Whitley County Board of Education to review agreement with entrepreneurship training program | News

WHITLEY COUNTY — At Thursday’s regular board meeting, the Whitley County Board of Education heard from Kyle Wilson, a representative from Boom KY.

Boom KY is an economic development program initiated by Wilson and his partners to help establish startup companies in Kentucky, mainly among young people.

According to Wilson, he has so far contributed to helping 85 startups sell their merchandise. The startups include companies that sell clothing, food and other goods. There are also those which sell services such as car detailing.

Wilson was speaking to the Whitley County Board of Education in order to propose to them a deal in which the Board of Education could partner with Boom KY in order to provide startup opportunities for students in Whitley County.

So far, Boom KY has partnered with the Whitley County Fiscal Court to create a “hub” inside of the old Whitley County post office building in downtown Williamsburg.

Wilson said, “We want to create new opportunities for young people…It will not happen overnight but it is coming…We are going to guide and lead our (youth) to be successful.”

Superintendent John Siler agreed with Wilson, noting that “We also want to provide opportunities for our students to be successful here…We would like all of them to have the opportunity to stay here and help grow our city.”

Wilson noted to the board that he has already relocated to Williamsburg from Lexington and is committed to the process of building the hub in Whitley County.

Wilson expects a two-year time frame to get everything operational.

No formal action was taken at the meeting. However, Wilson promised to send the board a copy of the agreement so that Board Attorney Tim Crawford may review it before any decision is made.

Additionally, the Whitley County Board of Education also approved the release of funds for three major projects.

For the final payment on the Whitley County Middle School Track improvements, the board released $113,008.91.

For Whitley County High School athletic field improvements, the board released $130,106.33.

Lastly, the board released $46,753.33 to pay for additional materials and labor after deciding to retile additional sections of Whitley East Elementary than previously planned.