Economic Development Collaborative publishes annual report

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 1, 2024) — The Economic Development Collaborative (EDC), a network of campus and community stakeholders who oversee the University of Kentucky's economic development and business engagement activities, has recently published their 2023 annual report.

One of the primary functions of the EDC is to effectively communicate and coordinate the economic development efforts of UK. The annual report serves as one of the tools for fulfilling this function. It is crucial to emphasize that the news featured here does not exclusively represent the work of the EDC, but rather highlights the contributions of various collaborators throughout UK.

Additionally, the report reviews the EDC’s progress with five bold ideas and five goals.

“One of the first actions of the EDC was to focus on three bold ideas that would proactively grow economic prosperity in the Commonwealth. Now that the first three bold ideas have gained traction and enter their second phase, two additional bold ideas have been added,” said George Ward, EDC chair and associate vice president for economic development and real estate at UK. “This focus helps UK achieve its economic development goals which are reported on in this annual report.”

Some of the report’s highlights and milestones include:

• A first-year class of nearly 6,500 students this fall pushing UK’s overall enrollment to a historic high of 34,000 students. The number of degrees conferred by the university, reached nearly 8,200 in the last academic year.
• The Office of Technology Commercialization submitted 114 invention disclosures, 161 patent applications and were issued 32 new patents. A total of 37 new licenses and options were executed and five new startups affiliated with UK were launched. 
• The official ribbon cutting of the new regional headquarters of Kinetic by Windstream at the Coldstream Research Campus.
• The development and launch of the holistic business engagement system, OneUK.
• UK Purchasing increased its diverse vendors from 1,359 in FY22 to 1,866 in FY23, a 37% increase.

“Looking back over the past year, I clearly see the enhanced focus and momentum that has been built around economic development at UK and for the Commonwealth,” said Melody Flowers, UK assistant vice president for economic development and real estate. “I am excited to expand on this work in 2024.”

This publication is the fourth annual report assessing economic development efforts at UK.

Access the full publication report at: https://edc.uky.edu/sites/default/files/2024-01/2023%20Annual%20Report.pdf