Policy Goals:

An Effective and Accountable Economic Development System

Visioning/Tracking
Create a process that defines a vision for economic development that is based on a higher quality of life and creates a way to regularly measure state progress against that vision.

Governance/Structure
Reform the governance of Kentucky’s economic development system to make it accountable to the vision, increase coordination across government and broaden public participation and ownership.

Planning
Increase economic development planning at the local, regional and state levels that collectively identifies smart strategies to move Kentucky’s economy forward.

Budgeting
Create better methods to track on- and off-budget economic development expenditures in order to increase accountability and allow the state to make better decisions about priorities.

Evaluation
Increase evaluation and documentation of economic development programs and expenditures to determine the effectiveness of our strategies and better share information about what is working.

Smart Economic Development Strategies

Sector and Cluster Development
Support the development of emerging sectors and key clusters through services, networking help and assistance that improves sector competitiveness and job quality.

Entrepreneurship
Create a seamless system of public and private entrepreneurial support that helps entrepreneurs of all kinds move through the pipeline from idea development to establishment of a successful enterprise.

Small/Existing Business Development
Create a seamless system that provides a range of support for small and existing businesses to help them build their markets and increase productivity and innovation.

Workforce Development
Increase support for workforce training that targets key sectors and occupations and provides more Kentuckians with good, career-ladder jobs that provide a pathway to a higher standard of living.

Strategic Recruitment
Make recruitment of businesses more strategic by targeting industries that will improve quality of life and remain rooted in localities.