Mayor cites audit in call for sweeping changes at LFUCG
Mayor Jim Newberry rolled out an extensive management audit of city government to support 442 recommendations for improvements. The audit found a puzzling civil service hiring process that, when spelled out in a flow chart, covers six pages resembling a byzantine board game from Parker Brothers' reject bin. The process, which can consume up to six months between the point of application and notification of hiring was described by Jerry Newfarmer, the national consultant who conducted the audit, as "the worst in the country."
In addition, the audit by Management Partners of Cincinnati found that the city isn't certain how much property it owns, but it does own what amounts to a fleet of unused vehicles which will be sold at auction.
The study recommends reducing ambulance staffing from three to two firefighters; closing little-used, older neighborhood pools and streamlining historic preservation efforts by placing historic preservation within the Division of Planning. And it suggests mandatory city inspections of all rental housing, as well as a program to inspect owner-occupied housing that is for sale. When code violations are discovered sellers would be required to pay to bring their property into compliance before any transaction could be completed.
The city is anticipating a budget shortfall in the next fiscal year of at least $25 million.
-Tom Martin
Female college scholarship fund sees record leap in applicants
More than 100 college women - 80 percent more than last year - have applied for the Women Leading Kentucky scholarship awards this year, and most are citing cuts in education and tuition increases as the reason.
"Many of these students are taking full-time classes, caring for families, working, maintaining high GPAs and even volunteering on campus or in their communities," said Laura Boison, chair of Women Leading Kentucky's scholarship committee.
Corporate support and individual donations make these scholarships available each year. Corporate scholarship contributors for 2008 include AT&T, Chase, Lexmark International, KEMI, Central Baptist Hospital and the Shumate Family Foundation.
Scholarship winners will be announced in April and checks presented prior to the Annual Women's Business & Leadership Conference at the Radisson on May 6.
-Staff
Airport Board not fan of Big Ass (ads, that is)
The Blue Grass Airport Board of Directors rejected the request of Lexington-based Big Ass Fans to advertise in the airport's baggage claim area. The advertising package represented $45,000 over three years.†
The company, whose logo depicts the south end of a mule, had submitted design proposals for signage over the airport entrance/exit near the baggage claim area. Big Ass Fans had also offered to donate their signature giant ceiling fans for the main lobby areas and hangars at Blue Grass Airport. The donated fans also were declined.
"Since Blue Grass Airport makes the first and last impression to visitors to our region, we carefully consider all advertising requests and the impression those advertisements make upon visitors," said airport spokesman Brian Ellestad.†"While we can appreciate Big Ass Fans' marketing approach, we feel it is essential to provide a comfortable environment for everyone, including families."
"Naturally, we are disappointed," said Carey Smith, president of Big Ass Fans, in a press release distributed after the decision.†"We are extremely proud to be a†Lexington†business.†We looked at the airport signage as a way for us to announce that pride to visitors to the Bluegrass Region."
Jason Yount, director of marketing at Big Ass Fans, said of the rejection, "We were very excited to have the chance to funnel some of our advertising dollars back into the local economy. The airport's decision causes both businesses to miss an important opportunity."
Big Ass Fans will soon break ground on new facilities in the Blue Grass Industrial Park†and is continuing to hire new employees.
-TM
In-flight magazine to feature section on Bluegrass region
The Lexington area will be featured in Sky, the in-flight magazine of Delta Air Lines. The 28-plus page section, Portrait: Lexington's Bluegrass Region, will have a potential readership of 3.4 million passengers traveling to 461 destinations in 96 countries during the month of June 2008.
Sky's editorial and marketing teams will be in Lexington in March and April seeking editorial content and offering advertising opportunities.
-TM
Steve Austin to lead WEG legacy effort
Town and regional planner Steve Austin has been named director of the new Center for Community Legacy Initiatives at the Blue Grass Community Foundation.
The Center was created with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of $2.55 million over five years. Its mission is to guide Lexington in taking long-term advantage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
"First and foremost, the goal is to get two projects to some level of completion by the World Equestrian Games," said Austin, who most recently served as president and chief executive officer of Bluegrass Tomorrow. "Those two projects are the Horse Park (bike) trail and the Third Street planning."
Last fall, the Knight Foundation selected as priority projects the revitalization of the city's Third Street corridor including establishment of an Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden, and a bike trail from downtown to the Kentucky Horse Park with possible public art and mini-gardens along the way.†
-TM
Alltech founder featured in Irish Who's Who
Alltech founder and president Pearse Lyons cites becoming the first-ever title sponsor of the World Equestrian Games as one of his most important moments in a profile appearing in Business & Finance magazine's Who's Who in Irish Business 2008.
The special edition notes that Lyons, a native of Dundalk, "has been described as an entrepreneur, salesman, marketer and scientist all rolled into one, and is widely regarded in the agribusiness sector as an innovator and industry leader."
Lyons, with a master's degree in brewing technology and a doctorate in yeast biochemistry, was working for Irish Distillers in Dublin when, according to the article, "he got his first taste of American business, when he was headhunted by an ingredients supplier for the brewing industry and was subsequently sent to Lexington to set up a new facility making additives for the industry."
Believing yeasts, enzymes and certain bacterias could help animals utilize feed more efficiently, the article said, Dr. Lyons went on to develop research and scientific data that had been lacking. The result was Alltech, now a $300 million business based in Nicholasville.
-TM
SavanÈ Silver exhibits wares to Hollywood celebs
Lexington's SavanÈ Silver was among a select group of companies featured at the invitation-only, Alive! Expo Green Pavilion in Hollywood, Calif., in the run-up to the Oscars. The event connects celebrities and the press corps with companies that demonstrate earth-friendly values.
More than 200 guests attended the three-day event at The Sofitel Hotel on Beverly Boulevard on February 21-23, which was covered by realTVfilms.com, among other media.
-Staff
EKU to host B2B conference for small business
A day-long, business to business conference will be held on Friday, March 14, at the Perkins Building on the Eastern Kentucky University campus.†
Workshops will be led by experts in the areas of marketing and advertising, alternative financing, human resources, business tax planning, Web site design and loss prevention strategies.†These classes will focus especially on how the small business community effectively deals with these important issues.†
For details or to register, individuals may call Terri at the Richmond Chamber of Commerce at 859-623-1720 or visit www.ekubiz.com and click on the Small Business Day link.
-Staff
$10,000 donation honors Ed Houlihan
A donation of $10,000 has been made to the Lexington History Museum Endowment Fund in honor of the Museum's past president and former Business Lexington business history columnist Edward T. Houlihan, Jr.
The contribution was made by The William H. Hodgkin Donor Advised Fund of the Clark County Community Foundation, a component fund of Blue Grass Community Foundation.
William Hodgkin of Winchester, Ky., is a lifelong friend of Houlihan and his family.
"I want to honor my friend Ed Houlihan for all the wonderful things he has done for Lexington and the History Museum," Hodgkin said in making the gift. "I know how much the museum means to him, and determined this was the best possible way to honor his service."
The Museum's endowment fund is administered by the Blue Grass Community Foundation, 250 W. Main St., Ste. 1220, Lexington, Ky. Donors may make a credit card donation through the Foundation web site at www.bgcf.org, or by check. The Foundation also accepts stock gifts and manages planned gifts to the fund.
-Staff