“Planning Your Work and Working Your Plan”
Bobby Halls Recipe for Success
Sets Greenup on the Road to Success
Charles Romans
Ashland Beacon
Greenup County Judge Executive Bobby Hall has a simple philosophy. Hall philosophy is … “You have to plan your work and then you have to work your plan.” Hall is known for being a man with a plan and has quite a track record for putting those plans into action. Hall explained that “We had major things we wanted to accomplish in 2023. One was the Greenup County Economic Development Authority. We invested $65,000 in a website. In late June of last year, we took this website, and I did a presentation for the Kentucky State Economic Development Authority.”
After Hall presented the new to the Kentucky State Economic Development Authority the state agency attached Greenup’s site to their own state site. The result was that not only is the site for Greenup County, but it also part of an information hub distributed at a statewide level. This connection made the site’s information available not only at a state and national level, but at an international level as well. “Now Greenup County is officially ‘On the Map’,” Hall said.
This helps with both gathering and providing information Hall explained. “Right now, the hot topic in Greenup County is Rivers Bend. Using the site, I am able to pull up individual tracts, and highlighting the tract allows quick information such as who owns the property and even allows the user to look at the current deed.” Hall stated.
The tract Hall highlighted for example showed with a qualifier of South Shore ‘OZ’ LLC. “A lot of people wouldn’t understand the use of the letters OZ, but to a developer that means Opportunity Zone.” noted Hall.
Hall said that naturally one would wonder why the land was listed as an opportunity zone; and use of the new site offers a quick explanation. “If you look there are red circles and there are eleven of those. Those red circles are barge cells.” he explained. A barge cell is basically a docking point for barges, Hall clarified. “That is the only place on the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Charleston, West Virginia that has eleven barge cells that can run three barges wide right up to them. So, this piece of property is a unique piece of property for anyone in the industry who is looking to move product by barge.”
Hall said that the quality and features of land tracts is something the county had not previously marketed, but on the new website those points are now emphasized. Other information that can be found there is the FEMA floodway area, and the FEMA 100-year floodway -or the 1937 flood – which will ‘disappear’ in 13 years because that category will have expired. There is also Wetland area information that is easily accessible from the site, property limits, sewer lines, electrical lines, and natural gas. And it also shows the construction of a new electric substation near the railroad tracks, which could provide power to all surrounding properties.
“So now what we have is the answer to the question potential business always asks. Do you have access to river, rail, and highway? Now that answer is yes. We also now have water coming up to those properties and a county ambulance service that goes to these properties. We now have 85 houses that have city water and 15 fire hydrants that weren’t there before.” Hall shared.
The combination of the website and the improvement projects in the South Shore area not only benefit the residents of the county, but also solve any potential issues with businesses looking to locating in the area. “Now we can tell businesses that want to locate here what we can provide for their needs rather than have to make promises to provide those things. You’ve got to have it all. You have to have the infrastructure in place, you have to have the jobs, and you have to have a place for people to live.” Hall declared.
Hall pointed out that economic development isn’t the only goal to be achieved, though it is an important step to achieving more goals. Hall noted, “We’ve all heard it said for years. We want our kids to grow up here, go to college, and then have an opportunity to come back here to work and now that is a possibility.”
The last goal, Hall said, is supported in part by three local school systems that offer vocational training that could be applied to the Ambulance Service such as the recently implemented EMT class at Greenup County High School. “The number one shortage in America right now is EMT’s and Paramedics. We were blessed to have 85 applicants for our ambulance service. We hired 42 full time positions with benefits and retirement. The Ambulance service alone benefited our residents, has helped in creating jobs, and it provided a vital piece of infrastructure. So, you win in all three phases.” Hall proudly shared.
The new EMT class gives Greenup students the opportunity to graduate from high school with an EMT Certification and yields serious potential benefits. Lewis County is starting an ambulance service, Carter County has one, and Boyd County has one. So, these graduates have the opportunity to continue to live in Greenup County and work in any of those four counties.
By not only planning the work, but also actively working the plan, Hall said that Greenup County can thrive. For example, multiple corporate entities actively looking at locations in Greenup County where only a year ago there were none. Using preparedness as a watchword, and exercising vision and hard work, Hall intends to constantly research avenues to improve the economy of Greenup County and the quality of life for all its residents.
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