New website that brands Owensboro as college town touted as economic tool

OWENSBORO, Ky. — A new website that brands Owensboro as a safe and exciting college town is being touted as an economic marketing tool for the western Kentucky city.

OwensboroU.com went live last week. The site is a collaborative effort between the four colleges that have campuses in the city — Western Kentucky University-Owensboro, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro Community & Technical College and Brescia University.

Nick Brake, the president and CEO of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., told The Messenger-Inquirer that the idea is to increase college enrollment to attract business, which in turn will keep more graduates in the area.

"Economic development has long been based on the location decisions of companies," Brake said. "The overall goal of our partnership is to focus on the location decisions made by college students and their parents."

He said educational attainment drives the new economy and the hope is to increase the community's college enrollment from 8.000 to 10,000.

The schools will is the website as their primary marketing tool to "Enroll, Engage and Employ" students who choose Owensboro.

"Our hope is that this initiative will help us work together as a region and recognize the role that higher education and a baccalaureate degree play in economic development," Brake said.

The website shows how the four colleges already have collaborated and provides an opportunity to continue those relationships, said Gene Tice, the campus director at WKU-Owensboro.

Leaders at the four institutions have met regularly for years.

"Parents are very interested in the community where their students will live," said Cheryl King, KWC's president. "This gives us a chance to showcase our community for its safety and amenities such as our emerging downtown which is exciting to students and to show that we are a community that will care about them."

Lyn Cooper, president and CEO of First Security Inc., said the partnership and website is a unique collaboration among the colleges and Economic Development Corp.

"It promotes knowledge of what we have in Owensboro," Cooper said. "And we especially like it because on one site, students and families can compare the institutions."

Information from: Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, http://www.messenger-inquirer.com