Kentucky is calling former residents home. The Chamber of Commerce for Louisville, Ky., recently hosted a reception in Atlanta for all former Kentuckians. The word is that Kentucky is actively looking for qualified labor, and business conditions are favorable for hiring. "We want to send a message," says Mike Bosc, vice president of communications for Greater Louisville. "If you left the Bluegrass State for greener pastures, things have changed."
      The employment picture in Kentucky has indeed improved. The state posted last year its lowest recorded unemployment rate, at 4.1 percent, in nearly 27 years, while adding 27,200 jobs. Eight of Kentucky's 10 job categories also reported employment growth in 2000.
      According to the US Census, Kentucky has undergone peak growth in population in the Lexington-Louisville-Northern Kentucky region. Officials cite the exodus from Kentucky's eastern mountain counties into the metro regions as a partial cause of this growth. Kentucky continues the nationwide shift from the manufacturing sector into service industries. Gov. Paul Patton's Office for Economic Analysis has tempered its previous prediction of a statewide decrease of 2.3 percent in manufacturing jobs. The predicted estimate for the coming year is now 2.1 percent.
      Kentucky has seen several large new manufacturing facilities announced within the last year. Autoliv ASP will employ 600 workers at its new seatbelt manufacturing plant in Madisonville. Miami Computer Supply is building a $40 million manufacturing plant in Erlanger. Officials expect to hire more than 200 employees. Bruss North America will build automotive engine transmission sealing systems at its Russell Springs Plant. Company officials expect to hire 178 employees at this $25 million plant.
      Officials believe Kentucky will weather the economic slowdown well and predict job growth will continue. "There will be higher growth in 2002 and 2003," says Dr. Mark Berger, speaking at an economic roundtable conducted by the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics. "Kentucky ought to come out slightly better than the rest of the country, maintaining its relatively constant position in per capita income."
      Gov. Patton has allocated $400,000 from the EMPOWER Kentucky initiative for seven pilot programs across the state to assess and develop work-force skills. Companies can have employee skills assessed, job skills analyzed, and then direct employees to targeted instruction to improve specific skills. The program is sponsored by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and the Cabinet for Workforce Development.