The plight of the local small business

"I can't get in to see the right person at ______ to talk with them about doing business." I've heard that comment dozens of times from local small business managers as they try to make a sale to purchasing decision-makers at local larger businesses/industry/organizations. Hopefully, we at the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce put a small but mighty dent in that plight last Thursday with the first "Owensboro Buys It!" expo.

An offshoot of the six-year-old "Owensboro Has It!" buy-local campaign, this event started early last summer when more than 100 small business Chamber members learned how to build their own two-minute "elevator pitch." They were then required to attend at least two Chamber focused-networking events to practice their pitch. About 80 businesses qualified to attend Thursday's expo and meet in five-minute, one-on-one meetings with purchasing personnel from nearly 30 large local businesses/industries/organizations that agreed to participate.

From most accounts, the small businesses appreciated the opportunity and many told me after their meetings that they expected to gain business from it. While that was music to my ears, comments I heard from the purchasers were more telling. "This went better than I expected," "I guess I didn't realize what we had here," "Next year we're going to bring more people," was what I heard. Put another way, many large companies with purchasing power to help local small businesses simply don't know what's under their nose. It's not just companies; many residents fall into the same category.

As the chamber of commerce guy, that fact of life makes me frown. Why do many people not look locally when they need a box of paper clips or an electrical contractor or a guitar? I realize this isn't just an Owensboro issue, but I do believe it's prevalent here. For those of you do think local when you buy, thank you. For those of you who don't, remember the plight of the small local business.

Cap'n'trade a business buster in several ways

Some in the media have reported in recent days about a handful of large utilities and the Mac and iphone maker Apple announcing they will drop their membership in the U.S. Chamber over the chamber's determined ways to derail the federal cap'n'trade regulation. Boiled down to its simplest form, cap'n'trade would tax high emission states like Kentucky and Indiana (see graphic) in a noble but misleading gesture to help the environment. Kentucky and Indiana get most of their electricity form burning coal in power plants; various studies draw different conclusions, but one says Kentucky will lose 21,000 jobs if cap'n'trade becomes law. Electric rates in Kentucky are expected to increase by at least one-third and possibly much more.

Business associations like chambers of commerce try to get their members "on the same page" over common issues. The problem is that what can be good for the "mom'n'pop" store may not be positive for a large corporation or vice versa. Indeed, while increased electricity rates would no doubt harm nearly all business—including the concentration of aluminum smelters in Western Kentucky—through higher power bills, some large utilities are shrewd and large enough to cut their own deals in the legislation; some utilities will make more money with cap'n'trade by selling emissions credits; hence, they have much to gain with cap'n'trade. And now, a company like Apple that likes to think of itself as "environmentally conscious" publicly distances itself from the U.S. Chamber. I don't believe Apple has any manufacturing facilities in Kentucky or Indiana.

Business interests are often diverse and cap'n'trade has become a good example of the difficult nature of getting all of them coordinated behind the same goal. My opinion is decidedly pro-business and pro-Kentucky on cap'n'trade. I'm all for "saving" the environment, but the legislation is in no way binding on other countries. Much of the developing world has shown no interest in enacting similar emissions limits. In other words, the U.S. could curtail its emissions while the rest of the world does not. I doubt "the environment" separates what the U.S. does vs. the rest of the world.

Secondly, electric rates will no doubt rise under cap'n'trade, especially in coal country such as Kentucky. Low power costs have been the state's one true competitive advantage in economic development for many years. Take that away and high energy consumers like manufacturers will have one big reason to locate elsewhere, perhaps overseas.

Trunnell's Farm Market(ing)

Tonight, the Chamber held its annual Agri-Business Tour and visited Kentuckiana Livestock near Moseleyville, the Big Independent tobacco warehouse—the last standing tobacco warehouse in Daviess County—and Trunnell's Farm Market near Utica. I enjoyed and learned at all three stops but must admit I enjoyed the Kevin Trunnell and family farm market most of all.

What's not to like at Trunnell's? Fresh vegetables, unique Kentucky-made food items, beautiful mums, pumpkins, gourds, whole milk with cream and friendly people. The Trunnells were long-time tobacco farmers who diversified into fruits and veggies through the years. They grew into their quaint road-side store a few years ago and are open seven days a week. Ironically, Kevin said Sunday is one of their busiest days but—in true family fashion—he doesn't require employees to work Sundays if they'd rather not. Behind the store is a beautiful scene of rolling Daviess County countryside.

Kevin has participated in Kentucky's farm diversification funding program to help build his store. As was explained during the tour, Kentucky is one of the few states that took the large tobacco industry lawsuit and set aside half of it to help farmers across the state diversify and market Kentucky-made products at the same time. If Trunnell's Farm Market is any indication, it's been a good investment on the state's part.

I bought three items at the store. I first picked up a small jar of old fashion peach preserves. After sampling some honey apple salsa, I couldn't resist a 14-ounce jar of it. Finally, I bagged some vidalia onion honey mustard dressing—with only six grams of sugar per serving! I passed on the homemade fudge, pies and breads not to mention the thick cut pepper bacon and countless other items that made my mouth water. Trunnell's Farm Market is just a few miles south of Owensboro on U.S. 431 before you get to Utica. It's worth the drive.

This Hoosier goes home (for a few days)

Most people know I'm from southern Indiana and a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington. I spent four great years—yes, I graduated in four years—in that town of 25,000 that expands to about 60,000 when school is in session. It's a great small town with lots of culture, residents from around the world and more.

The joint conference of the Kentucky and Indiana Chamber of Commerce executives groups was held on the IU campus for three days this week. I was closing out my year as the president of the board of the Kentucky chambers group in my college town and the memories flooded back as I drove through campus on my way to the student union building on Wednesday morning.

It turned into a great experience. Not only did I have the pleasure of thanking IU basketball coach Tom Crean and meeting him after he spoke to our group, I had a chance encounter with IU Athletics Director Fred Glass and met the director of the renowned Kelley School of Business—Jerry Conover—after he also presented to our group. To top it off, we got a tour of the IU basketball and football athletics facilities and I stood at center court at Assembly Hall. It doesn't get much better than that for an IU grad!

I've lived in Kentucky for more than 20 years now and have come to enjoy and appreciate the Bluegrass, but there will always be a large part of me in Bloomington. I grew up there in four short years. My time there this week was special.