Gateway to the commonwealth: Northern Kentucky’s appeal for tourism, business and talent – LINK nky

This story originally appeared in the March 1, 2024 LINK Reader. To get stories like this first, subscribe here.

When you think of Northern Kentucky, do you think of the iconic water tower, or maybe the region’s ties to bourbon?

Northern Kentucky is a community of 37 cities, three counties and over 400,000 people, many of whom are chest-beatingly proud to be a Northern Kentuckian, said Julie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of meetNKY. 

Yet Northern Kentuckians and their businesses are struggling with how to identify the place they call home. 

NKY growth organizations are working together with a branding agency to get the narrative on how they should be talking about NKY from a tourism standpoint, a business attraction standpoint and a talent development standpoint.

“We hear it from large companies, small companies, nonprofits,” Kirkpatrick said. “We also hear it from people who live here that they struggle with the narrative to describe…