Mount Vernon, KY—Rockcastle County and Partners for Rural Impact have been awarded a $12.3 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to construct an Economic Mobility and Resilience Hub at the Rockcastle Business Park South. The $15.3 million project includes $3 million in matching funds through the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development’s Government Resources Accelerating Needed Transformation (GRANT) Program.
The Hub will bring education, workforce, employer and community services together under one roof, anchoring a larger regional development strategy. EDA estimates the project will create 315 new jobs and generate more than $3 million in private investment. Partners for Rural Impact will also move its national headquarters to the Hub upon completion.
“Place should not determine possibility. Young people in Rockcastle and the surrounding counties deserve a clear path to economic mobility in the communities they call home,” said Dreama Gentry, President and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact. “This Hub is an investment in the people and potential of our region. By bringing education, employers and community partners together, we can connect young people and their families with the opportunities and support to build economic security without leaving home.”
Jeff VanHook, Executive Director of the Rockcastle County Industrial Development Authority (RCIDA), sees the Hub as the anchor for a broader economic-development model. “We are building a regional economic-development model where utilities, education, health and food initiatives, workforce, economic development and the private sector are no longer working in separate lanes. We are aligning those efforts around a common objective: to create the workforce, infrastructure and economic conditions necessary to attract large-scale investment and create high-quality jobs for the people of our region.”
Rockcastle County Schools, one of the county’s largest employers, expects to use the Hub for recruiting and training. “Having a place where we can connect with families, provide training, and create pathways to employment right here in our community is a win for everyone,” said Dr. Carrie Ballinger, Superintendent, Rockcastle County School District.
Myra Wilson, Executive Director of the Cumberlands Workforce Development Board, said the Hub closes a longstanding service gap for the area’s workforce system. “We operate career centers in 11 of the 13 counties we serve. Rockcastle isn’t one of them, and we want to fill that gap for people here,” Wilson said. “This building changes that, and we’ve committed to moving Kentucky Career Center Cumberlands staff into the Hub.
“And because we serve adults, youth, dislocated workers and employers under the same roof already, a young person leaving high school or someone starting over at 45 will walk into the same place and find someone who can help. That’s not always how it works in a rural county, but it should be, and this makes it all possible for us,” Wilson added.
The Hub will provide year-round workforce and community services while also serving as a staging facility for coordinated disaster response and recovery. The facility’s design includes:
- A large, flexible training room that can accommodate up to 300 people or be subdivided into smaller breakout spaces
- Five conference rooms and dedicated office space
- Coworking space for remote workers and employees of new and prospective employers in the region
- Twelve private rooms for virtual coursework, job interviews, telehealth appointments and other one-on-one meetings
- A loading bay for receiving donated goods during emergencies and community drives, plus storage for emergency response equipment such as generators and personal protective gear
“True resiliency means more than just recovering from a disaster; it means having the infrastructure, workforce, and partnerships firmly in place before a challenge ever arrives. That is why strategic investments like the Hub are so vital. They reinforce the connections between our people, communities, and employers, giving us the ability and capacity to respond to a rapidly changing world,” said Howell Holbrook, Rockcastle County Judge Executive.
Over time, the Hub will help prepare the regional workforce for potential employment opportunities at the nearby RGL Megasite. RGL Regional Industrial Development is the partnership between Rockcastle, Garrard and Lincoln counties behind the Megasite. The 1,500-acre site is being marketed globally for an operation employing 3,000 to 4,000 people.
“The Rockcastle County Industrial Development Authority is proud to co-sponsor this effort because we understand that successfully attracting major investment to the Rockcastle Megasite and the broader RGL region will require more than land. It will require strong utilities, a prepared workforce, innovative education and training, and partners who are willing to work together with a shared vision,” said VanHook.
State Representative Josh Bray expressed his excitement about PRI’s Economic Mobility and Resilience Hub becoming a reality for the region. “Kentucky’s GRANT Program is not simply ‘grant money.’ It is a tool to help local organizations turn good ideas into fundable projects by overcoming the match barrier, like it did with this $12.3 million EDA award,” said Bray, who was a lead sponsor of HB 605, which expanded and modified the GRANT Program.
“It also prepares our workforce for what’s ahead with the RGL Megasite, while helping employers already here create and retain jobs,” said Bray.
