SOMERSET, Ky. (June 17, 2014) — One of East Kentucky’s most successful economic development professionals will now lead Southeast Kentucky’s premier regional economic development organization. Brett Traver has been hired as Southeast Kentucky Economic Development Corp.’s (SKED) new executive director. He will begin work July 1.
Traver brings more than a decade of experience as a senior project manager with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to SKED’s 45-county service area, where he will manage a $10 million loan portfolio, oversee the training of entrepreneurs and small business owners, and provide economic and community development assistance to local communities in Southeast Kentucky.
He spent that last two-and-one-half years working for the Morehead-Rowan County Economic Development Council, where he supervised the marketing of the John Will Stacy MMRC Regional Business Park and the Morehead-Rowan County Aviation Business Park.
During that time, the Floyd County native worked to secure a $7.2 million investment by American Stave Corp. in Rowan County. This project is expected to add 70 new jobs to Morehead’s workforce in the coming months.
Traver was also instrumental in helping Rowan County become a Work Ready Community. A Kentucky Work Ready Community certification is a measure of the county’s workforce quality. It demonstrates a community’s commitment to producing a skilled workforce to business and industry looking to locate in Kentucky. Rowan is one of only 10 of the state’s 120 counties to reach the benchmark to date.
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