(CENTRAL KY. MARKET REVIEW) — While Frankfort, Ky., garners much-deserved attention for its burgeoning manufacturing sector and well-known bourbon industry, it is also a phenomenal place to work, learn, live and raise a family. The Kentucky Capital Development Corp.’s (KCDC) Think Frankfort First initiative is helping recruit new residents; support existing businesses; remove barriers for young people to remain in the community; provide housing for new residents; and deliver jobs and job-training for young and old.
Phase I provides daily posts that feature job openings and tell stories about how local businesses diversify the economy, add tax revenue to increase services, and improve schools and the standard of living for families. Among the followers are site-location consultants, elected officials, and other economic development groups as well as local residents. This effort is helping dispel some of the misperceptions about local businesses and helping people realize the career opportunities that await them in Franklin County.
For those considering a move, it can sometimes be difficult to find good information and even harder to meet like-minded people. Phase II, the First New Friend initiative, leverages one of Frankfort’s greatest assets—its residents—to engage and secure new ones. First New Friend is a community onboarding initiative that provides an opportunity for potential and/or new residents to connect with people with whom they have things in common. This involves a group of community concierges who are diverse in background, ethnicity, occupation, religion and interests who assist new residents and create a sense of belonging within the community. (Obtain an application or learn more here.)
Phase III is the Come Home First program, which helps determine barriers to young people staying or returning home to the area to work and live. The program will focus explicitly on the local youth and ways to remove those barriers and encourage them to “come home first” as adults.
Houses Make Homes, the fourth phase of the initiative, provides a housing assessment to determine the share of housing growth to plan for and helps to quantify the number of housing units needed in the market. This information will be used to develop a strategy that will provide recommendations on how to achieve housing goals and policy initiatives that would benefit the local housing market.
The Learn Here First phase will provide a variety of training and apprenticeship options for those interested in IT/cybersecurity, HVAC, manufacturing, plumbing and health care.
KCDC and its partners continue to work with local businesses to enhance the community, support business development, advance industry innovation, tap global markets and develop a talented workforce to help Frankfort realize its full economic potential.
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