FROM THE CHAMBER CANDANCE BRAKE
W
elcome to Volume II, Quarter 1 of our Greater Owensboro Business Quarterly! This volume kicks off a bright 2016 after a tremendous 2015 for the Greater Owensboro region. Our Chamber is in full swing working on tracking legislation and policy issues in Frankfort. Our community priorities will be our focus in Frankfort, particularly with our transportation infrastructure needs. We will also be keeping a close eye on any new legislation that may impact our membership. To that end, we are hosting a West Kentucky Thank You Night in Frankfort on February 11. Our goal is to work with our partners to communicate with legislators and the Executive Branch as a group for a louder
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President & CEO
voice and for more influence. Agriculture will be the focus of our February Rooster Booster with Ryan Quarles, our Agriculture Commissioner, serving as our guest speaker and Kentucky Farm Bureau as our sponsor. February will close out with our iconic Farm-City Breakfast on the 27th. In the mean time, we continue to work every day for our members and to remind our community how important it is to keep our money in Owensboro. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy this publication. Sincerely, Candance
ADAM HANCOCK
t is astonishing that we are now operating in the year 2016. Time flies at the Chamber, as it does in life, so it is important that we reflect on the success of the past while striving to improve the future. We were fortunate to experience a bevy of success throughout 2015 including continued membership growth and retention, a wildly successful Small Business Saturday, highly attended events, and continued success with advocacy efforts on behalf of our members. These successes were the result of an outstanding team. Candance, Shelly, Jessica, Susan, and Daniel are the dream team. They are an all-star starting lineup that, under the direction of Chair Mark Martin, truly excelled. The Chamber Board would like to thank them for all their efforts. It would be easy to sit back and enjoy this success, but we know there is much more to be done and we plan to build on that success. In the first quarter of 2016, we will focus our efforts on advocating for the business community at the local and state
Chairman
levels in order to support our membership on key issues that arise. This will be an eventful year with the presidential election, as well as state and local elections, and we will provide our members with access and information. The Chamber Young Professional group has laid the foundation to their continued success in 2015 and I will commit to continued success before I am kicked out for old age. They are our future, so encourage your contacts under the age of 40 to participate and attend their excellent activities. The 2016 Leadership Owensboro class is an impressive group as well; look for those individuals to do great things throughout their careers. Most importantly, our success relies on our membership and we are thankful for every single one of our members. We strive to provide you with a Chamber that is here for you and that will always do what is in your best interest. Please feel free to contact us if there is anything that we can do to help your business succeed. Bring it on, 2016!
A LOOK BACK AT LAST QUARTER’S COVER STORY:
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GO BUSINESS . FIRST QUARTER 2016
Adams & Sons’ Blue Bridge Tie project (featured on the 4th Qtr cover of GO Business) sold out before Christmas! Eric Adams presented a check for $7,500 from the 75 ties commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Blue Bridge to Pat Searcy on behalf of the Owensboro Health Foundation
on December 10. The donation will be used to offset medical care expenses for disadvantaged patients. Adams is already planning next year’s themed tie for charity. “We’ve got a date that ties in nicely for year three as well,” Adams said. (PHOTO PROVIDED BY OWENSBORO HEALTH)