By Courtney Kincaid
The organization began forming in 2010, with the mission to
lead and act as strategic facilitators and bring together neighbors and
community leaders toward a shared vision that would improve and communicate the
county’s attractiveness to residents, businesses and visitors, Butler said.
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunicatons
Woodford Tomorrow, a citizens' economic-development planning
group, presented its goals on how to encourage economic development in the
county, while preserving its attractive attributes, at the Woodford County
Economic Development Authority’s monthly meeting Friday.
Woodford County has fought for 40 years over preservation
and development. Like many other
counties, it has tried to balance the benefits of rapid growth with the
challenges it creates, and that is the concept behind Woodford Tomorrow.
“It’s a cross-section of very strong opinions on both sides
of the equation," Versailles City Council Member Ken Kerkhoff, a member of the
group, told the EDA board.
Another
member, Brett Butler, said the group agreed that “We’ve been at each other for
too long” and need to examine “how Woodford County is going to approach the
future as the economy starts to turn. . . . A house divided cannot stand.”
 |
| Brett Butler of Woodford Tomorrow speaks to the county EDA board. |
“We agree a lot more than we disagree,” he said. For
example, all agree that “We don’t want Versailles Road to become Nicholasville
Road.”
Woodford Tomorrow’s first objective is to create a “Uniquely
Woodford” brand “to promote the positive, wholesome, ‘uniqueness’ of Woodford
County, promote economic development, and to position Woodford County as a
desirable place to live and locate new businesses,” Kerkhoff said. In its statements of purpose, Woodford
Tomorrow says it desires development that highlights what is uniquely Woodford,
rather than replicating what can be found in “Anytown, Anywhere.”
The group targets six clusters of economic activity that
show promise for success in capitalizing on the uniqueness of Woodford
County: agriculture, business and industry, health care, education,
hospitality and the arts. Butler
discussed business and industry, the cluster of most concern to the EDA
because of its goal to create and retain jobs.
Butler noted that Woodford Tomorrow’s description puts
business before industry. “The industry is important and we do want the jobs to
come here,” but the county should think about recruiting
white-collar professional firms and consulting firms, he said, not only to create a
diverse economic base, but to increase salaries.
“Let’s recruit some destination businesses,” Butler said,
adding said that when the group realized that the county has already rezoned
400 acres for business, “That was a big wake-up call. . . . Let’s get focused
on that.”
Butler discussed the action items that are needed to
continue this growth and development, beginning with hiring a director of
economic development and the funding of a budget for multiple years. The first priority on the list: Retain and
expand existing business and industry.
Butler noted that Woodford County’s location provides a
foundation for the growth of business in the community and offers all that a
business or industry might be seeking: “a beautiful landscape; solid business
infrastructure, quality health care, strong entrepreneurial spirit, and quality
education system.”
Those things allow for the convenience and advantages of
being in a major metropolitan area but with the quality of life associated with
a rural agricultural community, Butler said.
“Employers are attracted this this sort of rural lifestyle
with big-city convenience,” he said. “Woodford County is going to have to be
competing for the jobs of the future.
The economy is starting to turn around and we have to see how we can
position ourselves to win because there is a lot of communities out there
competing for jobs and we know we have to come together to do that as a team.”
Asked where the group goes from here, Butler said the
group’s function is “to help bring people together,” and it will make similar presentations
to the local governing bodies. “We’re not trying to take over anybody’s job,”
he said. “What we are trying to do is establish common guidelines.”
Chamber director wants Midway, Versailles to cooperate
The new executive director of the county Chamber of
Commerce, Don Vizi, told the board that the chamber is trying to get back
involved in economic-development efforts.
“The chamber has been kind of inactive for the last four to five months,
and we want to be more active with the EDA and tourism and . . . try to bring
Midway and Versailles together, which as you know has been kind of a problem,
to get them working together,” he said.
The EDA developed the Midway Station former industrial park,
but it attracted only a few jobs and has been rezoned for commercial and
residential development. Representatives
of local banks, who hold the debt for Midway Station, came to Friday’s meeting
to discuss an appraisal of the property, but that discussion was held in closed
session.
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