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Magnolia Bank hosting free seminar on business succession plans Tuesday

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Area business owners and executives are invited to attend Tuesday as Magnolia Bank hosts their Business Succession and Transition Seminar.

“We see a lot of businesses, whether you’re talking about just a mom and pop shop, a big business, a farm, any of the business aspects, getting that game plan set aside of what happens next,” said Magnolia Bank Vice President and Relationship Manager Dustin Hayes. “Are you going to pass this down to the next generation? Is your plan to build it to a certain point and sell it? We’re seeing a lot of the businesses recently that got to a point where they’re ready to transition, but they don’t have someone who is next in line to take over it, and then they might have a very valuable business based off of income, but sometimes you get into some of the businesses that don’t have that hard asset like real estate that it’s hard to actually sell because it’s harder to take a lien on.”

Hayes said as the bank reached out to businesses to speak at the seminar several said they did not have such a plan in place, which he said makes the topic an important one to discuss.

Magnolia Bank is partnering with Cerity Partners in Elizabethtown and Dean Durbin with Professional EOS Implementer in Louisville to host the seminar.

“The main topics they’re talking about are: why session planning is important for business owners, structuring the sale of a business, how to determine the value of a business, and the mechanics of the sale process and how you can create a market to increase that value that you’re looking to sell,” Hayes said.

The seminar will be held at Magnolia Bank’s Elizabethtown office Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and all are welcome to attend this free event. While no registration is required, Magnolia Bank asks participants to RSVP with either Dustin Hayes (270-777-5348) or Amanda Heady (270-234-6097) sometime Monday.

EPD’s Kuklinski graduates from FBI National Academy

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An officer with the Elizabethtown Police Department is being recognized for her efforts.

“Lieutenant Madison Kuklinski recently graduated from the FBI National Academy,” said EPD Public Information Officer Chris Denham. “This is a renowned training environment for law enforcement leaders from all over the world. We are proud of her and excited to have her back within our ranks.”

Kuklinski graduated from the 290th session of the FBI National Academy, which included officers from 46 states and the District of Columbia and members of law enforcement representing 24 countries, five military organizations, and six federal civilian organizations.

According to the FBI Louisville field office, the academy offers ten weeks of advanced communication, leadership and fitness training, with participating officers having proven records as professionals within their agencies. The academy is held at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, which is where the FBI trains new agents and intelligence analysts.

The FBI says 55,186 graduates have completed the National Academy since its founding in 1935.

Kentucky unemployment holds steady from April to May

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Unemployment in Kentucky remained steady going from April into May. 

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says the May 2024 unemployment rate was 4.6 percent. That rate is the same as what was reported for April 2024, and is .5 percent higher than the rate reported for May 2023.

The commonwealth’s civilian labor force saw an increase in May, with 6,621 individuals joining the labor force from April. While the number of unemployed people increased by a little less than 1,400, the number of employed people increased by about 5,200, the fourth consecutive month the labor force has seen an increase. The total civilian labor force for Kentucky was reported at about 2,040,000 people.

Kentucky’s unemployment rate trends a little higher than the national average, which for May 2024 was reported at 4 percent. A Bureau of Labor Statistics survey reported that eight of Kentucky’s major non-farm job sectors increased in May while employment decreased in three sectors.

More information on the Kentucky labor market can be found at kystats.ky.gov. County unemployment rates for May should be released by the end of this month.

Nolin RECC says costs are up but co-op still working for members

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Nolin RECC officials recapped the electric co-ops activities and business figures from 2023 during their annual membership meeting Thursday afternoon.

Nolin District 3 Director Rick Thomas said the co-op ended 2023 with 36,814 active accounts.

“If you’ve kept up with that the last few years, that number’s been going up and it’s pretty obvious,” Thomas said. “Part of it, you’ll see new houses and things going up, but right now the biggest surge is in apartments, and you’re probably seeing them go up in a lot of places too, so we expect that to continue. I don’t know where we have a guess on when we’re going to get to 40,000, but we’re getting pretty close to it.”

Operating revenue was reported at about $85.3 million while operating expenses were reported at about $84.8 million. Thomas said the operating margin of about $497,000 is down from years past in part because inflation has increased the cost of materials and impacted supply chains, but the co-op’s staff has worked hard to limit the impact.

“We’re very fortunate that we have the staff that we have that have taken it in their hands to keep an eye on that, trying to keep those costs down, and also there’s an issue with just getting materials now and they’ve had to work through that, so I hope you appreciate their efforts on that,” Thomas said.

Nolin RECC President and CEO Greg Lee said the focus of operations continues to be what is best for the co-op’s members.

“In 2023, we found ourselves in the fortunate position to be able to retire just over $2.7 million in capital credits,” Lee said. “That was the fifth straight year we had been able to make a general retirement and the cumulative total over those five years is now over $20 million.”

The annual meeting can be viewed on Nolin RECC’s YouTube channel. The annual report was included in the items distributed in the buckets members received during meeting registration.

Bullitt County man arrested after online child sexual exploitation investigation

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An online law enforcement operation has landed a Bullitt County man in jail.

23-year-old Blake Nathaniel Hoots of Mount Washington was charged with seven counts of Distribution of Matter Portraying a Sexual Performance by a Minor Under 12 Years Old, a Class C felony, following his arrest Tuesday.

According to the Kentucky State Police, Hoots was arrested as the result of an undercover Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation. The KSP says the KSP’s Electronic Crime Branch began investigating after the suspect was found to have shared images of child sexual exploitation.

On June 18, officers with the KSP interviewed Hoots. Equipment used to allegedly facilitate the crime was seized and taken to a KSP forensic laboratory for examination. Hoots was lodged in the Bullitt County Detention Center. The investigation is ongoing.

The Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force consists of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies that assist state and local law enforcement in developing a response to cyber enticement and child sexual abuse material investigations. More than 26 agencies across the commonwealth contribute to the task force.