Gov. Herbert statement on the passing of Mac Christensen
SALT LAKE CITY (Oct. 12, 2019) – Gov. Gary R. Herbert released the following statement after the passing of Mac Christensen:
“Mac Christensen was a true gentleman and a successful entrepreneur. He loved and cared about everyone and everyone loved him in return. Everyone was his friend. He was a living legend here in Utah and beyond. He cared about how you looked on the outside - but more importantly he cared about how you looked on the inside. He was known for his kindness, his service and his charitable giving. He was one of a kind and will be sorely missed.”
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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Tony Young
Media Relations Manager
tonyyoung@utah.gov | 801-538-8722
Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development Announces Grant Awardees of Its Two New Rural Programs
SALT LAKE CITY (Oct. 11, 2019) — The Utah Governor’s Office Economic Development (GOED) announced grant recipients for two new rural programs added by Utah’s Legislature. The programs are administered by the Office of Rural Development (ORD). Grants were awarded to applicants of the Rural Coworking and Innovation Center and the Rural Rapid Manufacturing grant programs.
These two new rural programs complement existing ORD programs and spur economic opportunities and investments in rural Utah.
“These two rural programs will further enhance investment opportunities in our rural counties,” said Ginger Chinn, managing director for Urban and Rural Business Services at GOED. “These programs are designed to meet the needs of hardworking entrepreneurs and support rural Utah.”
Grant applications were reviewed and scored by committees. Grant awardees for the Rural Coworking and Innovation Center are Utah State University–Blanding, Utah State University Extension–Garfield, Southeastern Utah Business and Technical Center, and Vernal City.
The Rural Rapid Manufacturing Grant awardees are the Southern Utah University Engineering and Technology Department, and FutureInDesign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing advanced manufacturing and soft skills training.
“I’m focused on Utah’s rural economic growth, and as a result, sponsored these two bills this past legislative session,” said Rep. Carl Albrecht. “We hope the two new grant programs will make a difference in job creation in rural Utah.”
About the Rural Coworking and Innovation Center Grant
The Rural Coworking and Innovation Center grant assists rural businesses by providing individuals working in designated rural areas with infrastructure and equipment to participate in the online workforce. $500,000 per fiscal year is allocated for this grant.
Activities that qualify for this grant are:
The Office of Rural Development administers this grant through the Rural Online Working Hubs Grant Advisory Committee.
About the Rural Rapid Manufacturing Grant
The Rural Rapid Manufacturing grant assists in establishing laboratories designed to train students and employees, build and improve equipment, and offer scholarships within small-batch, fast delivery manufacturing.
Qualifying activities of this grant:
Utah’s Legislature allocated $500,000 on a one-time appropriation for this grant.
Visit the Office of Rural Development website to learn more about its programs.
About Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development
Under the direction of Gov. Gary R. Herbert, the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) provides resources and support for business creation, growth and recruitment, and drives increased tourism and film production in Utah. Utilizing state resources and private sector contracts, GOED administers programs in economic areas that demonstrate the highest potential for development.
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USDA Recognizes Hard-Working School Meals Professionals, Empowers Them to Do Right in School Lunchrooms
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2019 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued the following statement in support of President Donald J. Trump’s National School Lunch Week Proclamation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) celebrates food service professionals, school leaders, as well as the farmers, ranchers, and producers who grow the delicious, healthful, American-grown foods that kids enjoy every day in school lunches.
“At USDA we recognize the importance a healthy lunch has on millions of school children across our nation. Without a nutritious and wholesome lunch, students are not being set up for success. One of my first actions when I arrived at USDA was to give school food service professionals more local control – they’re the experts and know what their kids want to eat,” said Secretary Sonny Perdue. “The tireless efforts of school food service professionals deserve recognition and I thank them for their service to our country and their commitment to the future of our next generation.”
To help give school food workers the tools they need to do their jobs well with world-class customer service, USDA is offering additional flexibilities for serving school meals, as announced this month in new guidance provided to schools. These bring new opportunities to allow commercially produced smoothies to be included in school meals, provide more guidance on serving milk options, and allow for healthier, more innovative foods to be incorporated into meal plans. Schools are also now empowered with more resources to offer salad bars and better positioned to teach good eating habits to our nation’s children.
The flexibilities provided to school foodservice professionals recently expand on those USDA gave schools last December, when the department provided more options around milk, whole grains, and sodium. USDA continues to encourage schools to meet their children’s needs and tastes in these areas, while helping schools meet the recommended MyPlate dairy needs in their students’ diets.
USDA is also promoting Farm to School initiatives. This year’s Farm to School grants are the biggest ever awarded – with more than $9 million supporting programs across 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico – and will reach more than 3.2 million children in over 5,400 schools. These grants increase the amount of local food in America’s schools, while helping young people foster healthy eating habits. They also create new economic opportunities for local farmers, ranchers, and producers and can inspire children to consider future careers in agriculture.
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USDA Forest Service Seeks Public Comment on Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Alternatives to a Proposed Alaska Roadless Rule
Development of a proposed state-specific rule is in response to a petition from the State of Alaska
JUNEAU, ALASKA, Oct. 15, 2019 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement offering a range of alternatives to roadless management and a proposed Alaska Roadless Rule. If adopted, the proposed rule would exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The USDA Forest Service will publish the documents in the Federal Register this week. The publication will begin a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rule, and on each alternative outlined in the draft environmental impact statement.
The draft environmental impact statement, prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act, provides an analysis of six alternatives, which are options, choices, or courses of action related to roadless management in Alaska. The alternatives range from no action to the removal of the Tongass from the 2001 Roadless Rule. The Department has identified Alternative 6, which is a full exemption, as the preferred alternative at this time. The full range of options are:
The Forest Service is scheduling a series of public meetings and subsistence hearings. A list of those meeting locations will be available on the Alaska Roadless Rule project website.
The public has until midnight Alaska time on Dec. 17, 2019, to submit comments on the documents. The documents are posted in the Federal Register and on the agency’s Alaska Roadless Rule website.
These are the ways the public can submit written comments once the notice is published:
Written comments will help inform USDA as it moves toward a final decision about an Alaska-specific roadless rule. The Secretary of Agriculture is expected to make a final decision by June 2020.
The Tongass stretches over the 500-mile-long Southeast Alaska Panhandle and covers 80 percent of the land. It is rich in natural resources and cultural heritage. Developed areas cover about 8 percent of the land. There are 32 communities, including the state capitol of Juneau, in Southeast Alaska.
News media inquiries should be made to the Forest Service Press Desk at pressoffice@fs.fed.us or call 202-205-1134.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) works to reduce food insecurity and promote nutritious diets among the American people. The agency administers 15 nutrition assistance programs that leverage American’s agricultural abundance to ensure children and low-income individuals and families have nutritious food to eat. FNS also co-develops the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which provide science-based nutrition recommendations and serve as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy.
*For a review copy of The Busy Leader's Handbook or an interview with Quint Studer, please contact Dottie DeHart, DeHart & Company Public Relations, at (828) 325-4966 or simply reply to this email.
Self-Awareness and Coachability:
The Two Most Important Leadership Traits
The strongest leaders know what they're good at and what they're not, and they don't get bent out of shape by constructive criticism. Quint Studer explains how to nurture these qualities in yourself and your team—and why it can transform your company.
Hoboken, NJ (October 2019)—Quint Studer likes to talk about an interesting conversation he had with a venture capitalist. They were discussing the qualities the VC looks for when thinking of buying a company. Studer was expecting to hear words like "profitability" and "growth potential." But instead, the VC put self-awareness and coachability at the top of the list.
"I was surprised but probably shouldn't have been," says Studer, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Busy Leader's Handbook: How to Lead People and Places That Thrive (Wiley, October 2019, ISBN: 978-1-119-57664-8, $28.00). "I've worked with hundreds of leaders—in hospitals, on baseball fields, in government offices, in hotels, stores, and restaurants—and have seen that organizations that focus on these two qualities tend to be strong, innovative, and profitable."
It makes sense. Today's business environment requires us to adapt quickly and relentlessly. That means leaders must not only be great at what they do, they also have to be great learners. This mindset—which is connected to humility—requires that leaders "know what they don't know" and be willing to work on their shortcomings.
"Self-awareness and coachability are connected," says Studer. "When we know what we need to improve on, we're more likely to seek the help of others who can coach us. Once we seek that help, we become even more self-aware. It's a cycle that builds on itself."
He adds that when these two qualities become part of your company's culture, it's easier to engage and motivate employees. High performers will be drawn to you (and are more likely to stick around). Productivity will soar.
Here are a few tips for becoming more self-aware and coachable:
Know that getting better starts on the inside. It's not "them"; it's you. "When I was younger, I lived in the world of 'if only,'" says Studer. "If only I had gone to this school, majored in this, grown up rich, gotten the breaks, or been more appreciated, then my life would be better. The problem was always them. Then, at 31, I crashed emotionally. I sought professional help and found other resources to learn from. I soon discovered the problem was not them; it was me and my expectations. I figured out that I will struggle until I am better on the inside."
Ask for feedback (and really listen). Talk to your boss, to other leaders, to employees, to friends and family members. Ask what they see as your strengths and weaknesses. How do they think you performed on a recent project? What might you have done better?
Don't shoot the messenger. When you receive negative feedback, practice listening without reacting. If you feel yourself getting upset, don't lash out. Process the information and sit with it a while before deciding whether it's valid. Often you'll have to admit it is. It's hard to hear negative truths about ourselves, but, with practice, we can become more open to it.
Have a "beginner's mind-set." People who practice "beginner's mind" rather than always thinking they are going to be a guru or expert tend to do better in teams. Always be ready and willing to participate, serve, and share your best insights. You will learn a lot more. For example, check your attitude before you go to a meeting. Always come into the group with the intention of learning something. Rather than having an attitude of This isn't relevant to me or This is not what I'm interested in, ask yourself, How could this apply to me? How could this be useful for me now—and if not now, later?
Keep an accountability journal. Write down your goals and plans and regularly update what you're doing to move toward them. Track your progress over time. Are you doing what you set out to do? If not, what might be holding you back? Exploring these issues in writing can lead to startling insights on your strengths and weaknesses.
Seize every opportunity to develop yourself. "While most entrepreneurs are great at the core 'skill' their venture is built on—cooking, accounting, practicing law—they haven't typically mastered the skills it takes to run a business," says Studer. "They need training in basics like hiring, firing, creating revenue streams, etc. I find the most successful small business owners are those who are self-aware enough to know what they don't know and take advantage of resources that can help."
Hire people who are smarter than you. Make sure they're willing to challenge you (and that you're open to being challenged). Being surrounded by a bunch of "yes men" and "yes women" isn't going to help you grow.
Get a mentor; be a mentor (or do both). Mentoring is powerful. Whether you have a mentor or you mentor someone else, this relationship can spark tremendous growth in both parties. Great mentors know that they are not finished products, and often they learn as much from the mentee as the mentee learns from them.
Don't be afraid to change your mind. We tend to think of strong leaders as being quick, decisive, and unwavering in their decision-making. Most of the time, they are praised for being consistent, and their conviction is seen as a source of comfort and reassurance for their team. On the other hand, leaders who change their mind or embrace a new way of thinking about something are seen as "flip-floppers" and derided for being wishy-washy or inconsistent.
The reality is that leaders who are open to learning new information and adapting their thinking accordingly are ultimately more successful. Changing your mind is not a sign of weakness, but a sign that you are able to learn and grow in real time. Good leaders never tie themselves too tightly to their first conclusion. Instead, they have the courage to admit they might have been wrong and the flexibility to course correct as new information becomes available.
There is no finish line in learning. "There are always things to learn," says Studer. "I guess I assumed at one time that someday I would know enough. That's just not true. There is always more to learn, and teachers present themselves in many different ways. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Remaining teachable is key."
"Becoming self-aware and coachable doesn't mean striving for perfection," concludes Studer. "None of us will ever be perfect. It does mean identifying worst flaws that hold us back and sincerely working to repair them. It means knowing which tasks to delegate, and when to seek the advice of experts. It means realizing more each day just how much we don't know. This is a journey that we'll never finish. Our main job as a leader is to make sure that we're always headed in the right direction on the path."
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About the Author:
Quint Studer is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Busy Leader's Handbook and a lifelong businessman, entrepreneur, and student of leadership. He not only teaches it; he has done it. He has worked with individuals at all levels and across a variety of industries to help them become better leaders and create high-performing organizations. He seeks always to simplify high-impact leader behaviors and tactics for others.
Quint has a great love for teaching his insights in books and has authored nine of them in addition to The Busy Leader's Handbook. His book Results That Last also made the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Building a Vibrant Community, published in 2018, is a blueprint for communities seeking to revitalize themselves.
Quint is the founder of Vibrant Community Partners and Pensacola's Studer Community Institute. He currently serves as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of West Florida.
To learn more, please visit www.thebusyleadershandbook.com, www.vibrantcommunityblueprint.com, and www.studeri.org.
About the Book:
The Busy Leader's Handbook: How to Lead People and Places That Thrive (Wiley, October 2019, ISBN: 978-1-119-57664-8, $28.00) is available at bookstores nationwide, from major online booksellers, and direct from the publisher by calling 800-225-5945. In Canada, call 800-567-4797. For more information, please visit the book's page at www.wiley.com.
