I had a wonderful time last week in Dothan, Alabama! Dothan is one of our ATF Roadside MBA towns, and we featured Key Fire Hose and Panhandle Converter Recycling in the book.
The occasion was the Dothan Area Chamber’s General Membership Luncheon, and I was honored to be invited to deliver the keynote address. I talked Roadside MBA, tried to tell a few funny stories from the road, and generally had a great time.
Key to the City: Dothan, Alabama
Some highlights from the day:
- Breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Lyle Peluso Jr. Lyle gave me a great update on the remarkable growth at Panhandle Converter, and then we headed to his location for another plant tour. Panhandle is investing like crazy, and it’s really fun to see.
- Luncheon crowd of 330. I was stunned at the size of (and the enthusiasm of ) of the audience. The Dothan Area Chamber has got it going on. And the facilities at the Wiregrass Church were something else, too.
- Charlie Genthner’s introduction. Charlie said I had a lot of fancy words and titles after my name, but he couldn’t remember them all. (Typical of a small business owner, Charlie’s a lot more interested in what you can do that your degrees or your title!) KFH is adding a location to build more hose… Apparently global warming and increased wildfire activity in the western US isn’t bad news for everyone.
- Visit to Troy University’s Dothan Campus. I had a mid-afternoon event back on campus (my comfort zone), where I was able to chat with faculty, administrators, and some students about the Roadside MBA project. That was fun, and much more relaxed than the luncheon speech.
- Matt Parker’s hospitality. Chamber President Matt Parker herded me around all day, and it was interesting to hear how he’s performing much more of a local economic development role than a traditional chamber role.
- Book signing at Barnes & Noble. I felt like a rock star (well, a very minor rock star) signing books and chatting with people at the bookstore. Thanks to everyone who came out!
- Keys to the City! I was surprised and honored to receive three keys to the city of Dothan, one for each of the Roadside MBA authors. Wow.
- Hot Sauce. Leon Minsky, who I met at Troy University, was kind enough to drop by the book signing and bring me a bottle of his famous Southern Charm Hot Sauce… Spicy! Check out the photo and several others posted on the Dothan Area Chamber Facebook page.
Thanks so much to Matt, Lyle, Charlie, and all the great people I met there. I felt very honored to be your guest!
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