NETT Issues Economic Strategy for Northern Kentucky

The New Economy Transition Team (NETT) of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has issued a 73-page plan that, if implemented successfully, could position Northern Kentucky as a center for life sciences and information technology, advanced manufacturing and financial services. 



NETT, in coordination with Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corp. (Tri-ED), Northern Kentucky University and Madison E-Zone (a technology incubator in Covington, Ky.), made the New Economy Plan public on August 2. The plan will be combined with others from Lexington, Louisville, and other regions of the state to become the New Economy Plan for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 



The plan contains four focus areas, including a series of initiatives in each area: 1.) expanding business clusters in life sciences, advanced manufacturing and information technology, 2.) nurturing new businesses, 3.) enhancing the infrastructure, and 4.) building a workforce for the future. Among the initiatives are: 

• The Northern Kentucky Chamber, Northern Kentucky Tri-ED, Madison E-Zone and local entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry will band together to create Kentucky First, a Northern Kentucky-based enterprise that will buy and grow companies, products and technology in the pharmaceutical industry and facilitate the commercialization of university research in the health care field. 
• Northern Kentucky University is proposing a Center for Information Technology and an emerging technology and commercialization corridor adjacent to the NKU campus. The university's $4.5 million center would provide training for professional certifications, non-traditional degrees and tech-based minors in technology. 
• Northern Kentucky Tri-ED will accelerate its current strategy to foster the development of more advanced manufacturing and to recruit more research and development and information management intensive companies to Northern Kentucky. And, 
• The Northern Kentucky Chamber and NETT will take the lead in increasing the availability of seed, angel and venture capital funding for the region. The Kentucky Innovation Commission already has approved $10 million for venture capital to be matched on a 1 to 1 or 2 to1 basis by private investment capital. 

In 2000, the Kentucky Legislature appropriated more than $50 million to jump-start New Economy initiatives in Kentucky. More information on NETT, including a link to the New Economy Plan, is available through the Northern Kentucky Chamber at: http://www.nkychamber.com/nkyccwg/wg.dll?page&file=nettneweconomy 

Special thanks go to Mark Schenthal, Communications Coordinator of the Northern Kentucky Chamber, and James McNair of the Cincinnati Enquirer for assisting SSTI on this story. 



Return to the top of this page