Business View Magazine | July 2020

187 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2020 Co KENTU I ndustry is always organic in the sense that it grows out of a community’s needs. Since pivoting from an economy largely reliant upon revenues from coal and gas companies, Letcher County, Kentucky – located in the southeastern part of the state, along the West Virginia border – has encountered unprecedented periods of growth and decline, emerging all the more decisive in its next steps to rebrand itself as an eco- and adventure tourism destination. “It’s no secret that what we’ve experienced here in Letcher County over the last seven or eight years has been nothing short of a volatile economic turn,” shares Bridget Back, Research and Program Effectiveness Director for the EKCEP. “At this time, our Gateway AT A GLANCE LETCHER COUNTY, KENTUCKY WHAT: A beautiful Appalachian Mountains community; population 21,899 (2018) WHERE: Southeastern Kentucky along the West Virginia border WEBSITE: www.letchercounty.ky.gov Nurturing industry, tourism, and the land Letcher