Looking to grow into an important annual spring event in south western Kentucky, nearly 100 local and regional business owners embraced Monday’s second-straight Planters Bank SEED Summit at Hopkinsville’s Bruce Convention Center.
The acronym means “Startup Economic & Entrepreneur Development,” and those encouraged to attend included aspiring entrepreneurs, existing business owners looking to improve, and small businesses owners wanting to grow.
From 8:30 AM until a 3 PM mixer, there were several offerings.
— Sherry Deutschmann, the author of “Lunch with Lucy: Maximize Profits by Investing in your People,” opened the symposium to discuss her rise from basement-based business to being featured in The New York Times. In 2019, she founded BrainTrust, a company dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs, and moved to this venture after selling LetterLogic, Inc., in 2016 as its founder/CEO.
— Frank Bennett, of KY Apex Accelerator, held court to explain how great companies find and retain clients.
— Chris Wooldridge, director of Murray State’s Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Development, offered up “Business 101” and “Business 201.” He commended Planters Bank’s vision and commitment to the community for this summit, one he said offered up three key points to curious capitalists.
1) It was a chance to build relationships and networking opportunities not found elsewhere;
2) It was a clear, transparent look at where and what a starting point and continuation looks like for both aspiring and transpiring businesses;
And 3) It was a public resource point for questions and concerns with officials in the know.
Wooldridge also noted there were several repeat visitors from Year 1 to Year 2.
— Advanced marketing and finance tips.
— And a pair of small business panels, allowing owners to opine about the successes and struggles of a personal company.
Among those available to share her story: Lisa Hussey, who alongside her Ireland native husband, Peter, owns Black Patch Grille in Princeton and The Local Irish Pub + Kitchen in Hopkinsville.
She noted, among several aspects, that “community” is the most valuable asset in small business victories.
Vendors, including a kiosk for free professional headshots from Kat Lacy, were a new addition to the summit, and the SEED Grant Competition returned — granting $10,000 for a business startup, as well as a one-year membership to the Chamber of Commerce of one’s choice in west Kentucky or west Tennessee, a Wealth Builder class in Hopkinsville or Clarksville, a one-year membership to The Press in Clarksville, a $500 paid advertising fund in print/digital/social/radio, as well as a monthly marketing consultation and one-time website build with Williams Advertising.
A community face since 1996, Planters Bank now has 12 full-service locations in west Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee. All of the SEED’s registration cost, $25, went as a direct donation to The United Way of the Pennyrile, which finds itself in the closing stages of its 2023-24 capital campaign, as well as United Way affiliates in Tennessee.
