Business milestones demonstrate commitment to community

I have lived long enough to know that there are good things in every work day.

But then, there are those days at the Chamber when our staff goes home with total affirmation of what our organization stands for and the businesses we are blessed to serve. Thursday was a day like that. There were perfect bookends recognizing major milestones that we were honored to celebrate with the families who owned the businesses and people of our community who fuel their operations.

We started our day at Rooster Booster with our sponsor, Greenwell Chisolm Printing Company, which is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. The Greenwell family and its team of dedicated professionals had been working for quite some time on making their anniversary celebration memorable. They succeeded.

Carl Greenwell, the third generation of his family to operate the company, opened his talk with a video showing the evolution of the company and the printing industry, how the small business had adapted and innovated as technology changed, and how it planned to expand into the future. It was a reminder of how small business owners have to put all they have on the line and all of their heart into their business — and how so many outside forces beyond their control can threaten their livelihood.

Greenwell Chisolm has been a Chamber member throughout those 100 years. And Carl has been very active – as his son Brian now is. Carl’s positive spirit and his knack of encouraging others have not only shown throughout his business but throughout the careers and lives of the people he works with in the community.

Owensboro Grain started 113 years ago when its founder, Henry O’Bryan, rode around the countryside on his bicycle to distillers, purchasing corn to sell to local distillers. Now, over a century later, the site at East Second Street acts as a community entrance reminding us of the roots of our economic heritage and the future of our economic growth – agriculture.

Through the years, Owensboro Grain has employed thousands of people, served our local farmers and consistently embodied the entrepreneurial spirit on which it was founded. The new expansion is a poignant example of the Wright family’s continued commitment to investing back in Greater Owensboro and our farmers.

Both locally born and family-owned, Greenwell Chisolm and Owensboro Grain are two stalwarts in a community of hardworking, innovative business owners.