ELEVATE Kentucky meeting in Owensboro

ELEVATE Kentucky, a program of Leadership Kentucky, will bring 25 young professionals from across Kentucky to Owensboro from Wednesday, April 24, through Friday for three days of “Know Your State” training.

This is the third consecutive year that the event has been in Owensboro.

“We always come to Owensboro,” Madeline Flynn, communications manager for Leadership Kentucky, said Tuesday. “It’s very hospitable and a great way to showcase western Kentucky with all the development along the river. It’s very walkable, which is important to us. And there’s a lot to see and do there.”

A lot of the participants in the program have never been as far west as Owensboro, she said.

The program for the conference says, ELEVATE Kentucky “offers young professionals in-depth personal and professional development while fostering a better understanding of challenges facing our commonwealth. Elevate participants return to their companies with increased skills, knowledge, perspective and a new statewide professional network. Millennial leaders are better prepared to be catalysts in their companies and communities in an effort to ELEVATE Kentucky.”

The group generally ranges from around 25 years old to 35, Flynn said.

They’ll be staying at the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Downtown Owensboro/Waterfront.

The program begins at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum next door to the Hampton.

The Rev. Larry Hostetter, president of Brescia University, will discuss ethics with the class at 2:30 p.m.

Chris Joslin, executive director of the Hall of Fame, will lead a tour of the facility at 3:30 p.m.

And Candance Castlen Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, will address the group at 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, the group will go to the Wendell H. Ford Government Education Center in the Owensboro Museum of Science and History.

The Oliver Group, a company that “works to grow and develop leadership skills and behaviors,” will lead the morning program that day.

At 12:20 p.m., Sara Hemingway, Leadership Kentucky Class of 2017 and executive director of the Marilyn and William Young Charitable Foundation, will discuss “Designing your Leadership Path.”

At 1 p.m, Diane Ford, Elizabeth Griffith and Clay Ford will discuss civil discourse and the legacy of the late U.S. Sen. Wendell H. Ford of Owensboro.

And at 3:30 p.m., Joe Berry, director of commercial real estate for The Malcolm Bryant Corporation, and Madison Silvert, president of The Malcolm Bryant Corporation, will lead a walking tour of downtown.

Friday, the group will tour the UniFirst plant in MidAmerica Airpark at 8:30 a.m.