Tom Utter is a man in constant motion. While discussing Spencer County’s successes and plans for the future, he paces the room emphasizing his points with broad gestures and references to the maps and charts on display in his conference room.

Tom has served Spencer County as Executive Director of Lincolnland Economic DevelopmentCorpora-tion (LEDC) since 1996. Prior to that he specialized in niche marketing small community developmencentersthroughout Kentucky. He most recently served the Hazard, Kentucky Business and Industry Technical Assistance office.

The LEDC is an offshoot of the former Rockport Chamber of Commerce and is overseen by a 12 member board. Three of these members are local government officials by charter.

Tom states that the LEDC office was so well organized by his predecessor that the 1.1 billion AK Steel project was virtually effortless on his part. The project was the nation’s largest in 1997. AK Steel is, in his words, “The nation’s safest, most profitable and highest regarded steel producer. It was named GM’s supplier of the year and always puts the customer first”.

“AK Steel is exceeding the company’s own expectations in jobs provided and revenue to the community. It is proving to be a very fiscally responsible company,” he adds.

The county is also home to a new river port facility run by ADM to serve West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

Another port is under construction to serve as an open multi commodity port for metals, container shipping and storage. The new port will be run by Rockport River Terminals based in western Kentucky.

Bruce Kanipe, owner of the firm says,“This is the best site our company has ever developed.” He says that coal is starting to move again and the new $130 million bridge linking Spencer County to Owensboro, Kentucky and the new Abraham Lincoln Parkway will bring more and more commerce to the area. He credits Utter with helping his company to see the value of locating in Rockport.

“Tom is doing an excellent job taking care of the community and agricultural sector. He is a very persuasive man,” he says.

Utter is very positive about the unlimited opportunities for Spencer County’s future and is currently negotiating a $500 million project.

“If LEDC is successful in motivating the county to prepare, the future could not be brighter. There is no place that is nicer to live and work. We have it all,” he states.