Business Weekly E-Newsletter

January 19-23, 2008

Next Small Business Council Meeting Scheduled This Thursday

The State Chamber/AIA Small Business Council will hold its next meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Thursday at the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce, which is located at 1709 E. Nettleton.   

Eric Munson, Region VI advocate for the U.S. Small Business Administration, will provide a presentation on “Federal and State Governmental Regulations.”  Securitas Security Services, USA of Jonesboro is providing the lunch. A legislative update will also be provided.

Small Business Council meetings are open to all members of the State Chamber/AIA.

Below is the schedule for future Small Business Council Meetings through May 2009. Future meetings will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Conference Room at our Little Rock office unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 - Employee Benefits

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 - Information Technology

Next Leadership Arkansas Session Slated for Magnolia

Leadership Arkansas Class III will hold its next session covering the South Arkansas Economy this Thursday and Friday in Magnolia.

Additional sessions planned for the coming months throughout the state include:

• Session IV – Legislative, February 23, 2009, Little Rock;
• Session V – Economic Development, March 26-27, 2009, Fort Smith;
• Session VI – Northeast Arkansas Economy, May 21-22, 2009, Jonesboro;  
• Session VII – Northwest Arkansas Economy, June 25-26, 2009, Fayetteville.
• Leadership Class III Graduation will be held June 26, 2009 in Fayetteville.
  

Leadership Arkansas is a program designed to take a statewide view of the economic and political challenges that face Arkansas. The program offers leadership opportunities that expand the impact of community leaders across the state. Created by the State Chamber/AIA, Leadership Arkansas builds a sense of statewide community by identifying and training individuals with the passion and commitment to become personally engaged in issues, programs and activities aimed at building a better Arkansas.

The Chairman for this year’s Leadership Arkansas class is program founder Paul H. Harvel. Curriculum Chairman is Michele Bond. Leadership Arkansas Class III is sponsored by Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia.
If you would like to be a session sponsor or need further information about Leadership Arkansas, please call Susie Marks at 501-210-4206.
Maximum Impact Simulcast Planned for May 8
Community business leaders can access the knowledge and experience of ten internationally-acclaimed leaders by attending the Maximum Impact Simulcast hosted by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce Leadership Arkansas program at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock on Friday, May 8, 2009.

The Maximum Impact Simulcast is a one-day leadership training event broadcast LIVE from Atlanta, Ga. to approximately 500 host sites throughout the nation.  Speakers for the event will include Tony Blair, John Maxwell, Jack Nicklaus, Bill George, Al Weiss, Linda Kaplan Thaler, Kevin Carroll, Mark Sanborn and Liz Murray. Ernie Johnson, professional sports announcer and host of TNT’s Inside the NBA, will serve as master of ceremonies for the event.  The 10 speakers will speak on subjects such as leading in difficult times, converging people and purpose, building strong teams by understanding and embracing change, overcoming personal and professional adversity, utilizing the power of passion and creativity, and balancing the needs of customers, employees and company shareholders.

"The Maximum Impact Simulcast provides extremely valuable leadership insights from world class communicators,” said David Hoyt, vice president of Maximum Impact.  “It's a rare opportunity to hear these experts within your own community and simultaneously develop business relationships with other local leaders.  It's a must-attend event for people in all stages of their leadership journey."

Sponsorship and ticket order information are available.  If you need any additional information, please contact Susie Marks at (501) 210-4206 or smarks@arkansasstatechamber.com .

State Chamber to Host Procurement Conference

The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the state congressional offices to bring the Arkansas Procurement Opportunities Conference to Little Rock on June 2 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

The Procurement Opportunities Conference will include the Annual Small Business Awards Luncheon, networking, training and procurement opportunities. It will also feature a business exposition/matchmaking event, pairing small business owners with prime contractors, federal agencies and major corporations in a one-on-one setting.

Some 350 local and regional small business owners (SBEs, MBEs, WBEs and DBEs) will come together for a full day of procurement opportunities with 150 buyers from federal agencies, prime contractors and major corporations.

Sponsorship opportunities for this event are possible. For further information, please contact the State Chamber/AIA office at 501-372-2222.

Global Warming Commission Stifles Debate

(Editor’s note: The following column is the third in a series written by David J. Sanders of Stephens Media/Arkansas News pertaining to the Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming.)

A little review: A group called the Center for Climate Strategies held undue influence over the Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming and was forced onto the commission without any serious debate.

CCS acts at the behest of its wealthy donors who pay for their work to carry out its aggressive advocacy agenda. Here’s how the scheme works:

CCS helps set up a state-based global warming policy study group and then gets hired to direct it. The group will adopt one of CCS’s canned policy reports. Then, the policy group’s members lobby their state government to adopt controversial and costly environmental policies.

The GCGW reproduced one of CCS’s reports, which contained 54 policy recommendations and carried a price tag of $3.7 billion.

The governor’s office supplied a copy of CCS’s contract with the state, signed on Oct. 31. 2008. There was little explanation as to why CCS had begun working months before the commission was hurriedly pressured to hire the group at its first meeting.

But new information sheds more light on CCS’s heavy-hand, casting further doubt on the fidelity of the commission’s processes and policy recommendations.

On Monday, Dr. Richard Ford, commission member and economist and tenured faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, thumbed through a notebook on his desk, stopping at a copy of the law — Act 696 — that set up the global warming commission.

“Right here,” he said, pointing to the law’s emergency clause. “It says that ‘it is imperative that Arkansas study the scientific data … to determine whether global warming is an immediate threat to the citizens in the State of Arkansas.’ We did not do that.”

According to Ford, the only economist on the commission, the group wasn’t allowed to do what it was instructed by law to do. He explained that the commission never “studied or even debated the scientific data” on global warming.

So why would a commission set up to study and make policy recommendations about global warming not study it? It’s simple; CCS wouldn’t allow it, according to a memo entitled “Proposal to Develop an Arkansas Climate Action Plan” sent to Morril Harriman, Gov. Beebe’s chief of staff on June 27, 2007.

Under the heading “Participant Guidelines,” the memo stated, “Participants will not debate the science of climate change or the directive of the Act, but will instead provide leadership and vision for how Arkansas will rise to the challenges and opportunities of addressing climate change.”
This information was deleted from a similar memo on the GCGW’s Web site.

When asked about CCS’s insistence to limit debate, a governor’s spokesman tried to justify it by claiming that it wasn’t the commission’s job to debate climate change (Later he admitted that in spite of CCS’s “standards of conduct,” it wasn’t the policy of the governor’s office that debate on climate change be stifled.)

The memo also contained a projected budget totaling $435,383 for CCS’s cost to work with the commission. According to the governor’s office, the state only paid $50,000 of the total amount. The memo stated that CCS’s “group of private foundation donors ” would “share” the rest of the cost.

The governor’s spokesman didn’t know who paid the remaining cost … of the commission that, mind you, was set up by law. He, instead, encouraged me to contact CCS.

But in the GCGW’s final report, a handful of donors, who are widely viewed as global warming alarmists or who have close ties to liberal causes , are identified as having paid the rest of Arkansas’ bill. The Blue Moon Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York Community Trust, Energy Foundation, and the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation are all listed.

It’s becoming clearer: CCS helped set up the GCGW, then got hired to advise the group, limited the terms of the debate, pushed its policies, which were eventually adopted, and then found liberal donors sympathetic to the cause to pay the bill.

A bargain? No. A ruse? Yes.

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Community-Based Job Training Grants

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced $122,647,540 in Community Based Job Training Grants.  The money will assist community colleges in 36 states with various job training programs.  The funds are intended to support or engage in a combination of capacity building and training activities for the purpose of building the capacity of community colleges to train individuals for careers in high-growth/high-demand industries in the local and/or regional economies.

Below is a breakdown on the grant funding, the recipients and the training programs for Arkansas. 

SBA Offering Resources for Small Businesses to Help with Economic Recovery

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of new, free online training and other resources offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration to assist them during this period of economic recovery.

The SBA offers a variety of online courses to assist small businesses in more effectively managing their firms in the current economy.  The new course topics, available here , include revising business plans to reposition with current conditions, winning customers in a slowing economy, restructuring existing debt, and diversifying your customer base with federal contracts. 

The most recently added course is “Downshifting in a Slowing Economy: A Business Planning Guide.”  This course is designed to help business owners reorganize and streamline their business strategies.  Other related business tools include a new automated business plan template, and an assessment and strategies guide for surviving in a slowing economy.

“The SBA is helping small businesses with the resources and tools they need in the current business cycle,” said Jeff Andrade, Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development.  “In addition, SBA offers a variety of resources and referrals to small businesses uncertain about what to do in the current economy on its Web page on Economic Recovery here .”

Each free course is self-paced, and provides practical guidance on how to stay on top of economic conditions. These and other courses can be accessed from the SBA’s Web site here . To access them, click on “Free Online Courses,” then make a selection under the header “Surviving in a Down Economy.”

The SBA can also help to find local agency offices and lenders.  Business owners can: talk with an SBA representative about financing options and identify local, participating SBA lenders; learn about SBA’s Loan Guaranty Program using an electronic guide with audio and many targeted links; and train with expert counseling and mentoring services by talking with an SBA representative or resource partner about management assistance.

Welcome to Our New Members

Thanks to the following companies and organizations that have recently joined the State Chamber/AIA:

Action Inc.
Angela Moody (individual)
Arkansas Research Alliance
Berryville Chamber of Commerce
BK Moulding Supply Inc.
Construction Group Architects, PLC
IHP Industrial, Inc.
Kilgore Saw Co.
PVF Industrial Supply Inc.
Reddy Ice

Thanks to Our Pinnacle Members

We wish to express special thanks to all of our Pinnacle investors, the respected companies that support the State Chamber/AIA at the highest annual investment levels. We appreciate all that they do for us.

APEX
Alltel Corporation
Entergy Arkansas, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

SUMMIT
Chesapeake Energy, Inc.
Cox Communications
Tyson Foods, Inc.
XTO Energy, Inc.

PEAK
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Arvest Bank
AT&T Arkansas
CenterPoint Energy Southern Gas
Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas
FedEx Freight - East
Georgia-Pacific Corporation
Kraft Foods
Oaklawn Jockey Club
Pathfinder Exploration LLC
SemGroup LP
Southern Bancorp, Inc.
Southland Park Gaming & Racing
Southwestern Energy Company
State Farm Insurance
Verizon Wireless
Windstream Corporation

CROWN
Acxiom Corporation
AEP Southwestern Electric Power
Albemarle Corporation
Alcoa Inc.
American Greetings Corporation
America's Car-Mart, Inc.
Arkansas Employees Federal Credit Union
Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation
Arkansas Western Gas a SourceGas Company
Bank of the Ozarks
BP America, Inc.
CardinalHealth
CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company
Crossland Construction
Deltic Timber Corporation
Dynegy
Entegra Power Group LLC
Evergreen Packaging Company
Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Arkansas, Inc.
Forest Oil Corporation
Glad Manufacturing/A Clorox Company
Golden Living
International Paper Company
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Lion Oil Company
McKee Foods Corporation
Metropolitan National Bank
Nabholz Construction Corporation
National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR)
Nucor-Yamato Steel
OG+E
Petrohawk
Philander Smith College
Potlatch Forest Products Corporation
Rheem Air Conditioning Division
Riceland Foods, Inc.
Signature Bank of Arkansas
Stephens, Inc.
Storm Cat Energy
Suez Energy North America
The Clorox Company
The Trane Company
US Bank
Waste Management
Weyerhaeuser Company
Wright Lindsey & Jennings

Calendar of Events

January 22                        Small Business Council Meeting
                                    11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
                                    Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce

January 22-23                        Leadership Arkansas Class III
                                    South Arkansas Economy Session
                                    Magnolia

February 23                        Leadership Arkansas Class III
                                    Legislative Session
                                    Little Rock

March 19                        Small Business Council Meeting
                                    11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
                                    Conference Room
                                    State Chamber Building, Little Rock

March 26-27                        Leadership Arkansas Class III
                                    Economic Development Session
                                    Fort Smith

April 18-21                        Washington Fly-In and Congressional Dinner
                                    Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel
                                    Arlington, Virginia

May 6                                    Small Business Council Meeting
                                    11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
                                    Conference Room
                                    State Chamber Building, Little Rock

May 8                                    Maximum Impact Simulcast Leadership Conference
                                    7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Statehouse Convention Center
                                    Little Rock

May 21-22                        Leadership Arkansas Class III
                                    Northeast Arkansas Economy
                                    Jonesboro

June 2                                    Arkansas Procurement Opportunities Conference
                                    Statehouse Convention Center
                                    Little Rock

June 2                                    Nineteenth Annual Arkansas
                                    Small Business Awards Luncheon
                                    Statehouse Convention Center
                                    Little Rock

June 25-26                        Leadership Arkansas Class III
                                    Northwest Arkansas Economy
                                    Fayetteville

June 26                        Leadership Arkansas Class III
                                    Graduation
                                    Fayetteville