Voodoo Donuts

My family returned on Saturday from probably my best vacation ever—five days in Portland, OR with my wife, Pam, and my sons, Reid and Griffin. Oregon is Pam's stomping grounds and I've been there numerous times, but this was the first time for Reid and Griffin which made it very special for me (and them, of course).

Oregon is beautiful with its natural wonders, lush greenery, Pacific Ocean coast and snowy mountains all within a few hours. We toured the Tillamook cheese factory, walked the sand in Pacific City, ate at the Spirit Mountain casino, took in the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry and enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal with Pam's family. Reid and Griffin also snow boarded near Mt. Hood.

We also tried to sample a very unique downtown Portland business called Voodoo Donuts. I say "tried" because we went there on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. only to find a crowd of 35 people standing in line outside waiting to get in. Yes, a Friday afternoon at 3 p.m! We had somewhere else to be and couldn't wait so I instead got the photo of Griffin in line. He had seen Voodoo Donuts on Man vs. Food and wanted to try its maple bar complete with fried bacon on top. The business has become famous in Portland and beyond for its very large donuts with unusual toppings and fillings. For example, the "Tex-Ass" is glazed and the size of six regular donuts. Anyone who can eat it in 140 seconds or less gets it free. The signature Voodoo is gingerbread man-shaped with a pretzel stick stabbed through its abdomen and red jelly "blood" filling.

Voodoo Donuts is not a chain. It's a six-year-old business that has made food fun and is probably making a "blood" filling killing in profits. With their success downtown, the owners have opened a second store on Portland's east side. They must be on to something. How many business owners would like to have 35 people lined up to get in on a Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.?

Parkways to Interstate spurs

As the leader of the organization that has led the charge the past four years to see the Audubon and Natcher parkways become Interstate spurs, it's encouraging to see local candidates for political office talk about the issue. Both Bruce Kunze, Daviess County judge executive candidate and Paul Haire, who's running for Daviess County commissioner, west district, told the Messenger-Inquirer they support those upgrades. I suspect (hope?) other candidates do as well, but it's nice to see it highlighted.

For the record, both parkways were officially designated as future Interstate spurs as part of a larger transportation bill passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in June of 2008. That happened in large part because of then Congressman Ron Lewis' work at the urging of the Chamber of Commerce. Signs indicating its Interstate 69 spur status went up on the Audubon Parkway last September. At this time, the Natcher Parkway is officially a future I-66 spur. After the Natcher becomes part of the new 100-mile, four-lane connector from I-64 to I-65, I'd like to see the Natcher become part of an I-64/I-65 spur. Confused yet?

The bottom line is that there's some serious transportation progress coming together in the Owensboro region. Taking advantage of the near-Interstate condition of the parkways to finally bring Interstate spurs to the community's front door just makes sense. This won't happen overnight, but I'm finding that a steady drum beat of support with good facts is getting politicians' attention on these projects.

Good for Kunze and Haire to realize the importance of good surface transportation to the region. Certainly, Interstates carry commerce in the U.S. This is true today and will be true in the future.

New school - old school

Last weekend my son, Griffin, pulled a Rubik's Cube out of a bag and proceeded to ask me to scramble it for him and "time him on it." Yes, I'm talking about that Rubik's Cube, the same 3-D mechanical puzzle that became popular when I was a kid. That same toy that people would spend hours trying to get the colors to line up on the same side.

I hated the Rubik's Cube when I was a kid. I don't have a mechanical mind and always thought it was a waste of time. I knew people who could solve them quickly but I wanted nothing to do with them. Now, all these years later and my 12-year-old son is intrigued by it. I, of course, obliged and Griffin "solved" it in about six minutes.

During the week, he decided the traditional "3 x 3" cube wasn't enough of a challenge so he purchased a "4 x 4" cube with 16 squares on each side instead of nine. I came home yesterday and found him and a friend watching an instructional video on YouTube showing how to solve the 4 x 4 version. I smiled and considered the irony of my son using the "new school" YouTube to learn how to solve the "old school" Rubik's Cube.

Wikipedia—one of my favorite online spots, by the way—says that more than 350 million cubes have been sold since 1980 when Ideal Toys first marketed Erno Rubik's invention. Good for them and good for him. Good for Griffin, too, as he works to solve the cube and learns the skill of solving a mechanical problem. That makes me smile too.

Businesses collaborating in this economy

My last blog post was about how groups are starting to collaborate more to accomplish similar tasks and goals. This morning a local small business owner told me the same thing: her company is now working closely with other businesses that a year ago she considered more as competition than partners.

She went on to explain how her company specializes in one function while her "business partner" specializes in a different aspect of the same function. She's reached out to that "partner" and asked for help in creating a total solution for her clients and that "partner" has reciprocated by asking for assistance with his clients. Both business' clients are getting their needs filled and both are gaining new business. She went on to explain that her business is busier than ever, including pre-recession.

This discussion brought to my mind one of the secrets I've discovered in my business career. I'd rather be an organization/business that does a few things very well instead of trying to be all things to everybody and doing a poor job at all of it. I saw this firsthand in a previous job with a manufacturer that strived to be a "one stop shop" and, frankly, fumbled the ball a lot. This idea of finding a niche and working like crazy to be the best at it makes a lot of sense to me. There's numerous examples of successful businesses big and small that are very profitable with this mission in mind.

Collaborating with others just makes sense. I'm not talking about "giving away the profit" and certainly it won't work for everyone. Keeping your eyes open to the possibilities, though, can be a very good idea.

Collaborating is good

In a world of diminishing resources, it's good to see organizations more prone to work in their own "silos," busy building their own "deal" starting to work together. Collaborating is good. Two years ago, for example, 12 chambers of commerce in ten northwest Kentucky counties came together to form the Chamber Leadership Initiatives for Northwestern Kentucky (C-LINK). It's not a merger of these business groups but rather a board of representatives from each chamber that has made some nice headway in the campaign to bring I-69 alive in western Kentucky. Twelve chambers in southwestern Kentucky this year have formed the West Kentucky Regional Chamber Alliance. The Greater Owensboro chamber will be announcing some more partnerships in the coming months.

Recently, officials with Owensboro Community & Technical College and Western Kentucky University-Owensboro announced a joint admission arrangement to make it easier for students gaining their Associate's Degree from OCTC to work towards a Bachelor's Degree at WKU-O. The issue of class credits transferring from Kentucky community colleges to four-year public universities has long been a thorn in some students' side and it's good to see OCTC and WKU-O collaborating to help rectify it.

Owensboro and Bowling Green have long been considered rivals—rivals in population growth, economic development and opportunities. Recently, officials of Owensboro's RiverPark Center said they are working with leaders of Bowling Green's new SKyPAC Center to help both performing arts facilities with programming and other needs. I don't remember the last time these two cities collaborated on much of anything. Good for Owensboro and Bowling Green.

There's an old phrase that I've tried to put to use every time I've asked buddies to help me move households: Many hands make light work. It works for more than moving, however. Collaborating in many endeavors breaks down walls and opens opportunities. Hopefully, more organizations will realize the benefits far outweigh the downside in strong collaborations.