NWKF and the Greater Owensboro EDC co-hosted a luncheon in Chicago for site selections consultants yesterday. The event was a huge success with 17 excellent consultants in attendance. The discussion and interest in the greater region was very high.
Based on the great success of this event, NWKF and GOEDC plan more such events in the future.
Northwest Kentucky has two school districts ranked in the Top 20. Henderson County School District is ranked 12th and McLean County School District is ranked 20th in the state of Kentucky. Union County School District is ranked 61, making it in the top third out of 170 schools.
Energy Week continues Nov. 1 when selected fourth-grade students from around the Tri-County will gather at Henderson Community College to participate in Energy Awareness Day. With the help of student instructors from Henderson County High School’s Career and Technical Education Unit, as well as South and North middle schools, the fourth-graders will get fun and interactive lessons on how energy is made, how it is delivered to customers and how it affects our lives. More than 275 students, instructors and facilitators are scheduled to take part in the program, which starts at approximately 9:30 a.m.
Read more here: http://northwestky.com/news/plugged-in-energy-week-includes-full-slate-of-events.html
Quarter for a Quarter Pledge: Presented by Henderson County Schools
Your child has the opportunity to participate in a philanthropy project to increase awareness of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
Goals of the project:
You can help support Quarter for Quarter! If each child participates with a minimum $3.00 pledge, the approximately $9,900.00 will be collected to put books into the hands of children. If your child cannot find a sponsor, we will attempt to obtain a pledge from the community for your child’s reading efforts.
For more information please contact Betsy Wells-Jones: betsy@northwestky.com
The Colonels 2 College Education Advocacy Group was presented with a $250,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Henderson today at the Fine Arts Center in Henderson, KY. Colonels 2 College has partnered with the Rotary Club and will now be Rotary Colonels 2 College Foundation. More to come on this!
To succeed academically, students not only need excellent teachers, they also need active, engaged parents or guardians. This program examines ways in which Kentucky educators encourage parental involvement in schools, including strategies that make families feel more connected to their children’s educational experiences and programs that train parents for leadership roles. Panelists: Stu Silberman, executive director, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence; Rob Carroll, principal, South Heights Elementary School in Henderson County; and Jennifer Anderson, parent of a seventh-grader and a ninth-grader, Rowan County Schools.
Watch Video: http://www.ket.org/tvschedules/episode.php?nola=KEDMA+000302
The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development recently reported expansions from January – September 2011 for all Manufacturing and Supportive/Service Firms that were approved for state incentives.
According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development report, the Northwest Kentucky region (Henderson, McLean, Union and Webster counties) made up nearly 7% of the reported expanding firms. Northwest Kentucky Forward is proud to make this announcement considering the region makes up only 2% of the state’s population.
Read More Here: http://northwestky.com/news/reports-are-in-kentuckys-expansions-of-manufacturing-and-supportiveservice-firms.html
Anthony Hazelwood used to drag his teenage son to work with him every Saturday morning. The teenager, Brad Hazelwood, hated missing the leisure time his friends were enjoying, like hanging out at the local pool, and wasn’t too keen on the idea of laboring in the heat of the day.
There was one perk, though. Brad Hazelwood learned to operate a bulldozer about the same time his friends were learning to drive cars. “I hated my dad for it at that time,” he said, placing his elbows on the executive desk in front of him and leaning in for emphasis. “Those Saturdays with his dad were almost 40 years ago. I wanted to be out with my friends. But now, I see what he was doing.”
And what the father was doing was instilling in his son a strong work ethic, teaching him that hard work, dedication and commitment to doing quality work mattered.
With all the buzz and media coverage about the economy these days, it is hard not to be negatively influenced by the pessimistic outlook. I am a concerned person myself, but on the flip side of things I¹m also fully aware of the success and optimism our local companies have displayed throughout these tough times.
Northwest Kentucky Forward is proud to say that 15 percent of our existing businesses announced an expansion in the last twelve months. Some of the businesses that have publicized their expansions include Audubon Metals, Matrix Composites, Saturn Machine, Sunrise Tool & Die, Sunspring America, Wetland Services, Rio Tinto Alcan and Little Kentucky Smoke House. The total capital investments calculated through these expansions is approximately $41 million plus an additional $37 million from the Rio Tinto Alcan project!
This is wonderful news! In addition, a total of 362 new jobs will be created with an average wage of $31,658 per year (excluding Rio Tinto Alcan). I salute each of these existing businesses that worked through these difficult times and persevered.
Mike Sandefur and his nephew, Tim, have found a way to work with large businesses like coal mines to limit their impact on the environment.
The Sandefur’s business, Wetland Services Inc., helps companies conduct ecological studies of the flora and fauna of an area before it is mined or otherwise altered, and afterward they redesign and construct new wetlands and streams. Their company offers a host of other wetland-related services to other businesses and municipalities as well.
“We’re environmentalists,” said Tim Sandefur. “We see it as a way to leave a legacy.”
When you visit their headquarters off of Kentucky 136 near the Henderson-Henderson County Airport, it’s hard to imagine the modest beginnings of the business. Wetland Services has expanded exponentially in the last year and now employs 13 people, almost all of whom have at least a bachelor¹s degree. Most of them were recruited by the company from all over the country.
