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June 15, 2012 in Board of Director BioFeatured

Meet Board of Director Kenny Rambo

Kenny Rambo was born and raised in Elizabethtown, KY and lived in Bowling Green, KY, Knoxville, TN and Atlanta, GA before returning to the region in 2003. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Western Kentucky University. He is now the Vice President of Heartland Communications Consultants, Inc. a marketing, communications & pr firm.

Kenny has volunteered with the Chamber since he returned to LaRue County. He serves on the Marketing Committee and was the 2009-2010 President. Kenny was just elected as President-Elect for the 2012-2013 year and will hold the office of President again in 2013-2014. He enjoys having the opportunity to help share what a great place our community is with others around the region, state and country.

Kenny and his wife are excited to be raising their children in Hodgenville and LaRue County. They feel the rich history and special places like Lincoln’s Birthplace and the downtown square serve as a great backdrop for making memories with our children. They appreciate the quality and size of the school system and the ability to personally know the teachers and administrators that are working with our kids. He and his wife know their children will live other places when they grow up, but they trust they will always remember their hometown as a special place with lots of great memories.

May 16, 2012 in Community EventFeaturedLeadership LaRue CountyNews

2012 Annual Meeting – The Allure of Living in LaRue County…

Last Thursday, May 10th, over 100 chamber and community members came together to celebrate the accomplishments of the Chamber of Commerce and the community during the 2011-2012 year. We had 10 table sponsors participate in our table decoration contest and this made the night even more festive. The night started with a silent auction. Silent auction items were donated by: Dr. Tom Davenport, Magnolia Bank, Paula’s Hot Biscuit, My Gal Boutique, Melanie Wells Photography, MAM Candy, LaRue County Schools, Lynn Claycomb, Lee’s Garden Center, Hosparus, Hometown Pizza, South Central Rural Telephone Cooperation, Brooks Fence, Allen’s Heating & Cooling, LaRue County Herald News, Nina Cundiff, US Bancorp Investments and The Sweet Shoppe.  A new addition to our silent auction this year was being able to bid on some of the centerpieces. The local florists, gift shops and table sponsors that donated centerpieces to our silent auction were: Almost Home, Nancy’s Gifts & Flowers, Heavenly Harvest, Upton’s Florist and Garden Center, Geneva’s Florist, Lawson’s Florist, Hinton’s Orchard & Farm, LaRue County Schools, Lincoln National Bank and LaRue County Herald News.

Dinner was catered by Paula’s Hot Biscuit and it was just as good as ever! During dinner, everyone had the opportunity to have their picture taken by Melanie Wells Photography. To view these pictures, visit www.melaniewellsphotography.com.

During our annual meeting, we had the privilege to hear from State Representative Michael Meredith, Judge Executive Tommy Turner and Mayor Terry Cruse.  Hearing these elected officials speak about LaRue County was a very important time as we learned a great amount of information on what is going on in Hodgenville and LaRue County. Kim Huston, author of Small Town Sexy was our guest speaker for the evening. She spoke on why being from a small community is so wonderful and the things that we need in place to continue to be a great place to live. We really enjoyed hearing her speak. If you would like to buy a copy of her book, we have a few copies in the Chamber office at a discount price of $15.00.

A part of our annual meeting is Leadership LaRue County graduation. The 2011-2012 class was the largest class we have had to graduate since the program started. This year’s graduates were Deidre Brooks, Lincoln National Bank; Patti Donahue, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College; Marsha Duncan, LaRue County Schools; Adam Gordon, Magnolia Bank; Jeremy Hinton, Kentucky Farm Bureau; Nedra Jurcak, Community Member; Diana Leathers, LaRue County Health Department; Faith Miller, LaRue County Community Action; Allison Shepherd, LaRue County Herald News; Beth Turner, Dow Corning and Clint Williams, LG &E. This class chose to make a promotional video about LaRue County. If you would like to view a copy of the video, please stop by the Chamber office.

The night concluded with our 2012 Annual Awards. We were happy to award the Outstanding Citizen Award to Joanna Hinton, the Outstanding Business/Professional Person Award to Dr. Glenn Catlett, the Spirit Award to LaRue County Emergency Services and the President’s Award was given in honor of the late Roger Truitt. These award recipients have made and continue to make a true difference in our community and it was great to recognize them.

We would like to thank everyone that had a part in making the 2012 Annual Meeting such a success. Claude and Deb Ramey and everyone that helped from First Baptist Church, Melanie Wells Photography for donating her time and work on the pictures, Paula Varney and her staff for doing such an excellent job with the catering, all of the annual meeting committee members and chamber board members that helped, Joey Gearon for helping clean up after the dinner, everyone that donated and bid on items for the silent auction and everyone that attended and made the evening so wonderful!

 

February 23, 2012 in FeaturedNews

LaRue County Chamber, Its Members Prepare for 2012 Tourist Season

Check out our article that was in the LaRue County Herald this week:

 

As the economy continues to show signs of recovery, the LaRue County Chamber and its members are looking ahead to the 2012 tourist season with great enthusiasm.

“We think it’s going to be the best year since the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial,” said Jessica Davis, Chamber executive director.

“The importance of tourism to our local economy cannot be understated.  It creates jobs, generates revenue and exposes our community to people from around the country and around the globe,” Davis added.

According to Kentucky Tourism Industry, direct expenditures related to Tourism in LaRue County in 2010 exceed $5.1 million and there were 263 jobs in the county related to tourism.

The public’s fascination with Lincoln’s legacy drives tourism here.  The National Park Service reports that in 2010 the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park saw more than 177,000 visitors.

And The Lincoln Museum sees nearly 30,000 paid museum tours annually.  In 2011, the museum had visitors from 49 states and 37 countries. Museum Director, Iris LaRue attributes other nearby tourist attractions such as the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the National Corvette Museum and Mammoth Cave with bringing even more visitors to LaRue County as one of several stops on their tour.

“These same visitors shopped in our stores, ate in our restaurants, filled gas tanks and saw everything that LaRue County has to offer,” said Stefanie Rock, President of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Pat Durham, chamber board member and owner of The Sweet Shoppe, credits 75% of his business to tourism and estimates seeing 15-20 visiting families each day.

The chamber is proud to be Hodgenville and LaRue County’s welcome center and is taking that job seriously with capital investments in an updated website (www.laruecountychamber.org ) and an active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

“We encourage all businesses to join us by putting out the welcome mat as we get ready for another successful tourism season in Hodgenville and LaRue County,” said Davis.

February 16, 2012 in FeaturedMembership Luncheon

Great turnout for February Membership Luncheon!

There were about 50 people that attended  the February Membership Luncheon! Was it the informative presentation, the chance to network or the great food that brought them out? We are not sure, but what we do know is that everyone that attended left feeling that the experience was valuable.

Lisa Williams, with the Kentucky Innovation Center, spoke about what she does at the Innovation Center and how it can benefit the citizens of LaRue County. She told us about various grants that are available to people with new ideas and the different services that the Innovation Center offers to this area. Ms. Williams told us that there are many innovators in LaRue County and there are some great ideas that come from this area. A great piece of information that she shared is that the Kentucky Innovation Center is doing very well! They are creating jobs and having a real impact on the local economy.

Todd’s Lunch Box catered our luncheon and the food was wonderful! Todd’s Lunch Box is located across from the Hodgenville Post Office and they are open for lunch. The address is 105 South Walters Avenue. To contact them for more information, call 270-872-3161.

Our March Membership Luncheon will be held on March 21, 2012, noon, at The Lincoln Museum Community Room. Stay tuned for more details.

February 3, 2012 in FeaturedNews

Chamber Offers Bundle of Sponsorship Opportunities

DonLaRue County Bundle Up Winter sponsorship‘t miss your chance to “Bundle Up This Winter” with the LaRue County Chamber! Our bundle plan allows you to bundle your membership and other sponsorship opportunities so that you can save some money and the Chamber will have your commitment for the year 2012.

Contact Jessica at the Chamber office (270) 358-3411 for more information or you can email her at jessica@laruecountychamber.org.