ROWAN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Governor Andy Beshear has created a new task force aimed at helping small businesses across Kentucky start, grow, and survive the real challenges that come with running a small company.
Jason Slone, president of the Morehead-Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, is one of the task force members. He brings years of hands-on experience working directly alongside small businesses after serving in the role since 2019.
"Looking at those start-up companies and really to help them elevate their profiles and plant more roots in the commonwealth," Slone said.
The stakes are significant. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, more than 700,000 people were employed by small businesses across Kentucky in 2025.
One business that has proven it can weather any storm is Holbrook's Embroidery Plus, a Morehead staple since 2002. Owners Cameron and Kari Flanders have spent more than two decades learning what it takes to keep a small business alive, selling shirts, hats, and stickers that celebrate local schools and the community.
"We started from the ground up and kept growing as businesses demanded us to grow, and we still have growing pains to this day," Kari said.
Cameron said that mindset has been their foundation from the start.
"You have to adapt to every situation no matter what it is," Cameron said.
That lesson was never more tested than in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic created their biggest hurdle. The Flanders had to find a new way to keep their doors open.
"We donated masks, we made masks, and sold masks, that we never did in the past. That was 90 percent of our business for those two years," Cameron said.
They also delivered products and moved sales outside their store, doing whatever it took to keep serving the community.
Beyond the pandemic, finding the right people has been one of their biggest ongoing challenges.
"Customers can come in and know they can rely on not just the name, but the employee behind the counter to take care of them as well," Kari said.
Today, Holbrook's Embroidery Plus is a fixture in the Morehead community and exactly the kind of success story the task force hopes to replicate.
"Small business creates the greatest stability. If one small business loses their ability to move forward, it doesn't cause a ripple effect through a community like a 600, a thousand, or 1,500 employer would," Slone said.
The goal for Slone and the task force is to give Kentucky's smallest companies the tools they need to put down roots and stay.
Josh Ravenscraft, owner of New Frontier in Morehead, is also a member of the task force.
