Governor Elect Dr. Bentley, BBA, and the North Jefferson Area

Governor-Elect Robert Bentley is already working for the North Jefferson area.  If you lodged your vote for a pro-business agenda, you would have been encouraged if you attended the Birmingham Business Alliance Annual luncheon this week at the Sheraton to hear Dr. Bentley, I mean Governor-Elect Dr. Robert Bentley, discuss his commitment to our area.  An intricately woven quote by Lynard Skynard that “Birmingham Loves the Governor,” was an bright attempt to win hearts and minds.  Bentley’s follow up that “You may not always love me, but we will have a good four years full of opportunity,” set the stage for anticipation of good ideas to come.  Even this conservative skeptic is willing to give him a chance. 

 “I commit to you to make Birmingham a better place,” said Bentley.  Well, so goes the North, so goes Birmingham.  Bentley expressed support for the Northern Beltline and promised to make its construction a priority.    In allegiance with our Senators Shelby and Sessions, he remains committed to work quickly and diligently to make our road access a reality.  A quick turn down I65 South and you can see the fruits of all of our labors, that of our Legislators and that of our hard earned tax dollars.  Sharing the luncheon table with me were Mayors McCondichie and Phillips from Brookside and Gardendale respectively, and we were all ears.

Not fading from the issues, Bentley stated that “the role of government is to create a fertile field for jobs to grow, not to create the actual jobs.”  I like the sound of that.  Bentley was humble to recognize that the strength of a leader will be measured by history by the minds that he surrounds himself with in the leadership challenge.  To that end, University of Alabama at Birmingham President, Dr. Carol Garrison, was selected to introduce Bentley.  Per Dr. Garrison, UAB has a lot to gain by a pro business minded leader at the helm.  UAB alone has a half million dollar economic impact on Alabama, and lest you be stymied by that number, please realize that this occurred just in the time that the one hour luncheon was served at this event.  That is a half million dollar impact EVERY HOUR.  Garrison shared that for every $1 invested in UAB, a full $16 impact is realized for the Alabama.  UAB is the Economic Engine for Alabama.  Yes, we need efforts in Huntsville, Mobile and beyond, but UAB is alive and well and doing the job needed to keep Alabama competitive.

Bentley stands out front as one of the first to ask the question, “Did you create a job?”  This is simple, poignant, and clearly significant thinking here.  In an environment with 20% underemployed, and 9% real unemployment, we look to strong leadership on several fronts to include right to work legislation, improvements in our 2 year and 4 year colleges, decisions on tax requirements for business, and please oh please let us not overlook infrastructure improvements to attract business and industry to our area.  Bentley will be well supported if he is a leader that makes strategic decisions, and does not “study the problem to death.” 

Well, how do you do that, and can he?  Echoing his training as a physician, his message was true in its simplicity.  Dr. Tinsley Harrison was his professor in medical school, and a storied and respected physician indeed was Dr. Harrison.  Dr. Harrison, ever the servant leader, would encourage his student to “listen to the patient.”  The patient will tell you what is wrong if you are keen to listening.  Your job then will be to not just examine, but to diagnose and MAKE A DECISION.  When you make your decision, then your treatment will lead the way to strength and improvement. 

It has been my experience that everyone has an opinion after someone makes a decision.  I assess that we are mercifully entering into a time of great decisions and change here in our fair state.  Now is the time to educate yourself, leverage your opinions and become involved in the diagnosis and ultimate treatment choice for healthy growth.

Washington, Your Vote and the Business Next Door

This week in Business has been particularly focused. The Business Council of Alabama hosted noted political contributor, author and speaker, Fred Barnes, for their 2010 Annual Meeting and Luncheon held at the Harbert Center. As a Beltway Boy who also is the Executive Director of the Weekly Standard, Barnes was the usual great choice by BCA to bring cutting edge, real time information to the business community. I look forward to enjoying the signed copy of his book The Rebel and Chief about his behind-the-scenes look at the George Bush Presidency.


Barnes positioned his discussion of the election outcomes by recalling Reagan’s Washington assessment, as an “island surrounded on all sides by reality.” As Barnes noted, you don’t always get what you expect during an election, and this year was no different for many and exhilarating for others. He noted that interestingly our very conservative state of Alabama had similar election outcomes to the very liberal state of Wisconsin. My goodness, New York even picked a lot of Republicans. According to the Hoover Institute, we are indeed a much more conservative country than we were a few years ago and our concerns over healthcare, spending and debt are more important now than ever. This may not be a welcomed message to remind our Washington front office about at this time, but certainly someone has to break them the news. According to Barnes, it is of striking interest that the Republican Party has emerged as the party of “Hope and Change,” and it is incumbent on the party not to blow it.

Barnes posed the question, “Can the Republican Party maintain the coalition?” Time will certainly tell, but a good beginning will be stick to the drivers that business is recommending which are: putting the break on spending and loosen up on the healthcare demands on small business for a good start. Citing Germany as an example, he revealed that not surprisingly, our current economic policies are to the left of many European countries. Germany has unemployment on the decline at 7.8%, and they did it by decreasing spending, decreasing the length and generosity of unemployment, and decreasing the size of government. The big message here that Washington just seems to have a tough time getting the old brain around is that the New Deal did not work. It did not work for FDR and it will not work for the current administration. All it achieves is creating a stronger government power base.

We know the answer, and it sounds easy at least. Tax cuts and incentives work. Just ask any business owner who is trying to keep the doors open. Looking at business founders from across the globe with at least $1 million in annual revenue, Sally Ernst working for Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) tracks their attitude. These are the business leaders whose hiring and layoff decisions are most likely to drive the economy. Her findings are interesting. U. S. businesses were doing more hiring and making more money in the period from May to October 2010 than they were prior to the last Global Indicator Survey, released in May by EO. It seems that business isn’t bad for U. S. entrepreneurs with over half in the survey reporting a higher profit. However, Ernst said, “Things are improving in terms of their businesses although they see things around them as quite dire.” Continued difficult credit conditions and huge uncertainty over whether the U.S. economic recovery can sustain itself have left entrepreneurs worried. Compare this to half of global entrepreneurs who expect that it will be easier to obtain credit in the coming months. A full 57 percent of American entrepreneurs think it will become more difficult to obtain bank loans.

So where are the most excited entrepreneurs in the world today then, if not the U.S.? According to Ernst, we should look to the East. In the Asia-Pacific region, 78 percent of entrepreneurs are optimistic about the economy, 50 percent plan to increase their borrowing, 70 percent have seen profits rise since the spring, 60 percent have been creating jobs for the past year, and 79 percent expect to create still more jobs in the next quarter. And as we have discussed here  before, their Millennial Generation kids don’t mind doing the tough work, are ready to work and less concerned with work/life balance (NJNews 11/13/10).

So what’s a gloomy U.S. entrepreneur to do? Certainly you can look abroad, but let’s not forget to do a little house cleaning here at home. Work to prevent those Bush tax cuts from expiring by contacting your representative or congressman. That would be a nice start. Get informed, stay involved, and remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Congratulations, You Get to Keep Your Job.....

The definition of work is changing. Not just the effort of work, but how we feel about the work that we do. Who among us has not gone through, or held the hand of someone who is going through a job correction? Call it what you will be it downsizing, right sizing, realignment, transformation, it still reads the same, “You, Sir or Madam, need to go be successful……somewhere else.” Not pleasant to hear, and certainly even more unpleasant to watch. Just ask the person who is left standing at the water cooler as they watch their colleagues of many years pack up their boxes and move on. I assure you that standing by is no picnic. Only time will tell who the real winner is going to be: The Last Man Standing or the One Who Moved On.


With all of the change in our economy and the recession that just seems to drag on, it could be expressly dim as we move into the holiday season that is if you let it. In my 22 years of industry experience, I have come to learn that there are always pitfalls and challenges in the work that we do, especially when you work for someone else. I also hold empathy for the business owner who has to make the tough decision to let people go, and I am certain the smaller the organization, the tougher that decision will be.

Perhaps you own your own business and work for yourself, but many of you are like me, working for another person or company. While you do not own your own business, you still work for yourself. Think about it for a minute.

I chose several years ago to change my mindset about this arrangement. I reflected on the increasing vagueness of the employer/employee relationship, and chose to instead think of the work that I do as for myself. My current employer just happens to be my best customer. This change in thinking caused something radical to happen, and I call it unleashing your inner entrepreneur.

When you start to own your own work, you become very much the business owner of your work, and your investiture in the outcomes skyrockets. You take calculated risks. You partner strategically. You educate yourself. You begin to work not just in the business, but on the business. The end result is liberation from some of the stress and drama of day to day work life. After all, you are the boss, you own your own work, and therefore you are responsible. Work no longer becomes a place that you go, but a thing that you do. I have written about this idea here before discussing ideas on the creation of your own personal brand, and I truly believe it is important to help others see the value of putting their good name on their work.

The future of work will be radically different from what we call work today, or can really even imagine. In the emerging economy people will get their work done where and when they need to-or want to. Technology all but guarantees availability and access to information for customers at the click of a button. The world of work is being turned upside down by globalization, demographics and environmental concerns. Our challenge as business owners and owners of our own work is to stay responsive to this demand. It is a dynamic, mobile economy and most definitely incredibly challenging. Good thing the rewards are high.