Bowling Green, Kentucky

BOWL ING GREEN, KENTUCKY be a really neat venue along the river with restaurants and shops. There are plans for a festival ground for public events and concerts in a beautiful setting where an existing park that looks out over the river would look out over this festival ground we’re hoping to develop.” The local business community, local government, education, and healthcare have worked well together for a long time. “That’s how you get these consistent results, year in and year out,” says Bunch. “Over the decade I’ve been here, from an economic development perspective, alone, we’ve worked on 125 projects that have invested $2.8 billion and created 7,102 direct jobs and there’s another 2,500 jobs beyond those. In 2016, we created a community strategic plan and pulled the private sector leaders, as well as the institutional and elected leaders, together to build an interdependent strategic plan. When COVID hit, we regathered the players in that same format. So right now, we’re updating an economic dashboard that will help us navigate the current environment, as well as prep us for the next three to five years of a strategic plan. It’s that kind of partnership that has helped us navigate these troubling times.” Another public-private partnership that’s working well for Bowling Green involves building a major road connector to alleviate traffic problems on the east side of town. A family that owns some undeveloped land is generously donating some of it to the city for right-of-way to build a road that will help with traffic flow between two major four lane roads. A roundabout will be built right next door to the Fruit of the Loom headquarters, where close to 1,000 people are employed, that will replace a 3-way stop and also help traffic flow in that area considerably. Looking ahead, Meisel shares, “Our goals for Bowling Green are many: a more diverse economy; improving traffic flow; updating downtown with a vibrant river front; supporting