Clarksville Launches Search for New Economic Development Director

by with No Comment Member News

Visionary leader wanted for development of ‘blank canvas’ in South Clarksville.

CLARKSVILLE, IN (May 25, 2023) – When it comes to local municipal government, there are very few positions as vital as that of the Economic Development Director.  Along with the Town Manager, the Economic Development Director is the driving force behind the growth and development of the community. 

Although there are many such positions available across the Hoosier state, none could be more exciting than the newly available position with the Town of Clarksville.  The thriving southern Indiana community has been without a development leader since the resignation of Nic Langford in August 2022.

“Some may wonder why it has taken so long for us to begin the search for a replacement,” said Communications Director Ken Conklin. “The reason is that we wanted to look at how we could change the department to make it more efficient and productive for the residents of Clarksville.”

Town leaders took extra time to craft a plan for moving forward, first with the hiring of a new Economic Development Director, then the addition of a Capital Projects Manager in the weeks to come.  They also wanted to create a financial and benefits package that would be attractive to potential candidates.

“There is a lot of competition for quality candidates, but the Town of Clarksville has a benefits package that is second to none,” said Conklin.  “Candidates will be blown away during the interview process of what we have to offer.”

Another enticing challenge for candidates will be to lead the development of South Clarksville.  The Town of Clarksville has been working for years on a plan to create a new downtown district with multi-use developments, luxury apartments, restaurants, hotels, and possibly a convention center.

“This is an extremely exciting time to be a part of the Town of Clarksville team, and we are looking forward to finding the right candidate to lead the way,” said Conklin.

Clarksville will be accepting applications for the new Economic Development Director position through Monday, June 5th.  Interested applicants can find an extensive job description at www.townofclarksville.com/employment.

Community Broadband Visioning Session to be held May 24th

by with No Comment Member News

The Indiana Broadband Offices is holding a county stakeholder engagement session on May 24th from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. at the Pine View Government Center Assembly Room, 2524 Corydon Pike, in New Albany, IN. To RSVP for this event, click here.

PURPOSE
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce responsible for overseeing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access across the country. The Program requires Indiana to submit a Five-Year Plan detailing the current state of broadband in Indiana, the State’s vision of broadband, and how the State plans to execute this vision.
The team writing the Five-Year Plan is conducting 18 in-person visioning sessions across the State. Indiana is diverse in many ways, and every community has distinct needs. The purpose of these sessions is to adequately understand and address the barriers to broadband deployment and unique community challenges.


The visioning sessions are being hosted by the Indiana Broadband Office (IBO). The IBO, led by Deputy Director Earnie Holtrey and State Infrastructure & Broadband Administrator Steve Cox, assists Hoosiers in need of affordable and reliable broadband connectivity. The IBO has done extensive work to provide broadband to Hoosiers wherever they need it – at home, work, and school – and strives to continue their work until every last Hoosier is connected. The IBO is currently engaged with Guidehouse, a private consulting firm, to complete this Five-Year Plan.

For more details, click here to download an informational flyer.

Stites & Harbison Hires Tracey Moore as the Firm’s Director of Recruiting and Diversity Initiatives

by 1si NewsMember News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 17, 2023)—Stites & Harbison, PLLC welcomes Tracey L. Moore as the firm’s Director of Recruitment and Diversity Initiatives. She will be based in the Louisville, Ky., office.

Moore will oversee all aspects of recruiting across the firm’s 11 offices. She is charged with developing best practices to identify, attract and retain the most qualified candidates with a broad range of experience levels.

Additionally, hiring Moore is a key component to Stites & Harbison’s ongoing commitment to support, grow and improve diversity efforts across the firm’s six-state footprint. She will evaluate existing practices and assist firm leadership in establishing benchmarks and best practices.

“As recruiting top legal talent becomes more competitive across the country, hiring Tracey and utilizing her skillset to Stites & Harbison’s advantage will be paramount,” stated firm Chair, Marjorie A. Farris. “Part of the recruiting process is ensuring that we are implementing processes that increase the representation of underrepresented lawyers. Tracey will ensure that the firm’s Diversity Action Plan which was created in 2003 remains at the forefront of our efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive firm.”

Moore has more than 14 years of legal and recruiting industry experience. During her career, she has worked with Fortune 500 companies and Am Law 200 law firms.

About Stites & Harbison

Stites & Harbison, PLLC is a nationally recognized, full-service law firm. With 11 offices across six states — Kentucky, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia — the firm represents clients across the United States and internationally. Tracing its origins to 1832, Stites & Harbison is known as a preeminent firm managing sophisticated transactions, challenging litigation and complex regulatory matters on a daily basis. For more information, visit www.stites.com.

OUTDATED TECH? WHAT BUSINESSES CAN LEARN FROM THE AIRLINE FIASCOS IN 2023

by 1si NewsMember News

OUTDATED TECH? WHAT BUSINESSES CAN LEARN FROM THE AIRLINE FIASCOS IN 2023

Three Top Trends CEOs and IT Directors Need to Know to Avoid IT Disasters

 Jasper, Ind. – (Feb 24, 2023) – Within the last several weeks, old and outdated tech has grounded planes and snarled airline traffic nationwide. If maintaining IT infrastructure and updating IT systems is so difficult for some of the most essential services in the country, how can everyday businesses and services expect to keep up? The answer is getting proactive, according to the expert team of engineers at Matrix Integration, a strategic IT infrastructure partner for more than 1,000 businesses and schools in the Midwest and beyond. Working closely with their clients, Matrix’s engineers have identified three major trends that businesses need to address in 2023 to keep their systems up to date and avoid major shutdowns that could cost millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Tim Pritchett, engineer operations manager at Matrix, is also a former CTO who is focused on helping clients keep their mission-critical data safe and operations running smoothly.

“We always get calls for emergency situations, like when a system goes down and the company realizes data hasn’t been backed up for three months,” said Pritchett. “It’s like getting a call to put out a fire, when some proactive maintenance would have prevented the fire in the first place.”

Stay Proactive to Combat These Market Trends

Outdated IT and infrastructure have been identified as a major reason for the air traffic issues in recent days and weeks. The engineers at Matrix Integration have recognized three major challenges that are trending in their clients’ businesses, and recommend a number of ways to stay ahead of technology meltdowns.

 Supply chain issues are making it difficult to replace old equipment. Keeping technology up to date is challenging when hardware is difficult to source, and this issue will continue into 2023. This means that companies need to extend the life of their existing equipment. “Keeping equipment clean and up-to-date with firmware is key,” said Rex Weisheit, a network engineer at Matrix Integration. Another tip: logging activities like patching, updating and service agreement deadlines. In one case, the Matrix team found that half the hard drives in a client’s server farm had already failed and their support had ended six years ago. “This is something the Matrix team can help with, but companies can do it themselves if they have the time and capacity,” said Cody Beadles, Matrix engineer.

  1. Cybersecurity insurance is demanding more.  Cybersecurity insurance is a necessary business expense today, insurance issuers are continuing to increase their requirements to issue a policy. Pritchett and his team often see businesses scrambling to get protections in place to meet insurance company deadlines. “Make sure you know when your policies are coming up for review,” said Pritchett. “They will audit you, and you need to be ahead of the curve to avoid being dropped from your insurance carrier.” And, without a policy, businesses could lose thousands, if not millions of dollars if a system is hacked.
  2. The “Edge” requires updates in almost every area of IT. If a company is ready to take advantage of computing in an edge environment, that upgrade affects nearly every aspect of its IT infrastructure. “The edge is pushing everything,” said Beadles. “This includes security needs, speed requirements and capacity requirements. We’re seeing an influx of Big Data management which is starting to directly affect the datacenter.”

 For more information on Matrix Integration or trends in enterprise-level IT, visit matrixintegration.com.

#  #  #

About Matrix Integration

Matrix Integration is a strategic IT solutions and managed services provider that has been in business for more than 40 years. With clients regionally and offices in Indiana and Kentucky, Matrix Integration works closely with businesses and institutions to provide personalized consulting and managed services along with networking, data center, security, collaboration, telephony, and computing solutions. Strategic partners include Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Aruba, Cisco Systems, Meraki, VMware, Microsoft, and Veeam. Matrix Integration is a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) that has consistently been recognized on industry lists including CRN Solution Provider 500, CRN Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500, CRN Women of the Channel, and CRN Tech Elite 250.

 

IU Southeast to host Graduate Business Information Session

by 1si NewsMember News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

IU Southeast to host Graduate Business Information Session

New Albany, Ind. (February 24, 2023) – The Indiana University Southeast School of Business is hosting an information session for students interested in graduate business programs.

The session will be 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 2, at the IU Southeast Graduate Center at 300 Water Tower Square in Jeffersonville.

The graduate business programs at IU Southeast are among the best in the nation. The Princeton Review recently named IU Southeast a “best” business school in its 2023 annual business school rankings.

New this year, is a revamped format for the Master of Business Administration (MBA). The 30-credit-hour program will be delivered in convenient 8-week sessions and offer flexible concentrations that can be added in accounting, human resources management, management, finance, or business data analytics.

At the information session, students interested in earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA), a Master of Science in Strategic Finance (MSSF) or a Master of Science in Management (MSM) will be able to:

  • Meet faculty who teach in the programs
  • Hear from current students about their experiences in the programs
  • Receive application materials
  • Learn about the application and admissions process
  • Network with peers

Participants who hold undergraduate degrees in non-business fields can take the Quick Start Foundations courses that provide the essential business knowledge for success in the MBA or MSSF programs. These classes can be completed online in one semester.

RSVP online  at www.ius.edu/grad-business-session or email iusmba@ius.edu. For more information, please call (812) 941-2364.

 

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About IU Southeast:  IU Southeast is one of seven campuses of Indiana University. Offering more than 130 degree programs and concentrations, the scenic 180-acre campus is located less than 15 minutes from downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It currently has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students and employs more than 400 faculty members. About 400 students now live on campus in five fully furnished, lodge-style residence halls. Through an agreement with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Indiana University Southeast offers in-state tuition to students enrolled from eight counties in the Louisville region. For more information, visit www.ius.edu. IU Southeast is a tobacco-free campus.

NEWS RELEASE
Indiana University Southeast
Contact:  Nancy Jo Trafton
812-941-2676
ntrafton@ius.edu

Jody Heazlitt Named President/CEO of New Hope Services Inc.

by 1si NewsMember News

New Hope Services Inc. (NHS) continues to make a difference across Southern Indiana, providing services for people with disabilities, affordable housing, and family services that include nutrition, family planning and case management. 2023 marks the beginning of another great year as the organization announces their new CEO, Jody Heazlitt, MSSW, LSW.     

Heazlitt has 19 years of experience and passion with NHS, having previously served as President since 2020 and Chief Operating Officer since 2013. Prior to that, she served as Vice President/Director of Social Services, and Director of Adult Services.  She is very excited to use her skills and experience to continue the organization’s growth, and provide opportunity and direction to benefit those who use their services. Outside of New Hope, Heazlitt is a member of the Supervisory Committee for Centra Credit Union and serves on the Board of Directors of Impact 100 Southern Indiana.  

“I am grateful for the opportunity, and for the confidence of our Board of Directors. I look forward to our continued success, to discovering new opportunities, and continuing to make a positive impact by providing excellent services,” Jody Heazlitt said. 

Based in Jeffersonville, Indiana, New Hope Services has a rich history of meeting human services needs for the past 64 years. It is one of the largest and most successful nonprofit organizations in the region with services in 23 counties across Indiana. New Hope’s focus is in three primary divisions: Ability Services, Family Services, and Affordable Housing. Clients include families, seniors, and individuals with developmental disabilities. With about 150 employees, the organization serves more than 15,000 individuals and families each year. To learn more, visit newhopeservices.org.  

Jody Heazlitt

 

For additional media inquiries:
Jayne Labes
Development & PR Consultant
812.288.8248
jayne_labes@newhopeservices.org

IU Southeast to host annual economic outlook panel

by 1si NewsEconomic DevelopmentMember News

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (November 9, 2022) – IU Southeast will host this year’s Indiana Business Outlook Panel on Monday, Nov. 14.

This event will take place in the IU Southeast Hoosier Room. Breakfast will be served at 8 a.m. and panel presentations will begin at 9 a.m. Following the presentation, a public question-and-answer session will take place.

Esteemed IU faculty panelists, among the leading economic leaders in the state, will share their economic predictions for the upcoming year including global, national, state, city and agricultural impacts.

The following speakers will sit on the panel in New Albany:

  • Jennifer Lynn Rice, senior lecturer of business economics, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University (U.S. and International outlook)
  • Kyle Anderson, clinical assistant professor of business economics, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University (financial market outlook)
  • Phil T Powell, associate dean, clinical associate professor of business, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University (Indiana market outlook)
  • Uric Dufrene, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, Sanders Chair in Business, IU Southeast (regional outlook)
  • David Eplion, dean, IU Southeast School of Business (moderator)

The tour begins each year in Bloomington, Indiana, at the Kelley School of Business, then travels across the state, sharing its predictions with multiple Indiana communities. Uniquely, in each community, an expert on the regional economy joins the panel, offering attendees the fullest perspective on economic affairs possible.

Tickets to the Indiana Business Outlook Panel cost $25 per person or $175 for a table of eight. Register for this event online by Friday, Nov. 11. For more information, contact Brittany Schmidt at (812) 941-2664 or britmurr@ius.edu.

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About IU Southeast:  IU Southeast is one of seven campuses of Indiana University. Offering more than 130 degree programs and concentrations, the scenic 180-acre campus is located less than 15 minutes from downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It currently has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students and employs more than 400 faculty members. About 400 students now live on campus in five fully furnished, lodge-style residence halls. Through an agreement with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Indiana University Southeast offers in-state tuition to students enrolled from eight counties in the Louisville region. For more information, visit www.ius.edu. IU Southeast is a tobacco-free campus.

 

Impact100 Louisville 2022 Annual Grant Awards

by Member News

Impact100 Louisville 2022 Annual Grant Awards
Local nonprofit organizations receive $450,000 

 Louisville, KY — On November 3, 2022, the Louisville chapter of Impact100 granted 7 local nonprofit organizations grants totaling $450,000. Impact100 Louisville voted on Thursday night during their first in-person event to award grants to these nonprofits:

$100,000 – Educational Justice

$100,000 – The Louisville Leopard Percussionists

$100,000 – Hildegard House

$100,000 – Smoketown Family Wellness Center

$16,666 – Uniting Partners for Women and Children

$16,666 – Blackacre Conservancy

$16,000 – I Would Rather Be Reading

The Impact100 membership model is unique but effective. At least 100 women, donate $1,000 to create a $100,000 impact grant. Each member was able to hear a 3-minute presentation from each of the nonprofits. After the presentations, members use their electronic devices to vote on their top 4 nonprofit organizations. An independent CPA firm collected and tallied the votes to decide the grant recipients. These grants were awarded in five focus areas: Arts and Culture; Education; Environment, Recreation, or Preservation; Family; and Health and Wellness.

The Louisville Leopard Percussionists: Suite of Instruments
Arts and Culture
With the suite of instruments funded by this grant, we can double the number of children we serve each year and introduce a new academic program, Leopard Learners.  

 Educational Justice: Mentors to Bridge the Gap of Educational Equity
Education
The Educational Justice Advocate Program provides free tutoring to under-resourced youth and engages high-achieving high school students as tutors and mentors to bridge the gap of educational inequity.

 I Would Rather Be Reading: Mindful Literacy Expansion
Education
With Mindful Literacy, a standards-aligned curriculum for literacy and social-emotional learning, students gain confidence and improve their attendance, academics, and graduation rates.

 Blackacre Conservancy: Restroom Expansion and Sunset Trail Improvements
Environmental, Preservation, or Recreation
The installation of restroom facilities and improvement of the Sunset Trail will make Blackacre more accessible for the Louisville community to enjoy.

 Smoketown Family Wellness Center: Hiring a Community Healthcare Worker
Family
Community healthcare workers improve health beyond a doctor’s visit, building trust and connecting families to resources.

Hildegard House: Expansion Project
Health and Wellness
A meaningful life and a peaceful, dignified death for at least 68 more people per year.

Uniting Partners for Women and Children: Staffing Development and Hiring Development Director
Health and Wellness
Increased staffing will provide additional programming support, and an increased donor base will secure the organization’s future.

For more information or to speak with a member of the Impact100 Louisville board please contact info@impact100louisville.org or visit www.impact100louisville.org

Full-Service Marketing Agency Mediaura Acquires ONYX Design

by Member News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Tori Gatewood
tori@mediaura.com

 

Full-Service Marketing Agency Mediaura Acquires ONYX Design

Deal Expands Mediaura’s Team, E-Commerce Capabilities

JEFFERSONVILLE, Indiana, Nov. 3, 2022 – Mediaura announced today that the full-service digital marketing agency based in Jeffersonville, Indiana, has completed its acquisition of e-commerce web developer and designer ONYX Design of Los Angeles, California.

“Through uniting Mediaura and ONYX Design, we are excited to enhance our existing e-commerce offerings and add highly skilled professionals to our team,” said Andrew Aebersold, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mediaura. “We are also thrilled to now be able to offer in-house marketing expertise to our new clients.”

With Mediaura’s retention of ONYX Design’s employees and clients, Mediaura is set to expand by 20%, further establishing itself as a digital marketing leader in the health care, food and beverage, and e-commerce industries.

Since 2003, Mediaura has helped businesses cultivate their online presence by creating authentic brands, building beautiful websites and apps, and boosting their business via digital marketing. ONYX Design specializes in the building and maintenance of e-commerce sites, including those that utilize Shopify and WooCommerce.

Over the past two years, Mediaura has worked with ONYX Design as a partner agency. With this acquisition, Mediaura is now assuming the contracts for ONYX Design’s portfolio of elite e-commerce clients, who are based across the United States and in Canada.

“Mediaura and ONYX have had a great business relationship for years. From our first meeting, it was apparent that the Mediaura team was exceedingly capable and diligent. I am very excited about ONYX joining Mediaura, because this is an amazing growth opportunity for our clients, our team, and both companies,” said Ray Sarno, founder and CEO of ONYX Design

Mediaura is retaining ONYX’s full-time employees, bringing Mediaura’s employee total to 22.

About Mediaura

Mediaura is a full-service digital marketing agency founded in Louisville, Kentucky, and now headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Since 2003, Mediaura has helped businesses cultivate their online presence by creating authentic brands, building beautiful websites and apps, and boosting their business via social media, search engine optimization, content marketing, and B2B lead generation. Mediaura represents clients across a wide range of industries, with a particular focus on those specializing in health care, food and beverage, and e-commerce.

About ONYX Design

ONYX Design is an elite web design and development firm based in Los Angeles, California, that services ambitious e-commerce brands. ONYX provides a wide range of services to clients and agencies, including building, improving, maintaining, migrating, and optimizing e-commerce websites.