- Region must shift from job growth to increasing worker productivity as population growth slows
- Aging workforce and talent shortages are tightening the labor pipeline across industries
- Leaders outline five strategies including workforce development, infrastructure, housing, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing
The regional economy is at a critical juncture as the region continues to experience growth, according to a new BE NKY report.
And while population has long been a driving factor when determining Northern Kentucky’s success, the report adds worker productivity to the region’s future growth barometer.
On Tuesday, BE NKY Growth Partnership, Northern Kentucky’s primary economic development organization, unveiled its first comprehensive ‘Economy in Review’ report, which evaluates the current state of the regional economy and its future prospects.
BE NKY CEO Lee Crume presented the findings of the report during the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs ‘N Issues breakfast panel, where he, along with NKU Professor Abdullah Al Bahrani, Mazak President Dan Janka and Gateway Community & Technical College President Fernando Figueroa, discussed economic growth, workforce development, and long-term regional competitiveness.
Upon closer examination of the data published in the report, BE NKY found that although Northern Kentucky’s regional workforce totals approximately 217,000 workers, an aging population–23% of whom are over 60–has tightened the talent pipeline.
Furthermore, Northern Kentucky lags behind in annual output per worker hour across several key industry clusters, including manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, and information and professional services.
In response, regional stakeholders are considering five coordinated strategies to sustain workforce growth: building a future-ready workforce, investing in build-ready sites and infrastructure, advancing housing affordability as an economic issue, accelerating the life sciences sector and strengthening manufacturing by shifting toward higher-value production.
“We’re telling that story and promoting that and then we’re trying to link it back to the strategies that you use to recruit those companies,” he told LINK nky. “So for example, what’s the land use policy for the communities? Where do we have good-quality sites? Do we have the right type of infrastructure in place to support those industries if and when we start to recruit them?”
Crume believes that the Northern Kentucky economy must build a solid foundation to maintain its standing amid rapid technological innovations, such as those in artificial intelligence, and demographic shifts.
“Ultimately, what we think we’re hearing people say is we’re going to go through a similar destruction/creation cycle that technology obviously does,” LINK nky. “There’s going to be just some destruction, there’s going to be some interruption, but ultimately there’ll be this creativity of new thoughts, new ways of working, and new productivity.”
Traditionally, Northern Kentucky has relied on increasing its population and generating more jobs to fuel economic growth. However, as this trend slows and national job growth remains steady, Al Bahrani emphasized that regional leaders should prioritize investing in the current workforce. Upskilling, the process of learning new, advanced skills or improving existing ones to remain competitive in one’s field, is a popular strategy. Another way is to provide existing employees with technologies to improve their output and efficiency.
“What we can do is make those people more productive, and from an economic theory perspective, there’s only two ways to do that,” he said during the panel. “One, to upskill the individuals or give them technology that makes them more productive. Either way, we have to train the individuals to navigate this new technology.”
As an educator, Al Bahrani suggested that educational institutions need to rethink how they teach students, shifting away from preparing them for traditional, linear career paths and toward real-world skill development. He noted that at NKU, they are teaching students how to use AI, treating it as a force multiplier rather than a substitute or replacement.
Another issue affecting the future economy was housing affordability, with rising home prices making it harder to attract and retain young professionals amid an aging workforce. In turn, this could impact future growth.
Regarding infrastructure, Crume said Northern Kentucky faces a shortage of development-ready sites and limitations in utilities such as power, water and sewer, which hinder its ability to attract large-scale investment.
Ultimately, the report, along with the Eggs ‘N Issues panel, emphasized that Northern Kentucky must keep investing in its workforce—whether through education, improving regional housing and infrastructure, or equipping workers with technology to enhance efficiency.
“Obviously, we want to maintain a high quality of life here so we can continue to grow by in-migration of folks,” Crume said. “That’s going to be a lot harder, though, as it goes forward, but there are things that we can do. I think the idea of really focusing on productivity and the value that each worker produces, regardless of the other strategies, is going to be really, really important.”
