Mm-hmm.

We know the person that we can make the, the soft introduction to and walk them through the process.

Or, uh, or if they're expanding, potentially getting some state incentives that will offset the cost of a new employee during their training period, where they're learning the core concepts of what they need to do to make somebody successful.

We know how to walk through these processes.

So if we get in front of them, and we understand, uh, what risk may look like and what opportunity might look like and how we can help them navigate those type things, it's incredibly important.

But there's another side of it as well.

About a little less than half our income is the public sector, and, and then we have private sector.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

So I wanted it to make me better at my day job.

So I need to understand what was going on and potentially if there's any entrance points we could do to make things different.

And now when I sit down with my committee, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but what they agreed to let me do is.

was to work at the workforce participation rates for Northeast Kentucky, for two particular counties, Boyd and Greenup, which are the metro area around Ashland, Kentucky.

Now I spent 10 years working that market, economic development, running the regional organization there.

So I knew the region well.

yeah