Ashland Community & Technical College (ACTC)
Office for the New Economy (ONE)

Contact:
John McGlone (ACTC) (606) 929-2013
Terri Giltner (ONE) (502) 564-8007

The New Economy Comes to Ashland Ashland Community & Technical College site
for state's first Innovation Center

ASHLAND, KY - Ashland Community and Technical College (ACTC) President Dr. Greg Adkins, Kentucky Community and Technical College System President (KCTCS) President, Dr. Michael B. McCall and Dr. Bill Brundage, Commissioner of the Office for the New Economy, joined community leaders today to announce the opening of the state's first Innovation Center at ACTC. Innovation Centers are a critical aspect of Kentucky's strategic plan for success in the new, knowledge-based economy. Their role is to assist entrepreneurs and scientists located in rural areas with the business building and funding tools needed to transform innovative ideas into successful businesses.

"If Kentucky is going to create the dynamic companies and job opportunities of our nation's future economy, it must create an entrepreneurial climate that encourages and supports new technologies and ideas," said Dr. Brundage.

The Ashland Area Innovation Center is a partnership among ACTC, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Eastern Kentucky University, the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, and the Kentucky Office for the New Economy. The Center will focus on growing new economy businesses in the local area by providing an array of services including entrepreneurship training, mentoring, networking and access to capital.

"The goals of this program are to facilitate economic growth that will ultimately lead to the creation of jobs and opportunities for the citizens of this area," stated Dr. Adkins.

The Ashland Area Innovation Center is an extension of the Office for the New Economy's Eastern Innovation Region headquartered at the Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology at Eastern Kentucky University. It is the first of 16 centers that will be located throughout the state.

Kentucky's New Economy efforts were launched during the regular session of the 2000 General Assembly in order to spur the growth of high-tech firms in the state. The 2000 Innovation Act established the Office for the New Economy as the caretaker of the initiative, which includes strategic planning, research and development support programs, manufacturing modernization services, and the necessary fiscal stimulus to create, attract, incubate and grow high-tech businesses in the state.

The terminology New Economy, or more accurately, the Now Economy is used to describe the profound transformation that is occurring in our nation's economy. Technology is revolutionizing how and where we do business. We sell and compete in a worldwide marketplace. 21st Century Americans are working with their brains, not their hands. Wealth is being created by applying innovative ideas and technologies to services, products, and manufacturing processes.