Whitley County Promise Zone Community Forum
What are the assets or strengths of this community and/or the region?
Location just off I-75
Access to two airports (Corbin and Williamsburg)
Within driving distance of two major airports
Central to several large cities
Access to I 75 (2)
On the interstate
Good within county road system
Location - center of eastern US
Lots of empty buildings and land to build. All available at reasonable cost
Room for growth
Access to a railroad
Adequate water
Cheap utilities
Whitley is part of a 6 county industrial park
Some industrial plant but not enough
Community hospital and considerable health resources
Senior Citizens Center
Two home health agencies
3 nursing homes
An assisted living facility
Hospitals
Large work force regionally and in the county
People who want to work
Young people willing to work
Work ethic of the people
Our people are willing to work
Workforce that has many technical and crafts trained workers
Trainable work force
Educational opportunities from pre-K to college
EKU and the University of the Cumberlands provide education and technical training
72% of those age 25+ are high school graduates
Education
Natural beauty
Natural resources (coal and timber)
Natural assets
Landscape
Mountains
River
Progressive city and county governments that work together
People are strong minded and willing to work together to get to an end result
Lots of community-based organizations
Strong community and family bonds
Extension Office
Extension well established
Vibrant agricultural sector
Award winning Farmer's Market
Farmer's Market (2)
Agriculture elements
Agricultural potential
Farmers
Local food system
Lots of agricultural volunteer organizations (Goat Association, Beekeeper Association, Master Gardener Association, Southeast KY Vegetable Cooperative, Cattlemen's Association
Have a strong and supportive Extension Service in Whitley County and at the University of Kentucky
Significant tourism infrastructure
Cumberland Falls State Park
Laurel Lake
Water Park
Four community parks
7,000 seat arena in Corbin
Hotel
Financially accessible housing
Low cost of living
Low wage base
Cultural heritage
Strong minded people with a rich unique culture that’s deeply rooted in the area
Strong culture
Historical significance
Services to support working people such as daycare, gym, college, schools, religious organizations
What are the challenges facing Whitley County and/or the region?
If we do nothing, the county will continue down the path it has. I believe there will be an increase in retail stores with a decrease in employee salary percentage versus the nation. Since 2009, the population has dropped in Whitley County by 10%
Attitudes
Defeatist attitudes
Anti-education attitudes - a belief that education can lower your opportunity to get into some programs
Education is seen as being opposed to our culture
Culture of entitlement
Getting cities and counties to work together
No one encourages city-community involvement
Lack of job diversity within the community and the region
More diverse job opportunities
Lack of multiple opportunities in the job market
Lack of jobs for college graduates
Lack of jobs (6)
Jobs are a big concern
Work/job opportunities
Limited number of high tech professionals within the community and the region
Lack of individual diversity within the community and the region
Lack of industry (2)
Lack incentives to recruit industries
Lack of businesses
Lack of skilled workers
Need job training opportunities, ie apprentice programs for plumbing, electrical and mechanical
Poor wage levels attached to jobs
Working folks can't afford to have kids
No money to spend
Poverty level
Poverty (2)
The cycle of poverty trapping families
Poverty cycle
Breaking the cycle of poverty
The difference in the wages that people can earn in the county and region versus the level of assistance they can receive if they don't work
Entitlement society
Poverty culture (2)
Not self reliant - depend on disability and food stamps
People not being dependent on the system - they need to become more self-reliant
Welfare abuse
Local and state tax environment
Lack of money
Workers comp reputation
Finances
Lack of housing
Much in not appealing for middle and upper income families
Poor quality housing
Lack of available rental housing
Lack of access to affordable and comprehensively available broadband Internet and cell phone service
Cell phone service is very poor and actually is better at Cumberland Falls State Park than in the rest of the county because they have an independent contractor
Lack of affordable and geographically comprehensive broadband limits business development and recruitment as well as education
Broadband
Limited Internet access (3)
Lack of internet access
No high speed Internet
No dependable Internet
Cell and Internet access
Drug abuse and the crimes related to this
Drugs and crime from drugs
Drug culture -- it's too easy to obtain drugs
Drugs (4)
Drug abuse
Drug rate and the crimes related to drugs
Drug dependence and associated problems, e.g., thefts to buy drugs
Lack of concern about medical conditions
Poor health of population
Child abuse
Child welfare
Getting the best and the brightest of our youth to come back or to stay
Getting best & brightest to stay
Access to quality foods
Getting people outside the county and the region overlooking the statistics about the region and just getting them here and taking a chance
Children and teens have nothing positive to do
High drop out rate
Need more educated people
Low literacy rates
Know how
We are a dry county
Lack of shopping so people go to Lexington and Knoxville
Imagine it is 10 years from now. Describe how you hope that Whitley County and/or the region would be different.
I would like to see Whitley as a place people would want to vacation and a place where people could live and support their family
We would be a self-reliant and sustainable (economically, energy, agriculture) as a county which would bring more jobs and keep them in the county
More permanent jobs (2)
More jobs - long-term career types of jobs
Higher employment
More attractive to college graduates
More career professional and technical jobs
More high tech jobs
More jobs that are not dependent on government contracts
Jobs with benefits (2)
More jobs (2)
Job opportunities for farmers
More good paying jobs
Whitley County and the region would be at the national median family income
Less poverty
We would be growing in population and jobs
Diverse employment
We would have a diversity of small manufacturing in different economic sectors in Whitley County and the region
We would be a manufacturing hub
We would have manufacturing that adds value to our forest products
We would have a hemp processing plant
We would have more food processing plants (hogs, beef, poultry)
We would not be dependent on coal but using alternative energy
Many small industrial companies employing a lot of people
Industrial jobs
Increased [high school] graduation rate (3)
Sports rivalries need to be left to Friday nights
There would be a greater emphasis on youth work readiness
100% graduation rate from high school
Drug free community and region
No drug
Less drug related crimes
Safe community
Drugs are gone
Less drugs
Less crime
Drug rehabilitation treatment available within the county
Right now, adults have to travel 5 hrs to access rehabilitation services and youth have to travel 1.5 hours
Drug treatment here (2)
Available treatment for drug rehab
Halfway house to allow those in rehab to work and get on their feet - the ones really serious about changing their lives
Downtown buildings will be full and renovated
Clean community
Quaint community
Quaint looking town with all the benefits of technology
Nice site down restaurants
Restaurants
Better places to eat
Unique local restaurants
Restaurants serving local schools
Water and sewers provided to all
Mandatory garbage pick-up
Better tourism that capitalizes on our natural beauty without exploiting it
Increase tourism attractions
This would be a place people want to visit
Theater
Tourist destination
Seniors (persons 65+) would want to move here for the quality of life
There would be more support services for retirees
Need a better senior attraction for senior citizens to want to come back home
More retirees returning to live here
Full use of our agricultural lands
Local and regional restaurants would be serving locally grown foods
Strong food systems
Locally grown, healthful food easily available
Hemp would be grown as a cash crop
Affordable child care would be available throughout the county and the region
More housing choice
Access to affordable Internet
We would have a family recreation center
Family center
Recreation Center
Pocket parks
Biking paths
We would have new attitude that change is good
There would be a level of increased political involvement by young people
We would have broken the poverty cycle
What are obstacles the region and your county have to overcome to move forward?
Lack of money
Money (5)
Resources
Regionally, working together
Everyone needs to work together
Got to be regional
Need to be regional (2)
We are competitive but in a negative way
Regionalization - Corbin, Williamsburg and London all need to work together instead of the competition of each town
Regional jealousies
Geographic restraints
Attitudes - "It'll never happen here"
Defeatist attitudes
Resistance to change
"Why Bother?" attitude
Fear
No vision
Opening minds to what is out there - the possibilities
Need to be creative
Don't be afraid to fail
Closed minds
Ego
People afraid of change
Settling for less
We don't play well together
Overcoming statistics
Perception of the area as a drug haven
Knowledge
Helping others realize we are more than coal
Reluctance of companies to move here
Regional diet
Technology
Not enough hours in the day
Can only volunteer so much - need more paid folks to address issues
Drugs
Lack of jobs
Other comments
To retain existing businesses and jobs, we need:
To get involved with the businesses. Find out what they would like to see from us as a county. Maybe connecting them with colleges to help with projects.
Companies would like to be recognized as a company of choice.
Maybe helping prepare employees for the work environment.
To attract new businesses and industries we need:
Training and consulting
Resources are a big expense. Offering a way to offset some of the costs of the resources
There are grants that are set up for businesses that have to meet a requirement. These requirements are too high for most eastern KY businesses
To create new businesses and jobs we need:
Training and consulting would be a big help. This would include business plans, sales planning, cash flow planning and more
In small businesses, most people are good at what they do. However, business is not something they may understand
Nearest elementary school to where you live
Boston Elementary
3 Corbin Elementary
2 Oak Grove Elementary
Pleasant View Elementary
South Fork Christian Academy
2 Whitley Central Primary
2 Whitley County East Elementary
1 Whitley County North Elementary
5 Williamsburg Elementary
1 No answer
1 Whitley County High School
2 Corbin Middle School
What is your age group?
Under 18
1 18-24
8 25-44
5 45-54
1 55-64
1 65+
2 No answer
