A new capital campaign is in the works at regional economic development company BE NKY.
This will be the first major campaign of what CEO Lee Crume is calling the “fifth generation” of economic development in the region, the most recent generation being BE NKY’s first Build + Elevate campaign, which was launched in 2022. The new campaign is similar but begins with the region’s contemporary economic conditions in mind.
“There’s not a Northern Kentuckian it would not affect,” said Steve Stevens, a consultant with Convergent and Northern Kentucky native, BE NKY hired to plan the campaign.
Like the previous campaign, this new campaign will solicit money from investors with the hopes of funding overall economic growth in the region, rather than a monetary return on investment. You can see a list of the previous campaign’s investors at BE NKY’s website.
The campaign itself is still in the planning stages, but Stevens presented the broad strokes of the campaign and its goals to the BE NKY Board of Directors on Tuesday. BE NKY’s executive committee had also discussed the campaign at their meeting at the end of June.
Dubbed Build+Elevate 2032, the campaign will help raise funds to advance BE NKY’s goals of bringing more businesses to the region, bolstering the region’s workforce, and increasing local capital investment. The previous Build+Elevate campaign aimed to raise about $4.5 million, according to BE NKY marketing materials, and incorporated the Northern Kentucky Port Authority as a real estate vehicle for the development company’s initiatives.
The new campaign aims to raise about $6 million, which is 25% higher than the previous campaign’s goal. Crume said this higher figure was intended to account for inflation.
Stevens has already begun meeting with people to gauge interest among local businesses and potential investors, although he emphasized he was not at the point where he was asking for money. The $6 million number may change, Stevens said, based on what his meetings turn up. He plans to present the results of his meetings to the executive committee on July 28.
What would count as a successful campaign, beyond raising the money itself? BE NKY plans to measure its return on investment in terms of jobs and payroll created, as well as growth in overall personal income.
“We will be showing a solid return on investment,” said Stevens. “We’re going to make sure that that’s part of our position [to investors].”
The company will present its return on investment goals to investors in August.
Although a campaign like this could raise millions, BE NKY’s most consistent funding comes not from donations or investors but from fees charged on motor vehicle rentals in the region. Kentucky law allows counties to use such fee collections for economic development by disbursing them to a nonprofit. Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties all have laws on the books to collect a 3% tax on gross rental fees for both conventional car rental companies and ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, plus similar commercial programs, and pay it to BE NKY.
The company’s June financials had not been fully reconciled by Tuesday’s meeting, but financials through May indicated that income from vehicle fees exceeded the company’s budget for last fiscal year by about $922,000.
“As of the end of May, we had no surprise expenses, and we’re still tracking under budget,” said Administrative Project Manager Rachelle Creager, who presented the financials to the board.
In May, BE NKY reported to its board that it expected higher expenses this fiscal year, which began on July 1, and that it would likely need to draw on its reserves to close the gap.
Crume beseeched his directors — 15 of the 23-member board were in attendance on Tuesday — to stay involved in the campaign as it progressed.
“We need your advice and counsel to make sure that those plans are the right plans,” Crume said to the board.
