Progress Report Released for Regional Competitiveness Plan; Key Data Points Show Positive Improvement for Greater Lexington

Photo courtesy of City of Lexington | Credit: SCAPE & Ty Cole.

Commerce Lexington, along with regional business and local government leaders, continue to advance the Regional Competitiveness Plan, a 5-year strategy launched in 2023 to support job creation and workforce growth across the nine-county region. With the assistance of Economic Leadership, LLC and its managing partner Ted Abernathy, Commerce Lexington and the Greater Lexington Inc. Board have released a progress report.
 
Although there is still much work to be done, the report shows that the collaborative efforts of public and private sector leaders across the region are producing positive trends for the 5-year strategy (2022-2027).  The action items are aimed at increasing jobs and workforce across the region through economic development, talent attraction and public policy initiatives.  Initially, the goal of the Regional Competitiveness Plan is to increase economic growth through additional investment in economic development and talent marketing efforts to key audiences, leadership development through events like the Annual Regional Summit and elevated advocacy for critical infrastructure investments and policy changes to improve the business climate.   

During a recent meeting of the Regional Leadership Council, Ted Abernathy provided an overview of the report along with several key takeaways.
 
“The data shows clear, measurable, economic progress,” said Ted Abernathy.  “Over the past few years, the region is adding jobs in key sectors, growing the workforce and outperforming national averages across key indicators. The quality of place remains a competitive advantage, with more young professionals choosing the region to live and work. At the same time, recent progress underscores the importance of maintaining affordable energy and housing, while continuing to invest in job-ready sites and infrastructure to sustain this growth. Staying aligned and working together as a region will be critical to continued success.”
 
Below are five key highlights from the report:

1. The region’s economic performance is improving.
There is growth in GDP (+6.7%), jobs (+20,999), wages (+28.1), and overall workforce compared to competitor regions and national averages.

2. Strong job growth is occurring across key industry sectors where resources have been focused.
The region added more than 20,000 jobs from 2019–2024, with notable gains in target sectors in the last couple of years:

• Manufacturing: nearly 1,700 net new jobs over 5 years, including more than 500 in the past two years
• Pharma & Medical Manufacturing: +52%
• Automotive Manufacturing: +31%
• Aerospace: +16%
• Business & Professional Services: +25%
• Logistics: +8.2%

3. Labor force growth across all nine counties.
The region’s labor force expanded from 2019–2024, with encouraging momentum among young professionals ages 20–34 with this segment increasing by nearly 7,000 residents over the past three years.

4. Quality of life remains a competitive advantage—with housing as a key challenge.
Cost of living remains below the national average and significantly lower than major metros. However, increasing housing supply will be critical to addressing rising prices and supporting continued workforce growth.

5. Significant progress on job-ready sites and economic development capacity.
​The region is making important strides, with more than 18 projects receiving local and state funding since 2022, including the development of a new regional business park – Central Kentucky Business Park Authority - and the opening of Lexington’s new 200-acre Legacy Business Park. 

Legacy Business Park groundbreaking.

Formation of Central KY Business Park Authority.

​Overall, the data shows the regional economy is gaining momentum, and the Regional Competitiveness Plan is helping to drive measurable progress. For the third consecutive year, the Greater Lexington Region landed in the Top 10 of Site Selection magazine’s annual ranking of economic development activity in 2025 among Tier 2 regions between 200,000 and one million in population.
 
For more information on key deliverables from the Regional Competitiveness Plan, VISIT HERE.
 
The report also highlighted “hot topics” shaping regional competitiveness, including business and regulatory climate, quality of place, and the availability of energy and job-ready sites for economic development. With the rapid rise of AI and data centers, access to safe, reliable and affordable energy is quickly emerging as one of the most critical competitive advantages for communities seeking business investment.
 
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said, “We have already moved ahead by working with our friends in Scott County, Madison County and the city of Berea to create the first multicounty economic development project in Central Kentucky. We know regional economic development is a winner for everyone. I look forward to developing partnerships throughout the region.”
 
Berea Mayor Bruce Fraley, who currently serves as Board Chair for Greater Lex Inc., said, “We are very pleased with the progress of the regional plan. It’s been an honor for me to work with Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Scott County Judge-Executive Joe Pat Covington and Madison County Judge-Executive Reagan Taylor on the creation of the Central Kentucky Business Park Authority to address the need for more shovel-ready land. We can achieve so much more when we collaborate as a region, because it makes us more competitive for jobs and talent.”
 
Commerce Lexington President and CEO, Bob Quick, said, “We’ve made significant progress strengthening collaboration and building trust across the region. That success is rooted in the longstanding relationships among local officials, economic development professionals, education leaders and business leaders for more than 30 years. That history of shared ideas and information made it easier to implement the regional plan. Collaboration is a powerful tool in economic development and talent attraction. By marketing our region’s assets together, we can compete with much larger metros. Simply put, we are better together. We’re proud of our progress and look forward to keeping the momentum going.”
 
For more information about the Greater Lexington Region and Commerce Lexington’s economic development efforts, visit www.locateinlexington.com. To view the talent recruitment website, go to www.lookatlex.com. To stay engaged with the Greater LEX regional efforts, follow @greaterlexky on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.