Posted on 6/23/9
Presidium Learning Company Expanding in Somerset
SOMERSET, KY – Presidium Learning Company, Inc. is planning to double the size of its facility and workforce in Pulaski County in the coming months, according to a news release from the state Cabinet for Economic Development.

The education services company currently employs 250 workers at its location in the Information Technology Center in Valley Oak Technology Complex, on Highway 461. The facility expansion will allow for an additional 200 employees to be hired in the coming months, officials said.

Presidium, a provider of 24-hour, seven-day-a-week contact center services for the education industry, located in Somerset in 2006 with the initial goal of hiring 30 employees.

SKED owns the Information Technology Center and assists in marketing Valley Oak Technology Complex.
Read More...

Posted on 6/11/9
Southeast Telephone Expanding Broadband to Letcher County

PIKEVILLE, KY - Darrell Maynard’s ancestors settled in Pike County in 1790. His roots are there, and it’s where he’s built his business. You might say SouthEast Telephone Company’s foundation is his love for the region and its people. Maynard calls it progress. Progress in a place where it’s needed most.

The Pikeville native has been working to provide much-needed telecommunications services in the region for years. He established SouthEast Telephone Company (SouthEast) in 1996 with the goal of making it the premier hometown telephone company for all East Kentuckians.

His nearly 20 years of experience in telecommunications services and equipment led him to believe it was a natural progression
of the business to offer complete services to customers who previously had only national corporate entities to serve the local consumer market. Potential customers were aplenty in the mountains of East Kentucky.

SouthEast provides local telephone service, long distance, Internet and paging products for residential and business customers in a 50-county service area. It’s the ability to provide professional and reliable service with a hometown touch and having your neighbors do the work that has made SouthEast the successful business it is, Maynard explains. Customers can call the Southeast office and have a “live” person answer to help them, rather than an automated system.

Maynard put his dream to work and has hired hundreds of his neighbors to get the job done.

“I saw the need for high tech jobs in East Kentucky,” Maynard said. “And I’ve worked to develop and educate our labor force here so that they would be able to work in technology.”

Today, SouthEast employs more than 200 people. Jobs range from software programming to inside and outside sales and call center operators. Its customers number some 36,000 throughout East and Central Kentucky.

But there’s more work to be done. His most recent project will ensure that more than 800 previously underserved households in Letcher County have access to Internet broadband service.

Read More...

Posted on 1/12/9
Tin Man Manufacturing Bringing New Jobs to Lincoln County
WAYNESBURG, KY – New jobs are coming to Lincoln County, with some help from the state.

Tin Man Manufacturing, LLC will produce rolled steel for roofing panels as well as parts and trusses for the commercial building and construction industries from its new location in the Stanford-Lincoln County Industrial Park. The startup company will create 34 jobs over a two-year period with an emphasis on hiring low to moderate income individuals, according to a news release from the state.

Gov. Steve Beshear, in conjunction with the Department for Local Government, announced a $680,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to support the new manufacturer in December. The Lincoln County Fiscal Court will use the funds to purchase equipment for a capitalized lease to Tin Man. The company will sell to clients located within a 1,000 mile radius of its location.

“I’m pleased to award this grant to help Lincoln County attract a new company and it is especially satisfying that it will be locally owned and operated,” said Governor Beshear. “I applaud the Lincoln County Economic Development Authority and the fiscal court in their ability to build on this successful relationship.”

Read More...