A Program of Technical Assistance to Improve the Quality of Life for Low-Income Communities in Kentucky

Kentucky is a diverse state that offers its residents both many opportunities along with numerous challenges. The Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, is home for over four million people. The area provides for beautiful scenery; it is bordered on the east by the Appalachian Mountains and on the west by the Land between the Lakes. The interior of the state is home to Mammoth Cave, the largest state resort park system, and a wide array of cultural and art events. Of course, the state is home to Horse Country, including the Kentucky Derby as well as playing host to the 2010 Equestrian Olympics that will be held in Lexington. While the state itself offers a wide array of amenities and opportunities, these opportunities are not distributed equally over the population. The rural areas of Kentucky, particularly the Appalachian region, are some of the poorest in the country. Unemployment rates are high and education attainment rates are low. Large businesses typically do not consider the area as a viable location because the workforce lacks the required level of human capital. There is a migration of the most educated and entrepreneurial individuals out ofthe area because of a lack of work. Individuals in Eastern Kentucky do not have access to quality health care due to both transportation and cost-related reasons. These areas tend to possess the highest levels of cancer, heart, stroke, and suicidal related deaths in the state. These health related issues result in an even less productive labor force and thus the cycle continues and worsens. This proposal will introduce a program that provides technical assistance to local government officials and leaders that will produce measurable short and long run positive outcomes to several low-income communities in Eastern and South Central Kentucky. The program targets the improvement of quality of life for the residents living in these areas. Quality of life can be defined as the level of enjoyment and fulfillment derived by humans from the life they live within their local economic, cultural, social, and environmental conditions. The training that this project will provide aims to improve the quality oflife by providing potential for higher earnings and better jobs. We will follow two roads to reach our objective. First, we will implement an entrepreneurial coaching program for local officials so that they themselves can act as leaders and coach individuals in low-income areas that are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Second, we will also assist leaders with building a foundation for making their community more attractive to businesses by endowing the area with the attributes that firms look for when making locational decisions. This proposal will be organized in the following manner. First, we will introduce the participants in this program. Second, we will discuss in detail the perceived needs of these low-income communities and programs that will be designed to in the end improve quality of life in these areas. Third, we will discuss the overall goals to be accomplished and finally we will provide benchmarks that will be used to measure the success of the program.