UK to establish Power and Energy Institute
The need for young engineers is urgent right now in the age of the carbon footprint, the race to develop alternative energy resources and the goal of creating a national "smart grid."
In a drive to meet that need, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded UK nearly $2.5 million to help educate the next generation of power engineers.
The funding will be used to provide education and certification in power engineering to undergraduates, graduate students and working professionals through the creation of the Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK), based in UK's College of Engineering.
L.E. Holloway, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department at UK and leader of the successful faculty team that pursued the award, will direct the institute.
Lexmark to acquire Perceptive Software
Lexmark will acquire Perceptive Software in a cash transaction valued at approximately $280 million.
Perceptive Software, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas, is a provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software and solutions, with particular experience in the fields of higher education, healthcare and government.
The company generated about $84 million in fiscal year 2009 sales, principally in the United States.
Lexmark officials said the acquisition enables the Lexington-based printer manufacturer to immediately participate in the adjacent, growing market segment of ECM software solutions. It also provides additional, growing revenue streams in software maintenance and professional services that are not paper usage dependent, they said.
Upon closing, Perceptive Software will retain its current name and operate as a stand-alone software business within Lexmark.
WEG stuff you might not know
Did you know that, unless you're a gainfully employed canine (AKA a "Service Dog"), your human can't bring you to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games?
Dogs carry ticks, ticks carry diseases and WEG officials are not about to risk compromising the health of the equine athletes descending on the Kentucky Horse Park late this summer.
It was one of many factoids members of the Bluegrass Hospitality Association - employees of restaurants, hotels and other businesses that depend on visitors and tourists - heard at their May meeting in presentations by several WEG officials.
John Johnson, executive vice president of events for Short's Sports & Events, said the slowed economy has reduced the number of hotel reservations for shoulder nights (the nights that precede or follow event nights).
"Not a lot of groups are coming early or staying late, given the (local hotels' practice of) nonrefundable deposit," he said.
The average stay for individuals is six nights, and the average price is $300 per night, Johnson explained. He noted that team members are booking extra nights beyond what their equine federation will be paying for.
Jim Downs, project manager for GameDay Management Group, offered an update on transportation issues. His company manages transportation for large sporting events, such as the Pro Bowl, the Olympics and the Super Bowl.
WEG now has 10,000 parking spaces available. The owners of Spy Coast Farm, which is east of the Horse Park's campground, have agreed to allow 64 acres of the farm to be used for parking. Visitors can purchase parking permits in advance, which will be mailed to them.
Volunteers and staff members will park at Coldstream Farm and have their own shuttle buses. The Horse Park will have three separate routes inbound and three separate routes outbound. Signs giving directions, marking the highway crossing for endurance events and relaying other information will be posted starting in September.
Krista Greathouse, WEG liaison for LFUCG, spoke about Spotlight Lexington, the downtown Lexington festival scheduled throughout the 17 days of the Games. Greathouse described the program of free events and concerts as "the party for WEG downtown." Spotlight organizers emphasize, however, that the festival is conceived as an annual event, although perhaps spanning a long weekend as opposed to two weeks, and it is intended to showcase the many new developments materializing in downtown Lexington, especially to newcomers and those who have not visited in awhile.
Lexington companies noted for excellence
Three Lexington companies received U.S. Small Business Administration Awards recognizing entrepreneurs and advocates who have significantly contributed to enhancing entrepreneurship in Kentucky.
Recipients include: Minority Small Business Champion of the Year, Sheila Anne Taluskie, God's Closet; Home-Based Business Champion of the Year, Debra Locker Griffin, Locker Public Relations; and Women in Business Champion of the Year, Barbara Jane Moores, BJM and Associates Inc.
Additionally, two Lexington businesses, Big Ass Fans and Preston-Osborne, were among eight inducted into the Kentucky Small Business Development Center's 2010 Pacesetter Business Recognition Program.
Each of the winning businesses demonstrated the intent and capacity to grow based on employee and sales growth, entrepreneurial leadership and sustainable competitive advantage. To qualify, businesses must have been in operation for three or more years, employ at least six people and have revenues exceeding $500,000.
Event indicates a changing Lexington
The Actors Guild of Lexington (AGL) will present the rock opera Tommy, to be performed by The Johnson Brothers band at Busters in early June.
As it resuscitates and reinvents following a bruising year that saw the near collapse of the professional theater organization and its departure from the Downtown Arts Center, AGL is seizing on emerging demographic and cultural trends in Lexington to plan presentations in unconventional settings spread across the city, according to Acting Artistic Director Erik Seale.
A hint of this came with last year's presentation of David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries at the location of the former Portabello's Restaurant on Locust Hill Drive off Richmond Road.
"I really dig doing experience theater where it's about more than just seeing a show," Seales said. "It's not that we want to completely get away from what we have done in the past, but I think we need to be a lot more creative."
Seale, a native of Lexington, is noticing changes in the character of his hometown. "Everyone's becoming more creative, more brave, more bold," he said. "The audience is changing. Lexington's getting younger; its median age is coming down. And people are having to rethink what the community wants, needs and would be interested in."
Taking on challenges such as Tommy is not new to the Johnson Brothers. The band has for years packed Lexington venues by performing painstaking live recreations of such iconic rock works as the Beatles' White Album and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Steely Dan opus, Asia.
The band's performances of Tommy are scheduled for 8 p.m. on June 3 and 4 (restricted to ages 18 and older) with an all-ages matinee slated for Sunday, June 6. Ticket information is available online at actorsguildoflexington.org or by calling (866) 811-4111.
VIP tickets include a pre-show reception featuring Lexington guitar great Ben Lacy and pinball machines for local wizards.
Lexington gets a jazz festival
Lexington's jazz community is starting to percolate. As evidence, check out what's planned for June 6 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Talon Winery and Vineyards: the first-ever Lexington Jazz Festival, presented by Bluegrass Community and Technical College Arts and the Jazz Arts Foundation.
Jazz from six local and regional groups will be featured, including Paul Osborne & O-Zone, Jamey Aebersold Quartet, Osland/Dailey Jazztet, Steve Snyder Trio, The Jazz Visitors (w/ Gail Wynters, Orville Hammond, Jay Flippin, Dave McWhorter), Mark Gardener and James Poole, and many more.
Tickets are $15, with kids 12 and under admitted free. Gates open at noon.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase, and blankets and lawn chairs are encouraged. If it rains, the show moves indoors, but it still goes on. For more information, call (859) 246-6601.