Happy New Year!

Hello EntrePaducah followers!
We hope the holidays have offered you one of the greatest gifts...some quiet time. People in business, particularly retailers, have anything BUT extra time during the holiday season. For many, however, the holidays offer at least a day or two away from the daily schedules to stop and reflect on the year behind...and the year ahead.
For 2010, we want to continue to communicate with everyone interested in Small Business issues. Our Blog is always a good place to check for any events or issues facing our local area. In addition, EntrePaducah maintains a Facebook Fan Page (EntrePaducah)...including a personal profile of our very own "Entre Man". We'll typically do multiple postings just to make sure we've shared with everyone!
Just today, we posted some great (short) articles on our Facebook Fan Page regarding such topics as small business funding; new entrepreneurial endeavors; and New Year's resolutions for businesses in the "new economy".
Thanks for helping EntrePaducah get off to a enthusiastic start in 2009...we look forward to working with our local entrepreneurs in 2010 and beyond!

Hope you enjoyed EntreForum...

Thanks everyone who attended the December EntreForum program this week.

20 Guests joined us for some great information on Accounting and Legal tips for starting new businesses. Sam and Mike did a fantastic job breaking down complicated biz info for our guests.

Also gotta' mention the awesome refreshments catered by Laura Duff's "A Pampered Palette"...EntreMan gets real excited talking about her Southwest Cheese Dip!!!

Save the date for our next EntreForum Tuesday, February 2nd. We'll be at the beautiful new Emerging Technology Center on the campus of WKCTC. We're planning a program that shows our local entrepreneurs some of the benefits of using their local community & tech college for specialized training and services...valuable resources for folks starting a business!

December Entrepreneur of the Month...IVS Web Design

EntrePaducah and the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce are proud to announce our December "Entrepreneur of the Month"...Todd and Laura Duff of IVS Web Designs, Inc.

(Pictured L-R: Terry Reeves, EntrePaducah; Todd and Laura Duff, IVS Website Design; Susan Guess, Chair, Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce)

Todd founded Integrated Visualization Systems, Inc. (IVS for short) in the late 1990s. He holds a Masters Degree in Management of Technology and a Bachelors’ in Engineering Graphics, both from Murray State University.

Evidently, he learned something from college life…Todd wrote his own textbook “Computer Rendering and Programming”…and, that’s the name of the class he taught at Murray State for six years as a full time faculty member.

As much as Todd knows computers, he also knows entrepreneurship. He has served on the Governor’s Commission for Small Business Advocacy and…he holds five U.S. patents for inventions that he shares with Pepsi Cola Mid-America for a beverage dispensing apparatus.

As a graduate of Heath High School and Murray State, Todd, thank goodness, stayed close to home and just opened in a new location at 612 Broadway…just a few blocks up from his old location.

Oh, and there’s another entrepreneur in the Duff household…his wife Laura is a consummate chef and does catering through her business “A Pampered Palette.”

Todd has served as a faithful mentor for the EntreForum program of EntrePaducah and we’re proud to recognize him as the December Entrepreneur of the Month.

November "Entrepreneur of the Month"...GEO Consultants

EntrePaducah and the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce congratulate our November "Entrepreneur of the Month"...the husband and wife team of Jeff and Sharon Douthitt, founders of GEO Consultants, LLC.

Jeff and Sharon founded GEO in July 1997 and started their first contract a Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida in February 1998.

(pictured L-R...Terry Reeves, EntrePaducah; Helen Simms, Chamber Chair-Elect; Sharon and Jeff Douthitt)

GEO Consultants is an environmental services and geological engineering firm created to serve clients with environmental, energy and water supply needs.

As do many entrepreneurs, Jeff and Sharon left successful careers with large technology-based firms to start GEO. They are both originally from Carmi, Illinois and have made their home in the Paducah area since graduating from the University of Missouri, Rolla, in 1989.

The Douthitts have four lovely children..15 year old twins Ollie and Claire, 13 year old Lilly, and 3 year old AnnaMaria who joined the family from Guatemala as an infant.

Jeff and Sharon tell us the best thing about being entrepreneurs is getting to work with some interesting people..from their clients to their employees.

Incidentally, they were both involved in the Think Tank which was the origin of EntrePaducah...and Sharon served as a charter member of our Advisory Board.

Jeff and Sharon Douthitt are super people and we are proud to recognize them as our November Entrepreneurs of the Month!