Who we are

Why an Almanac?

Our People

Our Alliances

Almanac Contributors

Who we are

In business since 1988, when founder Bobby Clark published the first Kentucky Directory Gold Book, The Clark Group is an award-winning company that builds its publications and services to improve access and availability to information so others can get on with conducting their business—whether that’s education, commerce, law, or any other.

The Kentucky Directory Gold Book, a comprehensive directory of Kentucky government, business and education and the Kentucky Media Guide are one-of-a kind publications.  The Kentucky General Assembly Blue Book is handy and thorough for pros and novices alike, and Kentucky Education Law puts information that school administrators are required to know on an easily accessible CD-ROM that is searchable by a single word.  For a complete listing of The Clark Group's products, click here.

The Clark Group also partnered with the McConnell Technology and Training Center in Louisville to build a multi-faceted training program that trained more than 2000 Kentuckians in more than 10 counties through a basic computer literacy program that included job readiness, increased senior citizen access to technology and allowed participants to keep the computers.  The pcs, donated by businesses, were refurbished and reconditioned at facilities managed by The Clark Group.  

Other services provided by The Clark Group include sexual harassment prevention training and ISO quality assessment auditing. Contact us today to find out how we can help your business succeed.

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Why an Almanac?                                                           

In 1998, a long-time Gold Book customer suggested that the company that produces a comprehensive directory like the Kentucky Directory Gold Book is a natural to produce an almanac.  The Clark Group’s VP of Marketing and Advertising, Sam Stephens, recognized that an almanac would be the perfect format to assemble the bottomless well of information that exists about Kentucky.  In the Fall of 2004, Sam met Dr. Thomas Clark, the Kentucky Historian Laureate, and the decision was made to move ahead.

Like so many first steps, this one has been a doozey—full of providence, the creation of wonderful relationships and alliances and an expanding confirmation of just how remarkable is this place called Kentucky. After the decision was made to publish Clark’s Kentucky Almanac and Book of Facts 2006 The Clark Group learned the company is reviving a tradition that began in Lexington in 1787 and ceased in 1856.  For more about early almanacs—click here.

Our People

For more information about our people click their names below:

Robert “Bobby” Clark - CEO

Florence Huffman -  President

Sam Stephens - Vice President for Marketing and Advertising

Carla Bryan - Database Manager

Kelly Elliott - Associate Managing Editor and Senior Copy Editor

Jennifer Kash - Marketing Coordinator and Database Consultant

Bob Seelbach - Consultant

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Robert (Bobby) Clark, Chief Executive Officer

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Clark Group, Robert (Bobby) Clark saw a need and moved to fill it.  After nearly a decade of serving professionally in state and local government, Bobby experienced how confusing it can be to figure out who is where and what they do in government, education and professions in Kentucky.  The Kentucky Directory Gold Book was born in 1988 and it has become the who’s who in Kentucky government, education and business since the first edition was published.

Bobby has taken his experiences as a small business owner and become a national and state advocate for the sector.  His actions have won him the recognition of leaders in both venues.  Bobby is a member of the Kentucky Commission on Small Business Advocacy and has served as chair of the commission since its creation in 2000.  The commission works with the Kentucky General Assembly and state agencies to ensure that Kentucky builds an environment in which small businesses thrive.  He serves on the SBA National Advisory Council, which gives feedback to the U.S. Small Business Administration on programs and issues.  His advocacy work began when he served on the White House Conference on Small Business in 1995 and chaired Kentucky’s Information/Technology Issues Committee.  The conference produced the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act and creation of regional regulatory fairness boards to which Bobby chaired. 

Bobby has a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Kentucky.  A native of Paducah, Kentucky, Bobby and his wife, Lisa, have a six year old daughter.

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Florence Huffman, President and Co-Owner

Florence Huffman, President of The Clark Group, has brought her educational and professional credentials in education and law to the world of running a small publishing firm.   Often accused of being an English major, Florence has always loved the written word and has an eye for detail. 

After a decade of practicing law, Florence brought her law career to a close.  Her final position had brought her full circle—representing the Kentucky Educational Professional Standards Board.  A strong advocate of educational professionalism, Florence integrated her experiences as a teacher and attorney to design and develop a number of products and services especially designed for teachers and administrators.  Kentucky Education Law on CD-ROM, created in the summer of 1993, provides the full text of legal resources for educators in one key-word search program; professional development training programs are available on the topics of sexual harassment, bullying, gender equity, rights of exceptional children and legal liability for educators.   Florence has served as a consultant and independent investigator for numerous school districts in Kentucky. 

A native of central Kentucky, Florence obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Eastern Kentucky University and her law degree from the University of Kentucky.  By the way, she gives full credit for her proficiency in English and literature to her teachers in the Mercer County Public Schools.  Florence loves her Lexington home and serves on a number of nonprofit organizations including the Bluegrass District Community and Technical College, Ashland Terrace Retirement Home, the Kentucky Council on Economic Education and the National Association of Women Business Owners, Lexington Chapter.

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Sam Stephens, Marketing Director

Sam Stephens, The Clark Group’s Marketing Director, brings more than 40 years of printing, sales and marketing communications experience to the business.  Since joining The Clark Group in 1997, Sam has introduced numerous innovations and efficiencies to the publication and marketing of The Gold Book, particularly by introducing it as an emerging advertising vehicle which reaches a high-end demographic in Kentucky.

Sam’s experience includes Seitz and Stephens which handled direct mail production and logistics for a presidential campaign and Fuller & Dees Marketing Group in Montgomery, Alabama, a direct marketing and publishing company that became a subsidiary of Times-Mirror Corporation of Los Angeles.  In the mid 70’s, Sam returned to his native Kentucky where he continued his professional endeavors in a range of capacities. 

He is a graduate of the University of Louisville with a B.S. in Commerce and Marketing and a veteran of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corp.

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Bob Seelbach, Chief Operating Officer

As COO of The Clark Group, Bob Seelbach brings a wealth of experience from a distinguished career in Quality Management, Production Control, Distribution, and IT Consulting. He currently manages the daily operations of The Clark Group, with special emphasis on Quality and Production Control.

He is a graduate of Transylvania University with a B.S. in Business Management .

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Carla Bryan, Database Manager

Since 2001, Carla has worked as a database consultant for The Clark Group, designing custom Access software to handle data collection and publishing for the Gold Book, Media Guide, and Blue Book.  She has also re-designed software handling customer orders. 

Carla is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems.

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Kelly Elliott, Associate Managing Editor and Senior Copy Editor

A native of Rochester, New York, Kelly brings a strong work ethic, great common sense and practicality to her responsibilities at Clark. Kelly is a naturally gifted observer with a keen eye for detail-critical talents essential to a firm whose publications are scoured for errors during the data entry and proofing process.

Kelly is a graduate of Methodist College, a small liberal arts college nestled in the hills in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her undergraduate degree is in business administration and marketing. A technical recruiter in Raleigh, Kelly and her family returned to her husband's hometown of Lexington in 2002. Kelly has assumed more and more typesetting, publishing and design duties and has undertaken our new publishing software with her usual focus and determination.

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Jennifer Kash, Marketing Coordinator and Database Consultant

Jennifer, who earned her degree in International Business Management from Georgetown College, became a talented database designer in order to excel at her marketing job at a internationally known equipment manufacturer in Lexington. Jennifer consulted with Clark on a wide-array of projects-designing new applications and enhancing Clark's data collection, order management and most significantly, our ability to automate the publishing process.

With the rising demands of the Kentucky Almanac and it's world-wide appeal, Jennifer bravely has taken on the full-time job of coordinating Sam's marketing and sales force. A formidable intellect, Jennifer will continue to quietly assess the many challenges of Clark's new direction and to create the system required to best accomplish the goals. It's one of the many things Jennifer does best.

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Renee Miller, Customer Service Manager

Renee Miller came to Clark on a temporary assignment in 2005 and has since been promoted to a full-time permanent position as Customer Service Manager.

As Clark continues to strive for continuous improvement in quality products and service, Renee's passion for her work will provide the steady support we need to make our publications ever better and our service ever more pleasing.

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Our Alliances

Scott Risner of Tier 1 Performance Solutions, LLC

Michael Breeding and Americana Productions

Sid Webb-Art Director

G. K. Gibson-Senior Editor

The Computer Group

Scott Risner of Tier 1 Performance Solutions, LLC

Scott Risner has leveraged his creative expertise in publications and design into learning solutions for top businesses in the nation.  Co-founder for The Human Element (THE), Scott’s clients included P&G, Kellogg, K-Mart, Target, Toyota and others. In 2003, THE and Tier 1 of Covington combined their businesses to broaden their product and service offerings.  Scott is a principal consultant with the firm and has worked with CPC over the past five years.

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Michael Breeding and Americana Productions

Film producer Michael Breeding founded Americana Productions in 1995 and pioneered a treatment for long form projects that has become recognized around the globe for quality, content and beauty.  Mr. Breeding has produced more than 65 programs to include documentaries, promotional films, museum presentations, marketing campaigns and corporate media for a variety of national clients.  The Keeneland Legacy: A Thoroughbred Tradition, Imperial China: The Art of the Horse in Chinese History and All The Queen’s Horses: The Role of the Horse in British History have been broadcast throughout the PBS system—to name but a few.

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Sid Webb-Art Director

Sid Webb, the art director for the Clark’s Kentucky Almanac 2006, brings his respected career in art and photography to the project. During his 25 years at KET Sid headed the production department, and created the division that sells KET’s programs across the nation. He was the executive producer of the nationally acclaimed GED series and groundbreaking program for adult education that gives adults who have not had the opportunity to finish high school.  He has since turned to travel and editorial photography and became an early advocate of using the “digital canvas” to create art and to make gicleé prints.

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G. K. Gibson-Senior Editor

Jerry Gibson began his long involvement with publishing in 1973 when he founded a weekly newspaper in his hometown of Monticello, in Wayne County and has worked with several, including establishing another paper in Pulaski County in 1988. He helped introduce computer-based publishing systems into dozens of newspaper operations throughout Kentucky and the region through the latter 1980s. Jerry is also the author of books and magazine articles on Kentucky history, including a quarterly historical magazine. Coincidentally, he’s a sixth-great-grandson of Daniel Boone (through his mother, who was a Boone).

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Launched in 1979, TheComputerGroup is about solving problems that help businesses run more efficiently.   From software development they’ve evolved to a trusted resource for that and medial manufacturing and they’ve continued to grow to meet the needs of their customers.  Today they are a multimillion-dollar operation serving thousands of customers worldwide in web promotions, distribution, printing, design packaging, software and media manufacturing.

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Our Kentucky Almanac Contributors include:

Contributors to Clark’s Kentucky Almanac and Book of Facts 2006 are as varied as the subject matter about the Commonwealth.

Kandie Adkinson, Secretary of State’s Office
Bill Ambrose, Historian
Bob Arnold, Executive Director, Kentucky Association of Counties (KACO)
Bob Babbage, President, Babbage CoFounder
Ewell Balltrip, Historian
James R. Bean, M.D.
Royal Berglee, Professor, Morehead State University, Dept. of Geography, Gov’t & History
Robert Boles, Writer & Producer
Zachary Bortolot, Professor, Morehead State University, Dept. of Geography, Gov’t & History
Ed Bowen, President, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Inc
Michael Breeding, Americana Productions
Bill Bright, Curator, Kentucky Military History Museum
Ron Bryant, Historian
Anne Butler, Kentucky State University
Jim Carroll, Kentucky Dept. of Parks
Lindy Casebier, Executive Director, Kentucky Office for Arts & Cultural Humanities
Todd Cassidy, Executive Director, Kentucky Film Office
Jerry Cecil, Kentucky’s Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the U.S. Army
Robert G. Clark, Publisher
Thomas D. Clark (1903-2005), Kentucky Historian Laureate
Martha Layne Collins, Executive Director, Kentucky World Trade Center
Glen Conner, Professor, Western Kentucky University, State Climatologist Emeritus
Bill Cooke, Museum Director, International Museum of the Horse
Gary Cordner, Ret. Dean, Eastern Kentucky University, College of Justice & Safety
Al Cross, Institute for Rural Journalism & Community Issues
Ron Crouch, Director, Kentucky State Data Center
Stephanie Durst, Kentucky State Fair
Nelson Dawson, Kentucky Historical Society
Megan Diamond, Louisville Bats
Michelle Edwards, Marion County Tourism Commission
Kadie Engstrom, Education Coordinator, The Belle of Louisville
Momfeather Ericksen, Director, Mantle Rock Native Education and Cultural Center
Jan Fletcher, Kentucky Home School Association
Stuart Foster, Professor, Western Kentucky University, and Kentucky State Climatologist
Virginia Fox, Secretary, Kentucky Education Cabinet
Gatewood Galbreath, Attorney & Historian
Jon Gassett, Commissioner, Dept. for Fish & Wildlife Resources
Jerry Gibson, Historian, Journalist
Jerrell Goodpaster, Writer & Hiking Authority
Bill Gordon, Writer, History Professor (Ret.) & Vintner
Rosemary O. Gordan, American Vegetable Grower Magazine
Tolley Graves, Executive Director of the American Saddlebred Museum
Trey Grayson, Secretary of State
John Mark Hack, President, Global Development Partners
Col. Claude E. Hammond
Gwynn Henderson, Kentucky Archaeological Survey
Janet Holloway, Executive Director, Women Leading Kentucky
Charlie Hughes, Poet, Wind Publications
Steve Jones, Professor, Murray State University
Chris Kellogg, Writer
Nancy Jo Kemper, Kentucky Council of Churches
Kentucky Adult Education (CPE)
Thomas J. Kiffmeyer, Professor, Morehead State University, Dept. of Geography, Gov’t & History
James Klotter, Professor of History, Georgetown College, and Kentucky State Historian
Robert Lawson, Executive Director, Kentucky Music Hall of Fame
Sylvia Lovely, Executive Director, Kentucky League of Cities
Mark Maloney, Sports Writer
William E. Matthews, Historian & Co-Owner, Back Home in Kentucky
Michael McCall, President, Kentucky Community & Technical College System
John A. McGill, Sports Editor
Christine E. McMichael, Professor, Morehead State University, Dept. of Geography, Gov’t & History
Lori Meadows, Kentucky Arts Council
Dr. Lynwood Montell, Author & Professor, Western Kentucky University
Gary O’Dell, Professor, Morehead State University, Dept. of Geography, Gov’t & History
Jim Ogle, News Director, WKYT-TV
John Ed Pearce, Journalist & Author
David Pollack, Director, Kentucky Archaeological Survey
Chester Powell, Poet
O. Leonard Press, founder of Kentucky Educational Television
Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
Diana Ratliff, Shakertown at Pleasant Hill
Billy Reed, Sportswriter, Editor
Robert Rennick, Kentucky Humanities Council
Bob Schulman, Journalist
Patsy Sims, Author
Brandon Slone, Kentucky Military Research Br.
Frederick Smock, Writer
Herb Sparrow, Executive Director, The Group Travel Leader Inc.
Statewide Local Historical Societies, County Judge/Executives and Mayors
Robert L. Stephens (1927-2002), Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court & Kentucky Statesman of the 20th Century
Thomas E. Stephens, Ky Historical Society
Bob Stewart, former Commissioner, Kentucky Dept. of Travel
Marvin E. Strong, Jr., Secretary, Economic Development Cabinet
Paul Tenkotte, History Professor, Thomas More College, Editor of the Northern Kentucky Encyclopedia
Charles Thompson, Humanities Council
Lisa Thompson, Dept. for Libraries & Archives
James Tidwell, Professor, Kentucky State University
Lee Todd, Historian & President, University of Kentucky
John Trowbridge, Historian
Tom Wallace, Author & Sports Authority
Sid Webb, Photo Editor
Paul Wesslund, Kentucky Living Magazine