PADUCAH — Wednesday and Thursday this week, local elected officials, business owners and other leaders are in Washington, D.C., to seek federal support for projects that affect west Kentucky.
The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce's annual D.C. Fly-In involves a group organized by the chamber that spends time in our nation's capital to advocate at the federal level for money and support involving local projects and initiatives. The more than 70 member group has scheduled meetings on Sept. 11 and 12. This marks the 21st year for the D.C. Fly-In.
Sandra Wilson is president of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce and said the annual trip is vital for western Kentucky.
Sandra Wilson is president of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce.
"We use it as an opportunity to meet with our members of Congress, to meet with their staff, and to meet with other national organizations that are based out of D.C. And through the years we have built some really long lasting relationships that have really benefited our community," Wilson said.
The two day agenda is packed full with multiple agencies including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The group also has scheduled meetings with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and Rep. James Comer, among others.
In this file photo, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addresses the Paducah delegation during a reception in Washington, D.C., in 2022.
Wilson added, "When you show up as a community the size of Paducah, with 70 to 75 people in D.C., business leaders and elected officials that have taken the time to go to D.C. and be gone from the community, and away from their work and their families for three days to be up there representing — it leaves a lasting impression."
The interactions translate to funding and job creation impacting everything from the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport, to Paducah Riverfront development, the Inland Waterways, the Department of Energy Paducah Site, and Barkley Regional Airport.
Department of Energy Paducah Site
The group will focus on continued federal funding for cleanup work at the Department of Energy Paducah site — specifically, obtaining additional money on top of the original $275 million allocated for cleanup. Congress has provided a "plus up" in funding over the years, which brings the total site-wide funding to approximately $320 million. That includes $2 million to analyze reindustrialization opportunities of the future of the DOE site.
"We have a lot of companies that are expressing interest in wanting to come here and look at the site and locate, potentially locate here. That economic development is taking place now even while we're still in the cleanup phase. So you're looking at 30 to 40 years more of cleanup. But as that land is being transferred back to the community we're looking at new projects that could develop there," Wilson said.
Kentucky Lock Project
During Rep. James Comer's address to the delegation, members will thank the congressman for his request for additional funding for the Kentucky lock project.
"The Kentucky lock is so important to our river industry, and they're all, you know, most of those companies are based here in Paducah, so we're hoping that that will come through. We just want to provide any support that we can for that project to help out our river industry," Wilson said.
Arts & Culture
Paducah is one of nine UNESCO Creative Cities in the United States. Paducah's arts and culture scene generates $39.9 million in local economic activity. During the Fly-In there are scheduled meetings with entities to ensure that scene remains strong. One of those entities is National Endowment for the Arts.
"We always go meet with them, and several years ago, they said to us to be an arts related community we were lacking and asking for grant requests. So they came down and did a training. And since then, we've been working with them every year to get some kind of grant for an organization here in Paducah," Wilson said.
Paducah native Brent Leggs serves as executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Paducah native Brent Leggs is the executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
"We've been building that relationship for the last four or five years. We've seen some grants coming to our area based on that, and in particular, just recently, they announced one to the Hotel Metropolitan," Wilson said.
Other Items
On the Tuesday before the two day agenda begins there is a night tour of the U.S. Capitol hosted by Rep. James Comer for members of the delegation who are interested.
Additionally, On Wednesday, Sept. 11 there is a gull group luncheon where the keynote speaker is Juliana Valencia. She is an Emmy-winning reporter in two languages for News4 and Telemundo 44 in D.C.; former reporter and anchor for WPSD Local 6.
Juliana Valencia is an Emmy-winning reporter in two languages for News4 and Telemundo 44 in D.C.; former reporter and anchor for WPSD Local 6.
The schedule of meetings and events concludes Thursday evening with a congressional reception sponsored by Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership with featured guest speaker U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
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