This story appears in today’s Charleston Daily Mail.

By George Hohmann
Daily Mail Business Editor

If the federal government hadn’t overreacted to the 2008 financial crisis, “which whipped the country into a panic frenzy, we would have survived fine,” said Kelly King, chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Corp.

“Several big firms would have failed, we would have had 30 days of anxiety, then we would have moved on,” King said. “We would have had a tough recession,” but not a catastrophe.

King delivered the keynote speech Wednesday at the Charleston Area Alliance’s Annual Celebration. More than 400 business leaders from the region attended the event at the Clay Center.

Given that the federal government did create a panic, “there were days you could see the whole system collapsing,” he said. “Given that we were in that situation, you had to step in. In that context, TARP (the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, which pumped money into banks, General Motors, AIG and some other companies) was a good thing. But it did not have to happen.”

Although TARP gave the banking business a black eye because people still refer to it as the bank bailout, “when the dust settles the whole TARP program may actually turn a profit,” King said.

The federal overreaction was unfortunate, King said, because “when you have a big panic and the government steps in, it so undermines the system. The system is built on confidence. Before this, we bankers were fairly well thought of. Right after this we were down there with the lawyers.” (more…)

The story below aired this morning on WCHS Radio.

BB&T CEO Kelly Kings say business leaders in Charleston and around the nation are key to the an economic recovery.

King was the keynote speaker at the Charleston Area Alliance’s Annual Celebration at the Clay Center Wednesday night.

Generation Charleston Co-Char Ryan White says growing business is exactly what Charleston Alliance does.

“The importance of this organization is to encourage business to come in and add jobs, and also build a sense of community,” White said.

The Alliance’s Vice President, JoEllen Zacks, says over the next year the group will work to bring even more business to Charleston.

“Try to recruit companies here, help the companies that already are here become more successful, and improve the quality of life for everyone that lives here,” Zacks said.

King says more jobs can be created as the U.S. comes out of the economic downturn.

White says the Alliance will try to attract companies to drill in the Marcellus Shale in Charleston.  Several sites around the state, including an area in Kanawha County, have been considered.  White says they will work to bring it to Charleston.

“Bringing an ethane cracker to West Virginia, and what comes with that, which is additional chemical industry,” White said.

Charleston Area Alliance President and CEO Matt Ballard today congratulated the Australian company Carbonxt Inc. after it announced plans to build a $29 million plant at Institute that eventually is projected to employ 40 full-time workers.
 
The Alliance has been working with Carbonxt since 2007, when the company reached out for assistance in locating potential sites for short-term and longer-term facility needs. Ballard and Andrew Dunlap, the Alliance’s economic development project manager, worked to schedule meetings for the company and visits to potential sites, one of which was a location at a Bayer facility.
 
“We are proud of our role in this success story,” Ballard said. “The Alliance is committed to bringing jobs and employers to the Charleston region. Major endeavors like this start with handshakes and introductions. We know the Kanawha Valley’s potential, and this is a step toward creating its future.”
 
The Carbonxt plant will convert coal into an activated carbon product that will help remove mercury from coal-fired plant emissions.
 
Carbonxt has been operating a pilot plant in Charleston for years. It also spent four years at Mingo County Wood Products Industrial Park as part of a research and development project called CENfuel, which was focused on chemical purification of coal and coal waste.
 
“I would also like to salute Bayer CropScience, which stepped up to the plate by leasing six acres at its Institute site,” Ballard said. “Bayer understands the potential impact of an investment of this magnitude, and the entire region will benefit. This new investment demonstrates the value to the bottom line for companies seeking to invest in strategic locations where the infrastructure already exists to support chemical manufacturing.”
 
The Charleston Area Alliance is a business membership organization focusing on economic and community development in the Charleston-Metro area.  It is supported by more than 650 private businesses, the Kanawha County Commission and the City of Charleston.

The head of one of the nation’s largest financial holding companies will share his insights on the nation’s economic meltdown and what lies ahead at the Charleston Area Alliance Annual Celebration, to be held Wednesday, May 25, at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences. 

Jackson Kelly is the event’s Title Sponsor.

A keynote address on “After the Crisis” by BB&T Corporation Chairman and CEO Kelly King will highlight this annual tribute to the people, businesses and organizations that have helped build a more vibrant community and prosperous economy.     

The Annual Celebration will feature an engaging, fast-paced presentation, including remarks by King and a salute to the 2011 College Summit Scholarship recipients and Leadership Kanawha Valley graduates, in the Maier Performance Hall. The formal program will followed by a spectacular reception in the stunning lobby of the Clay Center.

A VIP invitation-only reception for event sponsors will kick off the evening’s festivities. 

VIP Sponsor Reception (invitation only):  
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Annual Celebration Formal Program: 
5:00-6:15 p.m.
Gala Reception: 
6:15-8:00 p.m. 

Tickets are $200 Alliance members/$250 future members.

Click here to register.

“The Annual Celebration, the Alliance’s largest fundraiser of the year, is your opportunity to share in the pride for the Kanawha Valley and sustain the Alliance’s vital work in creating jobs, enhancing our community and investing in people,” said Alliance President/CEO Matt Ballard.

“We invite you to join the more than 500 business and community leaders who will attend for this business event of the year. With your participation, we will truly have something to ‘celebrate’ on May 25 – and beyond,” Ballard said.

We are unable to invoice for groups with fewer than 10 or issue refunds for cancellations received less than 48 hours prior to the event. Thank you.

A supply management association is forming in West Virginia, and it is looking to engage the state’s small businesses during this year’s May 16-20 National Small Business Week.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) indicates West Virginia’s small businesses are key to the state’s well-being and account for a significant share of the state’s economic production and hiring. SBA’s Small Business Profile for West Virginia released earlier this year indicates nearly 30 thousand small business employers in the state account for more than half of all private-sector jobs.

The organizing drive currently underway is to establish a statewide affiliate of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the world’s largest non-profit supply management association. In addition to a membership base of more than 34,000 supply management professionals, ISM also has more than 150 affiliated associations. Eighty-five percent of all ISM members also belong to a local affiliate, according to the Tempe, Arizona, based organization.

“But West Virginia currently has no active affiliates,” said Don Barber, a Pakersburg native and long-time member of ISM. “But this can change with the support of the state’s small business employers.”

Affiliate membership offers several benefits, including volunteer and leadership opportunities, professional development opportunities, local networking with peers and educational events.

Barber said many affiliates go well beyond just the basics of monthly dinner meetings with a speaker and professional development topic, and will often conduct seminars, arrange plant tours, provide college scholarships, host trade shows, publish informative newsletters and more

“I have been a member of several ISM affiliates during my career,” Barber said. “My experience has been that the most vibrant affiliates make a special effort to include small businesses. I would like to do so even during the early stages of the organizing drive.

“I have seen first-hand the value that small business professionals can find in a local supply management association, and an active affiliate offers the supply management professional – and their employers – an excellent return on the time invested.”

Membership in ISM is open to anyone interested in supply management. Most often, this means someone having a purchasing or procurement, supply chain or materials management, planning or scheduling, production or inventory control, distribution or logistics, investment recovery, or related role with their employer. ISM membership crosses all manufacturing and service industries.

Additional information on the organizing effort to establish a West Virginia supply management association is available at www.ismwv.org. Information on ISM and its role in promoting the supply management profession is available at www.ism.ws.­­­

Learn about the new IRS brand for small business resources during a free webinar May 18.  

Sponsored by the IRS Small Business and Self-Employed Division, “Small Business Advantage: Put Our Knowledge to Work for You” will help small business owners, the self-employed, independent contractors and tax practitioners discover multiple resources to help small businesses thrive, understand the benefits of using Small Business Advantage and find out about opportunities available for small businesses.  

The webinar session is scheduled for 2 p.m.  

To register for this event, visit the Internal Revenue Service Webinar Registration Web Site.

If you experience difficulty viewing the event, please contact sbse.webinars@irs.gov or call (866) 956-4770. This event will be archived on the IRS Video Portal for later viewing two weeks after the date of the event. 

CPE credit is not available for attending this webinar.

The story below appears in today’s Charleston Daily Mail.

By George Hohmann
Daily Mail Business Editor

The Dow Chemical Co. plans to invest about $40 million in its South Charleston plant over the next four years, said Jim Guidarini, head of Dow’s West Virginia operations.

“A lot of investment is going on in the site,” Guidarini told the South Charleston Economic Development Committee on Tuesday. “There is no gigantic project. It’s all small things – a couple of million dollars here and there. Things like refurbishing infrastructure, eliminating (production) bottlenecks, some safety upgrades.”

Dow has four manufacturing units at the South Charleston plant plus an extensive infrastructure.

“It’s exciting for us,” he said. “We have not invested a whole lot of money over the last five years in that site. Now we’re preparing to be ready for the long term.”

South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens said, “That’s good news for us.”

Dow currently has about 250 employees at the South Charleston plant and “we are still by far the biggest occupant of the tech park,” with about 190 employees there, Guidarini said.

In addition, Dow has six manufacturing units at Bayer CropScience’s Institute site. Bayer CropScience employees currently operate those units. As previously announced, Dow is in the process of hiring its own operators. “That should be 75 to 90 people but they won’t be truly new employment for the area,” Guidarini said. Rather, some workers will be Bayer CropScience employees one day and Dow employees the next, he said.

Mullens asked Guidarini about the opportunities presented by the development of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Useful chemicals are removed from natural gas with a “cracker” – a multi-billion-dollar facility. Officials believe a cracker could rejuvenate West Virginia’s chemical industry.

“I know a number of groups are working hard at it – the Charleston Area Alliance, the governor’s (Marcellus to Manufacturing) Task Force, the Chemical Alliance Zone,” Guidarini said. “There’s a big upside and a great potential. I wouldn’t hazard to guess the likelihood. You’ve got to have a big chunk of land and a lot of infrastructure. I think there are viable places for it in West Virginia.

“I think in the Kanawha Valley we’re likely to see some downstream plants. We don’t have enough real estate in South Charleston for that. Bayer is pushing this because they do have the real estate for it, at Institute and New Martinsville.” (more…)

Join us Thursday, May 12 for City National Bank’s annual Business After Hours block party. It runs from 5 to 8 p.m.

Click here to register.

Enjoy great food, drinks and the start of summer.

Business After Hours also is an excellent networking opportunity.

Registration for is $15 for Alliance members and $25 for future members. 

Online registration for this event ends at noon May 12.

Prices increase to $25 and $35 at the door.

We are unable to invoice for groups with fewer than 10 people or issue refunds for cancellations received less than 48 hours prior to the event. Thank you.

The Charleston Area Alliance is pleased to share the following information from Terramite. Several years ago, the Alliance financially assisted Terramite with prototyping for a new product.  Terramite with be showcasing some of its newest equipment May 12.