UK’s Economic Development Collaborative releases 2025 annual report
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2026) — The University of Kentucky’s Economic Development Collaborative (EDC) unveiled its 2025 annual report at the 2026 State of the EDC on Feb. 26, gathering faculty, staff, students, external partners and stakeholders to reflect on the past year and chart a course for the collaborative’s future.
The annual report, available available online, highlights a year of major partnerships and program launches while also presenting the results of a significant internal review that will reshape the EDC’s structure and direction for years to come.
A new direction rooted in listening
Central to the report is the EDC’s five-year review, which the organization undertook in 2025 by gathering feedback from members, partners and campus stakeholders. The process identified three key opportunities: clarifying the EDC’s purpose, defining roles between EDC- and member-led work, and expanding opportunities for connection and shared resources.
The result is a refined mission: to bring the university together by connecting people, sharing knowledge and leading efforts that advance economic impact in alignment with UK’s Advancing Kentucky Together initiative and regional and state goals.
Going forward, the EDC will focus on two core roles: hosting quarterly gatherings to highlight resources and strengthen campus connections, and taking on select targeted projects that fill gaps in the university’s broader economic development work. The EDC also clarified what it is not: a replacement or duplication of efforts already underway across departments, colleges and partner organizations.
“This review was not about starting over. It was about listening, learning and strengthening how the EDC supports the important work already happening across campus,” EDC steering committee members George Ward and Melody Flowers wrote in the report’s opening letter.
2026 State of the EDC
The annual report served as a key aspect of the 2026 State of the EDC. At the event Ward presented an overview of five years of EDC highlights and EDC support team member Audrey Baricovich provided an in-depth look at the collaborative’s new structure and organizational changes.
Jay Blanton, UK’s vice president for university relations and chief communications officer, and Rob Edwards, the university’s vice president for strategy and government relations, provided attendees with an overview of the Advancing Kentucky Together network, offering context for how the EDC’s work fits into the university’s broader statewide mission.
Michael W. Clark, Ph.D., director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and an associate professor of economics at UK’s Gatton College of Business and Economics, reported on Kentucky’s economic outlook. His remarks set the stage for a panel discussion on target industries for the state’s economic development, led by Flowers and featuring Jacob Ball of Bluegrass Ag Tech, Justin Campbell of UK HealthCare, Grant Duffy of OneUK partner Bullard and Jason Luring of ROIS.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.