Calendar
16 March
Academic Excellence Cmte, 7:30-9 am
16-19 MarchChicago Marketing Mission
17 March
NWKF Education Committee, 2-3 pm, NWKF Office
18 March
Union County Existing Business Lunch, 12-1 pm, Trelleborg
25 March
Webster County Existing Business Lunch, 12:00-1pm, WC Ext. Office
4 May
4-Star Park Board Meeting, 3-4 pm, NWKF Office
4 May
NWKF Board Meeting, 4-5:30 pm, NWKF Office
6 May
Union County First Annual Dinner, 6-9 pm, Arnold Convention Center
10-14 May
New York Marketing Mission
Investor Newsletter
MARCH 2010
Business Retention—State Awards $15 Million in Incentives for RTA Reinvestment
Governor Steve Beshear was in Henderson in February to announce that Rio Tinto Alcan, which operates a large aluminum smelter in southern Henderson County, has been approved for $15 million in incentives.
The incentives are to encourage RTA to move forward with a planned $50 million reinvestment that would secure the facility for the long-term. The smelter which employs more than 500 high wage positions is arguably the most important economic engine in this region.
Most of the incentives are in the form of state corporate income tax credits made available through the new Kentucky Reinvestment Act (KRA) which the General Assembly approved last June. NWKF had strongly lobbied for this program for several years and praised its passage as key to future growth and opportunities.
NWKF congratulates RTA on this announcement and looks forward to continuing to work with them.
Business Attraction—Marketing
Northwest Kentucky Forward works aggressively to market our region to both companies looking to grow new facilities and to consultants who help companies make location decisions. As a result, we are always on the lookout for opportunities to tell our story to these decision makers.
In the last few weeks, NWKF has participated in marketing missions to the Dallas and Austin, Texas, areas, participated in a national meeting that included 1000 leading broker consultants, and met with projects in Canada that are interested in opportunities in our region.
Business Retention—Survey Says, Good Things Ahead
The Existing Business arm of NWKF recently conducted a survey of our existing businesses. This survey covered the 133 companies in the four-county region which could potentially apply for incentives under Kentucky primary economic development incentive programs.
The survey measured current and future economic trends among these companies. NWKF Existing Business Manager, Cj Maple, worked with a group of existing businesses to find out what they wanted to know and what questions they wanted asked. As a result, more than 65% of companies responded!
Overall, the picture for businesses in NWKY is very positive. View the survey results at our website.
Education Advocacy—New Initiatives in Union, McLean Counties
NWKF believes that education excellence and lifelong learning are essential for a competitive workforce. Our goal is to encourage involvement and support for schools to foster excellence. The following are two examples of unique initiatives occurring in Northwest Kentucky schools:
Union County elementary school students are learning to speak Chinese. Not only were they counting to 100 in Chinese, but the teacher was speaking almost exclusively in Chinese to the students!
Also, the March NWKF board meeting was held in the library at McLean County High School. A presentation was made on the school’s new dual-enrollment program with a local college. Nearly one-third of all seniors are enrolled in dual credit courses earning credits towards both high school diplomas and college!
