One East KY Announces Board of Directors

One East Kentucky announced today their 2016-2017 Board of Directors. Voting took place among investors in the organization during the first two weeks of May.

“Our organization is only as strong as those who choose to invest their time and funding into our strategic efforts”, said Chuck Sexton, CEO of One East Kentucky. “I am thrilled at the caliber of individuals willing to serve on our Board of Directors, and look forward to working with them as we begin our aggressive industrial recruitment strategy.”

One East Kentucky’s primary role is to recruit new jobs and investment to a nine county region of east Kentucky (Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Perry and Pike). Over the past 11 months, the organization has been building funds to implement their strategic efforts as well as build all of the necessary tools to be successful.

Allen Gillum, CEO of Appalachian Wireless stated, “Economic Development takes time, money and a focused strategy on what types of companies we can attract to the coal fields. I am honored to be selected as Chairman of the organization and will ensure that we remain focused on bringing new jobs.”

Now that appropriate funding is in place, One East Kentucky staff will be traveling the U.S. and Canada speaking directly with companies about relocating or expanding into the region.

“Very few economic development agencies are as aggressive with recruiting as One East,” said former Governor Paul Patton. “We must go to the companies and build a business case as to why they should locate or expand here. Waiting for them to come to us is an outdated way of thinking.”

The Board of Directors for One East Kentucky steers the strategy and ensures that the organization is financially responsible. Funding has so far been utilized to implement a workforce study, a targeted industry study, begin an Aerospace Manufacturing readiness assessment and host multiple site location consultants. These consultants are paid by companies to seek out appropriate locations for new manufacturing facilities across the globe.

“One East Kentucky has adopted the single best economic development strategy that I have seen over the past 20 years. Even though recruitment has just begun, we have already seen a tremendous rise in the number of companies looking to locate here. That is a testament to the need for a professionally staffed clearing house to handle these projects, “said Duran Hall, President of Maverick Insurance. “I am humbled to serve as a director on this board and look forward to what we can accomplish.”

One East Kentucky will annually select three new directors for their board. To be eligible to run, a person must be an investor in good standing with the organization. Officers must have served at least one term as a director to be eligible. The makeup of the board spans all nine counties and represents multiple areas of industry as well as community involvement.

Mark Gooch, President and CEO of Community Trust Bank concluded, “I’m honored to serve on this board. We’ve got a lot of work to do, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to the job at hand.”

A full list of the One East Kentucky Board of Directors can be found below.

OFFICERS
Chairman: W. Allen Gillum, CEO, Appalachian Wireless
Vice-Chair: Paul Patton, Chancellor, University of Pikeville
Secretary/Treasurer: Brad Hall, External Affairs Manager, AEP Kentucky Power

DIRECTORS
Burt Bellamy, President, Citizens National Bank
Mark Gooch, President and CEO, Community Trust Bank
Bill Grigsby, General Manager, Thacker-Grigsby Telephone
Joseph Grossman, CEO, Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Duran Hall, President, Maverick Insurance
Bob Hutchison, President and CEO, Hutch Chevrolet/McDonald’s of East Kentucky Mark McKenzie, Property Manager, Mayo Plaza
Neil Middleton, General Manager, WYMT
Greg Pauley, President, AEP Kentucky Power