After a soft opening in early December, the new Family Dollar store at 2931 Lone Oak Road held a grand opening in late December with sales and discounts for customers.

The Lone Oak Family Dollar is the second built this year in Paducah, with the other going up at 13th Street and Kentucky Avenue.

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Kentucky’s Cabinet for Economic Development accepted applications from Kentucky small businesses for grant money made available through the State Trade and Export Promotion.

The STEP grant program is part of the governor’s Kentucky Export Initiative, which is led by the Cabinet for Economic Development in conjunction with its trade partners. Launched by Gov. Beshear in December 2010, the Kentucky Export Initiative is a consortium of trade and business promotion organizations from across the state whose goal is to grow Kentucky exports.

For more information on the STEP grant, visit kyexports.com.

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Commercial real estate sales in western Kentucky went up in 2012 compared to 2011. In 2012, 26 industrial or commercial sites sold in McCracken County, up from 17 in 2011, according to numbers from the Western Kentucky Multiple Listing Service. The 26 sites sold for more than $16.7 million combined compared to $6.6 million for the 17 sold in 2011.

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Genesis Strength and Fitness, a 24-hour fitness center, opened at 3231 Lone Oak Road.

The gym, which covers about 5,200 square feet and has separate cardio and free weight areas, charges $30 per month to members, said Chris Ewing, who owns Genesis along with Jake Blackwell.

Members do not sign contracts and are required to give 10 days’ notice before canceling their membership, Ewing said.

Trainers from Mike’s Kettlebell Club, 106 Broadway, will offer workout routines at the Lone Oak gym, similar to the ones offered at the downtown center.

Genesis is staffed from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday, and the co-owners have plans to expand the building space to 8,400 square feet by January’s end.

For more information, call 270-554-0181.

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A Mayfield company earned a special certification for extraordinary measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees.

The Kentucky Labor Cabinet presented The MVP Group of Mayfield, a manufacturer of scented candles, with a plaque signifying the company’s certification under the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program.

“SHARP recognizes employers who operate exemplary safety and health management systems and are committed to making safety for employees a priority,” said John Lippert, SHARP program administrator, in a statement. “I am delighted to be here today to recognize MVP Group employees for their noteworthy achievements in safety.”

The MVP Group pouring facility accident rates were 59 percent below the national average for similar facilities when compared to the last three years average for close to 1 million hours worked.

The U.S. Department of Labor designed SHARP to encourage and recognize excellence in occupational safety and health among employers and to create a partnership with its Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

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Real estate agent Kim Clapp and husband David Clapp launched Mr. Sandless, a new business based in Mayfield.

The Clapps use a patented floor-refinishing product that refinishes floors without sanding.

Kim Clapp said most jobs require six to nine hours to complete, and the company can work with almost all floor coverings.

Kim Clapp said the Mr. Sandless product creates immaculate floor finishes without investing too much time or creating a mess.

For more information, call 270-856-4700.

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Fox & Company CPA, a Mayfield-based accounting firm, presented a QuickBooks seminar in late December for area real estate professionals.

Brad Clark and James Koinis, vice president of Fox & Company CPA, showed the benefits of using QuickBooks to save time and money and also provided valuable information for setting goals and evaluating business results.

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Blaine Grow and Keith Murt plan to further develop a racing drag strip off Oaks Road at 4460 Shemwell Lane close to Paducah International Raceway. Named the Beacon Drag Strip, the strip will have a 2,000-foot asphalt surface, 175 feet of concrete for a starting area and new lighting equipment.

Murt and Byron Edwards, track manager, held an information meeting for drag racing enthusiasts Jan. 5 at the track. The meeting provided information on drag racing, race dates, times and classes.

For more information call Edwards at 270-556-6167 or Mark Lawrence at 270-210-4388.

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Computer Services Inc. reported growth in revenue and net income for the third quarter and nine months ended Nov. 30.

Third quarter revenues rose 4.2 percent to $49.6 million in fiscal 2013 compared with $47.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Third quarter net income increased 5.5 percent to $6.6 million, or $0.45 per diluted share compared with $6.2 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, in the third quarter of last fiscal year.

“Our growth in third quarter revenue benefited from the addition of new processing accounts coming online and continued growth from our other business units,” said Chief Executive Officer Steven A. Powless, in a company release. “We are pleased to report our 34th consecutive quarter of revenue growth that benefited from higher processing revenues generated from long-term contracts and solid growth in transaction volume from our regulatory and compliance services.”

Third quarter operating income increased 3.3 percent to $10.6 million compared with $10.3 million in the third quarter of the prior year. Operating margin for the third quarter was 21.5 percent compared with 21.7 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

The decline in CSI’s operating margin was primarily due to staffing additions as part of Strategic Growth Initiative, higher network communication expense, and higher general and administrative expenses compared with the third quarter of the prior fiscal year, according to a company release.

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Triton Boats, operated by Fishing Holdings, LLC, and Jet-A-Marina, hosted an open house Jan. 12 at the Jet-A-Marina store at 4616 U.S. 62 in Calvert City.

The Triton experience offers consumers fun and great deals when selecting a boat for the upcoming season. At each boat show this season, Triton is offering several show specials while the local Triton dealer is on location.

“We are excited about getting more consumers an opportunity to experience Triton,” said Adam Adkisson, vice president of marketing for Triton Boats. “Our Triton dealers are the best in the business and will find the best Triton for our consumers. It is all about finding what best fits the individual.”

For more information about Triton, go to www.tritonboats.com or call 615-895-5190.

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A potential crisis for river shipping companies on the Mississippi River appeared to be averted the week of Jan. 7 as the river’s drought situation hadn’t proven to be as dire as feared.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers successfully removed bedrock from the Mississippi River near Thebes, Ill., and the corps strategically released water from upper lakes that helped keep the river’s levels high enough for barges to safely navigate.

Shipping groups have warned that if the waterway at Thebes were to drop to a point in which barge weight restrictions were further tightened, shipping would effectively stop. Drafts, the portion of each barge that is submerged, already are limited to 9 feet in the middle Mississippi, down from 12 feet. Trade group officials say that if drafts are restricted to 8 feet or lower, many operators will stop shipping.

The National Weather Service hydrological forecast as of Jan. 10 showed that the river at Thebes — about 130 miles south of St. Louis — still would be 2 feet higher than the threshold for more possible barge restrictions as of Feb. 6, the latest date on the outlook.

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Signet Federal Credit Union held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Jan. 17 for its new Mayfield location.

The new $1.2 million Signet office is at 402 Charles Drive next to Youngblood’s True Value Home Center.

Signet is a member-owned full service credit union with corporate offices in Paducah. Originally chartered in 1939 as Paducah ICRR Credit Union, the company operated since 1982 as Paducah Federal Credit Union until changing its name to Signet in late 2012. Signet serves the financial needs of more than 16,000 members in McCracken, Graves, Ballard, and Livingston counties.

“In recent years, we have experienced strong growth in Graves County and surrounding areas. In response to that growth, and to better serve our members, we felt the timing was right to build a new branch in the Mayfield area,” said Alan Butler, Signet president, in a statement.

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Kathy Rorer, physical therapist, joined River City Physical Therapy at 127 Alben Barkley Drive, Suite C, after closing Restoration Physical Therapy in September.

River City Physical Therapy opened Jan. 2. Rorer, a Paducah native, has 28 years experience as a physical therapist. For more information, call 270-908-0294.

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Casey State Bank, based in Casey, Ill., selected Computer Services Inc. of Paducah to provide a new core system and managed services to enhance its IT operations. Casey State Bank chose CSI’s NuPoint core solution to deliver cloud-based core technology and other solutions to its 10 banking locations in order to remain competitive with other institutions in the area, according to a CSI release.

The bank will implement CSI’s NuPoint platform, a comprehensive, customizable core banking system that supports numerous fully integrated solutions.

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Home Floor & Kitchens of Paducah has been approved and certified to be the area’s only dealer for Simple Amish Furniture, according to owner Andy Haas. Simply Amish Furniture has dealers in U.S. and Canada dealing in all-wood custom made furniture.

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GEO Consultants, LLC, a small business headquartered in Kevil, was recently awarded a multiple award task order contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District.

This contract holds a shared capacity of $60 million for environmental remediation services and long-term response actions for USACE Northwestern Division and Environmental Protection Agency Region 2. Services provided include hazardous waste management/disposal, radioactive waste/mixed waste management disposal, underground storage tanks, and other environmental services.

GEO is a nationally recognized female-owned small business employing environmental engineers, geologists and business professionals for consulting services to federal and commercial clients nationwide.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the winners of the 2011 Region 4 Consumer Confidence Report Excellence Awards. Three of the six categories were won by Kentucky systems, including the Calvert City Municipal Water Department, which won in the medium-groundwater system category.

The award’s six categories include small, medium- and large-surface water and groundwater systems.

The awards program promotes the development of effective consumer confidence reports and recognizes the commitment by local administration and plant personnel toward informing their consumers about their drinking water.

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West Tennessee Healthcare and Vanderbilt University Medical Center announced an affiliation agreement that will expand the scope of health care services in West Tennessee Healthcare’s service area.

The agreement does not change ownership or management of Jackson-Madison County General Hospital or any of West Tennessee Healthcare’s affiliates. It allows for opportunities for WTH and VUMC to create joint centers of excellence, educational programs and clinical research collaborations, to develop new clinical information technology tools, and to collaborate on specific patient care programs, according to a release.