Greater Owensboro Business Magazine

GREATER OWENSBORO

Third Quarter 2013

BusinessPRST STD.

U.S. POSTAGEP

AID

OWENSBORO, KY

PERMIT #412

Emerge Owensboro adds mentor program

ThirdQuarter2013 GreaterOwensboroBusiness 3

In This Issue

Amy JacksonPresidentGreater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce

From

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Cham

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Hello Members,Wow! What a year it has been. I just celebrated my one-year

anniversary with the Chamber, and want to take a moment to say thank you! It has been a fantastic year of learning for me. As I reflect, it’s best summed up to say … Owensboro is a great place to work, live, learn and play.

And, I’m not the only one thinking that. As we go to print, Owensboro is in pursuit of that top title of All-America City. We’ve celebrated being a finalist, here’s to hoping that our Good News Phone is ringing as that trophy comes home with the Owensboro team. Another great example of our progress is Forbes Magazine ranking Owensboro sixth on its list of “Best Small Cities for Jobs.” Owensboro is on the move, the Chamber is growing, and we have a lot of people taking note of the great things happening here.

Now is the time to propel ourselves forward even more on the energy. Two ways that I’d like to challenge you to get involved this summer in keeping the momentum of our community:

First – participate in our Emerge Owensboro program. If you haven’t applied and been through Leadership Owensboro or Emerge Owensboro, do it now. There is no better way to learn more about our community in a short time. You will be inspired to do more…it’s a fantastic program. Or, if you are an alumnus, sign up to be a mentor. Do your part in growing our leadership base, both for business and civic needs.

Second – participate in our Community Priorities Planning process. The Chamber is working with our sister organization, the GO Economic Development Corporation, as well as the City of Owensboro and the Daviess County Fiscal Court to create our community priority lists to take to Frankfort and Washington DC. We are stronger with one voice, but we need your help in creating that one voice. Please complete our survey, attend our open forums on July 17, July 19 and/or August 1. Do your part in prioritizing what’s next for our community.

Thanks for caring and helping us keep Owensboro on the move!

Amy JacksonPresident and CEO

Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce

Business First Quarter 2013

Vol. 10 • Number 3

GREATER OWENSBORO

Giving back 4Salsarita’s has commitment to community

Making mentors 8Emerge Owensboro adds mentorship

program, seeks participants

Austin Industrial 12Houston-based business finds work in

Owensboro

Home-based business 16Todali Tackle takes off

Growing strong 18Owensboro Regional Farmer’s Market

finds success

Business After Hours 21Event draws crowd

Young Professional 22Neel Ford discusses being a young

professional in Owensboro

On the Move 24Local business leaders on the move

in their industry and in the community

Your Chamber’s goals 27Missy Gant discusses the benefits of

chamber membership

4 GreaterOwensboroBusiness ThirdQuarter2013

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Giving back:Salsaritas puts community first

Mike Baker, who is a managing partner in Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina, left, and general manager Sherry Rickard stand in the outdoor eating area at the Villa Point restaurant.


By Kristi McCabe

When approached by long-time friend Jack Wells to become a managing

partner in Owensboro’s Salsar-ita’s, Mike Baker knew that his many years of restaurant experi-ence would enable him to be suc-cessful.

“Jack was a partner along with the previous owners,” said Baker. “We have been friends for over twenty years; we served on the board of Girls, Inc. together. Jack asked me to get involved with Sal-sarita’s because of my restaurant experience, and I agreed.”

Before joining Salsarita’s, Baker worked as regional manager for TGI Friday’s for ten years. Over the course of his career, Baker has supervised eleven different restau-rants, including Subway. What at-tracted Baker to Salsarita’s is the “fresh” twist the company takes on preparing its food.

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Nick Devine, a sous chef at Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina, prepares for the lunch crowd at the restaurant that features mexican food.


dients,” noted Baker. “And we make everything fresh, in-house. We also take a lot of pride in main-taining a friendly and welcoming environment, and our goal is to create the kind of atmosphere that makes people want to keep coming back.”

Besides creating an atmo-sphere attractive to customers, Baker also creates a warm and supportive work environment. General Manager Sherry Rickard has been with Salsarita’s for three years, and said she loves working for Mike.

“Before Mike came on, I had a goal but I wasn’t sure how to meet that goal,” Rickard reflect-ed. “When Mike came, he began working with me one-on-one and now I feel like I have more direc-tion in my career. I knew where I wanted to go, but I wasn’t sure how to get there. Mike has a lot

of experience, and he is always willing to share that experience with others.”

Baker said the first thing he and Jack Wells wanted to estab-lish at Salsarita’s was a good cul-ture.

“We tell potential employees that if they want to work here, they must want to have fun and be respectful,” said Baker. “That is the kind of workplace we want to maintain.”

“We have a great time,” noted Sherry Rickard. “And most all of our employees have been here for a few years.”

Salsarita’s Owensboro location has been open for about five and a half years. In that time, the res-taurant has been named one of the top Salsarita’s in the country in terms of sales over the prior year. Baker attributes this suc-cess to great leadership.

Perhaps the most impressive quality of Owensboro’s Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina is its dedication to community service. Mike Baker emphasized that the restaurant’s goal is to host eight fundraisers per month to benefit various com-munity organizations: an amazing number of community-building events for a business to sponsor.

“Our passion is to be involved in our community,” said Baker. “We host fundraisers for Girls, Inc., area schools and churches, families who want to adopt, Lit-tle League teams, and the Boys’ Club. Even if we do just six fund-raisers per month, that is 72 char-ity events per year. As a business, we want to attract new customers, and hosting fundraisers allows us to do that while helping our com-munity at the same time.”

Since he has served as past president and is still a board

Salsarita’s General Manager Sherry Rickard, left, mixes some of the food available behind the serving line at Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina restaurant. Also pictured is managing partner Mike Baker who was stirring vegetables on the grill.


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member of Girls, Inc., this orga-nization is particularly near and dear to Mike Baker’s heart.

“The goal of Girls, Inc. is to build strong, smart girls for to-morrow,” said Baker. “We teach them self-reliance, computer skills, math skills, and writing skills; we serve 1,000 girls annually. Our Owensboro chapter of Girls, Inc. has been named Affiliate of the Year for ten out of the past thirteen years. We are very proud of the ac-

complishments of this organization, and Salsarita’s is proud to be a sup-porter.”

Serving together as managing partners of Salsarita’s, longtime friends Mike Baker and Jack Wells are working hard to create a posi-tive atmosphere while supporting the local community.

“Giving back is what it’s all about,” noted Baker. “We hope to re-main a vital presence in Owensboro for many years to come.”

Mike Bakeropens umbrellas in the outdoor dining area at the restaurant.

While preparing for the lunch crowd, chips are cooling on the left and vegetables are grilling behind the serving line at the Villa Point restaurant.


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Making mentors:Emerge Owensboro adding mentorship program

From left, Russ Evans, plant technical services manager at Owensboro Municipal Utilities; Holly Castlen, safety manager at Regional Water Resource Agency; Teresa Thomas, director of the Hines Center, and Mary Higginbotham, administrative assistant at the Owensboro Convention Center, are members of the Emerge Owensboro class of 2013. They created the Connecting Generations of Leaders Mentoring Program as an Emerge Owensboro project, and it was selected to be implemented in the Emerge Owensboro 2014 class.


By Beth Noffsinger

When the Emerge Owensboro class of 2013 was tasked with creat-

ing projects aimed at addressing issues in the Owensboro area, Mary Higginbotham turned to her employer for inspiration.

Higginbotham is an adminis-trative assistant at the Owensboro Convention Center, which is man-aged by Global Spectrum. That management company has a great employee mentoring pro-gram, Higginbotham said recent-ly, called “How You Growin’?”

“Whenever we were trying to think of a project, I was working on our (mentoring) program for our company, and I thought how awesome it would be to have a community leadership mentoring program that would benefit indi-viduals who want to become lead-ers in the community,” she said. It would “benefit the community overall and keep past Emerge graduates who are currently in community leadership positions engaged in the program.”

Emerge Owensboro is a joint program of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Com-merce and the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. that is “focused on educating and engaging individuals to reach their potential and maximize their impact in the community,” the program’s website states.

Higginbotham, along with Teresa Thomas, director of the Hines Center; Russ Evans, plant technical services manager at Owensboro Municipal Utilities; and Holly Castlen, safety manager at Regional Water Resource Agen-cy, created Connecting Genera-tions of Leaders Mentoring Pro-gram, which was selected by their classmates and a panel of judges as the winning project after small group presentations from this year’s Emerge Owensboro class.

“It was a really good idea be-cause OMU had just launched a

mentoring program as well, so we were able to glean aspects of the programs and kind of work togeth-er,” Evans said. It “just seemed like a good fit because we noticed when a graduating class would go ... there wasn’t any way to bridge those generations of Emerge or Leadership Owensboro classes, so we were looking for that.

“It just makes … networking grow exponentially over the years.”

Details for Connecting Gen-erations of Leaders are still being finalized, but the program will match mentors with members of the upcoming Emerge Owensboro class. Being both a mentor and a mentee is voluntary, and people who apply to participate in Emerge Owensboro’s class of 2014 will also have the opportunity to apply for a mentor.

Emerge Owensboro is looking for alumni to participate as men-tors.

According to the PowerPoint presentation made to this year’s

class, the goals of Connecting Generations of Leaders include: providing the opportunity for cur-rent Emerge participants to ob-tain one-on-one confidential ad-vice and guidance from current community leaders; allowing past Emerge graduates the opportunity to stay engaged and involved in the Emerge Owensboro program and connecting established com-munity leaders and organizations with young professionals in the community that desire to obtain leadership positions.

“I also think the scope of our project is fairly simple,” Castlen said, “but I think the impact can be huge.”

Amy Jackson, the chamber’s president and CEO, said her reac-tion as she heard the group’s pre-sentation was “it made so much sense.”

Emerge Owensboro held a re-ception at the beginning of the 2012-13 session that included an alumni event for the first time.


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“I knew there was a desire to re-connect, and the class members, they saw that, as well,” Jackson said. “They’re all young, inspired, assertive, up-and-coming leaders, and they’re wanting to know how to have an affect, and they looked at the past graduates to say help me learn.”

Jackson drew names out of a hat to create the small groups for their presentations, though orga-nizers did try to make sure the groups had both men and women in them. The groups spent four or five months working on their projects before presenting them to the class.

This year was the first time the class voted on what project they wanted to champion and see get implemented, Jackson said.

“This is the first time we’ve made a true commitment from that group to put a new program in place,” she said. “Lots of good things have come from it, and oth-er things have been implemented,

but this is the first time we have voted as well as kicked it off as a project of the group.”

The application process for the Emerge Owensboro class of 2014 opens on July 1 and closes July 30. Though the application is still being finalized, interested partici-pants must have three letters of recommendation and complete a couple of short essays, including addressing what they see as the top challenges for Owensboro.

The sessions go from Septem-ber to May, and cost is $500. Em-ployers often pay their employ-ees’ fee, Jackson said.

The selection committee, which includes Jackson and Mad-ison Silvert, interim CEO and president of the EDC, also looks at applicants accomplishments, career objectives and how that fits into creating long-term lead-ers for Owensboro, Jackson said.

Emerge Owensboro is a valu-able program, she said, because many chamber members are

small businesses that don’t have a lot of opportunity to create, within their own companies, leadership development programs.

“So we have a prepackaged leadership development program ready for any size business in conjunction with the EDC,” Jack-son said. “The other part of it is it exposes you to other parts of Owensboro you hadn’t ever thought about. Whether you grew up here or not, you see things that you’ve never seen before, and it helps people find their passion. It helps them identify needs of where they can create good from it as a result of it.

“And it really solidifies a group and a class of leaders, as well, where they have a strong set of peers to relate to, to balance ideas from and work together with.”

The team that created Con-necting Generations of Leaders agreed that Emerge Owensboro was a good experience.

Higginbotham said Emerge

Emerge Owensboro poses for a photo during a trip to Frankfort.


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Owensboro gave her the opportunity to build re-lationships with business leaders and community members she might not have otherwise met.

“I already knew Teresa,” she said. “I would not have met Russ or Holly. (Emerge Owensboro) of-fers the opportunity to build those relationships that can last for years in the community.”

Castlen said the program opened her eyes to the number of resources Owensboro has, including learning about all of the activity taking place.

Emerge Owensboro participants meet for day-long sessions once a month -- usually the second Thursday of the month -- on topics such as Human Needs and Services, Education in our Community and Healthcare.

The class also has a session with local elected leaders and visits Frankfort while the legislature is in session.

Thomas said Emerge Owensboro allowed her to step out of her comfort zone.

“I am now on the board of directors for Friday Af-ter 5, so it just opens up doors that potentially aren’t there if you don’t step out of your comfort zone,” she said, “and I think that’s why I was interested in doing it.”

Participants are required to attend some activities outside of the monthly sessions, such as the cham-

ber’s Rooster Booster Breakfast, Owensboro City Commission meetings or school board meetings.

Some alumni of Emerge Owensboro or Leader-ship Owensboro -- a predecessor of Emerge -- help lead the monthly sessions, Jackson said.

“It’s amazing,” she said, “the number of people who circle back and say, ‘10 years ago, I was sitting here. ... There’s a lot of camaraderie in that and kind of a great sense of pride.”


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Austin Industrial:Houston-based business finds work in Owensboro

Austin Industrial Inc. workers, from right, Danny Fulkerson and Kenny Bowles, enlarge a mounting hole on a large pump at the Kimberly-Clark plant in Newman. Austin Industrial Inc. is an employee-owned business that provides maintenance services to manufacturers like Kimberly-Clark.


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By Benjamin Hoak

You may have never heard of Austin Industrial, but with a new goal of raising name recognition and becoming a larger part of the greater Owensboro community, the company is looking to change that.

Austin’s local presence in-cludes a 30-member workforce at the Kimberly Clark plant in west-ern Daviess County. That’s just a small portion of Austin’s over-all workforce of more than 6,000

employees. Based in Houston, the industrial contracting company is a subsidiary of Austin Industries.

Led by Site Manager Mark Johnson, the Owensboro group handles all of Kimberly Clark’s maintenance and subcontract-ing work. At other sites, Austin’s work includes construction and plant support services. The com-pany generally serves the oil, gas and chemical industries, as well as power generation and manu-facturing.

Don Goggans, Business De-

velopment Manager for Austin Industrial, said the company sees potential in the Owensboro area. They would like to develop more customers in order to share re-sources and thus save their cus-tomers time and money.

Local LaborWhen Austin begins work with

a company, whether it is continu-ing work, as at Kimberly Clark, or one-off projects, such as building a power plant, they look for local

Ricky Carlisle, a certified crane operator for Austin Industrial Inc. watches his co-workers work on a piece of suspended equipment at the Kimberly-Clark plant in Daviess County.


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labor. “We try to develop a cadre of folks in every region,” Goggans said. “It’s to our advantage, the ar-ea’s advantage and the owner’s ad-vantage to recruit local.”

Most of the time, Austin is look-ing for skilled labor, or craftspeople who know a trade, such as welders, millwrights, tool-and-die makers, etc. “Demand is greater and great-er,” Goggans said, recommending that students who aren’t sure what they want to do should look into learning a skilled trade.

In addition to the 30 full-time employees in Owensboro, Johnson said he keeps a pool of additional hires available for when they need to temporarily ramp up their work-force during special projects or out-ages for maintenance work.

Austin took over maintenance at Kimberly Clark a little more than nine years ago. After spending more than 25 years in the alumi-num industry and running his own business, Johnson joined Austin as a maintenance planner about four years ago before advancing to site manager.

Developing Employees

Austin is committed to its employ-ees in several ways. The company has been a leader in testing and training skilled craft professionals, helping to develop the National Cen-ter for Construction Education and Research, which provides individual training to increase the skill level of

each employee. They also make use of Austin University, an online train-ing program to develop leadership skills.

Safety is a key emphasis as well, with Austin’s “52 Week Structured Training” program providing a company-wide standard for required regulatory and safety procedures and policies.

Perhaps Austin’s greatest asset, though, is its 100 percent employee ownership. Because ownership is a powerful motivator, each employee is given stock in the company every year, and employees are referred to as employee-owners. “What you do affects your bottom line,” Goggans said.

Employee ownership helps set a different culture and attitude at

Kimberly-Clark site manager for Austin Industrial Inc., right, Mark Johnson and crew supervisor, Tom Hemingway, discuss a job at the Kimberly-Clark plant in Newman.


Austin. Employees must rely on communication, accountability and participation, all for the benefit of customers. In this same spirit, an hourly employee always sits on the company’s Board of Directors, bringing needed perspective and in-sight.

A History and a Future

Austin’s Owensboro location falls under the guidance of Goggans, who maintains Austin’s regional of-fice in Augusta, Georgia, as he fo-cuses on reaching new businesses in the southeastern United States. “It’s a great story they’ve chosen Owensboro to expand,” said Amy Jackson, President of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Com-merce. “It shows we are strong in manufacturing and industry.”

Austin Industrial is one of three subsidiary companies of Austin In-

dustries. The company has roots in the 1800s, when the Austin brothers began building bridges. The corporate entity known today was formed in 1918. One subsid-iary still focuses on bridges and roads, while the second focuses on corporate work and the third (Austin Industrial) focuses on in-dustrial work.

While Austin is a major corpo-ration doing technical work, they are also concerned about their local employees and the commu-nities they live in. In a town like Owensboro, that means they’re a good fit, which Goggan under-stands. “We try to get as many local folks as we can,” he said. “We’re in the people business.”

Austin Industrial Inc. workers lower a Kimberly-Clark paper machine roller into position so it can be shipped to Lewisport for maintenance.


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Home-based business:Todali Tackle taking off

A “Mini Dragon” bait is bagged and ready for sale from Alicia Haynes home-based business Totali Tackle.

By Joy Campbell

licia Haynes likes to say that her home-based business, Todali Tackle custom hand poured baits, started itself.

The Philpot woman was in a bait and tackle shop with her hus-band, Todd Haynes, when she asked about a bait display that caught her attention. Learning that the bait was “homemade” she said, “I can do that — and prob-ably better.”

That was in 2006.Alicia Haynes went home and

ordered a kit and started making bait molds from her kitchen. One mold had six dif ferent types of baits.

“My husband took some to work and showed them,” she said. “He came home with a bunch of these little pieces of paper, and I asked what they were. They were orders. I knew then that I needed to get a business license.”

Todali Tackle products are now

sold through a website, www.todalitackle.com, and in select stores including Bass-n-More in Owensboro and Horns, Hooks and Feathers in Calhoun. Other sales locations are Corbin, Maryville, Tenn., Tell City, Ind. and other locations in Illinois, Georgia and Texas. She has a Facebook page for the business.

In some ways, Haynes’ busi-ness is a natural for her.

“I’ve fished my whole life. My dad, Bobby Clark, always took


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us fishing when we went to his house,” she said. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old.

She also is married to a bass fisherman, and the couple fish in tournaments together. It was at one of their tournament locations that she spotted the custom bait display. Their son also fishes tour-naments with his dad.

The name Todali — pro-nounced totally — was created from the couple’s first names.

Todd Haynes is an electrician by trade who works at Daramic. Even though he’s not active in the business, he and the Haynes’ four kids sometimes help out with or-ders.

“My husband and I bought a lot of plastic baits, and I wanted to create a good product,” Alicia Haynes said. “I think I’ve done that.”

Her products are varied — from

a 13⁄4-inch lure to a 161⁄2-inch ga-tor tail worm for bass fishing.

“We make larger baits some companies don’t have,” she said. “We have fun and get to create with colors.”

Haynes was building a good fol-lowing for her company by 2010 when she won an online contest sponsored by Intuit called, “Love a Local Business,” based on cus-tomer service ratings.

“I was shocked when I got that call,” Haynes said. “We invested that, too.”

The couple built a 32- by 40-foot building, and she claimed a 16-by-32 section for Todali Tackle.

She has a pro staff that fishes her products and helps to get them into stores. They also make suggestions for color combina-tions.

Even with the company’s mar-keting mix, Haynes still attributes much of the growth to “word

of mouth.” She said when Jim Sparks, owner of Bass-n-More bait and tackle shop in Owensboro called her about selling her cus-tom products, he told her that several people had mentioned her to him.

Haynes appears as a guest on some radio fishing shows — talk-ing with the hosts about various topics.

The baits she sells are custom made for every order. She has been buying the molds, but she may start making those again.

“I’m pretty picky about the product,” Alicia Haynes said.

Haynes wants to continue to grow her business. She is enjoy-ing it — for the creativity it af-fords and for the opportunity to meet interesting people in dif fer-ent sections of the country.

“I’ve met a lot of helpful people, and I want to pay it forward and help others,” she said.

Alicia Haynes gets ready to inject custom-colored melted plastic into a mold while filling an order for Totali Tackle hand poured baits at her home business in Philpot.


Growing strong:Farmer’s market successful

A regular shopper for fresh produce, Kim Owen of Owensboro, left, picks out some choice tomatoes from Sally Nash of Pleasant Ridge at the Farmers Market. Nash has been selling produce at the market for 15 years.

By Beth Noffsinger

Tents covered several of the booths at the Owensboro Re-

gional Farmers Market on a recent Tuesday morning.

By mid-morning, a few shoppers were mulling purchases among the four or so merchants selling a vari-ety of produce, flowers, jams and

relishes.Spring 2013 was damp and cool

for many growers, and some are just now having items to sell. The farmers market is open at vari-ous locations throughout the week: Owensboro Christian Church, New Life Church and Smothers Park.

Gina Newton Dunlap, who grows fruit and vegetables in a 11⁄2-acre gar-

den in Reynolds Station, is one ven-dor who began selling a wider variety of produce in June. On Tuesday, the secretary/treasurer of the local farm-ers market had squash, zucchini, turnips, cucumbers, jams, eggs and bedding plants for sale.

The damp spring has Dunlap’s produce running at least two weeks behind, she said. Dunlap doesn’t use


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Gina Newton-Dunlap of Reynolds Station, weighs some of her home-grown produce for a customer the Farmers Market at Owensboro Christian Church.

greenhouses, so it will be awhile be-fore more of her produce, including tomatoes, blueberries and beans, are ready to sell.

She has been selling at the farm-ers market for about seven years.

“Actually, I started out with mi-croprocessing and brought jams, jel-lies, salsa, relishes and that kind of stuff,” she said. “That’s actually what I started out with. Since I grew my own vegetables anyway for that, I just kind of expanded into vegetables and flowers.”

Dunlap said selling at the Farmers Market has been successful for her.

“I wouldn’t have any other outlet if it wasn’t for that,” she said.

According to Farmers Market Co-alition, an advocacy group, the num-ber of farmer’s markets in the United States has grown from about 1,755 in 1994 to at least 7,800 in 2010.

“In excess of 3 million consumers shop and more than 70,000 farmers

sell at these markets annually,” Farm-ers Market Coalition’s website states. “The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that these markets generate an estimated $1.5 billion in consumer spending each year.”

Suzanne Cecil White, president of the local farmers market, said several of the market’s vendors have covered structures they grow in, so there’s been a good amount of produce to sell this year.

There’s “been a good turnout,” she said. “Two weeks ago, Memorial Day weekend, we had over 16 (ven-dors), and that’s great for that early in the year.”

More vendors have signed up to participate in the market this year, White said, and she expects more of them to be selling at the market in the coming weeks as more outdoor items come in. She was also pleased with the turnout at New Life Church

and Smothers Park, which hosted the market for the first time last week.

“We definitely had a great turn-out for both of those new locations,” White said. “I feel like the vendors that were there and that I talked to all felt like it was worth their time to go — there was a good enough turn-out.”

Chance Darven Estes, 10, of Lew-isport, helps tend his grandparents’ garden on Kentucky 140 in Daviess County. The family sells at the farm-ers market several days a week.

“I kind of grew up with it,” Chance said of growing produce. “I didn’t re-ally have a choice. And I learned to love it.”

Chance and Papaw’s Farm Pro-duce set up under a tent at Smothers Park on Thursday, selling a variety of produce. Chance said they grow rad-ishes, beets, carrots, onions, beans, peas, corn and tomatoes — and they’re trying eggplant this year.


Some of their produce came in a month late because of the cool, wet spring, Chance said. It didn’t, however, keep them from having items to sell at the farmers market.

“Cabbage we had to get out because our cabbage was starting to bust with all the rain,” Chance said.

Lorrie Collier, who operates Field of Greens near Livia, has sold produce, herbs and flowers at the farmers mar-ket for several years. The wet spring did make it hard for her to get produce planted, Collier said, but she grows herbs in a greenhouse, so she was able to start selling those when the farmers market opened earlier in the spring.

“I planted my green beans, and they’re coming up pretty sparse because right after I planted them, we got a bunch of rain, and it got real cold,” she said. “Things are starting to look good now. ... I think it’s going to be a little bit later than usual this year on some things.”

Collier, who attended the farmers market at Smoth-ers Park on Thursday, became a vendor at the market a few years ago after she retired fromMoonlite Bar-B-Q Inn after 27 years. She said she thought Smothers Park will be a good location for the farmers market.

“We’re excited about the downtown location and the Crabtree location, and we love the one at Owensboro Christian,” Collier said.

Sally Nash, of Nash Produce in Pleasant Ridge, had a variety of brightly colored produce for sale on Tues-day. She and her husband grow produce on 10 to 12 acres, including three greenhouses. They have been growing greenhouse tomatoes for four years now, and have sold at the farmers market for 15.

“We grow everything, pretty much,” Nash said. “I don’t know. There’s not much we don’t grow anymore. We’re including pumpkins this year for the first time.”

Nash grows everything from sweet corn and toma-toes to okra and southern peas — and even five dif-ferent kinds of green beans and red, yellow and white potatoes.

“I do make my own jelly and relishes,” Nash said. “We have our own strawberries, and we have to have our own fruit, and we sell the excess of what I don’t need for jellies and jams.”

Nash began selling at the farmers market 15 years ago, when the couple’s tobacco quotas were cut. Nash

had always raised a garden, so she decided to bring her extra produce to the market. She also sells some from her home.

“I told my husband, everybody doesn’t have to smoke, but everybody has to eat,” she said. “So I started doing that (and) saw I didn’t have nearly the stuff I needed to have. Every year, we’ve gotten a little bigger and a little bigger.”

The wet spring has affected the produce Nash grows in the field, but her greenhouses have given her plenty of produce to sell. If she didn’t have the greenhouses, Nash said, she would have strawber-ries, cabbage, broccoli and some plants ready.

She called selling through the farmers market, which she does three days a week, a good experience.

“I got in at a good time because there were very few vendors 15 years ago,” Nash said. “Some were elderly and choosing to quit. I kind of got in at a good time, started to build a customer base, and they’ve kind of been loyal to me. I try to be loyal to them.”

Nash has also seen an increase in the number of peo-ple shopping at the farmers market.

“I think the interest is beginning to pick up to ... sup-port local,” she said.

“I think the interest is beginning to pick up to ... support local.”

- Sally Nash

Frances Chapman of Owensboro, left, waits as 10-year-old Chance Estes of Lewisport counts out her change at a new satellite location for the Owensboro Regional Farmers Market at New Life Church, 400 Crabtree Avenue.


After hours:Event draws more than 150

More than 150 people attend-ed a Business After Hours open house, hosted by L. Steve Cas-tlen Realtors, on Thursday, May 2. The event officially “brought-back” the business after hours event for the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.

“As I’ve talked to members in the last year, numerous people asked when we were going to bring back the evening social events that allow members to net-work in a relaxed setting,” said Amy Jackson, President and CEO of the Chamber. “We were happy to bring it back to allow our grow-ing membership in Owensboro to highlight their individual busi-nesses as well.”

Last night’s host, Steve Cas-tlen, said, “We are proud to be the first one to help re-start the Business After Hours event. The turnout was great, and provided my team and I the opportunity to thank customers as well as welcome prospects into our busi-ness.”

In addition to the food and fel-lowship, doorprizes were also given away. Kelly Ford with Gor-man & Associates won a floral oil painting and Sydney Warren of Brescia University won a flat-screen TV, courtesy of L. Steve Castlen Realtors.

The Greater Owensboro Cham-ber of Commerce is an 890 mem-ber organization, with the pur-pose of connecting businesses and fostering economic growth in Owensboro and Daviess County. For more information about mem-bership and the Chamber pro-grams, please call 270-926-1860.

Steve L. Castlen addresses the crowd at the after hours event.


GOB22

Neel FordAge: 31

Commercial Lines Insurance Agent, E.M. Ford & Company


HometownOwensboro, KY

Civic or Volunteer Activities

Board of Directors – Owensboro Museum of Science & History, Owensboro Community and Technical College Nominating Commission, Young Agents Committee(YAC), Chairman YAC Gov’t Af-fairs – Independent Insurance Agents of Kentucky, Pitino Shelter Volunteer

How long have you served in your current position?

I have been with E.M. Ford & Co. for 5 years in August.

What does your position entail?

Our agency, as a whole, handles all lines of insur-ance, as well as, financial planning. My focus is on our commercial lines side (business insurance). On a daily basis, I am speaking with current or prospec-tive clients about their business and determining the best insurance program to fit their needs. As an independent agent, we have access to a number of insurance companies, so one of my main responsi-bilities is to find the best suited insurance program for each of my clients. A great insurance program is an important part of any profitable business plan. We want our clients to think of us as trusted advi-sors and that insurance is not just a commodity.

What’s the best part about your position?

Each day tends to be different, which keeps things interesting, but I would have to say getting to know and work with each individual client is most enjoyable. Learning about my clients’ respec-tive businesses and helping them come up with the best insurance program is very rewarding and something that I look forward to each day. It’s very important work because I am protecting a person’s livelihood.

Why do you choose to live and work in the greater Owensboro area?

Most importantly, I wanted to be close to my family, but I was also excited to come back and work in our family business. I enjoyed growing up in Owensboro and I always knew I wanted to come back and raise my own family here. Our commu-nity has so much to offer, both from a business and personal standpoint. With all that is going on in and around the area, it is hard not to get excited about its future. My wife and I are expecting our first child in July and we are excited about our baby being born at the new hospital. Our child will have access to wonderful school systems, many cultural institutions, a first class riverfront, and many other diverse opportunities our city and county provide.

What are other young professionals saying about the Owensboro area?

There is a lot of excitement with the other young professionals I speak with, especially in regards to the downtown development. Seeing the invest-ment being put in to revitalizing downtown is exciting for our generation, because we know it is something we, as well as our children, will be able to enjoy most of our lifetime. I also think because of the work we are putting into our community, we are seeing talented young graduates staying in Owensboro or coming back to start their careers, which is a testament to all that is happening in and around Owensboro.

Learning about my clients’ respective businesses and helping them come up with the best insurance program

is very rewarding and something that I look forward to each day.


GOB24

On the Move


First Security Bank recently announced the appointment of Paul J. Haire as director of wealth man-agement. Haire has more than 25 years of wealth management experi-ence and has owned a private prac-tice for the past 25 years. He also worked for LPL Financia l in Owensboro.

It was also announced that LPL Financial was named as the broker-dealer newly associated with First Security Bank.

Haire has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky and has served as president of Owensboro East Gideon’s Camp, Gideon’s Inter-national, Chamber of Commerce Member of the Year in 1998 and Board Member of the Year in 2002, past chair of the giving committee o f Foundat ion for Hea l th a t Owensboro Medical Health System and past board member of the City of Owensboro Public Art Commis-sion.

Bruce Maxwell with AFLAC became cer tif ied through The National Association of Health Underwriters’ (NAHU) new profes-sional development course on the Patient Protection and Af fordable Care Act (PPACA).

Maxwell completed the 10-hour course that provides up-to-date information on key technical com-ponents of PPACA. Topics of study included information regarding Medicare Part D, patient protection and changes to health plans.

Tracy Thacker, a financial advis-er for Edward Jones in Owensboro, was recently honored by the firm for his job performance.

The recognition earned Thacker an invitation to Edward Jones’ annu-al Managing Partner’s Conference in April in Scottsdale, Ariz. Jim Wed-dle, Edward Jones’ managing part-ner, led discussions on issues facing the firm and the financial services industry as a whole.

Dr. Jodi Krahwinkel, optome-trist, whose office is at 5031 Frederi-ca St., attended the Kentucky Opto-metric Association’s 111th Annual Spring Educational Congress, April 25-28, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lexington.

Lectures on the latest updates in eye care and disease were present-ed. The conference also included exhibits featuring the latest prod-ucts and services in optometry.

Dr. Krahwinkel has been practic-ing optometry in Owensboro since 1998.

Jonathon Estes with E.M. Ford & Co. has completed his certifica-tion on the Patient Protection and Af fordable Care Act (PPACA) offered through the National Asso-ciation of Health Under writers (NAHU). The course educates health insurance agents in the tech-nical components of PPACA so they can better assist clients with health insurance changes, options and requirements.

The Owensboro Hampton Inn

and Suites, Downtown/Waterfront has named John Morton as gener-al manager. He was formerly the general manager of the Hampton Inn-Northeast, Louisville and has been with Hilton Corp. for 13 years. Morton is a graduate of Capital Uni-versity in Columbus, Ohio, and is

also president of the Louisville Hotel Association.

Steve Montgomery of Whites-ville has opened Gumr ys Foods LLC. The company makes barbecue dips that will be available at Home-town IGA stores.

Jim White with Helton-White and Associates in Calhoun recently became cer tif ied through The National Association of Health Underwriters’ (NAHU) new profes-sional development course on the Patient Protection and Af fordable Care Act (PPACA). The course pro-vides up-to-date information and prepares health insurance profes-sionals to assist clients with health-care changes and options.

J. Adam Hancock, CPA, CVA, has been selected as a member of the Leadership Kentucky Class of 2013, a nonprofit educational orga-nization that brings together a select group of people that possess a broad variety of leadership abili-ties, career accomplishments and volunteer activities to gain insight into issues facing the state.


Hancock is a senior manager in the consulting services division of Riney Hancock CPAs. He graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College with a bachelor’s degree in account-ing. He is a board member of the Owensboro-Daviess County Region-al Airport, treasurer of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and ser ves on the Friday After 5 board.

Meagan Magnus has been pro-moted to director of service for The Malcolm Br yant Corp. She will oversee service and sales for the new Hampton Inn & Suites Down-town/Water front, Hampton Inn Owensboro South and Hampton Inn Louisville Northeast. Meagan has been general manager of the Hamp-ton Inn Owensboro South for five years. She graduated from Brescia University with a bachelor of sci-ence in business in 2003.

Magnus is a recent Chamber Emerge graduate and is vice chair of the Convention and Visitors Bureau board and is on the steering and bylaws committees for the Owensboro Hospitality Association.

Kelsey Mann, a financial adviser at E.M. Ford & Co., completed her licensing in December and is now a member of the advisory team. She previously worked as an investment analyst. She has Series 7 and Series 66 life and health insurance licens-es, is a graduate of the University of Louisville and is currently pursuing her MBA at Auburn University.

First Security Bank recently announced the promotion of Jon Lutgring to assistant vice president and controller. He joined First Secu-rity Bank in July of 2010 as assistant vice president and assistant control-ler. Lutgring’s duties include accounting for examinations, regu-latory reporting, board reporting, budgeting and oversight of financial controls. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and master’s degree in accounting from Indiana University.

Sarah McDonald has been pro-moted to commercial lines account manager at E.M. Ford & Co. Sarah has been with the company for three years and previously worked

as a customer service representa-tive. Sarah is a licensed property and casualty agent and graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2008 with a bachelor of science degree in business administration.

Brandon Gilles has been named financial of ficer trainee for Farm Credit Mid-America in Owensboro. His ter ritor y includes Daviess, McLean, Ohio and Hancock coun-ties. Gilles has a bachelor of science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky.

Bill Hodskins, insurance agent at Daviess County–East Agency of Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance, has been named 2012 Agent of the Year for District One. The award is in recognition of excellence in over-all sales production, satisfactor y loss-ratio, service to policyholders and an affirmative attitude. The dis-trict is a 24-county region. Hodskins is a graduate of Owensboro Catholic High School, and worked in sales for more than 20 years before join-ing Kentucky Farm Bureau.

Susann Bar tlet has joined Neely Insurance Agency LLC, 2120 Frederica St., as a producer special-izing in commercial general liability for businesses, as well as auto, home and life insurance. She is a member of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, a current ambassador, past board director and a g r a d u a t e o f L e a d e r s h i p Owensboro.

Jeanette Lambert has joined Combined Insurance Co. of America. She will be an independent agent for s u p p l e m e n t a l i n s u r a n c e i n Owensboro and the surrounding counties.

First Security Bank of Owensboro announced Robert Whitaker and Bruce Sook as new additions to the company.

Whitaker, a former commercial lender at Independence Bank and business banking officer at National City Bank, has been named assistant vice president and commercial lend-er. He has a bachelor of science degree from Western Kentucky Uni-versity.

Sook was named mortgage origi-

nator for the Owensboro market. He previously worked as a loan officer at Old National Bank. He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in psycholo-gy and business administration.

Jennifer Murphy Byrne, PT, MPT and Chelsea Taylor Rice, PTA of KOR T Physical Therapy Owensboro, 3211 Frederica St., com-pleted the American Institute of Bal-ance Vestibular Rehabilitation Certi-fication Program. The certification will allow them to treat patients with vestibular dysfunction and dizziness-related issues.

Mitch Settle of Hilliard Lyons was ranked as one of the Top 1,000 financial advisers in the U.S. by Bar-ron’s Magazine. The ranking is based on assets under management, revenue generated for the adviser’s firm and the quality of their practic-es. The publication also released a state-by-state ranking that named Settle as the No. 3 adviser in Ken-tucky.

Bill Barron has purchased Sper-ry Van Ness/The Barron Group Real Estate Co. The commercial broker-age company will assume the name William G. Barron Enterprises Inc. Bo Barron will serve as vice presi-dent of organizational development with the company.

Eric Fulkerson of Owensboro has been named assistant director of facilities at St. Mar y’s Health, Evansville. In this role, he will over-see the engineering depar tment, including power plant operations, maintenance, construction and ren-ovation.

Most recently, Fulkerson served as a maintenance manager at Owensboro Medical Health System. Prior to that, he was a project engi-neer for Broeren-Russo Construc-tion in Champaign, Ill.

Fulkerson earned his bachelor of science degree in construction man-agement from Illinois State Universi-ty and his master of science degree in management from Brescia Univer-sity.

Realtors Mark Critchelow and Robbie Philhower have joined Century 21 Partners.


This year the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Com-merce is celebrating 100 years of helping businesses grow. We work every day to make sure that the Chamber serves as the indispensable source for business connections, oppor-tunities, and solutions for you. Our mission is to provide lead-ership, advocacy and member services that foster growth and economic prosperity.

With that in mind, our Board of directors helped us define our goals to:

• Grow membership by pro-viding exceptional value and service.

• Create opportunities and advance the success of small

businesses.• Develop and connect

leaders for the future of Greater Owensboro.

• Demonstrate the Chamber’s leadership and collaborative role in Greater Owensboro.

• Advocate to improve the business envi-ronment and competitive-ness of Greater Owensboro.

• Operate the Chamber with innovation, integrity, creativity

and efficiency.We aspire each day to these

goals. If you have ideas, feedback or want to get involved in the Chamber and our mission, let us know! It is an exciting time to be a member and have a voice in your Chamber of Commerce! If you are inter-ested in joining, rejoining or get-ting more active in your Chamber, please call Missy

Gant at 926-1860.

Your Chamber’s goals

By Missy Gant


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