Advocacy Efforts Significant to Regional Competitiveness Strategy & Everyday Life in Kentucky

​Government investments, laws, and regulations play a significant role in shaping the business climate for Kentucky and the nine-county Greater Lexington region. Local, state, and federal government leaders are important partners in efforts to improve our region’s competitiveness for jobs and talent.
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​​When you think about it, almost all areas of daily life, whether for a business or a worker, are impacted by government policy. In today’s highly competitive landscape for jobs and talent, cities and regions are evaluated based on extensive data points by site selectors, businesses and people searching for places to live and work.

For example, the evaluation of where to locate a new facility, or which existing facility to expand, almost always includes an assessment of the state and the region. Some of the criteria considered include:

• How business friendly is Kentucky and the region?
• How does the state and regional tax climate compare to other states, cities and regions?
• Is the state or city building and maintaining good infrastructure?
• What are the costs for land or buildings, utilities, and housing?
• Can the region educate, train, and attract the workers needed?

 
Many organizations use multifactor analysis to rank states, cities, and regions based on issues connected to public policy. Some, like the Tax Foundation, look at one aspect of competitiveness. In 2023, the Tax Foundation ranked Kentucky as having the 18th best overall tax environment in the country. Individual rankings included #23 for property taxes, #18 for individual income tax, #15 for corporate taxes and #13 for sales tax. A similar analysis is also done by people as they evaluate a region before making relocation decisions based on multiple “quality of life” factors including job opportunities, tax burden, housing costs and availability, public safety, education, inclusiveness, and other cultural amenities. 

​In today’s polarized political climate, it can feel intimidating to engage in government relations and advocacy work, but it is a necessary activity to building a more economically successful region. State and federal governments provide grant programs and other investments to help support regions with site development for jobs, infrastructure, affordable housing, childcare, transportation, broadband, and workforce training. Tax laws, incentives and regulations can help with the attraction of industry sectors and workers.

Greater Lexington’s Regional Competitiveness Strategy includes priorities for public policy advocacy such as increasing state and federal funding to support site development for job creation and talent attraction. One of the challenges for the region is the lack of build-ready sites for businesses to locate. In 2022, the Kentucky General Assembly allocated $100 million in funding for product development grants to be matched by local government funding to help accelerate the development of more sites for jobs. One of the policy priorities includes advocating to state government leaders about the need to continue to make product development investments a budget priority in 2024. The strategy also prioritizes advocacy for policy changes that improve the business climate in the state and region, including continued modernization of the state and local tax structures to be more competitive with surrounding states. ​

There is power in advocating as a united region to leaders in Frankfort and Washington, D.C. for policy priorities with mutual benefit for all communities. There is also power in educating government leaders about the rapidly changing landscape for competitiveness so we can work together on strategies to increase jobs, GDP, and labor force within our nine-county region. 

To learn more about the priority policy issues for the Greater Lexington region, join Commerce Lexington and regional leaders at The Regional Summit on November 29 at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington. 

​To learn more or to register, VISIT HERE.