Commerce Lexington outlines regional competitiveness plan, requests Clark County participation and funding consideration

Andy Johnson, chief policy officer for Commerce Lexington, updated the Clark County Fiscal Court on a regional competitiveness plan that promotes job growth, talent attraction and site readiness across a nine-county region that includes Clark County.

Why it matters: County leaders said regional coordination can help attract employers and workers to the area and that marketing and site-preparation work may support local revenue generation. Commerce Lexington asked the county to consider a financial participation level to sustain the program’s marketing and technical activities.

Johnson said the initiative was developed starting in 2021 with regional leaders and consultants. Over the past year Commerce Lexington launched a regional brand and a talent-attraction website that aggregates "live, work, play" information for the nine-county area and includes a jobs board, cost-of-living tools and community profiles. The program has run paid digital marketing to alumni of regional colleges and visitors; Johnson reported nearly 3.4 million ad impressions, roughly 1.6 million unique individuals reached and 20,000 clicks to the site in the initial campaign window.

The plan has three pillars: talent/workforce (including a digital talent campaign and employer resources), economic development/site readiness (marketing to site selectors and preparing job-ready property), and policy advocacy (pursuing state programs such as the Kentucky Product Development Initiative to ready job sites). Johnson asked local leaders to engage with events and workshops and to consider an investment level that fits each government’s budget.

Commerce Lexington staff highlighted results and next steps: - Talent: a live/work website, video and assets for employers and HR; a phase-two website upgrade is planned to better profile each county and add a community quiz to match prospective residents with communities. - Economic development: LocatingLex.com has been refreshed; Commerce Lexington said it has engaged more than 120 site selectors and will continue targeted outreach and industry-focused marketing (advanced manufacturing, food and beverage, and business services). - Policy: the organization supported state advocacy for the Kentucky Product Development Initiative (KPDI), a state matching program that has accelerated site-readiness projects in the region.

Funding: Johnson said the program now has a formal funding model: roughly $1 million in private-sector annual support, a city of Lexington contribution (reported as $322,000 in the presentation) and combined local-government contributions (reported at about $375,000 across the participating jurisdictions) to support implementation. Commerce Lexington asked Clark County to consider joining at a contribution level that fits the county’s budget process.

Magistrates and the judge discussed timing and budget cycles; several members indicated interest in reviewing the program materials during the county’s budget process. One magistrate recommended county representation at regional leadership events. Johnson and his team offered to provide the presentation materials and the two-minute summary video to the county for review.

Sources and attribution: Presentation remarks by Andy Johnson, chief policy officer, Commerce Lexington; workforce staff Betsy Dexter and other Commerce Lexington team members.