Author Archives: Daryl Phillips, CEcD

About Daryl Phillips, CEcD

I am a professional economic developer. I presently work for communities and companies in developing and implementing workforce and economic development solutions as CEO of Phillips Economic Development Solutions (Phi EDS). Prior to September 2017, I was the economic development professional who served a community team of elected officials, business people, community leaders and dedicated stakeholders for economic development in Cheatham County, Tennessee (pop. 39,880) and its four towns. During my five-year tenure, I served the team as Cheatham County grew over 1,700 jobs, turned around population declines at the start of this decade into healthy population growth, increased tourism expenditures 20.3% and local tax revenue from tourism 25.4%, grew sales tax revenue 36%, focused on developing the local workforce and was recognized by SmartAsset as having the 9th highest Incoming Investment Index of all the 95 counties in Tennessee. I am a member of International Economic Development Council, Southern Economic Development Council, Tennessee Economic Development Council and International Council of Shopping Centers. I have earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification from National Development Council and hold a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University.

Small Towns, Great Communities

“The Future of Small Towns” addresses a lot of contemporary issues with small towns.

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A Reason to Explore

Grinders Switch Winery gets a nice mention in this Nashville Scene article: “The Long and Wining Natchez Trace“. I think I might have to go visit them tomorrow.

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A Wonderful Life brought to you by Economic and Community Development

Watching the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life is a holiday tradition for a lot of us. I just saw a clip of it on Facebook today and was reminded how much George Bailey and the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan … Continue reading

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Centerville selected to participate in Tennessee Downtowns program

Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber today announced that Centerville was one of 12 communities selected to participate in Tennessee Downtowns, a competitive community improvement program for cities and counties seeking to revitalize traditional commercial districts. The press release…

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Twenty-three more shopping days until Above the Rim High School Basketball Tournament

Start planning a trip to the 2010 Hickman County First Farmers Bank Above the Rim Christmas Invitational Basketball Tournament held on December 27th, 28th and 29th at Hickman County High School. The Girl’s Tournament Brackets are posted on the HCHS … Continue reading

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for a lot of things. Retailers can be thankful for a month of shopping days. When was Thanksgiving Day moved (though Tennessee rebelled) to give retail businesses more shopping days? The answer…

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A Christmas Shopping Experience

As ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ looms forbodingly over our Thanksgiving holiday, Hickman County, Centerville and Bon Aqua offers another Christmas shopping experience, not incredibly dissimilar from the one described in 1885. An article from the December 18, 1885 edition … Continue reading

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Peace and quiet or economic activity

I just read an article in The New York Times titled “Pushing 40, Southwest Is Still Playing the Rebel” about Southwest Airlines. It reminded me of graduate school where most every class had a case study of the success of … Continue reading

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Looking for American Jeans — seek Diamond Gusset

Bon Aqua’s Diamond Gusset Jeans sponsors “Looking for America”, a new song recently released that helps support Operation Troop Aid. Story in The Dickson Herald.

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Deck the balls with hoops of holly…

Well, it’s not even Thanksgiving, but the Christmas music channels have started on XM Radio and our household holiday party has been scheduled. So, maybe it’s not too early to start planning a trip to the 2010 Hickman County First … Continue reading

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Ca-ching! or Business Growth in Hickman County

Tennessee Department of Revenue just posted the October tax collection reports. Local sales tax collections for October in Hickman County were the second highest monthly collections during the period of July 2006 through October 2010. As a matter of fact, … Continue reading

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So, starting social media marketing?

“The ‘Ultimate’ Small Business Guide to Social Media Marketing” offers a great start for entering the mysterious world of SoMe marketing.

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QR Codes – the next cool tool…

QR codes let people go to your website (homepage or special offer) using their smartphone – with no typing. I think this has a lot of possibilities. On a marketing piece (mailer, advertisement, slick, poster, etc.), one of these could … Continue reading

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History and Tourism

I am attending the2010 Tennessee Sesquicentennial Civil War Signature Event in Nashville today and tomorrow. Governor Phil Bredesen and Tennessee Dept. of Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker are among the speakers today. The Civil War Sesquicentennial will commemorate the 150 year … Continue reading

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Whips, Fads and Facebook

Is social media a fad? If you totally doubt the power of social media, you probably wouldn’t be reading this. However, this video helps one think about how all this is fundamentally changing how we communicate and interact as a … Continue reading

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Veteran’s Day, Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day

Today is Veteran’s Day. A ceremony to honor our veterans will be held on the Centerville Public Square today at 11:00.

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HIRE Act provides break for new hires

Legislation enacted earlier in the year, the HIRE Act (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act), can provide tax incentives to employers who hire people who are unemployed. The first, referred to as the payroll tax exemption, provides employers with an … Continue reading

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Hickman County teetotaler to taxes from this type of tourism

Distillery approved for Cannon County

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Hickman County supports local business

We appreciate our local industry here in Hickman County. We invited key industry people for breakfast this morning down at Rudy’s Restaurant at Bucksnort. With everyone’s busy schedule, several weren’t able to join us, but we appreciate them doing business … Continue reading

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Smarter Meter Matter

Dickson Electric System will upgrade their customers’ current meters with radio frequency-operated meters capable of being read from their headquarters. Dickson Electric serves 4000 customers in Hickman County, mainly in the East Hickman area. For more information, read “Remote-controlled meters … Continue reading

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Retail Sales Recover Slowly?

“Markets Smell Recovery as Consumers Drive Retail Sales” on Bloomberg.com discusses a trend of more consumer spending. Locally, Hickman County is seeing this trend as evidenced in local sales & use tax revenue. Granted, a significant amount of the increase … Continue reading

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Warning to business receiving email about the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System

I received a scam email targeting businesses that use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System to electronically file tax payments. I am the cautious type and the misspellings really raised the alarm. Anyway, the official Internal Revenue Service website has … Continue reading

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Radio hour on TV? Proof on YouTube?

Hickman County’s Grinders Switch Radio Hour is featured on WNPT’s Tennessee Crossroads:

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Tennessee Home Weatherization Assistance Program

I attended the Governor’s Housing Summit held Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Planning for an appropriate mix of adequate housing in an area should be an important part of economic development. One immediate thing that I was reminded of … Continue reading

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Farmland Legacy Workshop Helps Plan for Future Seasons

A Farmland Legacy workshop series will be held in Hickman County beginning on Thursday, October 28th and continues the next three Thursday evenings. Organized by UT Extension, the purpose of the series is to help farm families plan for the … Continue reading

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A Radio Hour on Television?

A radio hour on television? Yes, and if you come to visit in person (every Saturday morning at 10:00am at the Hickman County Chamber of Commerce) , it is such a bargain that the radio hour lasts for about an … Continue reading

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Weems Springs, Reynoldsburg Road, Pine Factory, and places like that

The Sesquicentennial of the Civil War officially begins next year as it will have been 150 years since the first shots fired in 1861. Hickman County had its share of involvement and the first kiosk on the Tennessee Civil War … Continue reading

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Why Change Comes Slow to Small Towns and What To Do About That

Another good post from Joanne Steele that I found of interest: Why Change Comes Slow to Small Towns and What To Do About That.

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Is there an app for finding apples locally grown?

The October edition of Shopping Centers Today, the trade journal of the International Council of Shopping Centers, had an interesting article titled “Keeping Up With Smart Phones: Mobile Devices Pose a Major Opportunity — and Threat.” For rural retailers competing … Continue reading

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"Nowhere" is Really "Somewhere"

I can relate to the post, “Nowhere” is Really “Somewhere” Daily Yonder Keep It Rural. Dealing with apathy, change aversion and/or negativity, I wonder… but, then I guess we all think a dream might come true.

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