The South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council (SWKEDC) board of directors met Monday afternoon to discuss the yearly budget and discuss what other efforts are going on in the three-county initiative.
Executive Director Carter Hendricks presented the first reading of the budget of about $550,000 during the April meeting. During that meeting, Hendricks said about 65% of their funding comes from governmental agencies, with the rest coming from private sources.
Hendricks told board members Monday the budget featured a few changes.
He adds part of the budget assumes they hire a third employee for the EDC.
Board members took no action on the budget, but they will have to approve it during the June meeting.
Hendricks says they are continuing to advocate for the Interstate 24 Industrial Connector near Pembroke, the change of the Pennyrile Parkway over to I-169, and the Highway 79 bridge and expansion project near Guthrie for Novelis.
He also presented the March 2020 unemployment rates, which he says are not completely accurate to the current unemployment situation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Christian County’s rate was 7%, Trigg’s 6.6%, and Todd County reported a 5.3% unemployment rate.
The next SWKEDC meeting will be held Monday, June 22 at noon, with hopes to conduct an in-person meeting if mandates allow it. The EDC serves Christian, Todd, and Trigg counties.
