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BizLex Q&A Gina Greathouse

Commerce Lexington’s executive vice president for economic development on attracting – and keeping – business in the city

BY TOM WILMES BUSINESS LEXINGTON

Gina Greathouse has been involved in economic development for more than 30 years, beginning with state government and with Commerce Lexington since 1995. As the executive vice president for economic development with Commerce Lexington, Greathouse and her team help promote Lexington as great place to do business; advocate for favorable public policy; and serve as an intermediary for the city and the local business community. “My main role with our team at Commerce Lexington is recruiting new businesses to Lexington and the region to create new jobs,” Greathouse said. “Equally important is working closely with existing businesses who are looking to expand or who may have issues with trying to expand here. ” She explains more in this lightly edited interview.

What are some of the challenges for

Lexington? Our biggest constraint is land use and a scarcity of affordable, available land. In addition to land for our more traditional economic development projects, lack of [developable] land is driving housing costs up and then property taxes, making it more difficult for many families to afford homes. It all ties together. Workforce is always an issue, so we also work to identify gaps in what companies need and try to help fill those gaps, such as working with or our educational institutions to let them know ‘these are the jobs that are available,’ and we need to start teaching our students the importance of those jobs so they have an opportunity to stay in Lexington, if they choose to. We are a highly educated city, and this also is competitive advantage. We have a fairly tight job market requiring higher wages to attract and retain talent, so it is important to try to retain the talent we have.

Is manufacturing still a primary

focus? Manufacturing is the most challenging, so you’ll hear me talk more about those projects more because they require more time to develop and, generally speaking, they’re looking for land, but they’re not our main focus. Office projects — when we have them — are easier for Lexington because we do have available buildings and properties out there to fit a variety of needs. We also focus on software and IT, and life sciences to name a few other areas. We will also be working with Mayor Linda Gorton and her team to develop a more formal Ag-Tech initiative.

How do you communicate with existing businesses in the community?

We have a newly formed group called the Lexington Economic Partnership, which the city has contracted with Commerce Lexington to manage. We have partners from Bluegrass Community and Technical College, the University of Kentucky, the Workforce Investment Board, the Economic Development Cabinet and the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. We call on companies that are based in Lexington to learn more about their needs and to gather feedback. Right now, we’re meeting via Zoom. I wasn’t sure how it was going feel with so many people in a meeting, but it’s working out quite nicely. Generally, company leadership and HR representatives are also on the call, and we try to identify any issues that may be are impeding their growth or opportunities to help them with their growth.

How has the pandemic impacted your role and how Lexington is looking

at economic development? Well, ‘Zoom’ says it all. While our overall prospect activity is a little bit slower, it’s still a great opportunity to be prepared. What we’re seeing now, too, as we talk to these economic development consultants and host virtual site visits, is that it provides an opportunity much earlier in the game for a CEO [of a company looking to locate somewhere] to have eyes on your community. Whereas before, they did not come into your community until after the legwork was done in narrowing down the prospects. Virtual site visits are never going to provide the depth or breadth needed to pick a final site, but it does offer an opportunity to eliminate sites quicker and for us to interact with C-suite level representatives earlier in the process. The good news for Lexington and the Bluegrass is we’ve had so many of these relationships [with economic development consultants] for years, that I don’t feel like we’re going to be impeded by COVID. They know what we have to offer in the Bluegrass, and I don’t see that slowing us down nearly as much.

For new businesses considering Lexington, what are the top criteria?

Location is key. And you’ve got to be able to hire people. A high-quality, educated workforce — which we have — is priority number one. But if you plan on paying someone below X-amount of dollars, then you’re going to have a hard time finding people. You can’t come here and think that we’re going to be the lowest-cost labor force.

How does the Kentucky Business Incentives program and other incen

tives compare nationally? I think we stack up pretty well, but I do think there’s going to need to be some adjustments. You’ve got to be careful right now with your incentives, because states’ budgets are not in the greatest situation and their revenues are down sharply, too. So, the tax credit programs need to be looked at very carefully. But I still think they’re going to be very important, because corporations are also in the same situation. Their revenues are down and they’re looking for ways to cut costs.

Your office maintains a ‘flight risk’ list? Our city’s revenues are funded

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PHOTO fUrNISHEd significantly by the local occupational tax. So, we want to know why companies are not coming here, or why they are not able to stay here or why they’re not able to expand. It’s all confidential, but we keep an eye on companies that say, ‘Hey, we need a new location and we’re willing to consider all kinds of options.’ A lot of companies are in growth mode, and we hope to keep them here. And while we don’t want to lose anyone, if we do, I’d rather see us lose them to the region than to some other major metro area outside of the state. Our first priority is to see what we can do to help resolve any problems and find a solution in Lexington. If not, then we’re happy to share the region and help support the growth happening all around Fayette County. BL