Kentucky senators talk with business leaders about the future of south-central Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – South-central Kentucky has seen exponential growth over the past few decades, and a few republican Kentucky state senators stopped by Bowling Green to discuss the next few decades.

Sen. Mike Wilson, Robby Mills, Max Wise, David Givens and Senate President Robert Stivers stopped by and sat down with many different business leaders and Western Kentucky University President Tim Caboni to discuss what the future could look like.

With the expansion Warren County and Bowling Green has seen, the Senate leaders are pleased with what they have seen so far, especially from the Transpark and its ability to keep commerce flowing, even during the rebuilding process after the 2021 tornadoes.

“Looking at the Transpark, that provided a way for us to continue to grow during that time where we were also trying to rebuild our infrastructure and those kind of things. So I think that we had many plans in advance for our community to grow with that, and if we hadn’t had that, I think that we would be still way behind the eight ball,” said Wilson, Senator and Majority Whip of Kentucky’s 32nd district, which includes parts of Bowling Green.

However, with the growth of Bowling Green comes changes, and one change they will be focusing on is a shift from manufacturing jobs to tech jobs. Still, workers have shown nervousness across the country when it comes to artificial intelligence and technology being used to replace workers.

So how will they deal with this new challenge? One senator says it starts with our youth.

“As long as we stay focused on those core fundamentals of educating our young people, knowing what it means to show up on time at work, knowing what it means to put your cell phone away, knowing how to address one another, knowing how to be appropriately able to communicate in teams because teamwork is what it’s all about anymore. As long as we can create in young people those skill sets, we won’t have any issues,” said Sen. and President Pro Tempore David Givens of Kentucky’s ninth district, which includes Barren, Edmonson and parts of Warren Counties.

The senators spoke well of the future for Kentuckians, citing good change coming to the area and a strong sense of community that has kept the community together even through tragedy.