♪ >> How do you grow a city and a thoughtful and responsible way attract new employers and recruit new employees all while keeping true to your identity.

That's one of the goals for Commerce, Lexington, whose reach goes beyond downtown, stretching into several neighboring counties.

The Bluegrass region is already home to several large companies with the University of Kentuckyian Toyota employ more than 25,000 people combined.

I recently sat down with Commerce, lacks president and CEO Bob Quick.

His team just came back from Salt Lake City, Utah couple weeks ago and we talked about the lessons that could be learned from their trip and Utah and bring them back to the Bluegrass.

>> We're trying to build a bigger, better Lexington.

And when I say one that made subjective of our community where we have that balance growth but we're trying to how we can better improve our quality of life are economic development opportunities and what we do this, we seek out the best communities and states of America.

And we were in Toronto when year as well.

But we seek what others are doing that we think would help us as we're trying to build a better call to place, right.

And also to grow our economy.

And we spend an awful lot of time out researching the Also, we try to match up the issues and opportunities that we have and some of our shortfalls right and try to find a community that's been able to take and 2.

Overcome on there and what we're trying to overcome a grow on our end.

Communities are very open with us.

A very Tell us about what if they can do it all over again, what they would do differently.

And so for us, that's a head start.

Yeah, that those are pitfalls that we can avoid right away.

And the other thing is we tend to go to communities a little bit larger regions a bit larger than we are because everything's going to be scalable.

Alright, however, we find that there seems to oftentimes be.

More of the issues we have in again, the different cities across the United States.

That not always because we've been to smaller communities as well.

And one of the other things that I I kind of chuckling every now and we'll go to communities and people say why did you how did you pick Oklahoma City?

Omaha, Nebraska, right?

Right.

What were you thinking when you went to Madison, Wisconsin?

And we've had those things are back at it.

So the nickel tax idea Wright came from Oklahoma City where they had a local sales tax that they could use that we do right.

And we kept trying a lot of different things to rebuild our schools because quite frankly, they were starting to show the wear and tear and fall apart.

So that was, you know, one when we went to Omaha and by the way, in my profession, when you steal somebody else's ideas, their success is it's a bright in Omaha.

We went there to learn about they have one of the best young emerge programs in the U.S. it's America.

We copy the right and it has been overwhelming sensation, especially the timing of it because our communities got through a huge growth spurt and we have a lot of new faces.

Light that are leading our community in key roles.

And so we are also then involved with helping to develop their skills from folks to go through our young professional program.

>> So from Salt Lake City, what what can we expect to see?

>> The hardest thing I think we do are one of the hardest things that we do every year is trying to figure the next to head but 2 things take place now.

One is what you would expect is we try to take everything learn and figure out how can we build it into the things that we already do?

Life technology companies, we have our own set of tech companies.

And so we will try to incorporate a lot of things that we in that situation.

They can stir Cancer Institute, a comprehensive cancer The Huntsman Cancer Center.

Well, guess what we have.

That's right.

UK UK has that idea is a big deal.

actually, Doctor Evers and the Apollo.

Yes, it was a out and meet and connect with a sense University of Utah.

Tom Harris was there's we have the connection and we also had a lot of sites.

So we went out to out in the We talk regionalism with them.

And so get when we come back home, we take all those new ideas, all those thoughts and then a whole bunch of of our individuals or whether it's a nonprofit that was there.

They try to implement and therein so number one is we try to implement as much as we can and learn from it.

Sometimes it takes 2 to 3 years worth of things that have to occur before the light bulb comes on us we can do it if we do it this way.

But sometimes it just creativity.

And thanks.

Typically work.

Yeah.

The second thing that we're doing already litter basket.

He is.

And Angela it.

Carlos, our staff are amazing at this there noon the Linda could be out on the speaking circuit Mitt nationwide because people still can't get over that we've done a trip saying take this many people and all that.

But she's already.

The has already started researching for next year because we don't want to lose momentum, right?

We also know that there's some communities out there that have some things that we didn't select him this So that's going to say one can do that.

We're looking at but right, right.

Because they don't know that they're being examined.

>> We'll have.

We'll get down to the be 3 or 4 different companies bring to communities that we look at.

Yeah.

And then it will all start to come together.

But will we want to have a place to name by November that?

>> One of the questions when we talk about economic development, we do that a lot here and on our programs.

A question that always comes up is about light rail.

>> Yeah, yes, right?

Yes, that that, you know, wouldn't it be nice?

>> To be able to go from Lexington to Louisville, you know, to where the work or play or whatever it is, Frankfort, very at Bowling.

Are there any discussions about that type of a public transit or even just improving public transportation?

Never, never say never.

>> It's something I know when I'm Jim Gray was that's he looked into it pretty extensively.

We looked into it as well.

>> And Jerry Abramson, who was mayor of Louisville the time I thought there were some conversations going on that and we're all like what happened.

>> It typically gets back to a cost.

Yes issue.

Yes.

And that's why said never say That's one of the things I've learned in all these trips is what may not work today or you may not have a solution for today over a period of time.

I I think it would.

You know, the with the economy, with the environment with so many different factors in play and in a different way than we have in the there's no there's where where there's a way there's where there's a will.

There's a way we have 23 and we've had 10 family members move here.

Oh, wow, I'm just telling you we didn't go out and say you need to move here.

Yeah, I mean it.

This place just grew on those individuals.

Yeah.

And so we're very proud of our community and we just we want to be more proud.

We want to have more the amenities that will help future generations to to be able to have a good solid life and raise a family, make this their home.

♪ ♪ ♪