One Kentucky
The West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board
“West Kentucky’s proximity to Fort Campbell and the Nashville area makes it a prime location to provide better employment opportunities for our citizens,” Governor Steve Beshear said in the press release. “A new approach to job creation, education and economic growth is essential to improving Kentucky’s position in the global marketplace and through this initiative the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board has made that commitment to the citizens it serves.”
In July 2008, Kentucky’s total non-farm employment consisted of 1,887,100 people, an increase of 1 percent from last year, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics
Regional Innovation Grants are designed to help workforce agencies initiate comprehensive, sustainable and integrated regional planning to help prepare workers and businesses to compete and succeed in today’s marketplace. Only state workforce agencies and local workforce investment boards are eligible to receive the grants.
The grant will give the WKWIB an opportunity to examine pieces of the regional economy and create a comprehensive initiative to add positive economic alternatives for new industry growth. The energy, value-added agriculture, healthcare, bioscience, tourism and advanced manufacturing industries will be evaluated through the planning process to determine which industries have a greater potential for growth.
The grant could lead to increased entrepreneurial activities by identifying best practices and long-term investments or policies that lead to sustainable economic growth.
The counties covered in the grant, which are in the Purchase Area Development District