The Goods Archives

16DecDecember 16, 2020

Cybersecurity, communication lead top five technology trends

Pandemic also Advances Collaboration, Edge-Computing, and Outsourced IT Departments JASPER, Ind. – (Dec. 16, 2020) – Information technology (IT) underwent a major change in 2020 as organizations were forced to quickly adopt strategies to handle new cybersecurity threats and increase remote working and collaboration needs, according to Matrix Integration, a strategic IT solutions and managed services provider for more than 1,000 businesses and schools in the Midwest and beyond. Cybersecurity remains a top concern for 2021, as hackers continue to threaten organizations,...

11DecDecember 11, 2020

The Goods

Perfect Attendance Policies and the COVID-19 Pandemic

By George Adams and Paul Goatley, Fisher Phillips, LLP Perfect attendance policies can be powerful tools. They typically offer cash bonuses, public recognition, in-kind prizes, extra time off, or other enticements to give employees additional incentive to regularly and timely come to work. Though perfect attendance polices can be beneficial to both employers and employees, they may run afoul of certain protected leave benefits, such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), if not administered correctly. The COVID-19 pandemic...

08DecDecember 8, 2020

The Goods

Get Your House in Order, the Feds are Coming (Back)

Assuming Joe Biden is sworn into office in January 2021, he can begin taking actions that will immediately impact your policies, rules and procedures. You should begin “getting your house in order” now by preparing for a return to more aggressive regulation and employee-friendly legislation under the Biden administration. The prospective Biden administration has already made clear that worker's rights is a high priority, including workplace safety. The executive branch determines how and how aggressively federal government agencies, like the...

03DecDecember 3, 2020

The Goods

Cold Ahead: Prepare Your Facility Now

From KAM member Harshaw Trane With 2020 driving unprecedented demands – at work and home – you may not yet have prepared your building for colder days. There’s still time! Here are a few tips and recommendations from Trane® building professionals that can help you save energy and lower your utility bills during the colder months ahead. 1. Understand building changes The way your building is used — and the hours it is occupied — may change anytime winter arrives but especially this year,...

10NovNovember 10, 2020

The Goods

Pollution Prevention Grant: Q&A with Mary Walker, EPA’S Southeast Regional Administrator

KAM interviewed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Southeast Regional Administrator, Mary Walker, on the recent announcement of the anticipated Pollution Prevention grant to the Kentucky Department of Compliance Assistance The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Southeast Region (Region 4) announced in late September that it intended to award the Kentucky Department of Compliance Assistance an $192,000 pollution prevention (P2) grant. The grant was part of a larger grant funding package the agency plans to award to 42 organizations across 39...

26OctOctober 26, 2020

News, The Goods

National report shows KCTCS earn-and-learn program, KY FAME, has outstanding outcomes

Versailles, Ky. – Programmable logic controllers and robotics may not sound like areas of study most people would think of when it comes to manufacturing. But for Brad Copeland, a 35-year-old employee of Vanderbilt Chemicals in Murray, they are part of his daily job. Copeland is a recent graduate of West Kentucky Community and Technical College’s (WKCTC) Kentucky Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (KY FAME) program. KY FAME is an earn-and-learn program in which the colleges of the Kentucky Community...

22OctOctober 22, 2020

The Goods

Perfetti Van Melle Makes Life Sweeter in Northern Kentucky

As an essential food industry business, throughout this pandemic year, Perfetti Van Melle has been running its production and warehouse facilities in Erlanger, Kentucky at nearly full capacity 24/7 making and distributing Airheads and Mentos candy. The company’s North America headquarters and factory are housed in one campus, while distribution and warehousing are in a nearby state-of-the-art facility that opened in May 2019. Growth and expansion in Kentucky Under the leadership of Sylvia Buxton, President and CEO, and the local Perfetti...

21OctOctober 21, 2020

The Goods

Rising Star: Terry Scruggs

NAME: Terry Scruggs SCHOOL: Somerset Community College AREA OF STUDY: Industrial Maintenance LEARN MORE: October is Manufacturing Month and Somerset Community College (SCC) is proud to train students for jobs in advanced manufacturing. While earning an Industrial Maintenance Technology degree at SCC is the immediate goal of Terry Scruggs, his future plans are a whole lot higher ... and a whole lot faster. “I’d like to work for a company called Boom,” he says. The new business is building “a supersonic airplane ... a...

19OctOctober 19, 2020

The Goods

Rising Star: Damian Nole

NAME: Damian Nole SCHOOL: Henderson Community College AREA OF STUDY: Industrial Maintenance, HCC FAME program SPONSORING COMPANY: Shamrock Technologies ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Damian is a recipient of the Liberty Square Trade Scholarship from Independence Bank, and he is a Dean’s List student. LEARN MORE: Damian Nole, an HCC FAME student in the 2019 cohort, is currently being sponsored by Shamrock Technologies. When we asked Damian about his story, and why he chose the FAME program, his story really moved us. “Well, I guess the biggest part...

19OctOctober 19, 2020

The Goods

Rising Star: Carlin Farler

NAME: Carlin Farler SCHOOL: Hazard Community & Technical College AREA OF STUDY: Welding Technology LEARN MORE: Carlin S. Farler said he is going to go after every certificate available in the Welding Technology Program at Hazard Community and Technical College (HCTC), in addition to earning his associate degree. He is keeping his eye on gaining employment and he knows that getting the training at HCTC is the way to help him do that. Farler enrolled in classes in January after being laid off...