Kentucky has low property taxes. New economy companies tend to be very human capital intensive and that means that low income taxes are good for new economy companies. Kentucky has fairly high income taxes, and probably a part of a new tax strategy would be to look at the difference between property and income taxes. A tax strategy to move Kentucky into the new economy would equitably and appropriately shift the tax burden. In your capacity as CEO of Greater Louisville Inc., you've worked with a number of companies that were considering moving business locations to Kentucky.
Taxes are a small piece of the overall decision.
What really hurts is when a particular tax is aimed right at the heart of a company's business. That is fatal. Kentucky has to become more entrepreneurial, so bright people come here, stay, and do really exciting things that will drive the economy forward. Kentucky's efforts should be aimed at the new economy and high value-added manufacturing jobs. The main thing is to learn how to think and to find a job that you love enough that you'll put a lot of effort into it.