Cindy Hensley McCain

Shining a special spotlight once a year on women who are making a difference in our community, In Business Magazine focuses this edition on Women of Achievement. The awards and luncheon have proved enormously popular since introduced three years ago.

I am energized by the complete change of the composition of the work force since the days when I took over my company. The number of female founders and owners has risen dramatically, and the impact of businesses with women at the helm is significant in terms of revenues and hiring. We still have a way to go on equal pay and gender equity in the C-suite roles, and, as a community, we owe it to those currently working and those coming behind us to continue to push for both.

This edition’s cover story shares the stories of this year’s exceptional honorees of In Business Magazine’s Women of Achievement award – women who represent a broad cross-section of business and community organizations, from nonprofits to banking to real estate to city government.

Getting past the gatekeepers and roadblocks to reach a company’s ultimate decision maker is often seen as the “holy grail” for other businesses aiming to grow. In feature article “How to Get a Meeting with the C-Suite,” Stu Heineke, author of top-selling How to Get a Meeting with Anyone, offers more insights and case studies from his latest book, Get the Meeting!: An Illustrative Contact Marketing Playbook.

Chris Denny brings the view down to day-to-day operations with his feature article on how attention to detail can make or break a company. Among other articles in these following pages are one that helps businesses identify and mitigate factors in the growing incidence of suicide in the workplace and another that addresses failures in communication and understanding that ensue from the spread of techie jargon company-wide.

With healthcare open enrollment coming up in one month (November 1 – December 15), the Roundtable feature from Delta Dental’s HR director Jolean Fleck provides tips on best practices to educate employees on their options. (Look for In Business Magazine’s annual Healthcare Guide in next month’s issue.

Focused on helping strengthen our business community, each issue of In Business Magazine offers a mix of information, from business best practices to entrepreneurial endeavors that broaden our economic base. As the recipient of this year’s Linda M. Herold Lifetime Achievement Award, I’m honored to be part of In Business Magazine’s Women of Achievement for 2019 and to help bring you this October edition. I trust you’ll find much of interest in these pages.

Cindy Hensley McCain is the chairman of her family’s business, Hensley Beverage Company, one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the nation. She is the wife of the late U.S. Senator John McCain. McCain’s community efforts are extensive. Please see her page in the Women of Achievement cover story.