This session, Commerce Lexington worked closely with and led community and regional partners to champion public-private investments with high-impact initiatives before members of the General Assembly. Following final passage of House Bills 500, 502, and 900 before the veto recess, lawmakers approved funding for several priority projects that will deliver significant benefits to the Greater LEX region.

​Overall, the General Assembly invested nearly $30 million to support Blue Grass Airport plan to reimagine and expand its terminal. This includes $19.9 million to launch the new terminal expansion, which will add airline gates and accommodate larger aircraft. The upgrades are expected to boost passenger capacity, attract more direct flights, increase regional traffic, and unlock new opportunities for economic development and tourism.

By Keller Riede, Commerce Lexington Policy Intern 
​On Wednesday, March 4, nearly 60 business and community leaders from across the nine-county region gathered in Frankfort for Commerce Lexington’s Greater LEX Day at the Capitol in partnership with AT&T. This event provides a vital opportunity for policy experts, elected officials, and regional leaders to further connect during this legislative session and collaborate on key policy issues impacting the Lexington region.  

Several prominent members of the General Assembly addressed attendees including Majority Floor Leader Steven Rudy, Senator Amanda Mays Bledsoe, and Representative Josh Bray – sharing insights on the status of legislation and updates on the biennium budget planning that are currently underway. Their input provided valuable insight on policy developments that are affecting Lexington and the broader nine-county Greater LEX region. Priority issues for the region include policy and investments impacting housing affordability, childcare, talent attraction marketing, and job site readiness (KY Product Development Initiative).

In today’s rapidly evolving economic landscape, it has become clear that a more unified, strategic approach is essential to keeping our region competitive on a national and global scale. That’s why, alongside regional leaders, Commerce Lexington has led the charge to develop a  bold and forward-thinking roadmap designed to increase more jobs and attract more workers to the nine-county region.

Public and private sector leaders are working together on key initiatives to grow the economy and elevate all communities across the region.

To move the region forward, leaders established clear, measurable goals and action items focused on three pillars: economic development, workforce, and policy.

Early successes include the creation of a regional brand — Greater Lex — and the launch of a new talent attraction website featuring more than 30 pages of “live, work, play” messaging. The site increases awareness among key audiences and offers tools such as an interactive community quiz, regional map, cost of living calculator and detailed county pages to help users discover what makes each area unique.

The 2025 Greater LEX Regional Summit presented by Community Trust Bank brought together 320-plus influential business, community and government leaders from across the Greater LEX region.  This year’s Summit was the largest gathering to date, signaling the continued momentum and commitment to regional collaboration.  The annual event provided a valuable opportunity for economic benchmarking and a progress report on the implementation of the Regional Competitiveness Plan action items.  Attendees were also able to connect, share ideas, and explore strategies to make the nine-county region more competitive for jobs and talent.  

Commerce Lexington was recognized with two awards related to its ongoing Regional Competitiveness Plan, while the City was named an award winner for its Second Chance Academy Workforce Reentry Program.

​Commerce Lexington is pleased to announce that Betsy Dexter, Senior Vice President, Talent & Education Strategy, has been selected to participate in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Business Leads Fellowship Program. This year’s cohort includes 35 fellows from 19 states who will take part in the six-month program consisting of both virtual and in-person workshops.
 
“We created the Business Leads Fellowship Program in response to the needs of our state and local chamber partners,” said Kyle Butler, Senior Manager, Programs, K-12 Education at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “They, better than anyone, see the critical link between education and economic development, and we are glad to be able to support them as they take on this critical leadership role in their community.”

​Commerce Lexington’s Leadership Visit trip to Madison, Wisconsin (May 14-16) presented by Central Bank & Trust Co. included a delegation of 160-plus regional business, education, government, and nonprofit leaders. The group kicked off the agenda on May 14 at The Pyle Center Alumni Lounge on the campus of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. After a brief welcome, the delegation heard from Jason Ilstrup, President of Downtown Madison Inc., Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.  Day one sessions concluded with a higher education discussion featuring University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto and Dr. Jennifer Mnookin, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

By Violet Ferguson, Commerce Lexington Inc. Public Policy Intern
I’m a member of Gen Z, and one of my top concerns for the future is securing housing that will meet my needs and budget for a young professional. I am a born and raised Lexingtonian. Like many of my generation, I dream of raising a family and owning my own home. However, this vision is dimmed by the harsh realities of the housing market across the U.S., and specifically in Lexington. 

I am going into my second year at American University in Washington, D.C. I am currently back in Lexington for the summer interning with Commerce Lexington. While living in D.C., the issue of housing has become a topic discussed by my peers and me as we are forced to think about our living arrangements for college.

While back in Lexington, I’ve learned many of my local friends feel the same stress of rapidly rising housing rates. Students and young professionals are having to live with parents or friends or live outside of Fayette County and commute to school or work opportunities because of the high costs or lack of inventory.

Commerce Lexington is pleased to announce that it has launched a new and improved on-line Job Board platform that will be beneficial to both employers and job seekers across the region.  While Commerce Lexington member businesses can post job opportunities at no charge as a member benefit for up to 60 days, the job posting option is now available to all businesses across the region for a nominal cost, providing a more local and targeted approach to hiring.
 
This new Job Board is more user-friendly with jobs searchable by keyword, location, industry, and employment type.  Employers can also take advantage of added upgrades when posting jobs, such as featured listings that include listings pushed to the top of the board, highlighted posts, and jobs published to the Google Jobs Network. There is also a Résumé Bank that enables people to upload their résumés for added visibility and employers to source qualified candidates.  Résumés connect directly to member profiles to make follow-up easy.
 
Commerce Lexington President and CEO, Bob Quick, said, “Employers have been facing huge challenges of maintaining and growing their workforce, and this new on-line platform will help them better promote job openings and connect with job seekers. There is an ongoing regional collaborative initiative that includes nine counties and aims to improve our ability to compete for jobs and talent. This new Job Board will most certainly bolster those efforts to recruit and retain talent within our region.”
 
Employers and job seekers across the region can access the new Job Board on-line here: https://commercelexington.mcjobboard.net/jobs .