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Mayors of Louisville, Lexington Announce Job Study

By Phillip M. Bailey, Kentucky Public Radio

CHICAGO – Joined by Lexington Mayor Jim Gray at the Clinton Global Initiative American event held in Chicago Thursday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a regional economic development study to improve both cities' competitiveness in advanced manufacturing.

The Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution will provide support for the 18-month project to determine how Kentucky's two largest cities can strengthen their existing job markets and work together to achieve significant job growth in manufacturing and other key industries.

Gray and Fischer have selected Louisville Arena Authority Chairman Jim Host, who is a former state commerce secretary, to lead the initiative.

"Jim Host has credibility in both Louisville and Lexington and is the right person to lead us in a new economic direction," Fischer said in a news release. "He understands the economies of both cities better than anyone else in the commonwealth and he understands that, for Kentucky as a whole to be successful, Louisville and Lexington must be successful."

The project will cost $250,000 and be funded with private dollars raised by Commerce Lexington and Greater Louisville Inc., the two cities' chamber of commerce.