Although Henderson County High School senior Austin McHatton considers himself a Republican, he said it was a “true honor” for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, to speak at the high school Friday afternoon.
McHatton said that political affiliation shouldn’t get in the way of progress and the governor has done a good job overall.
Furthermore, McHatton, currently vice president of the HCHS FFA, has already set a goal to one day be governor of the state, so it was “a thrill to meet a governor.”
Lillian Christian, also a senior at HCHS, said a piece of Beshear’s speech resonated with her. The governor spent some time talking about how industrial growth in the area will continue, allowing students to learn, train and take on good jobs in the area.
That’s what Christian plans to do. She’s a welding student in the high school’s Career and Technical Education program, and after graduation, she’ll join the Henderson Community College FAME program, which allows students to enroll in the industrial maintenance program while also working at a local industry. She says she’ll work at Pratt Paper while in the FAME program.
She said, “I love Henderson” and she wants to stay here.
Christian, McHatton and dozens of other students, as well as teachers, staff and community members gathered in the automotive class room in the CTE wing to listen to Beshear, who came to present two checks—one for $10.2 million to Kenergy for the electric cooperative to complete 652 miles of broadband cable in Henderson and Daviess counties and another for $700,000 that will be used to complete a site grading plan for a 1 million square-foot building pad at the 4-Star Industrial Park straddling the Henderson/Webster County line.
Beshear said the completed Kenergy project will provide internet service for 2,300-plus homes and businesses in Henderson County and 1,200-plus in Daviess County. The funding will be matched by Kenergy, he said, for a total of $20.5 million.
Another speaker, Drew Hagan, a junior at HCHS, said faster internet service would help him and his family greatly. His current service buffers and takes a long time to load, which keeps him from playing games or doing his homework. He said his mom has told him, “Sorry, but it’s the best we can get with where we live.”
J.T. Payne, an HCHS agriculture teacher and Henderson County’s next state representative, told the crowd that it’s “imperative that rural families have the same opportunities as their urban neighbors” with internet access.
Henderson Judge-Executive Brad Schneider told the crowd that cooperation among state and local government officials has been the key to some big economic victories in the area recently and with the completion of the building pad in the 4-Star Industrial Park “we’re set up for another, hopefully, big win.”
Regarding the 1 million square-foot building pad, Beshear told the Hendersonian in a brief interview after the ceremony that he wouldn’t give any details about discussions he’s had about industries locating there nor the number of inquiries he’s fielded. But he did offer encouraging news about the site.
“Henderson is at the top of the list of so many companies looking in Kentucky,” he said.
Beshear also said that there’s been very good signs that funding for a new conference center at Audubon State Park—a point he briefly mentioned in his speech—will make it into the Kentucky Senate’s version of the upcoming budget.
Funding for the project was present in the governor’s budget released before the General Assembly session began, and it was present in the House’s budget, approved earlier in the session.
Beshear said he feels positive the funding will remain in the Senate version. He said he’s “been having very good conversations with the Senate.”
Henderson Mayor Brad Staton also spoke, saying he’d never known a governor to make more trips to Henderson than Beshear has.
