Throughout Kentucky, attaining the right combination of new jobs and sufficient workers to fill them can be a challenge. Ted Abernathy is a consultant with Economic Leadership, based in North Carolina. Abernathy participated in a regional business summit in Lexington last month. He said often the strategy is to try to lure out-of-state workers to the Commonwealth.
“In any given year there are businesses coming and going and you’ve been lucky enough in the last few years in Kentucky to see more growth than loss. Some other states have seen more loss than growth and so, you hope that people will move to Kentucky for those good jobs,” said Abernathy.
Abernathy said they’re not as likely to move now with interest rates still high and two-income families facing moving for two jobs. In fact, the economic development consultant noted that half as many people change states as they did 20 to 30 years ago.
For southeastern Kentucky, Abernathy said unemployment rates in many of those counties are higher than in central Kentucky, but still not considered “high.”
“You’re still looking at do you want a company to come in and struggle to find workers everywhere. It won’t be good for the company. It won’t be good for the other businesses in the area as workers are siphoned off from existing companies,” said Abernathy.
Abernathy said there are topographical challenges as well in Appalachian Kentucky. The Economics Leadership consultant said Kentucky has seen job growth but still experiences a very tight workforce.
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