Guests

MKTG 376: Executive in Residence

Instructor: Timothy Johnston

The Spring Semester 2004 course included the following speakers and events:

Mr. Michael Day, Owner, Michael’s Steakhouse

Mr. Donnie Carroll, Store Manager, Lowe’s, Union City, TN

Ms. Adrian Eddlemon, Human Resources Manager, Lowe’s

Mr. David Sudbury, Local Manager, Frontier Communications

Mr. Johnny Vincent, President, Vincent Implements

Ms. Toy Strickland, Manager, Telemedicine, Health Science Center, The University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN (Martin Kiwanis Club speaker)

Mr. Keith Cursey, Human Resources Manager, MTD Products,

Mr. Kevin Lavender, Commissioner of Financial Institutions, State of Tennessee (CBPA Business Day speaker)

Ms. Stacy Jordan, Account Executive, Charter Communications

Mr. Tom Seratt, Regional President, First Citizens National Bank

Ms. Terry Brundige, President, BancorpSouth

Mr. Eric Spencer, Recorder, City of Martin

Azusa Mekaru

Executive-In-Residence (Spring 2004)

Michael’s Steak House

Michael Day was born in 1970 in Taiwan. His family moved to the U.S. when he was 12 years old. He has a degree in Dentistry; he attended Memphis State University and University of Georgia. He has been back in Martin for 7 years now.

Mr. Day learned how to be a business man from being a translator for his father since he was young because his father could not speak English fluently. Mr. Day’s father owns Chinese restaurants called “Hunan” in Martin, Union City, and some other places. And according to Mr. Day, all the Hunan restaurants in Memphis are franchise of theirs.

Michael’s Steak House is his second restaurant that he had ever owned. His first restaurant which was Java Café ended up as a failure; however, he learned from the mistake, and he is trying to remake it as a half laundry and sports bar soon. He had worked at a couple of steak houses before such as Outback steakhouse; therefore, he already knew how everything worked to start a steak house. His strategy of success is to copy the other successful restaurants strategy first, then make it different from there. As his strategy, he got most of the ideas for menu from Outback steakhouse; his recipes are totally individual, so that the tastes of the food are still unique. He described his steak house as fast service, but not fast food. The restaurant was the first to serve liquor by the drink in Martin and has been open for only 15 days, and he hopes that liquor by drink will attract more customers.

Mr. Day mentioned that being an owner of a restaurant is very tough because of no holidays and satisfying the customers all of the time. Mr. Day’s day starts at 8:00am and ends around 12:00 to 2:00 am depending on the days. And also, according to Mr. Day, to start a business, it costs $350000 not including real estate. Even if the managers hire waiters and waitresses, Mr. Day would still train them to make sure everything will be under his control, and that will lead them to the teamwork which Mr. Day pointed out as the key for a successful restaurant. Mr. Day’s goal is not just to be successful, but also be able to retire early and still live off of the investment.

Chris Smith

Executive-In-Residence

(Spring 2004)

Lowe’s

Donnie Carroll was born in 1967 in Madisonville, Kentucky. Mr. Carroll is married and has two sons. After accepting a job as store manager at Lowe’s in Union City, Mr. Carroll moved from Madisonville, Kentucky to Martin, Tennessee. NASCAR is Mr. Carroll’s main hobby and Jimmie Johnson is his favorite NASCAR driver. The astonishing thing is that Mr. Carroll has never attended college, but did graduate high school from Madisonville.

Mr. Carroll started working for Lowe’s four and a half years ago as department manger, then built his way up to assistant store manager, and finally earned the position of store manager in Paducah, Kentucky. After working at Lowe’s for only a short time, Mr. Carroll accepted the store manager job in Union City. Mr. Carroll ran his own business for eleven years building cabinets before working at Lowe’s. Mr. Carroll stated his maim reasons for getting a job at Lowe’s were the retirement plans and other benefits they offered their employees.

The first person Mr. Carroll hired was a Human Resource Manager, Adrian Eddlemon. Mrs. Eddlemon formerly of Union City, Tennessee, now lives in Kenton, Tennessee. She is married with three children. Mrs. Eddlemon is responsible for the hiring and firing of Lowe’s employees in Union City. Mrs. Eddlemon worked for Plastic in Kenton for twelve years, before accepting the job at Lowe’s.

Mr. Carroll mentioned that Lowe’s has a first and second shift. First shift operates from 6:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and second shift operates from 12:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. He stated that several employees are on a four-week schedule consisting of forty-eight hours a week or sixty hours a week. Mr. Carroll seems to think that Lowe’s will build another 150 to 300 stores over the next year. He said that Lowe’s primarily focuses on satisfying the women consumers because 92% of women do the shopping for their entire household. Mr. Carroll’s goals are satisfying all customers at Lowe’s and being able to retire from Lowe’s a millionaire.

Natalie Cox

Marketing 376

Lowe’s

Lowe’s Companies Inc. is a profit organization that was founded in North Carolina in 1921 by S. Lowe. The first franchise was opened in Sparta, North Carolina. After the founder’s death, his two children, Ruth and Jim Lowe inherited the company. Ruth soon sold her share of the company to her brother Jim. After Jim went away to serve in the war, Ruth’s husband became his partner and ran the hardware store.

In 1984, Lowe’s had 246 stores; today there are more than 990 stores in 46 states. All of these stores are 100,000 square feet and above except for 3 stores. In spite of the company’s humble beginnings, Lowe’s has become the world’s second largest retailer, and the 14^th largest retailer in the United States. One reason Lowe’s has been so successful is because they were the first company to cut out the middleman also known as a wholesaler. By directly ordering from the manufacturer, Lowe’s was able to provide lower prices than their competitors. Lowe’s also attributes most of its successes to the people who work for the company.

The Lowe’s vision is to provide the product’s to help their customers build, improve, and enjoy their goals. Their main goal is to out service the competition and be the customers’ first choice store for these products. Lowe’s, a Fortune 100 company that employs more than 130,000 people, is committed to understanding and reflecting its communities’ diverse cultures.

Website: http://www.lowes.com/

Kevin Butler

Executive Residence in Seminar

2/18/04

David Sudbury

David Sudbury was born in Weakley County in 1949. He is married and has three children. He is the local manager for Frontier Communications here in Martin and is over 23 people. Ironically, Mr. David went to school with Johnnie Vincent who is the owner of Vincent Implements and was last week’s speaker.

Before he got is degree in electrical engineering here at UT-Martin, Mr. David was in the Air Force during the Vietnam era and remained in the reserves until just a few years ago.

Mr. David shared a lot of advice with the class when he visited. Finding out what type of person you are is very important. In college Mr. David found out that he works best in the morning. He said that everyone is different when it comes to your biological clock. He also said it is important to be loyal and to absorb as much information as possible. Staying healthy and taking care of yourself is also vital to being a successful person. He also asked the class if they were more like a “dog” or a “cat”. He answered by saying that it is important to be like a cat and always be aware of changes that are occurring around you. He also shared with us that he is a huge NASCAR fan and that he enjoys activities that are adrenaline driven.

John Branscum

Marketing 376

Frontier

A Citizens Communications Company

Frontier is one of the nation’s largest telecommunications providers, and is also a profit organization. The local branch of Frontier has only one manager, and twenty three employees. Citizens communications has over 100 years of telecommunications experience that has provided them with a solid foundation on which to operate and focus on the customers’ needs. As a part of Citizens Communications, Frontier is now the seventh largest telecommunications provider in the United States. Frontier’s products and services are consistently dependable from the home to any size business. They provide telecommunication services that include, but are not limited to, internet connections, long-distance, cable television, basic phone service, high-speed data, wireless, advanced calling features, and teleconferencing.

Frontier Net DSL Max provides high-speed, all-digital access to the World Wide Web up to 50 times faster than dial-up modems. Because the DSL Max continuously provides constant connection, the bandwidth also stays constant regardless of how many people are on the internet. DSL access provides better security and protection of your computer than cable modems, because the cable modems share an Internet connection among its users. DSL provides only one means of access to your system.

There are many opportunities for employment at Frontier and Citizens Communications throughout the United States. Some of the characteristics that one should possess for position consideration are loyalty, diversification, be a constant learner, and be a team player. For more information, visit the website http://www.frontieronline.com/.

Megan Lamb

Marketing 376

Spring 2004

Vincent Implements

Johnny Vincent was born in 1949 in Weakley County Tennessee. Mr. Vincent is married and has three children, two of which work with him at Vincent Implements. Mr. Vincent was raised in Weakley County where as a child he worked in his family’s first business of producing and delivering ice. He also worked at a service station, filling tanks, cleaning windshields, and doing whatever the customer needed. He graduated from Martin High School in 1968 and went into training with the John Deere Company. He is now President of Vincent Implements in Martin, Union City, and Paris Tennessee.

Mr. Vincent’ s responsibilities vary, but the biggest is making sure everything is running smoothly. It is easy to see if his employees are not doing their job by the number of parts produced. He is also in charge of hiring and firing people. They keep seven salesmen, six parts people, three to six technicians, and three bookkeepers on staff. He tries to hire loyal employees that will stay with the company as their long-term career. He stresses that you have to treat the customer how you would like to be treated. The facilities have to be kept clean and presentable and the customer is always right. There is a website giving information on Mr. Vincent’s father who founded the company in 1963 at http://www.geocities.com/mike_s_youn/vincent.html.

Bethany Howe

Mktg 376—Executive in Residence

February 18, 2004

Telehealth

On February the 18th, a speaker from the University of Tennessee Telehealth Network spoke at the Kiwanis Club meeting about Telehealth. Through telehealth, doctors and patients who are thousands of miles apart can be linked be satellite to conduct a “regular” doctor’s visit. Currently, close to home, patients in Brownsville, TN can be examined by Dr. Andy Spooner of LeBonner Children’s Hospital in Memphis without even getting onto I-40.

Statistics show that nationwide, 17.1% of people lack necessary healthcare. 440,914 people have been diagnosed with some type of chronic condition. Telehealth with increase healthcare services to the underserved. Patients have the ability to be more accurately diagnosed if seen by a specialist. With the option of telehealth, current barriers such as transportation, available facilities, and language are broken.

The average number of outpatient visits per year stands at 17. Yet, be implementing the telehealth system, that number can be reduced to 1 per year thus saving over $22 million. Its amazing how something that is as easy to operate as a television remote control can have that kind of effect and save that kind of money. The speaker advised that if you are referred to a doctor in Memphis or Nashville, you should ask about the telehealth option.

Raechelle Pettigrew

MKTG 376 Executive in Residence

February 25, 2003

Kiwanis Club of Martin

The Kiwanis Club meeting was brought to order with the singing “My country tis of Thee” next the pledge of allegiance and a prayer. The Kiwanis Club International is an organization that thrives on helping others within the community. The Kiwanis motto is “Serving the children of the world.” The members of the club are a representation of the community in which they serve. Kiwanis International is responsible for helping children and families all over the world. Some of their service projects include helping the elderly, disaster relief, youth recreation, and substance abuse programs. The organization also has opportunities for youth and young adults to get involved in community service. K-Kids is open to elementary school children, middle school children have Builders Club, the Key Club is for Junior and High School children, and Circle K is available for the college level.

The Kiwanis Club of Martin has several outreach programs that help the community. Recently they distributed shoes to needy children over seas. Their calendar for the month of February was packed full events. They are hosting a pancake breakfast with the proceeds helping with future projects. The next day they have planned a celebration for Martin Middle and Westview High School cheerleaders for winning their national cheerleading competitions. This organization is truly about community service and involvement, for more information about joining Kiwanis International go to http://www.kiwanis.org/.

Daniel Eubanks

Keith Cursey

On Wednesday, February 24, Mr. Keith Cursey spoke to us about his career at MTD. Keith is originally from Huntingdon, TN. He graduated from Huntingdon High School and went on to attend college at Union University in Jackson, TN. While he was in college, he worked for a trucking company in Jackson. He loaded waffles onto semi trailers and received twenty dollars for every trailer that he loaded. After graduating from Union he took his first job with a vehicle parts manufacturing company. He stamped and chromed front and rear bumpers, grills, and grill guards for various types of vehicles. At the time his boss was on a committee with MTD president, Jim Schuster. Sometimes Keith’s boss could not attend meetings, so he would send Keith to fill in for him. This is where Keith and Jim met and became friends. Soon after that Mr. Schuster contacted Keith and offered him a job at MTD. Keith took the job with MTD in the Human Resources Department as an employee trainer. Presently he is the Human Resources Manager at MTD in Martin. His job involves hiring and firing people. When the peak season arrives and the demand for outdoor lawn equipment goes up, Keith has to make sure that they have enough people and resources to meet the demand.

Amanda Holman

Marketing 376

February 25, 2004

MTD

MTD was founded in 1932 with $4500 and a strong set of beliefs.  MTD was originally called Modern Tool and Die but soon had to be changed when they received the information that a company in Florida already had been established under that name.  To avoid having to completely change the name they shortened it to MTD.  MTD lives by the saying, "The past we inherit, the future we create," (Theo Moll).  MTD operates 10 U.S. plants and several plants in countries such as Australia, Germany, Mexico, etc.  MTD has to compete with companies who produce similar products that are now manufactured in countries such as China where the cost of labor is much less expensive.  For instance, last year in the Martin plant the average pay was $16.97/hr while at a similar plant in China the average pay was $0.54/hr.  MTD is striving to keep its primary operations in the United States. In order to do this and compete with companies who have moved production overseas they must reduce costs.  They do however value their employees and they know that cutting employee wages is not the right plan.  Studies have shown that labor only accounts for 8% of MTD's expenses.  So resources and overhead are where the reductions need to be made.  MTD knows that they need to run, " a lean manufacturing systematic approach to eliminate waste and variability, meet customer expectations, and use value added activity to maximize profit."  MTD knows that they must produce quality products to meet customer expectations.  To do this they audit 1 of every100 products.  If it surpasses the grade of 96.5 every employee is paid $50.  This is an incentive to make employees work hard and ensures that every product is produced with the highest quality.  In short MTD is a company who is dedicated to its customers, values their employees, and still maximizes profit.

Dustin Vernon

MTD - The Company

MTD has been around for over 40 years and has been a leader in designing and building durable, easy-to-use outdoor power equipment. MTD originally stood for Modern Tool and Die. It was started as a tool and die supplier to the local manufacturing community. With hard work, dedication, integrity, and an emphasis on customer service, the company rapidly grew. These remain the core values of the company today. Some people may only know MTD for making their well known push and riding lawnmowers, but MTD makes many other products besides lawnmowers; such as wood chippers, snow throwers, commercial blowers, generators, riding tractors, cultivators, chainsaws, tillers, log splitters, and many accessories that can be added to those machines made. Some of the brand movers they make are the Club Cadet, the Yard Man, the Yard Machine, Bolens, and the White Outdoor lawnmower. The plant here in Martin started with 100 employees. Today, they have around 1000 employees just at the plant here in Martin. They also have other companies in Valley City, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, and they do business overseas. MTD's mission statement is as follows: To remain a highly competitive manufacturing facility that meets our customer and team member expectations through product quality and continual competition. The newest product would be the self-starting mower. They also have movers that are guaranteed to start on the 1st or 2nd pull. MTD's biggest concern is keeping their customers happy. For more information about MTD, go to their website at http://www.utm.edu/~johnston/My%20Documents/My%20LEXAR/www.mtdproducts.com .

Kevin Lavender, 42, serves as Tennessee’s chief regulatory officer of all state-chartered depository and non-depository financial institutions. As of December 31, 2003, the Department regulated 159 banks, 129 credit unions, and more than 3,600 non-depository financial institutions. In addition to his role as Commissioner, Lavender also is the chairman of the National Regulatory Committee for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), which coordinates and represents legislative concerns of all 50 states and four U.S. territories’ banking departments. Along with this chairmanship, Lavender is a member of the CSBS Board of Directors.

From http://www.tennessee.gov/financialinst/KPLbio.html

Trent Findley

Marketing 376

March 10, 2004

Stacy Jordan

Stacy Jordan is a senior account executive for Charter Media which is located here in Martin, TN. Charter Media is a company which is part of Charter Communications which was founded eight years ago by Paul Allen. A nationally renowned company which today serves around six million, Charter Communications started in just 26,000 households but has rapidly developed into a huge provider of cable, digital communication, telephone, and internet service.

Stacy Jordan is an alumnus of Delta State University in Mississippi where she obtained a degree in Marketing. She has about a fifteen year history in her field where she’s worked with several different cable companies. Among those are AT&T, Volunteer, and Total Reach just to name a few. Ms. Jordan helps Charter Media provide advertising campaigns to numerous local, regional, and national companies which comprise a budget of over $500,000. This advertising consists of TV air time and prices vary according to which networks and hours in which the advertisements are run.

On a typical day she meets with potential customers and clients, and makes calls to Union City, Martin, Dyersburg, McKenzie, and Jackson. Ms. Jordan tasks also consist of proposals, campaigns, research, and orders for current clients. Ms. Jordan’s compensation package is comprised of a base salary plus commission of between 11-13% of the advertising budget.

Megan Kilgas

Marketing 376

Spring 2004

Charter Communications and Charter Media

The Charter Communications Company started in 1993 by producing analog video. Paul Allen created charter Communications, now Charter’s chairman. Allen wanted to create a “wired world.” This would connect television, computers, the Internet, and communications. Charter Communication is helping to achieve this goal through the use of a broadband infrastructure.

Today, Charter Communications brings viewers the latest in digital entertainment and communications. It is now the third largest communications company in the United States.

Charter Media is a part of the Charter Communications Company. Charter Media gives local, regional, and national businesses the opportunity to advertise on cable networks. Charter Media in Martin has its own production facilities, crew, and creative teams that provide coverage for most of northwest Tennessee. The creative teams come up with ideas and scripts to present to businesses for their commercial. Charter Media also helps provide local shows on WBBJ. There is also the Charter Mainstreet channel, which televises Carrie on Mainstreet, On the Beaten Path, and Earl the Emu. For more information about Charter Communications, go to http://www.charter.com/.

Charter Communications

“Pipeline” Cable Internet Service

Brian Davis

March 10, 2004

Charter Pipeline, a service that has been available in Martin for approximately two years, enables internet users to experience the internet as they never have before. The service enters the home through the existing coaxial cable line, and provides connection speeds that are up to 50 times faster than what a dial-up connection can offer.

The data enters the Martin through a fiber-optic cable, where it is then separated through various switches to the individual homes. The service comes in on a higher frequency than regular cable channels, enabling cable television and Internet browsing to occur simultaneously, without the need for additional cabling or an extra phone line. Once the signal enters the home, the coaxial cable plugs into a cable modem, on what is known as the downstream signal. The cable modem translates the radio frequency signal it receives, and sends the data out via an Ethernet port. The data then goes to a computer, or to a router where the connection can be shared with other computers/devices in the home or office.

The system requirements for Charter Pipeline service include a Pentium, Celeron, or AMD processor running at a minimum of 233 MHz, 64 megabytes of RAM, 1.5 gigabytes of available hard disk space, a CD or DVD-ROM drive, and a monitor. The pricing plan offered in the west Tennessee area offers a 2Mbps download speed, and a 384Kbps upload speed for $39.99 per month. Cable modem rental is included in the monthly fee, or a user is welcome to provide their own cable modem. More information on Charter Pipeline can be obtained at their website, http://www.chartercom.com/ .

Kendrick Edwards

Tom Seratt

Tom Seratt is the Regional President at First Citizens Bank. He attend college at UTM where he majored in Political Science and minored in Business Administration, he also managed to fluke statistics twice and graduate. Tom currently has a son that attends UTM, and he is an AGR. His first job out college was as a management trainee, where he had to basically learn on the job. During his first couple of years in the work force, he was put in a bad situation when most of the management was put in jail and he had to learn quickly and effectively.

Tom first became president at 32, and has also been the regional president at Union Planters. Tom stated, “Hard work has been the biggest contributing factor in me becoming president.” He also stated that, “The man above you always needs to know that your shoulders are broad enough to handle any challenge.” Tom was appointed regional president of First Citizens Bank in September of 2003. First Citizens only has eight employees including Tom, he believes that a lot more will gets done with less people as long as those people are quality individuals.

Another interesting fact that Tom stated was that Union Planters is about to be bought by Regions bank. This will make Regions an 85-90 billion company, and give Regions bank a big footprint in the south.

Paige Crider

Executive-In-Residence (Spring 2004)

First Citizens Bank

On Wednesday, April 21, Mr. Tom Seratt spoke to us about First Citizens Bank. Mr. Seratt has been the Regional President of First Citizens Bank at the Martin branch since September of 2003. First Citizens Bank is a profit organization that has existed for more than a hundred years. The headquarters for First Citizens in this area is Dyersburg, and the total asset value for First Citizens Bank is $750 million. The Martin branch of First Citizens Bank is new, and it has seven employees and five departments. The different departments include the commercial lending department, the mortgage/real estate department, the investment department, the trust and estate department, and the agriculture lending department. First Citizens is the only independent bank that is certified by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to be an agriculture lender. First Citizens Bank also does SBA lending.

The goal of First Citizens Bank, as defined on their website, is “to foster an environment that enables and encourages all members of a diverse workforce to contribute their full potential to help us achieve business goals and deliver customer service excellence.” First Citizens also focuses on providing superior service to individuals and small to mid-sized businesses. Mr. Seratt informed us that one of First Citizens Bank’s primary competitors is First State Bank.

If you would like more information on First Citizens Bank, you can visit their website at http://www.firstcitizens.com/.

Heather Kea

Executive Residence Speaker

April 21, 2004

Bancorp South

Terry Brundige is a graduate from UTM. Her degree was in Animal Science. She was married young and now has three children. Terry enjoyed working around the farm with her husband and raising the children. Time came when she knew it was time to get a job. She applied at Bancorp south and received the position as a bank teller. Terry worked as a teller for 9 months and was promoted to public relations. She enjoyed public relations because she is a people person, and does not enjoy being stuck behind a desk. Soon after her public relations position she was promoted to the President of Bancorp South in this area. Terry Brundige has been with the company for 17 years now. Now she is in a power position where she leads a board, and is in charge of all hiring and firing.

Her family means a lot to her she has 2 sons and one daughter. Her oldest son attended UTM temporarily, but now is a full time farmer.

Terry’s 21 year old is a mechanic, and her daughter is graduating from Westview in May and will be attending UTM. Her daughter will be majoring in Interior design.

Terry Brundige has gained great success and has moved her way up the Bancorp ladder fairly quickly. Terry like many of our other speakers had an idea of what she wanted to do, but never knew she would be working at a bank for 17 years.

Crystal Cotton

Executive-In-Residence

(Spring 2004)

Bancorp South

Terry Brundige has a degree in Animal Science. She took a job in banking as a teller eighteen years ago. Banking was not her choice of occupation, but due to downtime in farming it was necessary in survival.

She is now the president of the Bancorp South bank in Dresden, Tennessee. Ms. Brundige says that her bank in very much a retail-oriented store and almost all purchases are point-of-sale purchases. There are approximately two-hundred Bancorp South banks regionally. They are also in the top fifty banks in the United States. Bancorp South is a fairly large outfit, acquiring some ten billion dollars in assets. Ms. Brundige mentioned that part of the banks success is due to making goals and following through with them. At Bancorp South they have a tracking system that helps them obtain their goals and remain a fast growing profitable bank.

Jung – Hyun Park

MKTG 376

Spring 2004

Eric Spencer

Eric Spencer is a recorder for the city of Martin. He is married and his wife is a nurse. She got nurse degree at UT Martin. He has one son and one daughter. He spent 8 years at UT Martin campus. First 4 years he got a B.A degree in accounting and then, next 4 years master’s degree. He finished college in 2002 and started his career at the Union Planters Bank. It was his first professional job and spent for 2 years. He worked there as a teller and said it was great experience for him. After that time, president of Union Planters Bank helped him to start working in commercial loans. He also enjoyed that experience. After that time, he moved to the Northwest Tennessee development district which is a government agency here in town. They provide a lot of services to west Tennessee. He worked there as a finance manager and started real management experience. Again about two years, there was a plant in Fulton Kentucky which manufactured automobile window. They had four 0plants and he was charged in finance. Every plant had its own manager but as naturally the old people are fired in professional management world, there was only him that had to manage all four plants. At that time, he was so difficult to do that work. He really enjoys his work as a recorder for the city of Martin and proud of what he made.