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FAST LANE - November
2001
The September announcement, made at the 67th annual meeting of the Southern Governors’ Association (SGA) in Lexington, was based on an in-depth, comprehensive report on energy policy released by the governors and the Southern States Energy Board. The governors shared the report with Vice President Dick Cheney, who joined them at the meeting to discuss the economy and the Administration’s energy policy. The governors also passed a resolution endorsing the findings of a report on research, development and technology. The report – issued by the SGA Advisory Committee on Research, Development and Technology – calls on Congress and the Administration to substantially increase all areas of research and development funding; to enact a permanent tax incentive for R&D; to bolster federal technology transfer efforts; to support legislation and regulations that will speed the deployment of broadband, high speed internet networking; and to establish a federal chief information office within the Office of Management and Budget. In other business, the SGA passed a resolution outlining recommendations to Congress on the 2002 farm bill and met with 10 university presidents from the South to discuss joint initiatives on information technology and coastal research. The first information technology/ costal research initiative is an opportunity for the South to lead in the development and deployment of new networking technologies by providing cost-effective advanced telecommunications services for education and research, economic development and service delivery across the entire region. The presidents stressed that the initiative can be advanced by integrating telecommunication infrastructure and using state and local tax credits to leverage development. The coastal research initiative would expand and link ocean monitoring systems — providing greater capacity to protect life and property by addressing ecological environmental and marine resources. DANVILLE The future of America’s nearly 18,000 small-to-mid-size cities was the focus of “The Morphing of Main Street USA,” a Sept. 24-26 colloquium sponsored by the NewCities Foundation. Comments and discussions centered on how such cities can remain viable entities within the nation’s new economy. Henry Cisneros, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and four-term mayor of San Antonio, Texas, was the keynote speaker. The three-day program, conducted on the Centre College campus, was the inaugural event of the NewCities Foundation. Kentucky League of Cities spokesperson Robyn Miller said the conference initiated a process of encouraging city officials to embrace and use change to their advantage. LOUISVILLE Eagle Steel Products Inc., a Louisville-area steel service company, is expanding its operations to Technology Park and establishing a distribution/warehousing operation for steel and for its customers’ dies. Five to seven employees are expected to be added as a result of the expansion. It’s anticipated that the number of Eagle employees at Technology Park could increase by 17-23 people should a manufacturing operation be added. The firm currently employs 80 people at its Louisville and Jeffersonville, Ind., locations. The relocation is expected to enhance services Eagle Steel provides Louisville’s Ford truck assembly plant, the Budd Company in Shelbyville, Tower Automotive Inc. in Bardstown, and Johnson Controls Inc. in Georgetown. Established in 1982, Eagle Steel serves the automotive, appliance, office products and construction industries. In 1985, the U.S. Department of Commerce named Eagle Steel the National Minority Supplier of the Year. LOUISVILLE
The track’s board of directors has approved an initial $27 million to complete phase one of a master plan involving renovation of the Jockey Club, which includes areas under the historic Twin Spires and portions of the grandstand. Also, new premium suites overlooking the track will be created. Initial Phase I construction is scheduled for December with more significant renovations taking place after the racetrack’s 2002 Spring Meet. Phase II of the Master Plan calls for an additional investment of approximately $100 million to rebuild the Churchill Downs clubhouse area. The board will review funding for Phase II in June. President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas H. Meeker said the master plan will provide “ the most ambitious structural enhancement to Churchill Downs since the construction of the Twin Spires in 1895.” Churchill Downs Incorporated is one of the world’s leading horse-racing companies. The company owns racetracks in California, Florida, Illinois and Kentucky and has interests in a pari-mutual operation in Indiana as well as various racing services companies. LEXINGTON Ralph McKenzie, 73, a massage therapist and licensed vendor from Lexington, has been selected as this year’s Outstanding Older Worker of Kentucky. The honor was part of the fourth annual National Prime Time Awards sponsored by Green Thumb Inc. McKenzie, who is blind, was honored Sept. 25 at the High Street YMCA, Lexington. The honoree is self-employed and has two jobs. He is a Kentucky licensed blind vendor with vending machines at two locations and and the first blind professional masseur in the state. He also is the first blind vendor to manage a rest-area concession (at I-64) Established by Green Thumb in 1998, the Prime Time Awards highlight the exceptional contributions and achievements senior workers are making in their communities and places of work. To be recognized as the Outstanding Older Worker of a state, an individual must be 65 years of age or older, work at least 20 hours per week in paid employment, be willing to participate in national Prime Time Award program activities, and meet other established criteria. An employer, a co-worker, a family member, or friend can nominate entrants. Green Thumb Inc. is a national, nonprofit organization and a leader in the field of older-worker training and employment. CYNTHIANA
Head gear, air quality products and thermal imaging devices were provided. The hats, which are inscribed “Bullard Loves New York,” are being worn by recovery crews and visiting VIPs. Bullard Chairman Edward D. “Jed” Bullard noted that the company was “proud to be able to help” and that “this was something we had to do, because when you have a national catastrophe, you owe it to society to pitch in.” The company’s 270 employees assembled the hard hats and shipped them to New York in less than 24 hours. A former Syracuse, N.Y. firefighter, Mike Richardson, who’s Bullard’s Thermal Imaging training manager, drove all night to deliver the first load to lower Manhattan. Con-Way Transportation Services Inc. shipped the rest of the goods free of charge. Bullard relocated from California to Cynthiana in 1991.Body Copy goes here. LEXINGTON
Baughman’s company, a Lexington-based firm founded in 1998, provides videoconferencing services at 15 centers in six states in addition to Kentucky. Videoconferencing allows participants to see, hear, speak and share documents and other information with customers, suppliers, business associates and employees. Interactive television monitors are used in linking various locations in a real-time meeting environment. “In the interim, while companies are worried about travel, videoconferencing provides a nice alternative,” Baughman said. Other videoconferencing companies also have realized increases in and calls about their services due to the concern about travel safety. Kim Tuttle, office administrator for Kinko’s Copies, said her firm had seen teleconferencing activities increase “from 6-8 to 12 per week.” At ATS, Office Manager Tina Miller said several additional calls had been received with one request from Switzerland and another from Germany. STATE More than 1,200 of the world’s most promising young scientists are expected to be in Kentucky May 12-18 to exhibit cutting-edge research discoveries at the Intel/International Science and Engineering Fair 2002. The event is the world’s only international science fair representing all sciences for students in grades 9-12. Students from all 50 U.S. states and 40 countries will compete for honors in 41 scientific categories. More than 900 awards will be presented, including scholarships, cash awards, computers, lab equipment, summer internships and scientific field trips. Gov. Paul Patton said the fair will provide an economic boost of $10-$15 million, but that “the real benefit will come in the future, from the learning that takes place and from the relationships that develop.” Kentucky also hosted the fair in 1997. LOUISVILLE
The gem was discovered in 1998 in North Carolina by treasure hunter Jamie Hill, who also found 3,000 carats worth of other emeralds in his backyard in Hiddenite, N.C.here. COVINGTON Delta Air Lines, which plans to cut about 13,000 jobs system wide – a 15 percent reduction – will reduce its work force at the Greater Cincinnati Airport by some seven percent. Cindy Kurczewski, Delta spokesperson, said the seven percent reduction at Greater Cincinnati, a key Delta hub, was “a capacity estimate” and that no specific reduction numbers were available. Overall, she said, Delta employs approximately 5,000 individuals in the Greater Cincinnati area. She said those affected by the reduction in force will be offered six different programs for voluntary release with all releases effective Nov. 1.
“We’re feeling very fortunate,” Bushelman commented,”as people are starting to come back. We were down as much as 30 percent of passenger capacity at one point (following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks).” Comair, which also has a hub at Greater Cincinnati, does not plan any personnel reductions and has maintained its pre-Sept. 11 flight schedule. Cindy LaBoiteaux, Comair internal communications, said the airline was down about seven percent on passenger capacity from October of last year, but that business “was steadily picking up.” STATE
According to a June survey of 700-plus hospitals, there are 168,000 job vacancies waiting to be filled, including 126,000 nursing positions. A 2000 Louisville Labor Force Trends and Issues report cited 1,000 vacancies in the healthcare industry. One institution, Norton Healthcare, not only has increased its recruiting efforts, but has sought to attract as many as 100 students per year to its workforce through a partnership with the United Parcel Service (UPS) Metropolitan College program. Through the agreement, after working at UPS for one year while attending college, the Norton Scholars then transfer that work time to a Norton facility, agreeing to work full-time for Norton for as many years as they accept tuition, housing and textbook assistance. According to the survey, shortages could get worse if hospital expansions are any clue. The University of Kentucky Medical Center, for example, is adding so many new facilities that it expects to spend in the neighborhood of $370 million during the next several years. According to the Associated Press, the institution currently employs 1,000 faculty and 6,000 staff members, and may have as many as 300 new jobs to fill within the next four years. Some of those jobs will be for pharmacists, another specialty experiencing a dropoff. According to a study from the American Hospital Association (AHA), about 6,500 pharmacist jobs at chain pharmacies are currently unfilled and some 12,600 jobs (or 21 percent) of openings at hospitals are unfilled. While salaries are improving in order to attract more applicants, such shortages increase consumer concern about the competency of those on the other side of the counter. One reason for the scarcity of pharmacists is the huge rise in prescriptions during the past decade. According to the study, two billion prescriptions were filled in the U.S. in 1990, while the total came to 3.15 billion in 2000. Currently, there are 196,000 pharmacists in America, but applications for pharmacy schools have dropped steadily during the past seven years. LEXINGTON
The UK College of Pharmacy Class of 2005 is the largest doctor of pharmacy class in the college’s history with 100 students. The class includes 61women and 39 men who completed pre-pharmacy requirements at 36 institutions including UK. Ninety percent of the students are Kentuckians representing 42 counties. In Kentucky, it’s estimate that as many as 400 pharmacy positions are unfilled. Nationwide, about 6,500 – or six percent – of the pharmacist jobs at chain pharmacies are unfilled, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores; in hospitals, about 21 percent – or 12,600 – of the pharacist positions are not filled, according to a survey in June by the American Hospital Association. Dr. Kenneth B. Roberts, UK College of Pharmacy dean, said the goal is to expand opportunities to train more pharmacists to meet Kentuckians’ health-care needs. The dean has proposed expanding programs and enrollment in April to help offset the shortage. He said, pending approval by the Kentucky Legislature in its upcoming session, the college plans to expand campus facilities from 85,000 square feet to 260,000 square feet with new construction and renovation of existing facilities. Once new facilities and a proposed statewide satellite program are in place, the college plans to increase enrollment by at least 50 percent with class sizes expanding to as many as 140 students, he added. STATE Eight charter members have been inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. The inductees and their distilleries are Jimmy Russell, Wild Turkey; Jim Rutledge, Seagrams; Parker Beam, Heaven Hill; Lincoln Henderson, Brown-Forman; Elner T. Lee, Buffalo Trace; Fred McMillen, Barton Brands; Booker Noe, Jim Beam, and Bill Samuels Jr., Maker’s Mark. Ed O’Daniel, president of the Kentucky Distillers Association, conducted the induction ceremonies in September at Seagram’s Four Roses Distillery near Lawrenceburg. He noted that the eight charter members had 325 years of toil getting Kentucky’s amber spirit just right. The Hall of Fame, O’Daniel said, was created to “generate good will for Kentucky bourbon and the bourbon industry and to recognize individuals who have had a significant impact on or made a major contribution to the public positive awareness of bourbon.” Business Briefs ASHLAND
BOWLING GREEN
COVINGTON
EDGEWOOD
FRANKFORT
GEORGETOWN
HARLAN
HAWESVILLE
HAZARD
LANCASTER
LAWRENCEBURG
LEXINGTON
LOUISVILLE
MORGANFIELD
MT. VERNON
OWINGSVILLE
PADUCAH
SHELBYVILLE
STATE
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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. |
The Southern
Governors have called for a national energy policy based
on maintaining a stable energy market that addresses
supply needs, greater conservation and improved
efficiency.
Approximately $127
million will be spent in a two-phase plan to rebuild and
modernize Churchill Downs racetrack.
Those yellow hard
hats on recovery workers at the World Trade Center have a
Kentucky connection. They’re from the Bullard
Company, a Cynthiana safety equipment manufacturer, who
shipped $175,000 worth of its safety equipment to
recovery personnel within days of the terrorist attack in
New York.
Jay Baughman saw
his videoconferencing business double soon after the
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
“We saw increases at all our centers,”
Baughman, president of Office Suites Plus, noted,
“Locations such as Indianapolis went from two
teleconferences a month to two per week. A company in
Cincinnati asked us to handle a two-day training session
and we did some teleconferencing for another company that
placed a ban on all travel”
The 858-carat
Empress Caroline emerald, the largest on the North
American continent, was displayed at Davis Jewelers
opening of its new $4.5-million, 8,500-s.f. store at
Forest Green.
Kurczewski said
Delta, although it now has fewer flights, is experiencing
a steady return of customers with a passenger load of
about 80 percent of capacity for its flights. Ted
Bushelman, director of communications for the Greater
Cincinnati Airport, said flights out of the Northern
Kentucky facility are as high as 70 percent capacity.
Nearly 90 percent
of U.S. hospitals say the struggle to keep qualified
staff will be an ongoing challenge over the next three to
five years.
For those
concerned about the shortage of pharmacists (see state
story on hospital shortages), have courage. Help is on
the way from the University of Kentucky College of
Pharmacy.