Hopkinsville-Christian County, Kentucky

Employment Pipeline Assessment and Vision Plan Update

 

Once a dominant producer of tobacco and related products, the Hopkinsville-Christian County area is currently working to diversify its economy and capitalize on its wealth of natural and demographic resources. In 2005, the Commerce Center of Hopkinsville-Christian County, inclusive of the area’s Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Council, and Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, retained Market Street to partner with area leaders to develop a local Community Vision Plan.

 

The visioning process began with a Competitive Realities assessment, which analyzed the demographic characteristics and economic structure of Hopkinsville-Christian County. The document also measured the area’s competitiveness in terms of the four key components of a business climate: education and workforce development, infrastructure, business costs and capacity, and quality of life. The Competitive Realities was followed by a community input phase, which qualitatively assessed these same four key components of the Hopkinsville-Christian County area, and lay the groundwork for area residents’ vision for the community.

Using the findings of the quantitative and qualitative research, Market Street worked with regional leaders to finalize the prioritization of goals and action steps necessary to move the community forward and realize a shared vision of what Hopkinsville-Christian County stakeholders see as their desired future.

After the Community Vision Plan and Implementation Plan was finalized, the Hopkinsville-Christian County Chamber Board of Directors voted to reorganize the Chamber staff structure and program of work to reflect the mission of the Vision Plan. In addition, a full-time coordinator was retained to oversee all aspects of strategic implementation and partner with the dozens of community volunteers who have stepped up to work on specific implementation elements. In the first years of implementation, Hopkinsville-Christian County: Successfully funded and developed new brand, marketing program and website; saw its percentage of military families living in the community rise from 13 percent in 2005 to 19.9 percent in 2007; experienced a city population increase from 30,089 in 2000 to 31,500 in 2007 after years of decline; created a Rotary Scholars Program designed to provide scholarship money for local high school graduates to continue their education at Hopkinsville Community College; was awarded a $2.4 million U.S. Department of Labor grant for workforce development; and was selected as one of nine national communities to implement innovative program on diversity management.

Market Street returned to Hopkinsville-Christian County in 2010 for “Renewing the Vision,” a strategy update process that continued the momentum from the 2005 plan and add focus to ongoing and future efforts. Market Street developed an Employment Pipeline Assessment to confirm Hopkinsville-Christian County’s target business sectors and assess the training and organizational partnerships necessary to ensure that an effective and sustainable talent pipeline exists for workers in these sectors. This research, complemented by stakeholder input, informed the Renewing the Vision Action Plan that built upon past accomplishments and successes, while applying the most current approaches to address challenges and maximize future opportunities for the Hopkinsville-Christian County community. The Action Plan focused on implementation activities that contribute to sustaining and growing Hopkinsville-Christian County while enhancing and reforming the community’s trajectory of growth.