Economic Development

Upon graduating from Wayne County High School in 1955, I was forced to leave home in search for work in Cincinnati, Ohio. As I sought to make my way in an unfamiliar city, far away from family and friends, I vowed to someday bring jobs to rural southern and eastern Kentucky, so that future Kentuckians wouldn’t have to leave home in order to make a decent living. 

During my time in Congress, I have worked very hard to create jobs and boost economic development all over the Fifth District. Through flood control efforts, community development projects, an environmental cleanup campaign, and region-wide tourism initiatives, our area is making progress in attracting businesses and new jobs. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to make this region a better place to live, work and raise a family. 

It is impossible to promote economic development, attract new jobs, or create a better standard of living if our people are constantly recovering from the death and destruction of raging flood waters. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have directed more than $579 million dollars to flood projects in the Fifth District. In communities where flood projects have been completed – such as Barbourville, Harlan, Jackson, Middlesboro, Pineville, Salyersville, Whitesburg, and Williamsburg – family homes are now protected, businesses are no longer being destroyed, and the doors of opportunity are swinging open.

In 1996, we celebrated the opening of The Center for Rural Development, a state-of-the-art facility that serves as an economic development and telecommunications hub for a 42-county region of the Commonwealth. The Center and its professional staff cultivate and promote the region's economic, educational, natural and cultural resources to create better opportunities for the people of southern and eastern Kentucky.