Lexington City Council members spent part of Tuesday exploring ways to improve the city’s ecosystem for technology. Awesome Inc. delivered a presentation to the council’s Budget, Finance & Economic Development Committee. Councilmember Dave Sevigny said the Central Bank Center downtown could be part of the solution.
“One thing that we could do would be to try to attract an actual major tech conference, because part of it is exposing that community to what Lexington has to offer. Now that we have this new great facility here, we should actually be able to get to host a tech conference.”
According to the presentation, Lexington was once a tech city – from 1956 to 1985, when IBM was the city’s second largest employer and the population doubled. Sevigny said the future could be just as bright.
“Cities that have a better than average tech presence also have a better than average wage. And wages are important, obviously. And that's what drives our economy. So that's one of the things we're trying to do.”
The presentation cited statistics showing tech jobs have a starting salary of $50,000 and in Kentucky, an average of $75,000.
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