The future of Trigg, Christian and Todd counties was on full display during Wednesday’s South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council’s Industry Appreciation Luncheon at The Silo, as leaders opted to celebrate three success stories from the past year.
A graduate of the popular HOPFame Program at Hopkinsville Community College, Payton Oliver walked the stage at Trigg County High School in 2018 — not knowing exactly what his next professional step would be.
Six years later, he’s a maintenance technician at Huhtamaki in Hopkinsville, happy to have enrolled at HCC and moved through immediate workforce development opportunities.
A 26-year military veteran recently retired out of Fort Campbell, Nagib Mamud and his family opted to stay in this region — when a chance meeting through the West Kentucky Workforce Board and its Transition Program led to his next career.
Today, he’s a senior manager of administration with fast-developing Toyota Boshoku — a company that’s hired nearly a dozen transitioning soldiers as it creates its staff.
A Christian County High School Gateway Academy Student, Jessie Gilkey is soon bound for the University of Louisville for a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
But not before he completes his long-running co-op with TGASK North America, where through his experiences he’s moved successfully through numerous projects and assignments, and become a pivotal part of the company’s investment in local youth.
Eston Glover, a former SWK EDC board chair, honored the family of late Donald Wayne Henderson with the second-ever “Legacy of Leadership” Award — given to someone whose contributions in Trigg, Christian and Todd counties changed the trajectory for the better.
Henderson died this past January, leaving behind a large proud family and a breadth of work not only with the SWK EDC, but also the Hopkinsville Industrial Foundation, the Christian County Democratic Party, Coffee Connections and so much more.
His surviving wife, Terri, read a poem on his behalf.
In other luncheon announcements:
— Current SWK EDC Director Carter Hendricks noted that the tri-county area currently possesses more than 75 industries employing more than 10,000 people. More than 20 companies hail from 10 different countries, and in the last five years, more than $2 billion in capital investments and more than 2,000 new jobs have been announced or already come online.
— For their efforts in annual infrastructure and business development, including $20 million in fiber internet infrastructure, Pennyrile Electric and HES/energynet were honored with the inaugural “Partner Impact Award.”
— Known for more than just ethanol, Commonwealth Agri-Energy out of Hopkinsville was honored for 20 years of operations in the tri-county region. They first opened in 2004.
— Known as a major egg manufacturer, Todd County’s Cal-Maine Foods was honored for 25 years of operations here, after arriving on the scene in 1999. Based out of Jackson, Mississippi, they have been fresh egg producers since 1969.
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