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ACG IS HERE TO STAY

The Association for Corporate Growth ("ACG") is the premier global association for professionals involved in corporate growth. The 13,000 members of ACG primarily include lenders, private equity groups, intermediaries, service providers and corporate development professionals. Doing business is at the heart of every ACG membership. Chapters in North America, Asia and Europe bring dealmakers together to help achieve the business and professional goals of its members.   

October marked the second anniversary of ACG Kentucky’s first event. The vision of developing a high-quality chapter that our membership can be proud of has been achieved. ACG Kentucky has now grown to 100 members that include some our state’s best, focused on corporate growth. I am also proud to say that we have a strong group of sponsors that have been committed to our organization from the very beginning. The Kentucky chapter has elevated our state’s prominence in the global M&A community which we believe will benefit our community in the long term.    

Our events offer our members the opportunity to learn, network and get involved with our state’s business leaders. Our members have had the opportunity to hear the unique corporate growth stories of some of our areas CEOs first hand.  

Our speaker list this past year includes the following:
•    GJ Hart, President & CEO of Texas Roadhouse, Inc.
•    Congressman John Yarmuth
•    Dr. James R. Ramsey, President of University of Louisville
•    Michael Bowers, Chairman & Co-Founder of IPay Technologies
•    James Headlee, CEO of eBridge Global
•    Matt Thornton, President & CEO of Thorntons
•    Jonathan S. Blue, Chairman & Managing Director of Blue Equity
•    Ed Glasscock, Chairman Emeritus of Frost Brown Todd

In addition to the corporate speakers, we also held a healthcare forum and a mayoral debate both of which proved to be interesting topics. While charitable giving is not a mission of our organization, I am proud to say that our members raised over $10,000 for Junior Achievement through our second annual golf outing.  

ACG Kentucky owes a special thanks to Ken Berryman of CapitalSouth Partners who just completed his two year term as President. Ken brought many key people together that ensured our chapter was launched successfully. We could not have done this without him. During this next year, we plan to build upon and improve the foundation laid during the first two years.

The coming year is shaping up to be a very exciting year for our organization. If you are interested in becoming a member of ACG Kentucky, you can apply at www.acg.org/kentucky.     

Dub Newell is the President of ACG and President and CEO of FirstLight HomeCare based in Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Newell can be reached at (502) 632-0448.