Governor Bentley, the North Jefferson area and Your Chamber of Commerce

“Communicate, Collaborate, Connect” said Charlotte Reach, incoming President of the Gardendale Chamber of Commerce and Vice President of First Commercial Bank in Gardendale.  It is important to begin with the end in mind and those words of challenge bring in to focus the requirement for success for our North Jefferson community as we begin 2012.  Adding strength to her words and those of her team, our Fultondale Chamber was pleased to have a presence of support at the noted visit by Governor Robert Bentley to our North Jefferson area where Reach accepted her new role as Gardendale Chamber President and contributed her comments. 

            The important role of a Chamber of Commerce took stage with the visit of Governor Bentley.  Bentley began by reminding the audience that he too, like a Chamber of Commerce, is a servant leader.  As a servant leader, Bentley thanked the support of small business and the critical role that business owners have played in jobs creation.  Bentley said, “After one year in office, I need to applaud YOU.  We now have 40,000 more people working here in Alabama.”  We have come through difficult times certainly, but, “with a continued Pro-Business Legislation and efforts with the Immigration Bill, …as well as addressing the education bureaucracy which has held us back, we will continue to create jobs,” said Bentley.

            Bentley shared that we should expect changes to our State budget in 2012 with respect to education, transportation and health.    He committed that money would not be taken from the classroom, and attention would be given to the 50% of funds that “doesn’t make it to the classroom now.”  Charter School efforts will move forward, because in his words, “the child is most important.”  Adding to the list will be efforts with road and bridge repair.  “We need to repair and preserve what we have now.  Toll roads may be an option to generate funds to accomplish this,” Bentley said.  And on health, he stated simply, “We are a fat State.”  Now don’t get offended Dear Reader, he is a doctor after all.  He challenged the group to make their dollars count.  “If you are going to spend money on healthcare, then make it count,” he said.  There is a need for Alabama to have measured results and a return on investment assessed for health outcomes.  He added, “It just costs less to be healthy.”

            Speaking of cost and funding, the General Fund is down 463 million from 2011.  The education budget looks good, but the General Fund, not so much.  As the economy grows, the tax collected will grow that General Fund, so it is critical to keep the embers of growth burning.  But in 2012, Bentley promised a real budget, and there are no Federal dollars to prop it up this year.  Governor Bentley told the audience that he is not a “caretaker” Governor.  “I want change,” he said, and added “I want us to get better.”  Governor Bentley called on the Chamber of Commerce and Small Business, as leaders in the community, to participate and be involved. 

            Getting involved with your business community through our Chamber of Commerce organizations is easy.  Not a member or involved just yet?  Then please mark your calendar for Thursday, February 9^th, 2012 for the next joint meeting of the Gardendale and Fultondale Chambers of Commerce as they co-host Mr. Moore Hallmark from the US Chamber of Commerce.  Hallmark is the Executive Director of the Southeastern Region and oversees the congressional and public affairs for eight southeastern states: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.  We will meet at the Gardendale Civic Center and all business owners, civic and community leaders from the entire North Jefferson area are encouraged to attend.  Moore will be presenting on the important role of the Chamber of Commerce at a local level, and what the Regional and Federal initiatives include. 

As we have asked in this column before, “Do you really know what good looks like?”  Initiatives such as the Alabama Community of Excellence as well as understanding accreditation requirements of the US Chamber of Commerce give credence, credibility and yes clout, to what your Chamber of Commerce can do for you and your business.  

Business Disaster Preparation

We all know that “Hind Sight” is indeed “20/20”. We know it now more than ever here in the North Jefferson Business Community. As many in our area of digging out and moving on after this weeks devastating weather, it is never really too late to look at your emergency business disaster plan. In fact, now may be a great time to look at not only your business disaster preparation, but also the readiness of your church, your civic organization and of course your local municipality. Your employees and co-workers are your business's most important and valuable asset. Here are some procedures you can put in place before a disaster, but you should also learn about what people need to recover after a disaster.


It is possible that your staff will need time to ensure the well-being of their family members, but getting back to work is important to the personal recovery of people who have experienced disasters. It is important to re-establish routines, when possible.

Here are some tips to get you started or to improve your plan that may already be in place.

Two-way communication is critical before, during and after a disaster. You should include emergency preparedness information in newsletters, on company intranet, periodic employee emails and other internal communications tools. Consider setting up a telephone calling tree, a password-protected page on the company website, an email alert or a call-in voice recording to communicate with employees in an emergency. Designate an out-of-town phone number where employees can leave an "I'm Okay" message in a catastrophic disaster. It is good to provide all co-workers with wallet cards detailing instructions on how to get company information in an emergency situation. Include telephone numbers or Internet passwords for easy reference. Maintain open communications where co-workers are free to bring questions and concerns to company leadership. Also, talk to co-workers with disabilities. If you have employees with disabilities ask about what assistance is needed. People with disabilities typically know what assistance they will need in an emergency. Understand how to alert people who cannot hear an alarm or instructions.

It is recommended that you have both a battery-powered commercial radio and a weather radio with an alert function. The weather radio can alert you to weather emergencies or announcements from the Department of Homeland Security. The commercial radio is a good source for news and information from local authorities.

Keep copies of important records such as site maps, building plans, insurance policies, employee contact and identification information, bank account records, supplier and shipping contact lists, computer backups, emergency or law enforcement contact information and other priority documents in a waterproof, fireproof portable container. Store a second set of records at an off-site location.

Talk to your co-workers about what emergency supplies the company can feasibly provide, if any, and which ones individuals should consider keeping on hand. Some suggested emergency supplies include but are not limited to water, a three day supply of non-perishable food, battery powered radios and extra batteries, flashlights and of course, extra batteries for them. A First Aid kit, with a signal whistles along with some dust or filter masks are good to have on hand. Moist towelettes for sanitation, a wrench or pliers to turn off utilities, a can opener for food, and some good plastic sheeting and duct tape to seal off a room if required. Lastly, some garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation.

There are several sites with clear instruction on creating your emergency plan. You can begin at Ready.gov and expand your search from there.

Blue Print Birmingham and the North Jefferson Area

I looked for you, but the turn out, “tell us about it” crowd was so huge that I could have easily missed you on Thursday evening at the Birmingham Business Alliance launch of Blue Print Birmingham held at the new Pavilion at Railroad Park downtown. I did see several from our area with previous Gardendale Mayor Clemons in attendance as well as DeWayne Taylor from Alabama Power, and Kara Kennedy of Brock School of Business and our Fultondale Arts Council. Sharing the podium was Birmingham Business Alliance Interim Director, Barry Copeland, Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos and Birmingham Mayor William Bell.

Very cool, very beautiful, and certainly very exciting. I could say all of these words and it would be true, but what I really want you to understand is the role that business, and pro-business agendas play in bringing this type of vision to a crisp reality. The vision, put simply, is that the goal of the Birmingham Region will be to provide abundant economic opportunities, excellence in education, and an unparalleled quality of life for all of its citizens. Sounds like a nice place to live, work and raise a family if you ask me.

Blue Print Birmingham reminds us that we succeed or fail by the success or failure of our neighbors, and of course we all want to be surrounded by good neighbors that are not just successful, but active and engaged partners in our community. Blue Print Birmingham is a road map for Regional Cooperation of seven counties, of which Jefferson is but one, with a collective recognition of our strengths and opportunities. Our strengths have been recognized as health care services, natural beauty, cost of living, southeast location and of course our people. Our consistent top challenges and opportunities include quality public education, government cooperation, and leadership, creation of quality jobs, public safety and the attraction and retention of young professionals.

This road map is a 5 year plan for strategic growth of the greater Birmingham area. Birmingham has awakened to the understanding that it can not work in isolation, but needs the surrounding strength of growing communities in our region to move forward. Perhaps your city is the same. If you call yourself the Greater “Name your favorite city” Anything, perhaps now is the time to look up and around at the strategic partners that are found in the cities right next door. Partnered smartly, they can be your strongest ally. This 5 year plan is very specific with respect to goals for the first year. In the first year, effort will focus on new business, collaboration, and development of capacity for competitiveness, marketing, business retention, and the development of leadership councils. I serve on the Region IV Workforce Development Council, and it has been my exciting privilege to participate first hand in the opportunities that continue to develop daily from this work. Workforce development focuses on the improvement of pre-K to 12th grade education, with the ultimate purposes of growing our own talent. Efforts to accomplish this pull from our region’s two and four year colleges and universities with a heavy focus on making education relevant and pertinent to the learner and marketable and productive to the employer.

Work Force development is but one of the key four pillars of the Blue Print Birmingham. The pillars are 1) Workforce Development 2) Public and Private Leadership 3) Economic Prosperity and 4) Community and Regional Support. Every business person, civic leader, community leader, municipal leader or elected official has a way to plug in to one of these pillars. And you know what, it is just like voting. If you don’t participate, then for goodness sake do not complain. Want to learn more about Blue Print Birmingham? You will find more at http://blueprintbirmingham.com A cousin to this effort is the Greenway Master Plan that is working to connect neighbors, businesses, schools and create a strong sense of community here in the North Jefferson area. More on this to come but you can find information at the http://fivemilecreekgreenwaydistrict.org

Take a look and learn more. If you live in the Fultondale area, or work and live in the North Jefferson area in general, you are a stake holder is this endeavor.

Your Chamber, BCA, CCAA and The Partnership

We have written here about the strong work of the Business Council of Alabama as their members work to forward a pro-business agenda. BCA is Alabama’s leading business and industry advocate representing nearly three quarters of a million working Alabamians. BCA is able to accomplish this by its partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama. CCAA and her 124 Chambers of Commerce statewide represent over 60,000 local business owners. I think that you will agree that it makes sense to link up the premier state business advocacy group, BCA, with the richest source of motivated business leaders, the members of the state and local Chambers of Commerce or CCAA. This has been done, and it is known as The Partnership. You may be surprised to know that Alabama is the first in the nation to cultivate this unique partnership between the Chambers of Commerce and business advocacy leadership. What has been created through The Partnership is a highly visible, forcefully active team that works to drive legislation and encourage lively debate while ultimately working to light the candle of accountability on our representatives. And by the way it represents more than 1 Million working Alabamians.

I had the opportunity to attend a leadership event with BCA this week where President and CEO, Billy Canary, announced their publication What If No One Was Watching? This has grown from a summary booklet to a now published book available at your bookstore. The writers document the legislative process, and progress, for Alabama as it affects business. Bookmark the site www.bcatoday.org for timely updates on key legislative drivers that will affect your business. You will find today, right now, a clear explanation of the pro-business impact of decreasing the tax burden on business, the need for secret ballot voting in union elections, the need for education dollars to be spent in the classroom and to support charter schools, the need for tax credits to allow employers to provide health coverage for employees, and the need to implement climate change policy that will advantage Alabama and the Southeast at large for work force development. Pro-Business and high accountability, I sure am glad someone is watching. The bottom line, as stated by Mr. Canary is that “We believe the need to act comes as much because of our economic situation as despite it.” “Our mission is to stand tall for those who create jobs and opportunities for the people of our State,” said Canary.

There is a saying that “all politics is local,” and with organizations such as The Partnership this is made a reality. In the not to distant past most would view our government leaders as distant and removed from our daily concerns, and I believe this has led to the apathy and low participation in voter effort in the past. Now due in part to the speed of information via the internet and the significant human effort by organizations like BCA and CCAA through The Partnership, we now can feel that we are not just able to participate in the process, but eagerly sought out as contributors.

Why should you follow BCA and CCAA efforts? If you are a member of your local Chamber of Commerce then you are very likely already a member by extension of these two organizations. Ask your Chamber leadership to keep you up to date on the BCA legislative bulletins, meetings and events and plug in to this key support for Alabama business. Through this relationship with your Chamber you can sit at the table and have active participation in legislative business development that drives (or may hinder) your business.

BCA: Looking Forward to the Business of Business

I was able to attend the 2010 Governmental Affairs Conference hosted by the Business Council of Alabama. With the title of “Looking Forward to the Business of Business,” I knew that it would be time well spent. I was not disappointed, and the opportunity to meet many of our Alabama Legislatures up close and personal was a rare opportunity. Many of our representatives were present, and please know that they are hard at work for all of us here in the North Jefferson area.

BCA remains committed to a pro-business legislative agenda, and the content of this event maintained that position. While key information filtered through multiple conversations, one point was loud and clear, the business community must take a lead in the political arena. The members of the business community create the jobs, not the government anyway, so why would you not step up to the plate. The bottom-line challenge here is to remind business leaders that it is our responsibility to drive the synergy of post-election leadership and stridently remind them of their need to support business now.

The event moved quickly forward with Governor Riley presenting at the breakfast event on Saturday morning. The Honorable Bob Riley reminded the audience of his consistent platforms to seek funding and support for economic development, to reform education needed to prepare the work force, and to seek ethics reform laws which foster healthy, sustainable partnership and growth. The Governor also reminded the group that economic development is grounded in the creation of a product, adding value to that product and then selling it. Making his point that economic development is not gambling, he received strong applause.

I have always been told to begin with the end in mind, and sharing insight into that effort were key note speakers Peter Hart and Frank Luntz. As a leading pollster and public policy expert, Mr. Hart has a legacy of shaping trends and is noted for representing 40 United States Senators and 30 governors. Frank Luntz has been named the “Nostradamus of Polls” and is one of the most honored communications professionals in the country. The end that we should have in mind here is having our chosen candidate win the election. To insure that outcome, we must first step back and understand the mood of the country. As I have written here before, you can not lead where you will not go, and you need to know where you want to end up. According to Hart and Luntz, there are some important feelings a float out here, and now is the time to take note.

Turning on the news you are certain to hear about the oil spill, health reform and the occasional story about Lindsey Lohan, but polls show that the issues of importance are really jobs at 55%, energy and oil at 38%, and a big desire to cut government spending at 29%. Healthcare only hits the radar with 19% stating that it is a key issue, and 44% of those are not happy that Healthcare Legislation has passed. There are a multitude of concerns floating out there that have the attention of the voter base. Think about the 36% that feel the recession will persist another 2 years, or the 33% that are concerned that they may loose their job. If you factor in immigration issues, it begins to get tough to see the end at all.

The mood is very anti-incumbent with 57% favoring someone, anyone, new. About 50% just want a third party and to start up fresh. So many issues, so little time, but one thing is certain, the needle on the magnet is starting to polarize in a big way toward the independents. Just who are these 23% of party neutral new voters? The Holy Grail of voter this year is the highly coveted disenchanted independent voter. Is that you? Even more key, are you the coveted disenchanted independent who is pro-business? Not sure what good pro-business policy looks like? You can find some strong pro-business direction by going to www.bcatoday.org where they weigh in on tax policy, right-to-work, public education, environmental and energy legislation, and common sense health reform that will take care of current problems and not create new ones.

Where is Paul Revere when you need him for a call to action? What we need now is a call to become an informed voter for once and for all. Don’t mark that box or pull that lever or hang that chad until you do a little open minded research on your candidates. And if you don’t vote, for goodness sake, don’t complain.

Remember, stay informed to better take care of your customers, or someone else will.

The next meeting of the Fultondale Chamber will be held for lunch on August 24th with Logan Hinkle, Attorney with Burr and Forman presenting on Health Reform Legislation and how to prepare your business for the impact. Location and sponsorship by the Comfort Suites in Fultondale. Logan is an Adjunct Professor at Cumberland School of Law and teaches a course on ERISA and Employee Benefits. Good Stuff. Please join us. Email to visemedical@bellsouth.net