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Frankfort on notice: focus on improved education
Just prior to the inauguration of governor-elect Steve Beshear and the convening of the 2008 Kentucky General Assembly, the state's business community is sending a clear message to Frankfort to focus on the competitive imperative of workforce development through enhanced education.
"Recommendations and suggested action steps" offered by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce include the goal of achieving by 2020 the development of "a society with a standard of living and quality of life that meets or exceeds the national average." The chamber calls on the governor and legislature to "affirm the goal to develop a major comprehensive research university — The University of Kentucky — ranked nationally in the top twenty public universities; a premiere, nationally recognized metropolitan university — The University of Louisville; comprehensive universities with nationally recognized programs of excellence and nationally recognized applied research programs; a comprehensive community and technical college system; and a coordinating system to deliver educational services comparable to or exceeding the national average to all Kentuckians."
Among other recommendations, the chamber calls for the adoption of a goal of "reaching the education attainment levels of the most competitive nations by 2025 and set benchmarks referenced to the United States," as well as those of member nations of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
Toyota offers work/college tuition plan
Impressed by Louisville's Metropolitan College program launched by UPS, Toyota is offering to pay a tax-free tuition reimbursement of up to $2,500 to students who take 12 hours of college credit per semester at any accredited Kentucky college or university and earn at least a 3.0 grade point average. To qualify for the maximum reimbursement, students are required to work at Toyota — at $12 an hour — for at least 24 hours over three days per week. Students who work less than three days a week will receive prorated tuition reimbursements.
Toyota officials created the program after learning that 80 percent of Kentucky's college students work while in school and that nearly 30 percent of a Kentucky family's income is spent on post-secondary education.
Work schedules will be flexible to accommodate students' needs.
Students who work less than three days a week will get smaller tuition reimbursements. The amount will be prorated.
Didn't finish college? Opportunity knocks
With funds from a national grant designed to make post-secondary education more adult-friendly, the University of Kentucky is partnering with the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) on a plan to lure Kentucky adults back to college.
Targeting a market of 310,000 adult students in the Bluegrass, the program will unfold in two phases. In phase one, Project Graduate, the goal is to reach more than 11,000 of adults who have earned 90 or more credit hours but have not obtained a bachelor's degree. CPE, in partnership with institutions across the state including UK, will coordinate media events and a direct mail effort to reach this audience.
Once at UK, these students will be placed with academic advisers trained to assist with course scheduling and to explain requirements and university procedures. They will also be able to utilize a degree audit program that shows exactly which courses they must take to complete a degree in their initial fields of study or in other disciplines.
For more information, contact Cecile McKinney, UK's Project Graduate representative, at (859) 257-3802 or toll-free 1-866-900-4685 or cmckinn@email.uky.edu.
Tough survivor: Kentucky agriculture
Kentucky's agricultural economy has displayed survivor instincts in the face of possibly the worst drought in state history, preceded by a damaging spring freeze.
Despite increasing costs for labor, fuel and fertilizer, University of Kentucky agriculture economists project net income will tally up to as much as $1.7 billion for 2007.
The economists, citing a thriving livestock sector and high commodity prices, anticipate record cash receipts of $4.22 billion for the year.
African-American law enforcers to convene in Lexington
Downtown businesses have marked their calendars for the week of July 13-20, 2011. It's when the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) will bring their annual convention to Lexington, a longtime goal of outgoing Chief Anthany Beatty. The event is expected to provide an economic boost to the city and region of more than $3 million.
Area hotels will have by then experienced hosting guests for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and should be prepared to handle the estimated 4,000 room nights expected to be booked for the NOBLE conference.
Meetings and events throughout the week will be held in the Lexington Convention Center.
Lexington engineering firm is sold
The Lexington engineering firm Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott & May (FMSM) has been sold to Stantec, a publicly traded Edmonton, Alberta design and consulting firm. Stantec also announced plans to buy R.D. Zande, a civil engineering consulting, engineering planning and engineering services firm based in Columbus, Ohio.
Fuller Mossbarger has 145 employees in Lexington. The remainder of the firm's 380 employees are based in Louisville, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Georgia and Tennessee.
Plans call for Stantec to base its Great Lakes region headquarters in Columbus, where R.D. Zande has about 175 employees and Fuller Mossbarger employs 25.
Fuller Mossbarger reported about $36 million in revenue last year, while R.D. Zande's 2006 revenue totaled about $29 million.
Stantec employs more than 7,500 employees in some 100 offices in the United States. The company's 2006 revenue totaled $815.5 million (U.S.)
The Stantec-FMSM transaction is expected to be completed at the end of December.
Crowe Chizek expands reach into Florida
Crowe Chizek and Company LLC, which has offices in Lexington, has completed its combination of practices with Florida-based Carter, Belcourt & Atkinson, P.A. (CBA). The two firms signed an agreement to combine in October. Crowe Group LLP, parent company of Crowe Chizek, is one of the 10 largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States.
In a press release, Crowe said CBA brings more than 65 professionals working in its Tampa and Lakeland offices. With this combination, Crowe now has Florida offices in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Lakeland and West Palm Beach, with nearly 200 personnel in the state. The two firms now operate under the Crowe name.
UK research: TM can relieve high blood pressure
People with high blood pressure may find relief from transcendental meditation, according to a new meta-analysis of 107 published studies on stress reduction programs and high blood pressure. The study was conducted by researchers at the NIH-funded Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
The transcendental meditation technique produces a statistically significant reduction in high blood pressure that is not found with other forms of relaxation, meditation, biofeedback or stress management.
The new meta-analysis reviewed randomized, controlled trials of all stress reduction and relaxation methods in participants with high blood pressure that have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Blood pressure changes for the Transcendental Meditation technique included average reductions of 5.0 points on systolic blood pressure and 2.8 on diastolic blood pressure, which were statistically significant, according to the review. The other stress reduction programs did not show significant changes in blood pressure.
Blood pressure changes associated with transcendental meditation practice were consistent with other controlled studies showing reductions in cardiovascular risk factors, improved markers of heart disease, and reduced mortality rates among participants in the transcendental meditation program.
According to Dr. James Anderson, professor of medicine at the University of Kentucky and co-author of the new meta-analysis, the findings of the new review rebut a July 2007 report sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the NIH-National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which concluded that most research on meditation is low quality and found little evidence that any specific stress reduction effectively lowers blood pressure. The new meta-analysis identified all high-quality meditation studies published through 2006 and rigorously analyzed their effects, which the previous government report failed to do. Anderson said the new meta-analysis includes only high-quality studies on all available stress reduction interventions.
Sullivan University acquires Dale Carnegie Training
Said to be the world's first partnership between a university and a Dale Carnegie Training franchise, Sullivan University System has acquired the Carnegie franchise for Kentucky and southern Indiana.
The business skills training program is available on Sullivan campuses in Lexington and Louisville.