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.

Success in Blogs and Business

In this blog post, “Successful Twitterers, Bloggers and Small Business Owners are just Extroverted Over-Achievers“, the author writes about how 95% of blogs fail, 60% of new Twitter users fail to come back, and the likelihood of a business start-up … Continue reading

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The Weekend Ends

Though bad for blogging, it was a beautiful weekend for doing those chores outside that I had been putting off. Tomorrow will be a great day to get back to work at Hickman County Economic & Community Development and rest … Continue reading

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The Play’s the Thing

Tennessee Repertory Theatre, the Nashville area’s resident professional theatre company, recently announced its 2009-2010 season. Marking its 25th anniversary, Tennessee Rep begins the season on October 3 with Steel Magnolias. We’ve been season subscribers for a while, but there is … Continue reading

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My Elevator Speech has Its Ups & Downs…

I participated in an interview today where one of the questions went something like this: “You’re in an elevator and a C-level executive from a target industry sector that is looking to expand unexpectantly steps on. What do you tell … Continue reading

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Need to Merge Back onto the Information Superhighway?

Today’s post on the SmallBizBigTime blog, “Attention Small Biz – Get Ready for New Technology & Social Media Tools“, was particularly timely. Just last night, I commented (to my wife on Sofa 1.0) on how sad a blog with one … Continue reading

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Tap an Interactive Map

I was just reading an article in Forbes online magazine that has an economic development interest to those of us seeking a quality of place. The story, “Where Americans are Living Well“, highlights one of the many interactive data features … Continue reading

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Mediocre to Mighty-fine

I read an interesting article this morning in the New York Times on Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, a book that I would highly recommend. In the book, Mr. Collins uses a lot of research that basically details … Continue reading

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Green business assistance in Hickman County, Tennessee

I just ran across the DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, which gives a brief overview of incentives each state and the federal government makes available for renewable energy production and for energy efficiency improvements. For … Continue reading

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Spend some of your Memorial Day Weekend in Hickman County

It is Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of Summer. I was just reading that folks are staying closer to home for their holiday and vacation fun (the “stay-cation”, as we call it.) If you are looking for a nice … Continue reading

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Let’s get down… downtown, that is

Though more on the economic development side, http://www.downtowndevelopment.com/ has a page with a lot of downtown development information, www.downtowndevelopment.com/perspectives.php , but it also has some information that will be helpful to downtown businesses.

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Macon County and Hickman County make Community Connection

We had a nice time today hosting a group from Macon County for our Three-Star Community Connection. Our group from Hickman County presented our ongoing Centerville downtown revitalization project, our tourism efforts, and other economic & community development work. Of … Continue reading

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"Minnie the Mover" …or "Grinders Girl Graces Gazebo"

Look who’s back in town. Yes, the Minnie Pearl statue is now at the Grinders Switch Winery. Check out the Minnie Pearl statue located in the gazebo on the grounds of the Grinders Switch Winery located in Hickman County. Minnie … Continue reading

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2009 Tennessee Business Matchmaking Webinar Series

The 2009 Tennessee Business Matchmaking Webinar Series provide Tennessee’s small, minority-, and women-owned businesses a cost-effective way to learn about existing procurement opportunities with public and private entities. Since April 2006, BERO has hosted six Tennessee Business Matchmaking events in … Continue reading

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I’m from "dot" GOV and I’m here to help you…

I was revisiting business assistance websites for entrepreneurs, business start-ups and business managers this morning and I just wanted to highlight www.business.gov . It is especially helpful with information on how business interfaces with government. Not only does it include … Continue reading

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Biz Blogs for Beginning Business

If you are starting a business or have just started one, there is a steep learning curve that you probably don’t have a lot of money to hire consultants to help gain traction. Economic development organizations (like HCECDA) can help, … Continue reading

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Let’s make our small towns cooler this summer…

I liked this post “Can small towns be cool“. Of course, the answer is ‘yes’ but it takes some vision and some work to make a small town ‘cool’ or whatever term you use for successful in your town. I’ve … Continue reading

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News on News Story

Hickman County Economic & Community Development Association was a part of a news story on NewsChannel5 tonight about the efforts of Connected Tennessee and local communities like Hickman County to work toward improving broadband technology availability and utilization in Tennessee. … Continue reading

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FY 2010 Budget related to Rural

The Rural Policy Research Institute released a report titled “A Snapshot of the President’s Budget FY 2010 What’s In It For Rural America?“, which gives a glimpse at what we in rural areas might can expect in the next budget … Continue reading

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Fish for your niche when marketing to tourists

A blog post with great ideas on marketing your business or community to tourists: “Yfactor -New Ideas for Tourism Niches“

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Old Country Store

Want to see a real old country store? Check out Tarkington’s General Store down on Hassell’s Creek in Hickman County. Wade the creek, have some food, and listen to some music. You may check them out on the web at … Continue reading

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Scenic Drive and Wine (best not at the same time!)

Yes, Hickman County gained the reputation for moonshining and is still sometimes called “Keg County” by some old-timers, but we are a little more refined these days. There are many scenic drives reminiscent of Thunder Road in Hickman County including … Continue reading

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The grass IS greener….

During the past few weeks, I have had the inclination and opportunity to look more closely at economic development organizations in other communities. It is tough these days, but it is amazing what a few people in a small community … Continue reading

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Megasite Bill Passes

A bill passed the Tennessee General Assembly was celebrated by Governor Phil Bredesen, Tennessee Economic & Community Development Commissioner Kisber, and state legislators that will help the development of a megasite. (see article). The megasite program has been successful in … Continue reading

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Higher Education more Accessible

A long time ago and in a place far, far away, I earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. Other than the rare occasions that I stayed with hospitable classmates or lived off the … Continue reading

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Small Business Tax Assistance

A few weeks after April 15th…. why not forget about taxes for a while? Not a good idea, especially for business. For current advice on federal taxes, check out the IRS website for business related tax information that includes text, … Continue reading

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Dress like Minnie Pearl….

Well, the statue of Minnie Pearl is still in Perry County somewhere, I guess. As my thoughts were on Minnie today, it occurred to me that she really did touch a lot of people’s lives. She was even mentioned the … Continue reading

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Cold Calling… no, please don’t hang up!

Most of us in business have to do make cold calls sometime – like it or not. Whether a small business owner developing a customer base, an economic developer calling prospects, or an economic development consultant trying to connect with … Continue reading

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Community Case Studies in Economic Development

If you are looking for some ideas, the following post, “Small Towns, Big Ideas Case Studies“, has case studies of how smaller communities achieved economic development success.

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Tweet, wiki, blog post, connection, podcast, friend: time for new words in a marketing plan

Marketing can be maddening. The traditional media still works, but as social media becomes more main stream and fewer people are non-adopters, business must integrate social media in their marketing plan. Another thing is if one is smart about it, … Continue reading

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A Third Place can be a Winner

I liked this blog post, “Does your community need a coffee shop and other third places?“. “Third Places” are described in the post as informal gathering places like cafes, bookstores, public squares, main streets, etc. that fulfill a role in … Continue reading

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