Lexington, KY - At 40, Woodford Webb has succeeded Ann McBrayer as the youngest-ever Commerce Lexington board chair. Business Lexington's Tom Martin sat down with Webb to discuss his vision and ideas about business and economic development in the Central Kentucky region.
An immediate past president of the Downtown Lexington Corporation, in 2008 Webb received one of the "Top 20 under 40" Rising Star awards presented by the Lexington Young Professionals Association.
Webb is a private investor in residential and commercial real estate and serves as president of The Webb Companies, a commercial real estate company headquartered in Lexington. A licensed attorney, he is associated in an of counsel capacity with the law firm of Webb, Hoskins, Glover & Thompson, P.S.C., in Lexington.
What tops your agenda for Commerce Lexington?
In the coming year, one of the focuses that I want to really work on is the overall quality of life for the Central Kentucky region. And a lot of that boils down to leadership. I really feel like Mayor Newberry is doing a very good job in many ways with his leadership.
For example, the Light Rail Committee that you (interviewer Tom Martin) and I both serve on. Sometimes you have to look forward, whether it's 10 years down the road, 15 years down the road. (It's) maybe not something that is going to happen next year, but a light rail system that may connect us to the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport or to Toyota or to Louisville or Eastern Kentucky is something that we need to at least explore early-on, and leadership helps get you there.
...We've studied so many areas of this community and this region. It's time to really look forward to implementing action.
What can be done to encourage our young people to remain in Lexington?
Last year going to Austin, Texas, on the Chamber of Commerce leadership trip was a start to it. We saw the entertainment options that really pertained to young people in Austin, Texas. I'm excited about this year's trip to Madison, Wisconsin. There are a lot of green initiatives, regional collaboration, many of the things that we are dealing with here in Lexington, going on up there. And they're dealing with the same issues of quality of life and how to retain the young people in their community and not lose them after they graduate from their colleges and universities.
... a lot of the millennial generation, they're deciding where they want to live first. They go there and then they find a job, second. So (that is a) very interesting aspect that we're going to hopefully going to study over this coming year to try to get there.
What is the proper role of the business community in supporting education?
I think they should play a large role in supporting education. In fact the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) scholarship program that Mayor Newberry pitched last year was a very interesting way to think ahead of the curve. I know that it didn't work out, but the business community has a major job as far as economic development, trying to create a quality of life in the local community. (They can become) members of the chamber of commerce, for example, so that they can work as a group to try to attract the next Lexmark to come in and invest in this community.
What is your assessment of the economic development partnership between Commerce Lexington, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and the University of Kentucky?
I think it's going pretty well. You know, accountability is obviously a factor, that you have to produce results or at least show why you haven't, or show what you have produced as you go forward. And that's true with any board with community involvement, that there has to be that level of accountability.
Is downtown Lexington important to the greater city, and if so, why?
Downtowns are very important. They're the center of a community's core. And historically downtowns were where suburbanites would go to shop...then go back to their suburban communities. The advent of the malls really hurt the downtowns in the 1970s, and we've seen that here in Lexington. And, for better or worse, I've really grown up learning about downtowns my whole life, with my family's aspect and hearing about it over the dinner table. And even though my family was from Eastern Kentucky, (I didn't grow up there, but my father and uncle grew up there,) they just had a love for this community and this town. They really wanted to see it grow and prosper. That started in the downtown, because they grew up in a little town called Whitesburg and their downtown was where the focus of activity always was, and that's traditionally the American way. The downtown has been the cultural arts/economic center of a community.
What is the status of the Webb Company's downtown project, CentrePointe?
One of the things that the community and your readers may want to realize is that the appeals by some of groups, Preserve Lexington in particular, they didn't burn off and expire until January 4, which really slowed some things down. And you have to realize that this is a large project and to finalize architectural plans and permitting processes does take some time. But I think we're really poised to report some very good news here soon. And so the hope is that by this spring you'll see a lot more activity than you see now.
I don't think people could be faulted in these times for wondering if the finances are there?
The finances are there.
What can we anticipate will be there when the World Equestrian Games arrive in 2010?
Originally there was a hope that it could be done by the World Equestrian Games, but it's just not possible at this point. The hope is that by 2010 in the fall when the World Games come, we can at least have the project buttoned up and looking presentable for the festivities and things that may go on downtown. There was once a chance that maybe we could get the hotel opened up for the World Equestrian Games, but that's just not feasible. Our partner in this is J. W. Marriott. They're very excited about the prospects of coming to Lexington, but they're very deliberate and they want to take their time and open it right and not rush things. And we agree with that.
Are you satisfied with the city's preparations for The Games?
I know they've gone through some transitions out there with their leadership (at the Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games Foundation), and hopefully with that being stabilized now, as a community we can work closer with the World Games.
... I think as a community, the private sector wants to help any way they can, they just haven't heard of ways that they can help. Because this is our chance to shine to the world even more than we already do. This is our Ryder Cup, this is our Olympics, and hopefully it will live up to all the hype, and I think it will.
Your family has had an enormous influence on Lexington for many years. When the Webbs sit around that dinner table that you mentioned before, do you ever talk about a legacy?
Well, my family came from Eastern Kentucky. I was born in Frankfort, grew up here in Lexington my whole life and went to public schools. And I really have the love for this community that my father and uncle had. But it's not about naming a tower "Webb Tower" or anything like that. Growing up, I was encouraged by my father to be involved in things other than business - you know, non-profit boards. I've been on the Lexington Humane Society board. I'm currently on the board of the Bluegrass Community Foundation and Hospice of the Bluegrass and Bluegrass Miracle League. Sometimes you have to give back to the community as well. But it's not really about any kind of ego trip at all, I can assure you.
What are your thoughts as you assume your new role as Commerce Lexington board chair?
Ö The Sapura Group in Atlanta Georgia did a study in 2007 which said that citizens in the community are much more likely to buy from an organization if they know they are a member of their local chamber of commerce. Even in tough times, we want to encourage people not to give up their membership in the chamber of commerce or Downtown Lexington Corporation because now is a time to really be even more involved in the community-at-large, so we can get through these interesting times that we have.