin Industries and Shelby Industries have been selected as the 2001 recipients of the Kentucky Industry of the Year award. Griffin Industries is a family-owned agribusiness based in Cold Springs, Kentucky. Shelby Industries, in Shelbyville, manufactures trailer-related products and trailer accessories. This is the first year for the awards, which are co-sponsored by Ashland Inc. and Associated Industries of Kentucky (AIK). “Kentucky industries make enormous contributions to the quality of life in our state,” said Andrew Meko, AIK president/CEO. “The Kentucky Industry of the Year awards are being instituted to showcase entrepreneurial spirit, community leadership and policy contributions made by Kentucky industry to the economic success of our Commonwealth.” The winners were selected by a panel of judges representing businesses, educational institutions and trade associations. The panel was chaired by Martha Johnson, vice president of Ashland Inc. STATE
Under Brown’s leadership, Kentucky is one of the first states in the nation to offer an Internet service specifically designed to assist business entrepreneurs. LEXINGTON
“Tribo Flow is exactly the type of university spin-off that is being aggressively developed through the new Kentucky Innovation Initiative,” noted Kris Kimel, president of KSTC. The award from the National Institute brings with it $1.8 million in funding to further Tribo’s growth and development. PADUCAH The Paducah City Commission and McCracken Fiscal Court have voted to eliminate an inventory tax in an effort to both retain and attract more businesses to the area. The issue came to the forefront when AmeriSource Health Corp., which operates a distribution center in Paducah, threatened to relocate to another state and city that didn’t impose such a tax. According to AmeriSource officials, the tax cost the company more than $500,000 a year. Losing the company to another community would have resulted in the loss of nearly 300 jobs. Plus, local leaders worried that if AmeriSource left, other companies would follow. Though AmeriSource’s
future in Paducah is still in question – a recent merger with Bergen
Brunswig will result in some facility closures – local officials
are confident they’ve made the right move for the future. LEXINGTON
The deal also includes the sale of P&G’s Crisco cooking oil business. P&G officials said that though JIF and Crisco remain strong brands, they are “no longer a strategic fit” for the company, which is focusing on building big brands in core categories. The Lexington P&G plant has produced JIF peanut butter since 1957 and currently employs 200 employees. They will become employees of Smucker, which, like Proctor & Gamble, is considered one of the nation’s best companies for which to work. Smuckers, based in Orville, Ohio, is more than 100 years old and continues to be owned and operated by the Smucker family. The company has over 2,000 employees worldwide and distributes products in more than 70 countries. The all-stock transaction, valued at more than $1 billion, is expected to close during the second quarter of 2002. BOWLING GREEN
The theme of the conference is “Global Benchmarking” and will focus on supply chain management and partnerships, the integration of mergers and acquisitions, using simulation, modeling and optimization to improve business practices and six sigma (a plan of operation to ensure quality), balanced scorecard and benchmarking excellence. For those interested in attending the conference, registration forms can be obtained through the Office of Global Business & Entrepreneurship, 245 Grise Hall, Western Kentucky University or online at www.gac.ky.net. For more information, visit the Web site or call 270/745-6481. BOWLING GREEN
The plant, which will operate through mid-summer 2002 to service existing contracts, employs approximately 235 people who manufacture fabricated steel wheels for use in passenger cars and light trucks. Company officials say the decision to close the plant was based on the weak economy, the tightened domestic auto industry and changing market requirements, which have resulted in a reduced product demand. The Bowling Green operations will be fully absorbed by the company’s facility in Sedalia, Missouri. OWENSBORO Whitehall Furniture, Inc., a long-time manufacturer of wood office products, will close its doors for good come March, a victim of the nation’s economic recession. The office product industry is feeling the squeeze as companies throughout the nation continue to downsize, resulting in less of a need for office furniture. In fact, the nation’s office furniture shipments dropped more than 16 percent in the second quarter of this year. According to Steve Johnson, Whitehall’s director of human resources, the industry as a whole has lost more than 10,000 jobs over the course of the last few months. Whitehall’s 115 employees will see the first round of layoffs beginning this month. Fred Reeves, executive vice president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Chamber of Commerce, hopes to be able to attract another manufacturing company to the area to occupy the 200,000-square-foot Whitehall building. PRESTONSBURG American Electric Power has completed its acquisition of Quaker Coal Co., resolving the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings initiated by Prestonsburg-based Quaker. Under the revised agreement, AEP will pay $101 million to creditors – as originally announced – for Quaker assets that include surface and coal mining operations and associated facilities and coal reserves in Kentucky and Ohio; coal reserves in Pennsylvania; property interests in Colorado, and royalty interests in West Virginia. AEP also will assume associated liabilities of approximately $40 million. AEP will continue to operate Quaker’s currently active mines and associated businesses, which employ approximately 840 people. The Quaker operations are expected to increase AEP’s coal production by approximately 7 million tons annually and once again place AEP among the top 20 coal producers in the region. BOWLING GREEN A master plan for the proposed Kentucky TriModal Transpark has been approved by the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority Board of Directors, the agency charged with overseeing the design and development of the high-tech commerce and business park. Phase One of the master plan calls for the development of the business park in 240-acre increments. Phase Two features the construction of a new airport, as well as land development for airport related businesses. Phase Three of the plan includes additional business park development. A recently-completed cost analysis conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates estimates that the Transpark will generate some 2,500 jobs with wages totaling $63 million within five years after opening. The study also predicted that jobs and wages would increase three- to four-fold within 25 years. LEXINGTON Baseball Weekly has named Lexington Legends Manager J.J. Cannon as its 2001 Minor League Manager of the Year. Under Cannon’s leadership, Lexington achieved a 92-48 record and captured the 2001 South Atlantic League Championship. Prior to joining the Legends, Cannon spent two seasons managing the Danville Braves in the Appalachian Rookie Advanced League in Virginia. Before going to Danville in 1999, Cannon spent 20 years in the Toronto Blue Jays organization as a player, coach and manager. CENTRAL KENTUCKY By a margin of 5,946 to 425, voters have approved the consolidation of Blue Grass Energy in Nicholasville, Kentucky, with Harrison Electric Cooperative in Cynthiana. The referendum allows the central Kentucky distribution cooperatives to consolidate January 1, 2002 – pending approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Earlier this year, the boards of directors of both organizations recommended consolidation. Since both are local member-owned cooperatives, a majority of voting consumers was required to approve the proposal. Headquarters for the organization will be in Nicholasville. The Cynthiana facility will become a full-service district office. Blue Grass Energy already has district offices in Madison and Anderson counties. The name for the
consolidated organization will be Blue Grass Energy Cooperative Corporation.
The Nicholasville-based utility already serves some 34,000 consumers
in Jessamine, Fayette, Madison, Jackson, Garrard, Anderson, Franklin,
Mercer, Henry, Shelby, Spencer, Washington, and Woodford counties. Harrison
Electric Cooperative has more than 13,000 consumers in Bourbon, Bracken,
Grant, Harrison, Nicholas, Pendleton, Robertson, and Scott counties. Business Briefs BOWLING GREEN
CADIZ
CORBIN
ELIZABETHTOWN
FORT MITCHELL
FRANKFORT
FRANKLIN
GLASGOW
HAZARD
HENDERSON COUNTY
HORSE CAVE
LEXINGTON
LONDON
LOUISVILLE
NICHOLASVILLE
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
PIKEVILLE
SEBREE
SHELBY COUNTY
STANFORD
WESTERN KENTUCKY
WARSAW
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Copyright 1996-2001, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial
content is copyright 2001, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
They
come from a variety of fields and backgrounds, but Jim Booth, Luther
Deaton, William Fuqua and Martha Johnson have a common bond: They each
have served as outstanding leaders in their respective communities and
as a result, have been named as recipients of the 2001 Governor’s
Economic Development Leadership Awards.
The
U.S. House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly in favor of the
2001 Farm Bill, which includes relief for Kentucky horse farmers affected
by Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome. 
Following
the closing of the transaction, approximately 950 Verizon employees
in Kentucky will become ALLTEL employees. However, employees working
in Verizon’s operator service center in Lexington will remain with
Verizon, as will employees who are part of Verizon’s long distance,
Internet, wireless and directory publishing groups. 
As
repercussions of the September 11 attack on New York City continue to
be felt around the nation, a Kentucky company and its people have assumed
a critical role in assisting emergency management personnel dealing
with the aftermath of the tragedy. 
Kentucky
Secretary of State John Y. Brown III has been appointed as chairman
of the Business Services and Licensing Committee for the National Association
of Secretaries of State (NASS). The committee will focus on ways state
government can assist individuals starting a new business and ways of
streamlining other business services. 
A
young start-up company has become the first firm in Kentucky to receive
an award from the Advanced Technology Program at the U.S. National Institute
of Standards and Technology. 
Cincinnati-based
Proctor & Gamble has sold its Lexington peanut butter plant to the
J. M. Smucker Company, giving Smuckers – well known for its jellies
and jams – an unbeatable combination of products. 
The
2002 Global Automotive Conference, hosted by the office of Global Business
and Entrepreneurship at Western Kentucky University, has been scheduled
for April 15-17 in Bowling Green.
Hayes
Lemmerz International has announced that it is closing its manufacturing
facility in Bowling Green next year. 