Welcome back to another installment of Fairfield Stories. Although I’m not keeping to my self-promise to publish more frequently, I hope to heat things up after the vote on May 4!

Today we’re profiling relative newcomer to town, Darryl Jarmasco.

Darryl, his wife and four kids (soon to be a fifth!), moved to Fairfield from Michigan last June. While vacationing in Hawaii, he met some Fairfieldians who told him he had to come. After visiting Fairfield and being highly impressed by the education offered by MSAE, he and his wife were sold and moved here.

I met with Darryl after I received a promotional email about his free seminar at Revelations, tomorrow April 14th from 11:30-1:00PM. I snooped around his website and I figured I’d meet with him, and maybe let people know about his seminar and leave it at that.

Well, not only is he a nice guy, but he is just so full of positive energy that I thought I’d devote this column to him. You see, he is a motivational speaker and although I am typically turned off by people who bill themselves this way, after an hour with him, I can tell you that he is, indeed, motivational.

He is a coach. A person who turned his own life around and, as a result, now helps others to do the same by tapping into the principles he taught himself.  He has found that people  have stories -  beliefs – that they hold on to that hold them back from achieving what they are capable of. So what Darryl does is helps people to get beyond their stories and to establish clarity in the form of purpose. To help them connect to what they really want and why they want it.

So the logical question in his mind is, What is your real challenge and what are the stories and excuses that are holding you back?

We all have patterns. Some of us are lazy, some blissful, and everything in-between. It is all based on emotion and Darryl helps you to understand where this emotion, this energy, comes from. And when you connect with that you can open your mind to what you really want. To moving ahead. To acheiving results…

Sound like hooey? Maybe. But I asked Darryl for success stories which were fairly easy for him to come by. Take that of a guy who works in Chicago at two jobs, 16 hours a day. His real dream was to become a full-time realtor and to give up the other jobs. As Darryl put it, “he was holding on to 20 plus years of conditioning where he was told to be quiet, reserved, to sit down and shut up.” He wasn’t excited. He needed encouragement to feel again… So after only 7 coaching sessions over a 1.5 month period, his client started to cold-call to get listings. And, through a sense of empowerment, plus focus, a positive physiology, and positive language – the client got 2 listings, a bunch of referrals and is starting to thrive.

As Darryl put it, the real magic is how the client is feeling, for he now has a new mindset that he will now have for good, and forever.

Darryl got into this after he had a financial disaster after graduating from college and while in Border’s bookstore, he stumbled on to the self-help book section. After reading numerous books, things started to click for Daryl and as they did, he felt compelled to share that knowledge with others. So he  hooked up with Tony Robbins with the objective of helping people to have the best life they could. He is now a Tony Robbins coach, wrote a book, does numerous speaking engagements, trains, and is challenging himself to become even bigger and better.

Darryl’s family is most important to him. He is spiritual in that he believes in a higher power. He is more interested in meaning and purpose than things. That is what makes him happy.

In addition to giving to people through his business, Darryl is a member of Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce , and helps out at the MSAE when he can. He loves taking his family on the trail system, and truly appreciates the community – in the form of the wonderful people he has met and continues to meet. Darryl also writes a column for our friends at the Iowa Source about concious living.

If you want know more about yourself, to challenge yourself, and to grow. As Darryl passionately put it “Do it now. Find it now. Be bold” and check out Darryl at Revelations, or visit his website.

Officials with the Fairfield Economic Development Association announced the launch Thursday of the 2010 Fairfield Existing Business Initiative [FEBI].  The Initiative, a business outreach survey and interview program first implemented in 2008, seeks to gather extensive intelligence on the condition of the local economy, said Pat Doyle, FEDA President.

“FEDA is committed to serving our local economy first, and by heading out and visiting with the men and women who employ thousands of Fairfield-area residents and who direct millions of dollars in capital investment, we ensure that we capture every opportunity to communicate with them as they plot expansion plans or who are considering pulling back as it relates to jobs or investment,” he said.  Doyle added that during the FEBI campaign, members from a six-member FEDA Board subcommittee will visit leaders at 36 of Fairfield’s largest employers in an effort to identify growth opportunities; retraction threats and gather marketplace, community and utility services satisfaction data.

The program takes a three-part approach to information gathering, said Samuel Busch, FEDA Administrator and controller of the FEBI program.  The first component, a company background information survey, has already been distributed to each of the participating companies and is expected to be returned by mid-April.  A live appointment follows.  “In the coming months, following receipt of the background forms, we will be contacting company officials to set up meetings during which two members of the FEBI subcommittee will visit the company site and conduct a comprehensive interview with question topics ranging in scope from international market share to local Internet service satisfaction,” Busch said.  The final component is a post-visit follow-up report submitted by FEBI committee members following the meeting to FEDA for analysis, he added.

Busch said that the results of the meetings will be analyzed, with trending, cluster potential and other factor reports generated via the eSynchronist PRIME economic development software FEDA has access to through a strategic regional relationship and compiled into a final report released to the community at the FEDA annual meeting in September.

The data collected, which can be aggregated hundreds of different ways at any time in order to better inform community and economic development-oriented decisions, said FEDA Executive Director Brent Willett, is a “powerful tool” which grows stronger following the execution of each generation of the Initiative.

“The 2008 campaign not only identified several ultimately successful expansion opportunities,” he said, pointing to a recent $2 million, 22-job project at Creative Master Shop as an example, “but also helped to form a foundation upon which we are now building our local business information database.  With each passing FEBI campaign, our understanding of the forces inside and outside our business community which influence investment and hiring behavior grows.”

“The beauty of the FEBI program is it both provides us with data that we are able to put to work to inform long-term strategic planning, which we did in the development of our 2011 Strategic Plan,” Willett said, “but also actionable intelligence on pending business decisions which demands our attention and the attention of community leadership immediately and which we otherwise may not have identified in time to affect a positive solution.”

Willett stressed that data collected during the private meetings is kept strictly confidential, pointing to a policy which permits only aggregate public data reporting of any kind and the fact that each participant in the program signs a binding confidentiality agreement.  “We’re asking questions designed to gauge business satisfaction levels and future plans.  In many cases, it’s highly sensitive information we collect, and we take that fact very seriously.”

The participation of company executives is critical. Every company executive is encouraged to take this opportunity to meet with FEDA to share views when contacted.

FEDA, established in 1979, works closely with local community development organizations, financial institutions and businesses, as well as agencies and elected officials in local, county, state and federal government to help facilitate economic growth in Fairfield by providing assistance in locating financing for business and community development projects, grant administration and land development.  The non-profit organization is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors.

Tickets are now available for the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Banquet Presented by MidWestOne Bank, happening the evening of March 11 at Best Western Fairfield Inn. Fairfield City Councilman and attorney Myron Gookin returns for an encore performance as the evening’s emcee, as do award presenters Terry Baker and Jane Anne Harl, who will name winners in more than ten award categories.

The slate of programming awaiting those attending the celebration and dinner includes the Business. Community. Pride. Awards, which were first introduced in 2009, as well as time-honored traditions like the naming of the Libertyville Savings Bank Citizen of the Year, said Brent Willett, Chamber executive director.

“Every award we’ll hand out March 11 is designed to recognize investment and innovation on the part of Fairfield business and community institutions,” he said. “Be it capital improvements, resource redeployment, new media, or lifelong accomplishment, the Banquet is about celebrating progress in this community.”

In addition to the Business. Community. Pride. Awards, the Chamber will name a 2010 Citizen of the Year, which is awarded each year to the most outstanding Fairfield citizen. In 2009, Melva Dahl and Dr. Donal Hill were named Co-Citizens of the Year. Past winners of the prestigious honor determine the honoree(s) each year.

Aside from the awards, other Banquet programming will include a report on the City of Fairfield from Mayor Ed Malloy, remarks from Fairfield Economic Development Association President Pat Doyle, a “Night on the Town” basket silent auction and a photo slideshow of winners.

Award winners will be named in the following categories:

• Libertyville Savings Bank Citizen of the Year
  • Outstanding Fairfield citizen
• Cambridge Impact Award
  • Recognizing a longtime Chamber member who has made outstanding contributions to the Chamber and the community
• Progress Award
  • Business improvement or New Young Business of the year
• New Young Business Awards
  • Recognizing those businesses who entered their first year of existence in 2009 and who made marked improvements to their space of operation or product delivery
• Business Improvement Awards
  • Recognizing those businesses which made marked improvements to their space of operation in the last year
• Community Improvement Awards
  • Recognizing those community projects which made marked improvements to their theatre of operation in the last year
• Rising Star Award
  • Chamber member in its second or third year which has made outstanding early contributions to the Fairfield Area
• Chamber of Commerce
  • Adaptation Award
• Business which has redefined itself in the community or its marketplace over the last year. A transformation of purpose or product.
  • Interactive Media Award
• Web site/blog of the year
  • Web site/blog of the year
• President’s Award
  • Recognizing one outstanding contributor to the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce in 2009

The Annual Banquet, which begins with a cocktail hour at 5:45 pm and includes dinner, has sold out for the past several years, and reservations are required. Tickets are $30 and are available at the Chamber office at 204 West Broadway. Contact the Chamber by phone at 641-472-2111 or chamber@fairfieldiowa.com to reserve tickets.

For more information on the Annual Banquet, visit FairfieldIowa.com.

The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advocacy of its more than 350 member partners. The Chamber produces dozens of community events year-round and works with local, state, regional and national partners to improve the Fairfield’s business environment and quality of life. The Chamber’s 204 West Broadway offices also house the offices of the Fairfield Economic Development Association.

[Tech Tips is a new column I am introducing on Fairfield Voice. Please let me know if there are any specific tech topics you'd like to see covered.]

The problem: dozens of websites manage calendars listing Fairfield Iowa related events. There is a lot of duplication of efforts between these calendars, and an event organizer that needs to get an event published/updated needs to work with all this duplication of efforts in order to promote the event to the widest audience.

The solution: Google Calendar, a free service (requires a free gmail account) allows multiple websites to share a single calendar of events.

Let me give an example. Glen Keenan, owner of Chickadee, a local consignment store for women and kids, publishes a calendar of family activities using Google Calendar. He manages the calendar from his Google account by adding the time, location and description of family friendly activities in the Fairfield area. Nothing new here – he’s doing what dozens of other businesses and organizations in town are doing – creating and publishing events to a calendar.

However the difference here is that the calendar Glen created:

• Can be easily shared on any website.
• Users can add this calendar to their own calendars (Google, Outlook, iCal).
• Glenn can give permissions to other users to help manage (publish/edit) events on his calendar.
• Users can add reminders, so that they are emailed or text messaged as the event nears.
• Events can be assigned to a location in Google Maps – directions anyone?
• Attach files/documents to events.

Glen published his calendar to his store’s website, by simply copying a bit of html code, and pasting it into a page on Chickadee’s website. Visitors to his site can go to that calendar, browse family oriented events, add reminders for specific events they like, and/or click a button to add the entire calendar to their own online Calender. So for those using Gmail, they would have their Google Calendar updated in real time with all the events listed in Glen’s Family Activities Calendar.

Additionally, other website admins, like myself, can copy the same bit of html, and paste it into our websites, like I did here on FairfieldVoice. Each time Glen updates the Family Event Calendar in his Google account (publishing new, or editing existing events), the calendars on FairfieldVoice, Chickadee, and my personal Google Calendar (I am subscribing to the Family Activities Calendar) are all simultaneously updated with those new events. Publish once – update everywhere!

Imagine if the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center published their events in a Google Calendar. The Fairfield Voice, The Fairfield Ledger, The Iowa Source, and of course the FACC’s website, could all display a current version of the same event listing for the FACC. The creator of the FACC events calendar could promote others, like people who run organizations that run events at the FACC, to manage their events on the FACC calendar, and therefore spreading the workload of managing calendar updates. That calendar could then be easily added to any website interested in providing real time event listings for the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center.

In edition to a full event description, each event could include links to ticketing, files and documents, contact number and emails, show times, and directions (for those driving from out of town) powered by Google Maps.

What I would love to see is a ring of Fairfield calendars powered by Google and shared across websites and subscribed to by residents. Anyone can start a Google Calendar, just pick a theme – Chamber of Commerce, City Council, Music, FACC, Public Schools, Yoga, Sports, Workshops – and invite other people to help manage and promote, publish your events and ask to have the Calendar “hosted” on Fairfield Voice and other sites.

Got questions to help get you started? I’m happy to help, just post your question below.

We’re truly sad to announce that 21st Century Bookstore, an institution in Fairfield since 1984, is closing its doors! It’s doubly sad for us at the Source since 21st Century opened in October 1983, six months before our very first issue!

But for independent bookstores, the writing has been on the wall for some time. Back in 2004, owner Tony Kainauskus and his wife Sharon decided to close and look for jobs out of town. Along came angel investors Len and Dena Oppenheim, who purchased the store, opened in a new location, and allowed Tony and Sharon to continue as managers. Since then, the faltering economy combined with the rise of Amazon and ebooks have made independent bookstores an untenable business, especially in a small town like Fairfield.

21st Century Bookstore founder Tony Kainauskus, his wife Sharon, and owners Len and Dena Oppenheim. They will be open at least through the end of March.

Here’s what Len says: “Thanks to the support of so many of you, both Fairfield residents and our friends and customers all over the country, we have managed to do okay since we re-launched the new store. . . . Unfortunately, during the last two years, given the weakening economy, the increased popularity of electronic media like The Kindle, and of course due to the ever-increasing competition from Amazon, our losses have grown to the point that we finally have to face up to the reality that we cannot continue this endeavor into perpetuity.

“Tony has expressed our predicament perfectly, comparing us to a blacksmith or buggy repair man at the beginning of the 20th century. There is practically no way an independent bookstore can thrive or even survive in our modern society. We are in excellent company, as we close our store, in that we are exiting at about the same time as one of the great spiritual bookstores in America, The Bodhi Tree (located in Los Angeles), is closing its doors.

“I really want to thank Sharon and Tony for having created one of the greatest bookstores on the planet, and for having nursed and nurtured it during its great growth phase and then having carefully taken it into its final retirement.”

From Tony: “To the many customers who ordered through us, when prices at online dealers were often less, thank you, you have helped our business survive as long as it did.

“ And lastly I need to be grateful for the closing of the store as well, as this is another hidden gift. For letting go of someone or something can be our hardest yet greatest spiritual lesson.”

The other day I was reading an article about what they don’t teach you at business school. What caught my eye was the photo of that guy on the new  tv show “lie to me”, which I happen to find an intriguing show. On occasion you see these articles. It seems these points are not just for business, they are life rules that should be taught, in any school.

1. Dealing with people. Isn’t this one of the bigger challenges in life for most?
2. Right or wrong? Right or wrong is a debatable subject, as what may be right for you, might not be for me. Fairness is it, or win-win, though mentioning that you want to do a win-win with someone, most roll their eyes. Actions speak louder than words, no? Prove it.
3. Having a life. How easy is it to get caught up in your business and forget or ignore other parts of your life. Probably because you love doing it. Other articles also talk about work-life balance. Can that really exist these days? Life is moving so fast. I don’t think the work-life (volunteering-….) balance as people were used to in the past, for most of us is an option anymore, so many things going on. What is needed is a different  type of balance. Also make sure one doesn’t go to extremes, and a family that helps works as as well. This can be another topic to discuss.
4. Managing risk. As an entrepreneur, business owner you take many risk, you have too if you want to survive, grow the business. How do you live with that, or sleep at night? Trouble making payroll? A critical order to a customer on time? How to incorporate risk in your life? One thing will help I believe: understand the downside of the major risks you are taking.By the way, another great topic for a book: do you really need to grow a business constantly? We’re so used to expand and grow, but is that [always] needed?
5. When to hold and fold. This would not just apply to business but many other aspects of life. There are not really magic formulas for stopping or going, though we certainly can come up with a few principles. Maybe that is part of your initial business summary goals? A tough one though, as you just know that success is always just around the corner.

Here is the link to the article.