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Cincinnati Enquirer
October 19, 2004
Gateway's president interviews
Hughes one of three finalists for Morehead's presidency
Gateway Community and Technical College might lose the man who has guided its
expansion from a low-profile technical center to a full-blown, two-year college.
Ed Hughes, Gateway's president since 2001, is one of three finalists for the
top job at Morehead State University in Eastern Kentucky.
Morehead is a four-year college with 9,000 students. Hughes said Monday that
he was invited to apply and is not actively seeking other jobs.
When he visits Morehead next month, "I'll be interviewing them as much
as they'll be interviewing me."
"Certainly I am flattered to be considered as president of an excellent
institution like that," Hughes, 54, said. "I felt like I owed it to
my family and my career to look at this opportunity."
The other finalists for the Morehead job are Wayne D. Andrews, vice president
for administration at East Tennessee State University, and Peter Sloat Hoff,
former president of the University of Maine.
Morehead said it intends to select a new president by the end of the year.
"I would hate to see Ed leave," said James Votruba, president of
Northern Kentucky University. "I've never seen anyone get into a community
and get things launched as rapidly as he and (his wife) Sarah have."
Hughes presided over Gateway's transformation into Northern Kentucky's first
community college. In three years, its enrollment has grown from 750 to 2,900
students.
Another hallmark of Hughes' tenure: an innovative, dual-enrollment agreement
with NKU.
All two-year students at Gateway are automatically granted privileges at NKU,
including access to the library, clubs, sporting events, counseling and advising
services. All credits earned in associate programs at Gateway are transferable
to NKU.
"The speed at which that became a reality is unprecedented," said
Barbara Stonewater, executive director of the Council of Partners, which serves
as a liaison between universities and other schools in Northern Kentucky.
Hughes and Votruba are especially good at collaboration, she said, because
they understand that "when any institution wins, we all win, and the region
wins."
The Kentucky Post
October 22, 2004
Gateway president: I didn't go looking
Gateway Community and Technical College President Edward Hughes, one of three
finalists to be president of Morehead State University, said officials of that
school asked him to be a candidate for the position late in their search.
"This is an opportunity that came to me," said Hughes. "I didn't
seek it out. I had not applied. It's something that occurred in the last 10
days."
Hughes said Morehead presidential search committee members were winding up
their search of several months when they told him that someone had nominated
him as a candidate.
"I just appeared before them late in the game," he said. "They
asked if I would be interested in sharing some information, which I did, and
one thing led to another and I met with the (Morehead) Board of Regents over
the weekend."
Morehead officials said Hughes and the two other finalists will visit the campus
next month and participate in a series of public forums with faculty, staff,
students and community leaders.
A successor to Morehead President Ron Eaglin is expected to be named before
the end of the year. Eaglin, who is stepping down in December, has led the school
since 1992.
Hughes said he did not know if he would take the job if it is offered to him
and will be discussing the possibility with his wife, Sarah.
"Sarah and I are going to look at it, but we're a long way from making
any decision," he said.
The other finalists are Wayne Andrews, vice president for administration at
East Tennessee State University, and Peter Hoff, former president of the University
of Maine.
Hughes, who was president of Hazard Community College for 16 years before
becoming the founding president of Gateway three years ago, has been widely
praised for getting the school off to a good start.
"I don't think anyone could have gotten Gateway launched any better than
Ed," said Northern Kentucky University President James Votruba.
"It certainly doesn't surprise me that someone with Ed's credentials and
energy would be a finalist for the Morehead presidency," said Gary Toebben,
president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. "If Ed is chosen
by Morehead and accepts, we would all understand and wish him the very best."
That would be a tremendous loss for Gateway, Toebben said, because Hughes "is
just hitting full stride" there and "we're counting on him to get
the funding we need to build Gateway into a school that serves 10,000 students."
Hughes said he viewed Morehead's request that he become a candidate as "a
tribute to what we've been doing at Gateway."
"We've been working on a dream to become a nationally-known, premier community
college," he said. "I think other institutions have been watching
that."
Hughes said he was "flattered to be considered for the presidency of a
university with 9,000 students."
"Morehead has increased its reputation rather dramatically over the last
several years," he said. "They've become one of the top 25 public
regional universities in the South."
Hughes said he and his wife felt obligated to look at the opportunity. "It's
an option that doesn't come along very often," he said. "Later, you
might regret that you hadn't looked into it."
Hughes said the public forums next month at Morehead will be a chance for him
to learn about the university and how interested he is in the presidency should
it be offered to him.
"I'll be interviewing them as much as they'll be interviewing me,"
he said. "They have to like me and I have to like them. It has to be a
good mix and fit. That's the way it was when I came to Gateway."
While Gateway initially enjoyed rapid enrollment growth, Hughes has been frustrated
at state funding cuts that have slowed enrollment, and he has urged state officials
to increase Gateway's funding.
Should Hughes leave Gateway for Morehead, the fight for more Gateway funding
will continue uninterrupted, vowed Toebben. "Even if Ed is not here, there
will be a strategy in the community to carry that ball," he said. "As
a community, we wouldn't allow a deficiency in the message that we are carrying
to Frankfort every day."
Toebben said that, if Hughes departs Gateway, he would expect Hughes to be
a model for his successor. "When someone has done a very good job, it's
common to find a replacement who is very similar. The community has been very
excited about Ed and, if Gateway needs to find a successor, I think they would
find someone very similar."
Votruba echoed that sentiment. "If Ed leaves, I think Gateway would try
to get another Ed Hughes. I would hate to see Ed leave because he has done as
good a job as I've seen in relating a college to a region.
"Ed has much more work to do here and I know he knows that. But if he
goes to Morehead, he would bring his strengths there and make a wonderful four-year
college president."
The Daily News
October 21, 2004
Transpark technical training center designs shown
Sketches of a modern-style building with lots of glass, sharp angles and a
sweeping, curved roof were shown to the Inter-Modal Transportation Authority
board Wednesday morning, illustrating a preliminary design for the $5.5 million
technical training center to be built at the Kentucky TriModal Transpark.
The building will be shielded by a berm from U.S. 31-W, so it won’t be
very visible from outside the transpark, according to Allen Heidel, ITA operations
director.
The building will go up on 9 acres, leaving half its designated site for expansion,
he said.
The center’s initial purpose is to train employees for Bowling Green Metalforming,
the first factory being built at the transpark. But it will become part of the
state’s overall technical college system, not just provide industrial training
for the transpark, Heidel said.
Construction should begin in December or January and be finished in October
2005, in time to meet Bowling Green Metalforming’s schedule, he said.
Floor plans for the 31,000-square-foot building include classrooms, a computer
lab and labs for welding, electronics and hydraulics.
Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell told Heidel that the facility
will need fully wired, high-tech classrooms to integrate totally with modern
educational and training systems.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of things in this facility beyond
just technical training,” he said.
No one from Western has been involved in the design, Heidel said, but someone
will be added to the committee dealing with the architects.
The technical center was part of the incentive package that brought the factory
and its promise of 1,100 jobs to Bowling Green. It was to be paid for by the
state, but since the Kentucky General Assembly failed to pass a budget this
year, Warren County is borrowing from regional development funds to start construction
and stay on schedule.
The expectation is that the state will reimburse the county when a budget passes,
Heidel said.
Messenger-Inquirer
October 17, 2004
Local job creation exceeds goal
Round table looks at economic development
Daviess County's employers created 2,241 jobs in the year ending Aug. 31, Eric
Davis told a Messenger-Inquirer round-table discussion of economic development
on Oct. 5.
Davis, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and the Economic
Development Corp., said the EDC has a goal of creating 300 to 400 "primary"
jobs a year.
"Primary" jobs are those that create products to be shipped outside
the community to bring money back into the community. Economists say that each
of those higher-paying jobs create additional jobs in retail and other sectors.
Because of that, Davis said, creating 300 to 400 primary jobs would result
in roughly 1,000 total jobs being created each year.
But from Sept. 1, 2003, to Aug. 31, 2004, he said, 2,241 jobs were created
locally.
Toyotetsu alone, Davis said, "has created 400 to 500 jobs in the past
two years."
The Messenger-Inquirer's editorial board assembled a panel of 12 area residents
who work in various phases of economic development to discuss how the community
is faring and what it needs to do.
Jeffrey Barber, chief executive officer of Owensboro Medical Health System,
said employers "need to become involved in promoting their vacancies and
telling about the career path those jobs offer. We have 170 jobs available at
the hospital."
"Small retailers will tell you the economy is bad," Davis said. "It's
not. It's just different. We have a fairly strong economy. Unemployment is down
to 5 percent."
Forrest Roberts, an attorney who serves on the Citizens Committee on Education
board, said today's jobs require more education.
"We have to let kids in school know how important education is,"
she said. "A lot go to college one semester and drop out. For so long,
we've had an agricultural base and didn't need an education. We have to overcome
that mindset."
"A lot still believe if they graduate from high school, they'll get a
good job with the union," Davis said. "Those jobs are gone. Driving
a combine now is like flying an airplane."
Training available
Christopher Cooper, administrative manager for Toyotetsu MidAmerica, said the
community offers a lot of training for companies that ask for it.
"That's why we came here," he said of the Japanese automotive parts
plant. "Our workers have been trained. Kentucky is a wonderful state for
that."
But economic development is more than factories.
The RiverPark Center sees itself as an economic development agency.
It attracted Big League Theatricals, a national producer of Broadway shows,
to town in June to assemble and rehearse a touring version of "42nd Street."
Last week, the center created its own touring company for "From Vienna
To Broadway."
Assembling and rehearsing major shows in Owensboro brings dollars into the
community to the hotels, restaurants and retail outlets, said Zev Buffman, the
center's president.
Buffman said he sees momentum in Owensboro. But there are problems to overcome,
he said.
"We don't have a real airport," he said. "We're not near an
interstate. Hardly ever will you hear people say Owensboro when they talk about
Kentucky. There are lower numbers of people moving here than there should be."
"It's a time for leaders," Cooper said. "John Bays (owner of
the Executive Inn) is very visionary. We do need leaders who envision what we
can be."
It's a good time to put together a strategic plan for the community, said Maurice
Owen, executive director of the Owensboro Riverport Authority.
Davis said the chamber and the economic development agency plan to start working
on a strategic plan as soon as the new mayor and city commissioners are sworn
in in January.
Jenny Inman, a commodities broker with Hurley & Associates Agri Marketing
and a member of the Owensboro-Daviess County Tourist Commission, said planning
needs to be pushed.
When a chamber-sponsored group visited Columbus, Ga., in late 2002, she said,
"we came back and talked and talked (about planning), but there was no
one person who stepped forward to lead."
Planning, Davis said, needs to be "community driven."
"As a planner, preparing the plan is the easiest part," said Joanna
McCormick, associate director for community and economic development at Green
River Area Development District.
Public not being heard
"We want to hear the voice of the general public," she said. "But
we're not getting their input."
"People and corporations have to recognize they're economic stakeholders
in the community and need to take part," Owen said.
Davis said the Economic Development Corp. focuses on biotech, automotive, back
office-headquarters and plastics companies. "Biotech has the most focus
right now," he said.
Hugh Haydon, commissioner for regional development in the Kentucky Cabinet
for Economic Development and a former president of what was then the Owensboro-Daviess
County Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc., said communities need brands.
"But it's like catching lightning in a bottle," he said.
Haydon said he finds a "widespread perception in Kentucky that Owensboro
is ahead of other communities in preparing people for work and in using education
as an economic development tool."
The perception in Frankfort about Owensboro, he said, is positive. "Owensboro
is a community that will not embarrass you if you send a prospect there,"
Haydon said.
Davis said Owensboro is becoming "world known" for plant-made pharmaceuticals.
"We have two of the six companies that do this in Owensboro now,"
he said. "We are becoming a world leader."
Owensboro Community and Technical College has created the first associate degree
in the state for biotechnology.
But despite that success, Davis said, there are only 25 biotech jobs in Daviess
County today.
"We have always measured ourselves in the number of jobs created,"
Haydon said. "But there must be other factors. If you measure biotech in
terms of jobs, it will be a failure."
But he said, biotech companies create wealth and intellectual capital in a
community.
Roberts said merging city and county governments would be "a huge step
forward."
The community, she said, "engages in tribalism. Merger shows growth and
maturity, but we're a long way from that point."
Davis said he expects merger will be the "No. 1 topic" of discussion
in strategic planning.
Now that Daviess Fiscal Court has created an occupational tax, he said he expects
more competition between city and county governments to persuade new companies
to locate in their taxation districts.
Messenger-Inquirer
October 17, 2004
Glenn spent part of career with Fortune 500 companies
Owensboro City Commission
Jim Glenn's campaign for the Owensboro City Commission has taken him from door
to door canvassing for votes, something that wasn't part of his campaign when
he ran for Kentucky state auditor last year.
"A city race is much harder than a statewide race," Glenn said. "You
have to meet the voters one on one."
A professor at Owensboro Community and Technical College, Glenn has devoted
much of his campaign to pounding the pavement. He has visited homes in each
of Owensboro's nearly 50 precincts.
"I've tried to keep in contact with the general public," Glenn said.
"A lot (of people) have said I'm the first and only candidate they've met."
Glenn, who is originally from Illinois, moved to Owensboro 16 years ago to
take a teaching position at the college, where he is an associate professor
of business technology.
Before teaching at the college, Glenn worked in the private sector with several
Fortune 500 companies such as Mobil and Borden. He worked in graphics packaging,
which provided inks for product wrappers and labels like the Wrigley's chewing
gum paper, and balanced budgets for industries with up to $45 million in sales.
Glenn left the private sector for teaching so he could spend more time with
his family, and he and his wife decided on Owensboro because they were both
able to find teaching jobs here.
"I believe in family, I believe in hard work, and I believe in education,"
Glenn said.
Glenn is hoping Owensboro can continue to attract young families just as it
attracted his family 16 years ago. The key to keeping Owensboro a desirable
place to settle, for both families and businesses, is economic development,
Glenn said.
"Economic development is the linchpin in this effort," he said. "It
drives everything else."
In recent years, he said, manufacturing jobs in the area have been replaced
with retail and service positions, which often pay less.
Glenn believes the city commission can play a role in helping further economic
development by creating a fertile environment for businesses and a strong community
for families. The establishment of an economic development office for the city
could focus efforts to spur economic growth in the area and create more jobs.
"The city commission's job is to put together an environment that makes
economic growth palatable," he said. "We need to meet with businesses
to see what we can do to make them more profitable."
Glenn would like to see Owensboro continue to grow, and he believes its population
could be growing at a faster rate than it has in recent years.
"Not that we need to be a boomtown," Glenn said. "But we need
to make sure we have the structural entities in place to grow."
Downtown revitalization, which many cities are dealing with throughout the
country, is important not only to those who live closer to the city center,
but also those who live on the outer edges of Owensboro, Glenn said.
"If the core city dies, every house in Daviess County loses economic value,"
Glenn said. "We need condominiums, a commercial district, more restaurants.
All those items blended together will drive economic development in Owensboro."
As an educator, it is understandable that Glenn places a high value on education.
The schools that educated his two children prepared them well for the jobs they
now hold in the professional world, he said.
"My kids got a good education here," Glenn said. "Several parents
have told me that they want to make sure we remain focused in that area ...We
need to make sure the citizens have the skills to attract jobs."
Glenn said the job description for city commissioner is very broad, and he
is hoping he can use the position if elected to continue to listen to the community
and respond to its needs.
"This community has been very good to myself, my wife and my family,"
Glenn said. "I'm trying to give my time, energy and skills back to the
community."
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Jim Glenn
Age: 56
Job: Associate professor of business technology at Owensboro Community and Technical
College
Family: Wife, Cornelia, and two children, Kimberly and Jimmy.
Education: Bachelor's in management, Wisconsin State University-Superior, 1971;
master's degree in marketing, University of Wisconsin, 1974; doctorate in higher
education, University of Kentucky, 2001.
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