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.
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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.
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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.
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Northwest Kentucky Forward continues to work with sector strategies which are designed and implemented by a range of institutions and groups working to collaborate on seeking new and innovative strategies to help with today’s work opportunities. such groups involves are community and business/industry groups, the technical colleges, workforce investment boards, worker advocacy groups, labor-management partnerships, and others. Some of these operate initiatives focus on one target industry in a specific geographical region; others work simultaneously in several industry sectors; a few take a cross-regional or multi-site approach.
http://www.aspenwsi.org/publications/07-014b.pdf
Tom West, Executive Director of Kentucky Workforce Investment Board, will be speaking this afternoon on the new Work Ready Communities certification process. This new program will allow counties to be certified as having met or working to meet a set of criteria which would be necessary to produce a workforce ready to work.
Kentucky is one of three states to pilot this new initiative and NWKF is focused on being one of the first Work Ready Regions. We will be finalizing a committee soon to oversee the process. The committee will be composed of existing businesses, educators, higher education, and local government.
NWKF has worked for several years in promoting workforce development as the key to economic growth. We strongly believe in the new Certification process and this will be the focus of our efforts in the next few years.
FRANKFORT, Ky.– Gov. Steve Beshear today announced a milestone accomplishment for Kentucky transportation – federal approval of an agreement by which a 38-mile section of the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway will be designated Interstate 69 this fall.
It is the first segment of what eventually will become an I-69 corridor from Henderson to Fulton, incorporating the Julian Carroll/Purchase Parkway, Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway and a portion of I-24 in addition to the Ford/Western Kentucky Parkway.
“This is a breakthrough for the people of Kentucky – and especially for folks in the Pennyrile region,” Gov. Beshear said. “The addition of a second designated interstate highway in the region will open doors for economic development. This is truly a landmark achievement.”
“But we are not finished,” Gov. Beshear said. “Now we turn to the work still ahead of us to complete an entire I-69 corridor from the Ohio River at Henderson to the Tennessee border at Fulton.”
read more here: http://governor.ky.gov/pressrelease.htm?PostingGUID={AC96E6DB-B9F4-4698-8017-A05FF61347BA}
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 31, 2011) – Governor Steve Beshear today announced Union County Livestock will add a new product line at its Uniontown plant. The expansion will allow the company to create 25 new, full-time jobs and will entail a capital investment of $860,000 in the Commonwealth.
“More than two dozen people will have new employment opportunities as a result of Union County Livestock’s expansion,” Gov. Beshear said. “Projects like this one demonstrate the successful partnerships we’re creating with our local communities and existing industries to create jobs for Kentuckians and bring in new investment to the state. I congratulate Union County Livestock on this exciting expansion.”
Union County Livestock, which operates Jim David Meats and Little Kentucky Smokehouse, supplies products to national retail stores such as Wal-Mart, Food Giant, Moonlite, Kroger, Sam’s Club and many others, as well as schools and individuals within a 100-mile radius. The company plans to add a smokehouse and other equipment for a new product line of barbequed items. The company, located in a 31,000 square-foot facility at 400 T Frank Wathen Road, currently employs 32 people.
read more here: http://northwestky.com/news/gov-beshear-announces-union-county-livestock-to-expand-in-uniontown-create-25-new-jobs.html
The AWS Foundation is pleased to announce recipients of the 2011 workforce development grants. Please see the attached image.
I am excited to announce that we will have a Chinese delegation of 11 students and 4 teachers from the Anshan Foreign Languages School visiting AB Chandler on Thursday, August 18 and Friday, August 19. They have been our “Sister School” for the past two years. The students and teachers will be visiting classrooms sharing about their lives in China. Our students will also be learning Chinese calligraphy, Chinese paper cutting, and Chinese street dancing! I am excited about this great multicultural opportunity for our students as we continue to grow their leadership skills!
