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Kentucky

As mentioned, Kentucky has taken great strides to develop a better work force, starting from the ground up with education reform. In the early '90s, Kentucky began some of the most extensive education reform in the country with its Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which basically rewrote the education standards for the state. Since KERA's adoption, Kentucky has allocated $621 million for technology in the state's elementary and secondary schools, resulting in approximately 73 percent of all Kentucky schools being wired for voice, video and data.

More recently, Kentucky passed the Higher Education Bill and the Post-secondary Education Improvement Act, which established a 15-member council to administer higher education improvements throughout the state. Gov. Paul Patton also created the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to provide two-year technical degrees and work-force training for both existing and new business.

"The greatest challenge in Kentucky is the need to develop a seamless, comprehensive work-force development system involving strong partnerships between and among all leaders of educational institutions in close working relationship with business and industry," says Ken Carroll, director of Bluegrass State Skills Corp. "Kentucky is responding with the development of closer working relationships between the Bluegrass State Skills Corp., Cabinet for Economic Development and the KCTCS; continued development of training consortia; and the development of industry-driven skill standards."

One of the best examples of how the state of Kentucky is working with its industries to provide a skilled labor force is that of UPS. UPS decided to locate its Hub 2000 project in Louisville, and as part of this agreement, the University of Louisville established the Logistics and Distribution Institution, which will provide logistics degrees and help fill the 6,000 jobs coming on line at the new UPS project. The new school is a nighttime university that allows students to work at UPS while having their education paid for by the company and the state. Students can earn either a two-year technical vocation degree or a four-year bachelor's degree in logistics.

Last year, Guess Inc. also found this plan to be a good idea and decided to sponsor a similar program with local high schools. "We're going to be a major employer in the city," says Brian Fleming, chief financial officer for Guess. "It's a good training avenue for people we would employ. Logistics is a big business, and it has gotten to be very sophisticated. We decided this was the proactive thing to do."

Guess has recently relocated all of its distribution and e-commerce business from Los Angeles to Louisville. Guess's new consolidated facility will total 500,000 sq. ft. (46,452 sq. m.) and employ 300 workers. Over the next 10 years, the designer jean and casual wear manufacturer plans to add a total of 750 jobs to the Louisville market.