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BG Works reports nearly 3,000 hires in 2025, sets goals to expand employer participation
Summary
Crowd South and the South Central Kentucky Workforce Development Board told Bowling Green commissioners BG Works produced 2,964 hires in 2025 from 11,637 applications and aims to grow participating employers from about 174 to 300 over the next 12–18 months; staff requested continued city funding for outreach and a new digital resource center.
Crowd South CEO Jason Hein told the Bowling Green Board of Commissioners on March 17 that BG Works helped fill 2,964 jobs in 2025 from 11,637 job applications, and that the program has sent 32,831 applications to employers since its launch.
Hein presented additional lifetime measures: roughly 8,000 total jobs filled through the program and about 51,871 active users on the site over the year. He said 174 businesses participated in 2025 and the program’s hiring rate rose from 17.6% (the prior reporting year) to 25.5% in 2025. ‘‘Seventy‑nine percent of the traffic on the Bowling Green Works website is from outside the community,’’ he told commissioners, noting the site attracts people considering moving to the region.
Why it matters: commissioners and staff framed BG Works as a regional economic development tool that both attracts job seekers and makes the city more competitive in recruitment. City officials said continued local funding leverages county and private partners to connect residents with employers.
The workforce board’s Brian Becker and the program’s navigator Alexa provided local examples of the program’s services, stressing the ‘‘holistic’’ approach — resume and interview help plus transportation and language support for jobseekers with barriers. Becker and Alexa cited a recent QSI hiring event that included interpretation in seven languages and led to dozens of hires.
City manager Jeff Misel and several commissioners praised the collaborative model between the city, the county workforce board and Crowd South. Commissioners asked about demographic and immigration data; staff said the site can show traffic origin but cannot reliably determine an applicant’s immigration status from web analytics.
Next steps: Crowd South outlined goals to increase employer participation (targeting ~300 businesses), create a digital resource center to aggregate training and support resources, and strengthen placement for white‑collar positions as the local economy attracts more professional employers. Becker explicitly asked commissioners to continue funding the navigator position that provides case management and employer outreach.
Quotes: "This program is making that difference for them," Becker said of people facing employment barriers. "We want to grow that employer list," Hein said, describing the 300‑business target.
The board took no separate action on funding during the March 17 meeting but encouraged staff to continue coordinating with the workforce board and Crowd South.
