LEXINGTON, Ky. — Nearly 300 leaders from across the Greater Lexington public and private sector will gather for a 2024 Regional Summit Nov. 20 to further collective economic growth and talent attraction.
Experts in economic development and talent attraction will give an economic benchmarking update on the region, an overview of the newly launched talent marketing campaign, and suggest key strategies for business recruitment.
During this full-day 2024 Regional Summit presented by Community Trust Bank Participants will hold sessions focused on the power of partnerships, the role of innovation in economic development, housing affordability solutions and higher education collaborations to support workforce needs. Commerce Lexington will host the event and is in its third year creating regional cooperation to compete for stronger economic growth
The 2024 Regional Summit is 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20 at the Hyatt Regency Lexington (401 W. High Street) with one key mission being to provide opportunities for leaders in Greater Lex to receive updates on the goals outlined in the Regional Competitiveness Plan.
Since 2021, business, education and government across the nine-county region have been working together on the first-ever Regional Competitiveness Plan, a strategy aimed at making the region more economically competitive for jobs and talent over the next three years. Commerce Lexington is working with regional leaders to implement seven key action items across economic development, talent attraction and policy advocacy with the key goals of increasing jobs, median wages and GDP within the region to at least the national average by 2027.
Although the region boasts exceptional quality of life strengths, the region is facing key challenges that are slowing economic momentum. Some of these challenges include increasing job creation and wage growth to the national average, attracting more skilled workers to meet industry needs, creating more build-ready sites for business, housing affordability, and limited awareness of the region as a place to live and work.
The Regional Summit agenda will feature:
- Consultant Ted Abernathy, Partner with Economic Leadership LLC is back to provide updates on national trends in economic development and benchmarking data comparing the Greater Lex region to competitor cities and national averages at 9-10 a.m.
- National and local experts in talent attraction marketing unveil the new Greater LEX talent attraction marketing campaign at 10-10:50 a.m.
- A panel of national, state and local housing experts will profile challenges and solutions for the Greater Lex region to address housing affordability and availability needs at 11 a.m.-Noon.
- Leaders from the Raleigh, North Carolina region will discuss how their regionalism efforts have evolved to support the 14-county Research Triangle Regional Partnership and improve the economy for both urban and rural communities at 12:40-1:30 p.m.
- Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear will share some of the state’s key job creation wins and outline his vision for continued economic growth at 1:45-2:30 p.m.
- Nationally renowned site selector, Didi Caldwell with Global Location Strategies, will discuss global trends in economic development, the site selection process, foreign direct investment opportunities, and what makes a region competitive for jobs in today’s landscape at 2:30-3:15 p.m.
- Senate Appropriations and Revenue Chairman Chris McDaniel and House Appropriations Vice Chairman Josh Bray will share some of the Kentucky General Assembly’s priorities for increasing Kentucky’s economic competitiveness at 3:15-4 p.m.
Commerce Lexington Inc. President and CEO Bob Quick said, “Collaborative efforts in economic development have been occurring across the region for 30-plus years, but through the Regional Competitiveness Plan, we are leveraging more partnerships to strengthen our standing when we’re up against other benchmark regions across the country. Today, regionalism is an absolute necessity when competing for jobs and talent. Commerce Lexington is proud to collaborate with our regional partners to drive these key initiatives forward and strengthen the regional economy.”
The Regional Competitiveness Plan is financially supported by business and government leaders across the region with a total annual investment of $1.6 million. The nine-county Greater LEX region includes Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Jessamine, Madison Montgomery, Scott and Woodford counties.
More Information:
Through this event, business and community leaders will have the opportunity to learn about key regional issues, and be engaged in solutions to build a more competitive region. The cost to attend this full-day event is $249 per person.
- To view the full Regional Summit Agenda, visit Regional Summit Agenda – Commerce Lexington Inc.
- For more information on the Regional Competitiveness Plan, view the 2024 Recap Video, or visit on-line at www.commercelexington.com/regionalplan.html.
- For more information on the Greater Lex talent attraction campaign, visit lookatlex.com, and check out the resource hub for additional information.
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