Greater Owensboro Business Magazine

GREATER OWENSBORO

Second Quarter 2013

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OWENSBORO, KY

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Owensboro Health consortium offers local option for doctors’ education

2 GreaterOwensboroBusiness SecondQuarter2013

SecondQuarter2013 GreaterOwensboroBusiness 3

In This Issue

Amy JacksonPresidentGreater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce

From

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Happy Spring! I love the spring, and it’s underlying message of rebirth, growth, and energy. And that’s exactly what we are celebrating in this issue, within the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and throughout Owensboro.

As a member-based organization, the Chamber plays a critical role in helping our members connect, communicate, collaborate, innovate and create opportunities. And we needed a space to facilitate just that…with the remodeled Chamber space, we have a renewed energy and commitment to that mission. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to provide that to you – stop by and see us soon.

Another great story of rebirth, is that of the new CYLO (Connecting Young Leaders of Owensboro) group. What a joy it has been to work with the young leaders of Owensboro to set forth a new vision, a new passion and a new direction for the 40 and under crowd in our community. I’m excited to see where it goes in membership, personal and professional development for our next generation of business and civic leaders.

The undercurrent of growth and renewal abounds throughout our businesses and more. Celebrate it. Participate in it. Motivate others to do the same. Find your passion and help us keep Owensboro on the move!

Amy JacksonPresident and CEO

Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce

Business First Quarter 2013

Vol. 10 • Number 2

GREATER OWENSBORO

Partnership 4

Consortium will offer option for doctors’

education

Fresh Look 6

Chamber of Commerce office gets new

look from Hofmann Designs

Racing Ahead 12

Bill Brown finds success in racing industry

CYLO 15

Connecting the leaders of tomorrow

A Taste of India 18

Basant offers something new

Young Professional 20

Sharla Austin-Darnell and Kevin Young

discuss being a young professional in

Owensboro

On the Move 24

Local business leaders on the move

in their industry and in the community

Networking 27

Missy Gant discusses the benefits of

chamber membership


Consortium will offer local option for doctors’ education

Owensbor Medical Health System’s new 9-story hospital on a 162-acre campus off Pleasant Valley Road opens in June.

By Benjamin Hoak

Young people growing up in Owensboro who dream of becom-

ing doctors have always been forced to leave the community to pursue their goals. Once they graduate from medical school and

complete a residency program, there’s a better-than-even chance they will stay near their residency location to begin their practice.


Combine this reality with a looming physician shortage and you might start to wonder how we can ever convince young medical professionals from Owensboro to establish themselves in their hometown.

But, there is hope on the hori-zon. What if officials in the West-ern Kentucky-Southern Indiana region could establish a four-year medical school and then leverage the resources and knowledge of local hospitals to provide residen-cies for the newly-minted doctors?

Studies show that if an individ-ual grows up in a community, at-tends college and medical school there and then completes a resi-dency in the same area, there’s an 80-85 percent chance that in-dividual will practice in the same community, providing not only much-needed medical care, but economic benefits that are sec-ond to none.

That’s exactly the scenario be-ing set in motion by Owensboro Health in partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine-Evansville, Deaconess Health System and St. Mary’s Medical Center in Evansville, and Jasper Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper, Ind.

JAT Mountjoy, Regional Clinic Director for Owensboro Health, said these institutions have been working since last year to create a Graduate Medical Education (GME) consortium in the area. Tripp Umbach, a Pittsburgh con-sulting firm, recently finished a year-long feasibility study on the project concluding that “the region is poised to do quite well with a GME,” Mountjoy said.

The plan includes two prongs. The first is expanding the IUSM-Evansville program (located on the University of Southern Indi-ana campus) from a two-year pro-gram to a four-year program that would allow students to graduate from a medical school close to home (students currently trans-fer to IU to finish medical school

after their first two years in Evans-ville).

The second prong involves the creation of a consortium among the four regional hospitals, which would share faculty and educa-tional resources during students’ residency programs, which gen-erally last three to five years. Res-idencies include rotations among areas of practice; because these institutions are strong in dif ferent areas in terms of both faculty and facilities, students could study various programs (surgery, psy-chiatry, etc.) at whichever insti-tution was strongest in that area. “We could tap the intellectual capital of all the physicians of this region,” Mountjoy said.

As the second phase of plan-ning begins, a committee will de-termine the resources and needs of the region. Much accredita-tion, curriculum and faculty work lies ahead as well; Mountjoy said officials are planning for the first residents to begin their programs in 2015.

Potential GME programs in-clude family medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN, psychiatry and surgery.

The program, based on a simi-lar model that has worked well in Grand Rapids, Mich., will provide the region with a couple of ben-efits in particular. First, it would use local talent to insulate against the medical staff shortages that are approaching within the next 20 years as Baby Boomers retire. “We see what a great opportunity (this would be) to get folks from Kentucky Wesleyan, Brescia and Western Kentucky,” Mountjoy said.

Second, the feasibility study also indicated that each physician in this region generates an annual economic impact of $1.3 million dollars, including about $300,000 in tax revenue for the commu-nity. Each practicing doctor also expands the local workforce by several jobs as they hire an office manager, nurses, lab techs and

billing staff.“You can see where the eco-

nomic drivers come from,” Mountjoy said.

IU officials approached Owensboro Health about the con-sortium last year, after the Uni-versity of Kentucky had also be-gun exploring a partnership with Owensboro Health that would create a family medical residency program.

After discussing both pro-grams, Owensboro Health leader-ship decided to join the IU project to save money and not rely solely on one institution. “The adminis-trative functions and costs are the same to run one program as five or six,” Mountjoy said. “There are a lot of synergies in this collabora-tion.”

Mountjoy said Owensboro Health is still open to a program with UK that could potentially mix and match with the IU program.

Officials also plan to market the region as opposed to just one city, which “exponentially enhances the program,” Mountjoy said. “Ul-timately, we all benefit in this sce-nario. Our leadership team wants to make this work for us.”

The program would use local talent to insulate against the medical staff shortages that are approaching within the next 20 years as Baby Boomers retire.


By Libby Johnson

In summer 2012, as downtown revitalization got hotter each day and all of Owensboro anticipated the re-opening of Smothers Park, it became apparent to Chamber

of Commerce President and CEO Amy Jackson that her organiza-tion’s headquarters needed a facelift in order to keep up with the rest of district. “Ultimately, we wanted an improved member, visitor, and employer experience,”

say Jackson. For that, Jackson and her staff turned to Andria Hof-mann, local designer and owner of Hofmann Design LLC.

“The Chamber was exactly what I love to do- go in to an ex-isting space and recycling and

Fresh look:Chamber office gets new design from Hofmann Design

Inside the new Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.


repurposing existing items as well as bring in new things, so that it feels refreshed and vibrant,” says Hofmann, who moved here with her Owensboro native husband in 2002 and began her business in 2007.

On what Jackson refers to as a “limited budget,” Hofmann was able to take the outdated Cham-ber office and create three zones: a sitting area, a reception area, and a greeting area, which improved the flow of the space and provided a place for Chamber officials to invite members in and facilitate conversation. “We’ve already been able to host events like new mem-ber breakfasts, “ says Jackson. Us-ing a warm and welcoming color palette and by bringing in local art, as well as creating a focal rock wall that boasts a flat screen television where Chamber ads can run con-tinuously, she created a space for people to connect in a casual set-ting. “Andria was so flexible,” says Jackson, “she listened to what we wanted to accomplish and came back with a plan that reflected those desires as well as her ideas.”

“Even though we put more in the space,” says Hofmann of the Chamber project, “it feels bigger.” Hofmann prides herself on her design abilities and feels that her talent and background in that area is what sets her apart from other local interior designers or “decora-tors.”

Hofmann has a BFA in Interior Architecture and Design from the San Francisco Academy of Art. As part of her degree program, she studied the history of design and learned how to design 3 D layouts to present to a customer. “People need a visual of what is being proposed,” Hofmann says. “I can create a space for them and show it to them before they spend one cent,” she says, mentioning that whatever the client agrees to is what they’ll get in the end. In that way, Hofmann is more like a hiring a contractor than a decora-tor who works by hourly consulta-

tion. Her proposals and contracts include line item detail and expec-tations. Much of Hofmann’s pro-fessional standards stem from her past experience as a customer. “As a customer,” she says, “I wanted to know where my money was going and if I was going to like it.”

Hofmann designs renovations for both residential and commercial properties. She is also a local sales rep for Ethan Allen furniture and Lafayette Interiors, which special-

izes in window treatments. Over-all, she says, her biggest concern and point of pride as a designer is the layout and function of the spaces she designs. “The question is: is this going to function for kids, pets, etc? Can the client ‘live’ in the space,” Hofmann says, emphasizing that she wants her design to last the client and not appear trendy. “Trends are least favorite. I hope no one can walk in and say, “Oh, Andria Hoffman did this.”

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Literature available inside the new Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.

A bookcase inside the newly renovated office displays items relevant to the Chamber.


The newly renovated Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce is full of light.


Local art hangs in the conference room at the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.


President Amy Jackson works inside her office at the Chamber of Commerce.


Racing ahead:Bill Brown finds success in racing industry

Bill Brown retrieves LED-decals that hang on lanyards from a display in his office at 101 East Second Street. These NASCAR licensed products are a work in progress, with Owensboro’s Brite Lite Logos and POWERDECAL working together on this project.


By Beth Noffsinger

It started with a magnet.Owensboro native Bill Brown

was working as a stockbroker when some former Owensboro men involved in racing told him to come up with a marketing con-cept related to NASCAR. It was years ago, and at that time, items branded with iconic driver Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 were selling well, Brown said.

So he came up with a car mag-net. The first one was driver Ricky Craven’s No. 32 Tide car.

The magnets were sold at race tracks and by retailers. Compa-nies used them as promotional gifts. Brown then created mag-nets that were just the car hoods that were less expensive to make at the request of buyers.

“That got me introduced to rac-ing,” Brown said.

Many of those magnets — cre-ated in the early 2000s — are dis-played on a cabinet in Brown’s office in the Newberry-Wile build-ing in downtown Owensboro, where he operates Motorsports Brand Development.

Brown said working as a stock-broker is a form of marketing.

“I never pictured it would evolve into racing, per se,” he said. “That’s been kind of a cool twist.”

Brown has developed, market-ed, pitched and/or helped license several products promoting NAS-CAR and IndyCar racing. The walls of his office are decorated with several panoramic photographs of race tracks including Kentucky Speedway and Indianapolis Motor

Speedway — an idea he worked on with a company that also sells panoramic photos of cityscapes.

He has worked on insulated drinkware and with a company that makes NASCAR crew shirts for dogs.

“People’s two biggest affini-ties are their kids and their pets, and you marry that up with their favorite sport, and it becomes es-sentially a no-brainer that that will sell if you get a competitive price,” Brown said.

Most of Brown’s racing con-tacts are with drivers and team agents. He said he has been work-ing in racing long enough to know what products will get approved by teams, and revisions are made before items are presented to teams and drivers. There are of-ten still tweaks made before final

Bill Brown, owner of Motorsports Brand Development, has various NASCAR items including these car magnets on display in his office at the Newberry-Wile building in downtown Owensboro. These magnets, the creation of them and in particular learning the licensing process, are what led to Brown starting Motorsports Brand Development.


approval, which goes through sev-eral channels — the team, driver and sponsor.

“A lot of (companies) see the popularity of racing, but they don’t know how to get into it,” Brown said. “They don’t know, I guess, the typical hurdles and who you have to talk to and how you get it done, so that’s where I come in.”

Much of Brown’s business is helping companies get licenses to use NASCAR entities on their products.

“There are times when people will contact a team or NASCAR with a product idea, and they won’t know how to get it licensed,” he said. “And a lot of times, they’ll have the company reach out to me, and I’ll kind of walk them through it.”

Two of Brown’s more recent projects have been with Kentucky businesses — POWERDECAL lanyards with Owensboro’s Brite Lite Logos, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Cigars with Louisville-based Ted’s Cigars.

Brite Lite Logos is POWERDE-CAL’s largest distributor, shipping LED-decals that can be placed in the back of vehicles. Among POWERDECAL’s licensing deals are the National Football League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, National Basket-ball Association, more than 300 colleges and many high schools.

Brite Lite Logos, which is co-owned by Darin Simpson, Jim Henry and Glenn Causey, worked with Brown to get the licensing for NASCAR decals. They have already been selling the vehicle decals, and the two companies are now working on a POWERDECAL that hangs on a lanyard.

Brown and Simpson grew up together, playing hockey with each other in their youth. When Brown moved back to Owensboro from Lexington a few years ago, a mutual friend suggested they work together, Simpson said, call-ing Brown “unbelievable” to work with.

“His response time of getting back with you is amazing,” Simp-son said. “He walks you through the whole process. He takes charge of it. He shows you what you need to do. He lays out a plan for you. He lets you know what has failed ... (in the) past. It’s been absolutely amazing.

“He comes highly recommend-ed.”

Brite Lite Logos has gotten a tremendous response from the NASCAR vehicle decals, Simpson said, citing Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jef f Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman as among the most popular.

Brown said he’ll be promoting the lanyards at meetings before next week’s Daytona 500.

“We’ll see if, corporately, folks are interested in them,” he said. “They’re not selling to the public yet.”

Brown has also worked with Earnhardt Jr. and Ted’s Cigars on the “88” Cigar, which is made in the Dominican Republic.

“The cigar has been amazing,” he said.

The “88” received a rating of 88 (excellent) from Cigar Afi-cionado, according to Ted’s Ci-gars’ website. Ted’s Cigars also created Maker’s Mark and Ken-tucky Derby cigars among other brands.

The Earnhardt Jr. cigars launched just as NASCAR started its holiday break at the end of last year.

Dennis Lindsey, senior vice president of marketing for Ted’s Cigars, has gotten to know Brown over the past two years. Lindsey said he has worked in licensing and with powerful brands, such as Maker’s Mark, for years, but had not been able to crack the NASCAR world.

“So Bill was unbelievably in-strumental. … Bill was really the key behind all that,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey described Bill as be-ing a talented, energetic, exciting person.

The cigars are available in stores and online. They are sold in packs of 25, 10 and three as well as individually. The cigars are packaged in a glass casing, which makes them both mar-ketable to collectors and keeps them from drying out when sold at nontraditional outlets, such as race tracks, Lindsey said.

Brown is gearing up for his busy season, heading to Daytona Beach, Fla., this week for meet-ings and events leading up to the Daytona 500 on Feb. 24. Brown said he usually attends about 10 NASCAR races and five Indy rac-es each year.

“Daytona every year is just, it’s the start of the season, and it’s kind of our Super Bowl,” Brown said. “So that gets you geared up and all the stuff that’s coming on the market is new. Drivers might have new sponsors. So there’s a lot of fresh, new stuff that’s going on and happening.”

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By Kristi McCabe

With a new name and a new di-rection, the Greater Owensboro Chamber Young Profession-als (CYP), now known as CYLO (Connecting Young Leaders of

Owensboro) is poised to impact the future by developing and pro-moting dynamic leadership. Ef-fective January 1, 2013, the orga-nization’s new name reflects an unwavering dedication to secur-ing a bright future for Owensboro

through the formation of young leaders.

Discussions about the group’s future began in November 2012, when CYP members came togeth-er to identify key goals.

“We were seeing a drop in mem-

CYLO:Connecting the Leaders of Tomorrow

CYLO members attend the ribbon cutting event at the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce on February 21.


bership and began talking about what to do to breathe new life into CYP,” noted Robynn Clark, CYLO Chair. “We asked current mem-bers what they wanted from the group, and they came up with four words: develop, connect, grow, and empower. With those words in mind, a name change that would encompass everyone—not just professionals—seemed like the obvious solution.”

The new group has already hit the ground running. The Cham-ber is hosting a CYLO ribbon-cutting and membership kickoff social on February 21, and will sponsor the Color Blast 5K after-party on March 23. CYLO will continue to sponsor free WIFI in Smothers Park as well.

CYLO’s primary goal is simple, yet powerful: to identify and de-velop potential leaders.

“We see a lot of new talent coming into Owensboro, and we know those people need a way

to connect,” noted Amy Jackson, President & CEO of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Com-merce. “We have a lot of diverse businesses here, and not every-one can invest in leadership train-ing and succession programs for their employees. CYLO offers a way to help contribute to employ-ee growth.”

“We are taking a different di-rection in the sense that we are promoting the development of new leaders, not just offering net-working opportunities,” added Robynn Clark. “We love to see our members grow and succeed, and to celebrate with them when that happens.”

CYLO is also working on a base-line for communicating and con-necting with current members, to let them know about the group’s new identity. Young community leaders like Adam Hancock of Rin-ey Hancock CPA group have high hopes for CYLO’s future, and are

excited about its new direction.“I think they are on the right

track, and I love the new name,” said Hancock. “I think it is much more in line with what Owens-boro’s young professionals want, and will help develop leaders for tomorrow.”

Hancock has been involved with the organization since 2007, and served as CYP Chair in 2009. He became very active in the group early on, and has enjoyed significant benefits from his in-volvement.

“It is a great way to meet people who are new in town and to recon-nect with those who are returning home,” Hancock stated. “It pro-vides an excellent meeting ground for people with common goals.”

As a young leader, Hancock has enjoyed the activities provided by the organization and sees profes-sional and personal value for its members.

“Each quarter, we host meet-


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ings that range from social events to philanthro-py events,” said Hancock. “We generally have about a 40 to 50 percent turnout among mem-bers, which is great. We would like to see that number increase with CYLO.”

Looking to the future, CYLO promises to be the go-to group for anyone searching for a poten-tial community leader.

“We listen to our mayor talk about how the next generation of leaders is not stepping up to meet the needs of our community,” said Amy Jackson. “They know what we need in future leaders, and CYLO wants to be the premier group to approach when an elected official is looking for someone who understands the is-sues and can be a voice for the community.”

Robynn Clark added, “We want to make com-munity members more aware of what is happen-ing at CYLO and what we have to offer. This group has a tremendous potential to make a dif-ference and to impact the future, and we are ex-cited about the many opportunities that CYLO presents for Owensboro’s young people.”

CYLO membership is available to anyone be-tween the ages of 21 and 40 for an annual mem-bership investment of $50. For more informa-tion, please visit http://cypowensboro.com/.

Chamber Ambassadors speak at the ribbon cutting event at the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce on February 21.


By Beth Noffsinger

The aroma of spices blended to-gether greets patrons as they enter Basant Indian Cuisine, Owensboro’s only Indian restaurant. The restau-rant opened in December and offers a wide variety of traditional Indian food, including a large vegetarian menu.

Its operated by Narinder Kumar, who also owns several Owensboro gas stations. He is from Punjab, In-dia, and he finished cooking school in his home country in 1986. He also worked in the restaurant industry when he lived in New York City.

Kumar said he wanted to open Ba-

sant because Owensboro residents were traveling out of town to get In-dian cuisine — some going as far as Nashville and Louisville restaurants.

The food served at Basant is eaten all over India, but is from the north-ern part of the country. It is the kind of food served in five star hotels, Kumar said, later adding he learned to cook at Ashok Hotel, which has a chain of luxury hotels in India.

“It’s got a good response so far,” Kumar said of the restaurant, calling opening it a “very good experience.”

Basant’s kitchen is outfitted with a tandoor — a clay, charcoal-fired oven that is kept at 800 degrees at its bot-

tom, according to the restaurant’s menu.

Kumar said he enjoys making cur-ry and the tandoori dishes. Tandoori dishes are marinated for at least 24 hours.

“One has to be very skillful to work on the tandoor to achieve the process of baking, roasting and grilling simul-taneously,” the menu states.

One of the many items cooked in the tandoor is naan — a bread that is baked vertically and scraped out of the tandoor using a long hook, said Anthony Eyler, manager of Basant.

Most of the food is made in-house at Basant, including the naan, pan-

A taste of India:Basant offers something new

Basant Indian Cuisine owner and chef, Narinder Kumar, left, sets aside the cover for one of his Tandoori ovens as he prepares to cook some Tandoori chicken and employee Parm Jeet Singh makes Nan bread .


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eer (a farmer’s cheese) and yogurt, which is used in some marinades.

“I cannot find that cheese over here anywhere,” Kumar said. The “yogurt, if we buy it from some com-pany, the flavor’s not right.”

Eyler and Kumar touted the Royal Dinner for Two as an affordable meal option. Priced at $32.95, the meal fea-tures some of the restaurant’s more popular dishes, including: tandoori chicken (chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and broiled over mesquite in the tandoor), tandoori shrimp, boti kabab (grilled mutton), lamb curry, chicken tikki masala (tandoori chick-en cubes simmered in a fresh tomato sauce), saag paneer (spinach with homemade farmer’s cheese), vegeta-ble curry, naan and basmati rice.

“I mean aside from there being a big demand like we were saying ear-lier for (Indian food), it definitely adds a bit of diversity to this town,” Eyler said. “This town has a lot of food op-tions, but as long as I’ve lived here, (it’s) never had Indian.”

Many Indian dishes can be spicy, and Basant — like many Indian res-taurants — offers a wide range of spice level, a scale of one to 10. Eyler is a fan of the spicy dishes.

“We keep everything on the (lunch) buffet really mild,” he said. “On a scale of one to 10, we keep it like a two. We keep it really mild for just the general public. … I love to amp up (his own meals) with what we have in the back. ... It’s a really different taste palate here as well. You don’t find this type of flavor just in Owensboro in general, honestly.”

Some of the spices used in Indian cooking include cumin seed, curry, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. It gets some of its heat from chiles, black pepper and dried ginger.

Eyler said he really enjoys the chicken tikka masala, but a new fa-vorite is the bhindi masala, which is spiced okra cooked with onions.

“It’s really nice,” he said. “I just found that a few days ago. It’s my new addiction.”

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Sharla Austin-DarnelLAge: 29

Commercial Accounts & Economic Development Specialist, Kenergy

Young Professional


HometownHanson, KY

Civic or Volunteer Activities OCTC Foundation Board Member, BOLD Promise Scholarship Committee, Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Ag Task Force, Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Task Force.

How long have you served in your current position?

Since June 2010

What does your position entail?

I serve as a liaison between Kenergy Corp and its Commercial and Industrial members; particularly the top 100 Commercial accounts. This includes promot-ing energy efficiency rebates and programs as well as answering questions regarding billing and service related issues. I am also part of Kenergy’s Economic Development team. We work with local and state eco-nomic development organizations to market available industrial sites throughout Western Kentucky, and assist existing industry with expansions. In addition to these duties, I try to remain active in many of the com-munities we serve by representing Kenergy at various Chamber and civic functions. I aslo serve on Kener-gy’s Waste Wise Initiative core team where we will be taking a closer look at our company’s environmental impact, and how to be the most responsible stewards of our resources.

What’s the best part about your position?I’m very excited about new opportunities we are partici-pating in on the statewide economic development level as that is my background. However, any time I can as-sist a member in reaching a satisfactory solution where they may have previously faced frustration, I feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment.

Why do you choose to live and work

in the greater Owensboro area?

Owensboro has truly become my home over the last five years. It has provided multiple opportunities for me to further both personal and career interests. There is no better time to be here with all the development going on throughout the community, especially in the downtown area.

What are other young professionals saying about the Owensboro area?

Owensboro has always been a great option for young families with the small town atmosphere, convenience to many major cities and a wide variety of amenities. There seems to be a feeling of excitement and anticipa-tion however, with the many building projects under-way and frequent business announcements. I think young professionals are looking forward to what the next five to ten years will bring in terms of growth and opportunity for our community.

“Owensboro has truly become my home over the last five years. It has provided multiple opportunities for me to further both personal and career interests.”


Kevin YoungAge: 29

Financial Advisor, Edward Jones

Young Professional


HometownOwensboro, KY

Civic or Volunteer Activities I am a mentor for MentorKids KY and Vice President of Public Relations for the Owensboro Club of Toast-masters. For the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, I am a member of the 2013 Emerge Class, Chamber Ambassador, and serve on the Small Business and Transportation Committees.

How long have you served in your current position?

I have been with Edward Jones for four years now. I have been the financial advisor for the branch at the corner of Frederica and 23rd Streets for nearly a year and a half, since Halloween of 2011.

What does your position entail?

Our mission at Edward Jones is to help individu-als acheive their serious, long-term financial goals by understanding their needs and implementing tailored solutions. Thus, my job entails talking to lots of indi-viduals and small business owners about their financial situations currently and what they strive for in the future. Most importantly, I show them solutions to achieve those goals.

What’s the best part about your position?

The best part of my job is helping clients understand how their investments work to achieve their goals and being there for them and their families during their difficult days. A year ago a client had a serious medi-cal condition. I drove 40 minutes to visit him and bring some flowers. It meant a lot to me to see this good man again, especially since he passed away the next day. Nevertheless, that visit and helping his widowed wife through the probate process meant tremendously more to her. Another client had a serious medical emergency and was placed in a nursing home recently. Her daugh-ter was ladened with the stress of taking care of her aging parents. I was able to help her understand their financial situation and provide some comfort during

those first, most stressful and enduring weeks. These stories are two of many where I have been able to pro-vide some comfort and support to clients and/or their families. Helping people get through tough times has been the most rewarding part of my position.

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

I strive to grow spiritually, personally, and profes-sionally. Owensboro offers an abundance of opportuni-ties in each of these areas. There are a wide variety of great churches in the area. My wife Danelle and I have found a wonderful home at First Baptist Church, where we have found great friends, are growing considerably in our faith, and from which we are inspired to serve and give back to our community. Personally, every-thing is at an easy convenience. In 5-10 minutes you can be in the calm, quiet country or in the city and at any of a variety of stores or restaurants. Moreover, there is an overflowing amount of parks and the Green Belt, which solidify Owensboro as a family-friendly area. Professionally, business thrives in Owensboro. From agricultural to industrial, manufacturing to retail, Owensboro has a very dynamic economy. Moreover, Owensboro offers a variety of ways to get involved and help make a significant and positive impact on the com-munity. Thus, Owensboro offers great opportunity to grow a successful business and be a leader in the com-munity. These are the reasons my wife and I choose to live in Owensboro.

What are other young professionals saying about the Owensboro area?

Other young professionals generally echo my thoughts on the previous question. Owensboro offers great opportunity to lead and grow a business and is a great area to raise a family. The downtown re-develop-ment reminds me of my childhood home of Greenville, South Carolina. Greenville re-developed it’s downtown years ago, and it has been a tremendous success to that community. People flock downtown there, especially in the spring and summer months, to spend time at the park, in the stores, and in the eateries. I envision the same happening here in Owensboro, as downtown continues to be re-developed over the coming years, and that is evidence of our thriving area, which is a great positive in the minds of young professionals in Owensboro.


On the Move


Susann Bartlet has joined Neely Insurance Agency LLC, 2120 Frederica St., as a producer specializing in com-mercial general liability for businesses, as well as auto, home and life insur-ance. She is a member of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, a current ambassador, past board direc-tor and a graduate of Leadership Owensboro.

Jeanette Lambert has joined Com-bined Insurance Co. of America. She will be an independent agent for sup-plemental insurance in 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 busi-ness banking officer at National City Bank, has been named assistant vice president and commercial lender. He has a bachelor of science degree from Western Kentucky University.

Sook was named mortgage origina-tor for the Owensboro market. He pre-viously worked as a loan officer at Old National Bank. He graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and business administration.

Jennifer Murphy Byrne, PT, MPT and Chelsea Taylor Rice, PTA of KORT Physical Therapy Owensboro, 3211 Frederica St., completed the American Institute of Balance Vestibu-lar Rehabilitation Certification Pro-gram. The certification will allow them to treat patients with vestibular dys-function and dizziness-related issues.

Mitch Settle of Hilliard Lyons was ranked as one of the Top 1,000 finan-cial advisers in the U.S. by Barron’s Magazine. The ranking is based on assets under management, revenue generated for the adviser’s firm and the quality of their practices. The publi-cation also released a state-by-state ranking that named Settle as the No. 3 adviser in Kentucky.

Bill Barron has purchased Sperry Van Ness/The Barron Group Real Estate Co. The commercial brokerage company will assume the name Wil-liam G. Barron Enterprises Inc. Bo Barron will serve as vice president of organizational development with the company.

Eric Fulkerson of Owensboro has been named assistant director of facili-ties at St. Mary’s Health, Evansville. In this role, he will oversee the engineer-ing department, including power plant operations, maintenance, construction and renovation.

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

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

Realtors Mark Critchelow and Robbie Philhower have joined Centu-ry 21 Partners.

A native of Hancock County, Critch-elow is a graduate of the University of Kentucky where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He served in the Army National Guard for eight years, including a 12-month deploy-ment to Iraq in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Critchelow earned his real estate sales associate license in Kentucky.

Philhower is a longtime Owensboro resident who was born in Rockport, Ind. He attended Brescia University and Kentucky Wesleyan College before returning to Indiana. He worked as an Indiana State Depart-ment of Corrections officer and truck driver before returning to work in Owensboro.

He has owned and operated a con-struction business and acquired his Kentucky real estate license from the Ward Elliott Institute of Real Estate in 2012.

Bruce (Duke) E. Brubaker, III has been promoted to general manag-er of Champion Ford Lincoln Mercury Mazda, Inc.

Brubaker has been with Champion since he graduated from The E. Clai-borne Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond in 1992.

Over the past 20 years, he has been the company’s finance and insurance manager and sales manager, and in 2004 became the general sales manag-er.

Michelle L. Love was installed as the vice-chair of the Independent Insur-ance Agents of Kentucky (IIAK), the

state’s leading insurance trade associa-tion, at the association’s 116th Annual Convention on Nov. 8.

Love is a commercial producer with E.M. Ford & Company in Owensboro, and has been with the company for 10 years. Her insurance specialties include municipalities, schools, health care and nonprofits.

She began her insurance career in 1994 with Gardner Insurance in Owensboro as office manager and commercial agent. In 2002 she joined E.M. Ford & Company.

Love is a member of the Indepen-dent Insurance Agents of Owensboro, a local chapter of the state association, for which she has served as president, vice president and secretary-treasurer. She first joined the IIAK Board of Directors in 2010 and currently chairs the IIAK Industry Partners Committee and is a member of the Convention, Education and InVEST committees.

In 2007, she was named the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Director of the Year.

She is a 1994 graduate of Brescia College with a bachelor of science in accounting. In 2005 she completed the Leadership Owensboro program.

Richard Payne of Owensboro, one of three district managers at Kenergy Corp, retired Oct. 31 after 44 years on the job.

Payne supervised operations for the cooperative’s Henderson district. He was hired by Green River Electric — one of Kenergy’s predecessors — in 1968 as an apprentice lineman and con-tinued to work at the co-operative when Kenergy was formed.

Besides lineman, Payne worked as a meter man and supervisor for consum-er services and metering. In 2006, he was selected as Henderson’s district manager.

Construction Manager Mike Church will serve as acting district manager until a new Henderson dis-trict manager is selected.

Laura Alexander has been pro-moted to director of sales and market-ing for the Owensboro Convention Center, and Brandy Dant and Doris Sparks have joined the sales staff, the center’s management company, Global Spectrum, announced.

Alexander was hired in March of 2012 as the sales manager for the con-


vention center. As director, she will oversee all sales and marketing aspects of the convention center as well as focus on booking state and national conferences, conventions and events.

Dant, of Owensboro, has been hired as the sales manager of the convention center. Her primary focus will be to work with local businesses to accom-modate their banquet, meeting, and conferencing needs. She also will work with brides and grooms to create their wedding day at the center. She has more than seven years of sales experi-ence with three years dedicated to cor-porate accounts.

Sparks, also a native of Owensboro, is the center’s event and sponsorship manager. Her responsibilities will include creating and promoting special events, managing trade shows and vari-ous other events, as well as soliciting sponsorships for events. She has more than 11 years of experience in both trade show development as well as business marketing in the Owensboro and Evansville areas. She is a previous downtown business owner and previ-ously served on the board of Down-town Owensboro Inc.

The new facility is currently under construction and scheduled to open early 2014. The multi-purpose facility will feature a 45,000-plus-square-foot exhibit hall and an additional 47,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space which includes two ballrooms.

The Owensboro Convention Center plans to hire several more full-time positions throughout 2013, according to Dean Dennis, Owensboro Conven-tion Center General Manager.

Christopher L. Rhoads, attorney at Rhoads and Rhoads, P.S.C., has been elected to serve as second district vice president and on the board of gover-nors for the Kentucky Justice Associa-tion.

Rhoads has been practicing law since 1996, focusing his practice on auto injuries, personal injury, wrongful death, social security disability and defective products.

Todd Stocksdale, a longtime employee of Neace Lukens insurance, has been promoted to southern region leader. In this new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the growth and expansion of Neace Lukens’ south-ern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina offices that include

locations in Owensboro and Hartford.He will continue in his role as man-

aging director for Neace Lukens’ office in New Albany, Ind.

Stocksdale has extensive work in property and casualty insurance, spe-cializing in education, construction, manufacturing and workers’ compen-sation.

His first job after graduating from Indiana University Southeast in 1991 was with Neace Lukens and he has remained with the company ever since. He started as a property and casualty producer in September 1991 and remained in that role until being promoted to managing director for the company’s Sellersburg, Ind., office in 1998. He also served as managing director for the Indianapolis office for more than five years before returning to New Albany in 2007 to serve in the same role.

Larry Brown recently returned to Ohio Valley 2-Way Radio as president / manager after a brief /retirement. He has owned the company for 35 years.

Ohio Valley 2-Way Radio is an

authorized Motorola Communications Dealer serving a six county area of western Kentucky and southern Indi-ana.

Cher Eaves has left the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims to join Caslin & Cecil Law Office as an associ-ate.

An attorney for 20 years, Eaves graduated from John Marshall Law School in Chicago. She speaks Span-ish, French and German and studies Hindi, Arabic and Urdu. She recently was published in the Kentucky Bar Association Journal and was sworn into practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Jennifer Rhinerson has been appointed a human resource general-ist for First Security Bank of Owensboro.

Rhinerson worked at Daymar Col-leges Group in Owensboro starting in 2010. While at Daymar she served as an human resource specialist and was later promoted to human resource management system and recruiting specialist.


The number top reason people join the Chamber is for network-ing. Members know that making valuable connections is the key to growth in their businesses, no matter what the product or ser-vice. You can get started building your business and personal network with our calendar of event and programs, which are all designed to provide profitable forums for members to meet, talk, connect, and do business with one another. Some of those events include our Make a Business Connection and Rooster Booster

events, held each month. The objective of our programs

is to help our members develop strong professional rela-tionships, maximize busi-ness potential, build solid communications skill, and share knowledge and influence for the Greater Owensboro business com-munity.

Our events attract more than 5,600 attend-ees every year, a number that continues to grow.

Join this dynamic movement and start networking today! Speaking of tremendous networking oppor-tunities, are you registered for the

area’s best golf outing?

The Country ClubFriday August 23rdOne wave with 144 golfersRegistration: 7:45 a.m. Shotgun Start: 9 a.m.

If you are interested in playing or sponsoring please call Missy Gant at 926-1860.

Networking to Expand Your Business & Your Personal Brand

By Missy Gant

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