Owensboro Downtown Waterfront Hotel

Two years ago, this community said goodbye to the storied Executive Inn. This landmark hotel hosted scores of events, conventions, concerts, and helped define Owensboro as a premiere destination city in our Commonwealth. The City of Owensboro and the Daviess County Fiscal Court took a monumental step forward in 2009 with the ratification of the Downtown Placemaking Initiative. One of the key components of that plan involved the construction of a new hotel in conjunction with an indoor Convention/Events center.
At the Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Rooster Booster Breakfast this week, developer Malcolm Bryant unveiled his design for the proposed 151-room Hampton Inn & Suites. The hotel will be the only LEED-certified hotel in Kentucky, and will also include a full-service restaurant, state-of-the-art meeting rooms, bridge connection to the new 169,000 sq ft Convention/Events Center, and retail and cafe space that will complement the pedestrian and new urban feel of our revitalized downtown.

This is truly a landmark day for Owensboro! Congratulations to the Malcolm Bryant Corporation, the City of Owensboro, and the scores of others who are taking this giant leap forward!

Owensboro-Daviess Co. the next Silicon Valley?

Business Insider magazine has put Daviess County on a 20 county list that could be the next Silicon Valley.

Silicon Valley sits in Northern California. It's where Apple computers were born.

"Silicon Valley is really the hub of innovation for the United States," says Madison Silvert of EDC.

What does Owensboro have to do with silicon valley?

Business experts say in the future, Owensboro could be the next Silicon Valley for several reasons.

"They have access to higher education, they have an innovative spirit, they're nice communities, moderately sized. Quality of life is one of those things that you absolutely have to have to be able to attract the talent that is necessary to promote high-tech growth," Silvert says.

Along with lower than average unemployment rates, Hollison Technologies CEO Kevin Humphrey says Owensboro's Center for Business and Research is a big reason why he thinks Owensboro made Business Insider's cut.

"Often entrepreneurs are people with good ideas. May not be um well suited to run their own business yet and need guidance in places and that being available is a wonderful tool."

"We're creating a bio-technology sector here in food and medical in pharmaceuticals specifically plant made pharmaceuticals where you can see some of the advancements that could be made in this kind of high tech environment. The seeds have been planted," Silvert says.

Daviess County was the only county in Kentucky that made business insider's list.

Interstate 69 opens in Kentucky

Members of the Indiana Department of Transportation Interstate 69 project team joined Kentucky transportation officials Tuesday to celebrate and learn more about their successful efforts to extend the interstate highway through Kentucky.

I-69 signage is now being installed along 55 miles of Interstate 24 and the Wendell Ford/Western Kentucky Parkway, which is being upgraded to interstate standards.

"Indiana congratulates Kentucky on receiving federal approval to upgrade some of their existing parkways for I-69," said Samuel Sarvis, Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) deputy commissioner for major program management. "Kentucky's efforts show Indiana ways the existing State Road 37 might be transformed into I-69 Sections 5 and 6."

Stretching from Texas to Michigan, I-69 has been designated by Congress as a High Priority Corridor of National Significance and one of six "Corridors of the Future." I-69 construction is regarded as a key component to the future economic vitality of southwestern Indiana and will provide necessary connectivity with the rest of the state and the nation.

The I-69 corridor from Evansville to Indianapolis was approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in March 2004, based on the Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Study released in December 2003, which divided the 142 miles into six independent sections. Sixty-five miles of Sections 1, 2 and 3 are currently under construction and scheduled to open at the end of 2012.

In September, FHWA approved the route for 27 miles of Section 4 between Crane and the existing limited-access S.R. 37 south of Bloomington. Section 4 is scheduled to open to traffic by the end of 2014, and bids are being opened for the first construction contract this fall.

Owensboro Unemployment at Lowest Level since 2008

Daviess County’s unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent in August — the lowest it’s been since the beginning of the Great Recession.

The last time the county saw a rate lower than 8 percent — a figure once considered high — was nearly three years ago, in December 2008, when it was at 7.1 percent.

Local unemployment stood at 9 percent in both July 2011 and August 2010, the numbers released by the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training show.

“We’re not where we’d like to be, but the (new) number is reflective of some positive economic projects we’ve had over the past couple of years,” Nick Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., said Monday.

The new numbers show that 1,100 more people — 45,477 — are working here today than in December 2008.

But the number of people in the work force has also grown — by 1,493 people to 49,282.

The state lists 3,805 people as unemployed in the county today, up 393 from December 2008.

Brake said U.S. Bank Home Mortgage has hired several hundred people in the past year and the hospital continues to add workers.

And, he said, “Our strategy supporting entrepreneurship is paying off as some of the smaller companies are hiring now too. I still have concerns about the possibility of a double-dip recession, but I’m optimistic. This is a very strong sign of economic activity in the community.”

Daviess’ 7.7 percent rate was matched by both Hancock and Ohio counties in August.

Hancock’s unemployment rate was 6.8 percent in December 2008. It hit 14.8 percent six months later.

But the jobless rate there has been dropping steadily in recent months as many of the industries began calling back workers who had been laid off.

“We’re heavy in manufacturing over here,” said Mike Baker, executive director of the Hancock County Industrial Foundation. “All of our plants are flush right now. There haven’t been any expansions or hirings, but they’re in good shape. We’ve also seen an uptick in hiring of temporary workers.”

But he said there’s a national shortage of electricians, electrical contractors and mechanics that will “reach epidemic levels within three years.”

If people are looking for careers, those are good fields to consider, Baker said.

The statewide unemployment rate for August was 9.1 percent — down from 9.7 percent in July and 10.1 percent in August 2010.

Owensboro Chooses Cape Air St. Louis Flights for Air Service

A panel choosing a carrier for air service at the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport has selected Cape Air, a Hyannis, Mass., airline and sent that recommendation on to federal regulators.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will consider the panel's choice when it makes a final selection for a commuter airline serving Owensboro, The Messenger-Inquirer reported (http://bit.ly/ra8Por).

Cape Air proposed three daily flights to and from St. Louis. The fare will be $49 including fees and taxes and no additional cost for baggage.

KentuckySkies, a subsidiary of Pacific Wings, which flew from Owensboro to Nashville, informed the airport board in July that it would end the service Sept. 30.

Daviess County Economic Development Incentive Application on GO-EDC Website

The application for the Daviess County Economic Development Fund is now available on the GO-EDC website.  The $1 million fund was created by the Daviess County Fiscal Court earlier in the year to promote economic development and job creation in Daviess County.  The application is available at http://edc.owensboro.com/_documents/EconomicDevelopmentFundApplication.pdf

Achieving the "Bilbao Effect" in Owensboro

The design of the Owensboro Event Center

It has been a big week in Owensboro! The design, size and scope of the Owensboro Events Center has been approved. How important is the design of these amenities to the overall success of revitalizing the downtown and the overall region?

Just ask the once declining city of Bilbao, Spain. This sleepy, seaside, former industrial city in Northern Spain gets a new museum housed in a building already called--on its completion at the end of the 20th century--the most important building of the 21st. The museum is Frank Gehry's Guggenheim. Virtually overnight, the small city became one of the most popular destinations in Europe. From all reports, Bilbao is rapidly metamorphosing from a sort of one-hit wonder to a genuinely vibrant city with restaurants, nightlife, theatre, and art. Gehry's radical, shimmering metal building has become a source of immense civic pride.

Bilbao Museum in Spain

Called the "Bilbao Effect," great architecture should be the centerpiece of urban space. Whether religious, governmental, commercial, or cultural, buildings define their cities. This is our chance to have a world class building on the world class river that runs through this city. Given the strength of the proposals and the architectural talent from around the country interested in the project-- world class is possible. Such a "Bilbao effect" could benefit the region culturally and economically for a long time to come.