Sports tourism can give communities an economic boost
Posted On August 25, 2023
Sports are fun, an entertaining way to spend our weekends. But they can also provide an economic boost to a community through sports tourism. Take Huntsville, for instance. The thriving north Alabama city hosted 59 sporting events last year, bringing in more than $32 million in economic impact and generating more than 52,000 hotel room nights. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is the man whose job it is to attract those events — Joel Lamp, convention sales and sports manager for the Huntsville/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Lamp, who was featured in… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston
Fear of failure is a powerful motivator in business
Posted On August 22, 2023
DSI Security Services was started over 50 years ago when the construction company building a nuclear power plant near Dothan, Alabama, turned to the local sheriff for help in securing the job site. Alan Clark, the son of that sheriff, is now chairman of the board of DSI and has helped the company grow into one of the biggest privately-held security companies in the nation, with over 5,400 employees in 33 states. Most of that growth has been organic, says Clark, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” Clients like BMW ask DSI to expand… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
How do you attract and manage multi-million-dollar clients? Start by listening to them
Posted On August 13, 2023
What are most important things to know and do when your job is to attract and manage multi-million-dollar clients for one of the largest hotel chains in the world? Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” can tell us. Jason Cohen is Executive Director of Global Corporate Meetings & Events at Accor Hotels. While Paris-based Accor may not be as well-known to Americans as some of the major U.S.-based chains, it’s the fourth-largest hotel company in the world, with over 5,500 hotels in 130 countries and over 40 brands in North America. Cohen came up… Read More
Categories: Blog, Travel, What's Working with Cam Marston
Riding wave of prosperity, Poarch Band of Creek Indians CEO believes in giving back
Posted On August 9, 2023
Stephanie Bryan grew up in poverty as a member of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians community, before it obtained federal recognition in 1984. Today, as its first female chairperson and CEO, she is leading it to unprecedented prosperity. Bryan, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” now oversees a business portfolio that includes 42 separate businesses, ranging from government contractors to software companies to Wind Creek Resorts and the popular OWA amusement park and waterpark. A community that once received 100 percent of its funding through grant money is now 90 percent funded through… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston, Women
Recruiting and retention in today’s market means abandoning old ways of thinking
Posted On July 28, 2023
Businesses in pretty much every industry are having difficulty finding enough employees these days. It’s not uncommon for an employer to need to fill dozens of positions quickly – sometimes even more. Dr. Josh Duplantis’ job is to help fill those vacancies. Duplantis, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is the Dean of Workforce Development at Coastal Alabama Community College, and he says filling your workforce needs these days means abandoning old ways of thinking. First of all, the days of just advertising a job and sifting through resumes is over. “You’ve got to… Read More
Categories: Blog, Recruiting, What's Working with Cam Marston
Ready to expand into new markets? Know who your customers are
Posted On July 21, 2023
Is your business ready to expand into new markets? How do you decide which ones? The key is understanding who your customers are and where they live and play. So says Casey Biehl, chief operating officer at Fat Boy’s Pizza, a pizzeria based in Metairie, Louisiana, with nine locations in three states that’s looking to expand even further into Alabama and throughout the Southeast. Biehl, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is in a business where the vast majority of Americans consume the product – 93 percent of Americans have eaten pizza within the… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Meeting a need for the growing logistics industry in Mobile
Posted On July 12, 2023
With a busy port, plentiful transportation routes and a positive business climate, logistics is a growing sector in Mobile. Philip Burton has a solution to meet its needs. Burton, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is a commercial developer who saw the vast potential for growth in logistics in the area and started the South Alabama Logistics Park. It’s a place where shipments that come into the busy Port of Mobile can be unpacked from their containers and stored before moving on to their ultimate destinations by truck, rail or air. “We saw an… Read More
Categories: Blog, Real Estate, What's Working with Cam Marston
The art of survival through multiple changes in ownership
Posted On June 30, 2023
If you work in the corporate world, the potential for a transfer in ownership of your company is a fact of life. Surviving a change in ownership is not a given. Surviving several changes of ownership? That may be considered a talent. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” has done just that. Matt Peat is Vice President of Sales for Transhield, which makes custom wraps for boats, military vehicles and industrial equipment. Its products can be made to order for clients like boat manufacturers or the military, and they’re also available in universal sizes… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston, Work, Workplace
Paul Lewis is making the most of his second chance in construction
Posted On June 27, 2023
Few of us are fortunate enough to get second chances, whether it be in life or in business. Paul Lewis did, however, and he’s making the most of it. Lewis, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is president of Roy Lewis Construction, a company his father started in Mobile in 1984. The company had built a name for itself in the Mobile area and was riding high on negotiated projects built on word of mouth and positive recommendations. They didn’t do much marketing, because they didn’t have to. But when the recession of 2008… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, Recession Economy, What's Working with Cam Marston
How a broker can help you buy or sell a business
Posted On June 19, 2023
Looking to buy or sell a business? A broker can help. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” was Trey Langus, a business advisor and broker with Transworld Business Advisors. He connects owners who are looking to sell their businesses with potential buyers. There are a lot of potential buyers looking for businesses, Langus says, and many of them are coming from out of state and across the country, attracted by the favorable business climate in the Southeast. What they’re looking for, typically, is a business with clear financials, upside and, ideally, scalability. But Langus… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, Podcast, Succession Planning, What's Working with Cam Marston