Stimulus funds to support Kentucky energy, ag partnership
More than $2 million in federal stimulus funds will be available to agricultural interests in Kentucky for projects related to energy conservation, renewable energy production and regional renewable fuel projects.
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is providing funds to support a partnership between the Energy and Environment Cabinet and the Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy to implement a pair of energy-related programs using federal stimulus dollars.
The two programs unveiled by Gov. Steve Beshear will provide a two-pronged approach to Kentucky's energy-agriculture partnership. A portion of these funds will provide a variety of opportunities for Kentucky farm families to increase farm energy efficiency and renewable fuel production. This aspect of the funding will work in tandem with the "On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production" investment area of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund's County Agricultural Investment Program.
The remaining portion is for the Multi-County Collaborative Agricultural Energy Initiatives Program. Funding will be used to compliment tobacco settlement funds for grants to multi-county collaborations that will enhance and advance renewable energy production at the farm level. Funding will be made available for demonstration projects in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy production.
Merger creates state's largest CPA firm
Two of Kentucky's top accounting firms - Mountjoy & Bressler and Chilton & Medley - are merging to form Kentucky's largest CPA firm. The merger will take place November 1, and the new firm will be called Mountjoy Chilton Medley. Mike Mountjoy and Diane Medley will serve as co-managing partners.
"This is a marriage of equals," Medley said in a press release. "These are two excellent firms with long track records of client service and community involvement. It's a perfect match."
The merger will also be an opportunity for significant growth, Mountjoy said.
"Over the years, we have considered a variety of options to improve services to our clients and grow our firm," he said. "As with most businesses, we have considered merger and acquisition as one of the options."
Another advantage of the merger, Mountjoy said, is that "this will be a Kentucky-based firm serving Kentucky businesses and keeping tax dollars in the state, versus hiring an out-of-state firm with a local satellite office."
Merger discussions began in May of this year over a casual lunch, Medley said.
"Of course, we've been aware of Mountjoy & Bressler and its reputation for many years, and they've been aware of Chilton & Medley," she said. "Our firms are different, but our strengths definitely complement each other. And there are many similarities. Both firms have the same values - an emphasis on the team approach, an entrepreneurial spirit and high ethical standards. The more we talked about it, the more sense it made."
No layoffs are expected because "there are very few redundant positions," Mountjoy said.
The founding partners in both firms - Mike Mountjoy, Jerry Bressler, John Chilton, and Diane Medley - will remain active in the new firm, and all other partners in the current firms will retain partner status in the new firm.
The offices in Covington, Lexington and Frankfort will remain in their existing facilities. No decision has been made yet on where the newly merged firm's Louisville office will be located.
Mountjoy & Bressler's Louisville office is currently located at 2300 Waterfront Plaza on Main Street near Third Street, while the Chilton & Medley offices are several blocks away in the Meidinger Tower on Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali.
Mountjoy & Bressler was already Kentucky's largest CPA firm, with over 100 professional employees at four locations - Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Frankfort. The firm was founded in 1980 and employs over 60 CPAs, including Certified Fraud Examiners, Certified Internal Auditors, attorneys and other advanced specialties.
Chilton & Medley was Louisville's largest accounting firm in terms of total professionals employed (97) and second-largest in terms of CPAs employed (52). The firm was established in 1988 and consistently has been named one of Louisville's best places to work.
Study finds what makes Lexington tick
Social offerings (fun places to gather), openness (how welcoming a place is) and basic services (community infrastructure) are the most important factors in connecting Lexington residents to their hometown, according to research conducted for the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation. A "Soul of the Community Study," commissioned by the philanthropic organization to probe the emotional factors that bind people to place, found that education (particularly colleges and universities) and aesthetics (particularly the natural setting) are perceived as community strengths.
Meanwhile, openness, basic services and social offerings were seen as needing improvement. In particular, while residents rated the Lexington area as significantly more open for families with young children (making them the group seen as most welcomed), they see it as least welcoming to immigrants, an area where ratings significantly dropped in 2009. They also rate affordable housing lowest among the basic services. While residents rated nightlife significantly higher in 2009, they continue to see residents caring for each other as a relatively weak area. In 2009, however, residents of Lexington rated the area as significantly more welcoming to senior citizens than in 2008.
The "social offerings" finding supports the results of a joint study by Lexmark and Toyota in 2008 to learn why the two employers were experiencing difficulties in recruiting and retaining minority professionals to Lexington. Only in recent months, the Lexington nightlife scene has seen significant developments with the opening of many new music venues and renovation work on the Lyric Theater.
Not surprisingly, ratings of the local economy dropped significantly in 2009, however the economy still was not an important factor in determining residents' emotional connection to the area.
Civic involvement (due primarily to an increase in voting for the presidential election) was up significantly in 2009.
The study found that residents who feel a strong emotional connection to their community are more likely to be older, long-term, retired and home-owning residents. Those least likely to feel emotionally attached are younger, mid-tenure, rural-dwelling and middle-educated residents.
The Soul of the Community study was conducted by Gallup in 26 cities. The intent was to gather information for use by civic leaders and residents to make decisions that will influence residents' feelings about their hometowns and to help communities thrive.
Kentucky college enrollment sets new record
Total enrollment in Kentucky's public and independent postsecondary education institutions reached a record high of 254,560 students this fall, based on a preliminary enrollment report released by the Council on Postsecondary Education. The estimated headcount is an increase of 12,970 students, more than a 5 percent increase over last year and a 40 percent increase over 10 years.
Undergraduate enrollment increased nearly 6 percent over last year, while graduate enrollment posted more than a 3 percent gain. The official enrollment report will be available in January 2010.
The largest enrollment growth was seen at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which estimates that enrollment hit 100,000 for the first time. Community and technical college enrollments often spike during recessions as workers invest in new job skills.
Other highlights of the report include: public universities saw modest growth of 2 percent over last year overall; notable overall growth was seen at Kentucky State University and Western Kentucky University (7 percent and 5 percent, respectively), with significant growth at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; graduate enrollments were flat at the research universities, but have grown at those comprehensive universities that have added new graduate programs in education; member institutions of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities saw modest growth at the undergraduate level, but several institutions' expansion of graduate programs produced an 11 percent increase in graduate enrollments in this sector.
Early sign of auto recovery
Toyota is raising its global sales forecast for the year to March of 2010 by 3 percent. That translates as 6.7 million cars, many assembled at the TMMK plant in Georgetown.
Cincinnati may get a 21c Hotel
A challenging economy evidently is not stopping investors in Louisville's popular 21c Museum Hotel from considering a second hotel in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Business Courier reported that a downtown development organization is acquiring a low-income apartment complex with plans to convert it into a boutique hotel.
Alltech names 10 Kentucky ambassadors for WEG
Ten Kentuckians, representing each of the commonwealth's congressional districts, have been selected and commissioned by Alltech to represent the company and advance the message of Alltech, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the company's related initiatives such as the Alltech Fortnight Festival.
"These ten men and women were identified by Alltech as individuals who would represent Alltech well in their hometowns and surrounding communities," said Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of the global animal nutrition firm based in Nicholasville. "Over the next year, they will broaden our reach in the commonwealth by visiting schools, clubs, civic organizations, churches, clubs, and festivals to garner interest and enthusiasm in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the Alltech Fortnight Festival, while telling the story of the global animal health and nutrition company behind both events."
The Alltech Ambassadors are: Jessica Byassee of Clinton; Rosanne Radke, a resident of Murray; Heath Eric of Calhoun; Jeff Younglove of Bowling Green; Rachel Shipley of Louisville; Jeff Iker of Fort Thomas; John McGlone of Ashland; Phil Smith of London; Jennifer Crisp of Paintsville; and Ted Kuster, a resident of Paris.