Northern Kentucky leaders are formulating strategies to out-compete other regions for prospective workers.
‘Northern Kentucky’s Competitiveness & Future Strategies’ was the theme of the second annual BE NKY Annual Forum last Thursday — an event that looked to spark conversation and foster collaboration between the region’s business, political, and nonprofit leaders.
BE NKY Growth Partnership — a Northern Kentucky-based economic development company — is one of the primary growth organizations responsible for analyzing how the region can remain economically competitive with other similarly-sized regions.
The event featured keynote speakers, consultants Ted Abernathy and Kat Saunders of Economic Leadership, who spoke about how Northern Kentucky can differentiate itself now so that economic growth can follow.
The forum was attended by leaders from Northern Kentucky’s business, nonprofit and political sectors.
“Just because we’re successful today, doesn’t guarantee that prosperity tomorrow will happen,” BE NKY CEO Lee Crume said. “This is where you come into the picture through this forum. As a community, one of the ways we work for success for tomorrow is by coming together, collaborating and making good informed decisions.”
From Saunders’s perspective, Northern Kentucky has positioned itself well, possessing positive economic momentum from job growth in the region’s advanced manufacturing sector, among other things. In 2023, advanced manufacturing accounted for 56% of announced jobs by sector, according to BE NKY’s annual report released on Jan. 22.
“Looking ahead, we got some momentum here,” Saunders told the crowd. “It’s not huge, but it’s a start and that’s a good place for us to be right now.”
In terms of competitiveness, Abernathy brought forth several questions regional leaders should consider when developing attraction and retention strategies.
“What’s the business climate like? What’s the workforce like? How’s the infrastructure? How much innovation capacity do you have? Can you can you grow entrepreneurs? Are your companies automating,” Abernathy said.
Going forward, Saunders suggested that regional leaders must change the way they see the talent pipeline. Specifically, she mentioned the region’s educational institutions should place a greater emphasis on skills-based learning.
Saunders said businesses are searching for employees with soft skills such as communicating, listening, time management, problem-solving and leadership.
“I was just in a state last week where they are having an entire soft skills campaign,” she said. “That’s all they’re focusing on. They’re not even worried about the technical stuff. They’re just talking about how to teach people to show up to work, talk to each other and do a good job.”
Another suggestion from Saunders was for the region to focus on how it markets itself, both internally and externally. The message should differentiate NKY from the pack, highlighting the region’s economic assets and unique cultural characteristics, she said.
“When people were looking for jobs and relocation opportunities, of course they started with job boards, friends, family, social media, your network,” Saunders said. “That is organic marketing. That doesn’t cost a thing. People need to hear from other people.”
Finally, Abernathy said regional leaders must have the capacity for collaboration across all sectors, public and private. From his point of view, NKY’s housing, workforce and childcare are regional challenges. As such, solving them requires input from a diverse array of stakeholders.
“Your county has to be competitive,” Abernathy said. “Down below, your cities need to be competitive. Above that, your region needs to be competitive. You have to have collaboration and you have the collaborative capacity. You have to have leaders who want to work together.”