Three Northern Kentucky economic development organizations are investing a combined $860,000 in regional education nonprofits.
BE NKY Growth Partnership, EducateNKY and the Spirit of Construction committed varying amounts of money to three Greater Cincinnati area educational nonprofits to expand each organization’s reach. Leaders said they hope the investments strengthen the local workforce and expand access to career development programs.
BE NKY CEO Lee Crume announced the investments during the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Eggs ‘N Issues breakfast.
Representatives from each organization—Adopt A Class, TradeNKY and Learning Grove—participated in the breakfast panel and spoke on the importance of community investment in career development initiatives.
“There were people that told us absolutely, do not get involved here — do not get involved. You cannot move the needle,” Crume said. “We think, if you help, we can move the needle. We’re starting that today.”
BE NKY is NKY’s primary economic development company, providing existing businesses with expertise and recruiting new companies into the region. EducateNKY is a nonprofit focused on improving education outcomes throughout the region. The Spirit of Construction is a nonprofit organization that aims to increase awareness and create opportunities for the region’s construction industry.
Cincinnati-based Adopt A Class, an organization that connects businesses and civic groups to underserved communities through offering mentorship programs to kindergarten through 8th-grade students, will receive a $200,000 investment. BE NKY and EducateNKY are matching $100,000 donations to help Adopt A Class expand its services throughout Northern Kentucky.
Further, TradesNKY, a nonprofit that promotes skilled trades education, will receive $420,000 over the fiscal years of 2025 and 2026, with $220,000 from BE NKY and $200,000 from The Spirit of Construction Foundation. Currently, TradesNKY operates in Campbell County. The investment will expand the organization into other Northern Kentucky communities.
Lastly, Learning Grove’s NaviGo College and Career Prep, a local nonprofit program that helps schools, high school students in grades 9 through 12, and parents navigate college and career planning, received $240,000, with matching $120,000 investments from BE NKY and EducateNKY.
The investments came in response to regional population and labor force trends. In March 2024, Northern Kentucky University’s Haile College of Business published a study that, despite the region’s projected population growth of 58,000 people between 2020 and 2050, the prime labor force working age population–ages 16 to 64–is only expected to grow by 8,450.
‘That’s not a great number if you’re talking about growing the economy, and that’s what we really want to do,” Crume said.
Crume and other Northern Kentucky leaders are investing in “skilling up” the region’s workforce to offset this trend. What does this look like? Investing more in trade education, upskilling, and reengaging sidelined workers, essentially, increasing the quantity and quality of the regional workforce.
TradesNKY CEO Phil Griffin said his organization is focused on creating pathways for students.
“One of our goals is to make sure that every student finds a pathway, something that they can commit to, something that’s going to help them along that journey, something that’s going to give them that first step,” he said. “That’s why we have focused on building pathways.”