Facilitating Economic Recovery Workshops and Stakeholder Engagement After Tornados and Flooding in Kentucky
Client: U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration
NOVACES’ economic recovery subject matter experts researched and documented the immediate and long-term economic implications of two destructive storm systems that caused extensive damage to Kentucky communities in December 2021 and July 2022. State agencies and their federal partners used this information to formulate data-driven recovery plans built on input from local businesses and other stakeholders.
Challenge
In December 2021, tornadoes damaged more than 900 homes and destroyed 100 businesses in Warren County and the City of Bowling Green, in Western Kentucky. Just seven months later, severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides hit Eastern Kentucky. The extent of the damage across multiple counties naturally stretched the capacity of local organizations to gather information and engage communities and businesses in the recovery process.
Many Kentucky communities experienced prolonged disruptions to supply chains and operations. The shortage of reliable, real-time data further complicated recovery planning and delayed effective community collaboration.
Solutions Delivered
A NOVACES team of experienced economic recovery experts consolidated research on the region’s baseline economy and gathered impact data by overlaying NOAA maps with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development’s Zoom Prospector GIS map to identify affected businesses by location, industry, and size.
Next, they coordinated two 6-hour workshops for community leaders by securing local sponsors and speakers, developing workshop content, managing logistics, and creating registration websites. The events covered critical topics including agriculture, housing recovery, workforce development, and downtown revitalization.
The NOVACES team promoted stakeholder engagement by facilitating meetings with mayors, county officials, workforce boards, and chambers of commerce. They engaged state agencies such as the Cabinet for Economic Development and the Department for Local Governments to ensure a coordinated response and distributed handouts covering HUD Disaster Recovery programs, dislocated worker grants, and recovery strategies from similar tornado-impacted areas.
Our certified economic developers conducted needs assessments and identified federal, state and philanthropic resources to fund key initiatives. In support of leaders on the ground, NOVACES provided crucial documentation through white papers on key economic industries and delivered mapping of the impacts of the tornado disaster to actual business locations.
Consolidated regional baseline economic research and impact data.
Coordinated two 6-hour workshops for community leaders covering critical topics.
Promoted stakeholder engagement by facilitating meetings with local officials and business leaders.
Key Takeaways
NOVACES’ on-the-ground research documenting how businesses had been affected and providing data to project the implications for the local economy gave federal and state agencies, local chambers of commerce and workforce boards common and actionable information to develop plans and measure progress in the wake of the storms.
Mapping the impacts of the tornado disaster to the level of business locations facilitated conversations with stakeholders and effective recovery planning by illustrating where actions can be coordinated, ultimately making funding and implementation more efficient.
Using the NOVACES team to organize, facilitate and document local stakeholder meetings and webinars took this time-consuming task off the shoulders of local government officials, who were already carrying an enormous workload, and infused the documentation with a level of objectivity.
The workshops provided a collaborative platform for community leaders, regional and state officials, and federal partners to develop coordinated recovery strategies. This environment facilitated resource sharing, best practices, and the development of actionable solutions, thereby accelerating recovery efforts in the impacted areas.