Jerry RickettPresident/Chief Executive Officer
Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation |
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Jerry Rickett was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation in 1989 after previously holding the positions of Vice President and Marketing Manager. He is responsible for setting policy and for establishing, monitoring and achieving the goals of Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation. Jerry is directly responsible for management of the company's staff of seventeen and the operations of the parent company and its five subsidiaries. The company, a community development corporation which focuses on venture capital and entrepreneurial development, is recognized as one of the premier business development organizations in the United States. Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation has been designated the Lead Entity of one of three original Rural Empowerment Zones, one of eight Rural Tax Credit Community Development Corporations, a partner Community Development Corporation of Rural Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and received designation as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and a Community Development Entity by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Resources brought to Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation during his tenure as President are the Small Business Administration MicroLoan Program, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Intermediary Relending Program. In 1997, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation became the nations first nonbank lender under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Business & Industry Loan Guaranty program. Kentucky Highlands sponsors an Aspiring Entrepreneur program, houses a business development incubator and an SBA Business Information Center and is the location of a CenterNet Site for video teleconferencing.
Mr. Rickett has served on numerous boards and commissions in his hometown of Corbin, Kentucky and in the state. These positions have included the Chairman of the Corbin Planning Commission, membership on the Corbin Industrial Commission, the Kentucky Tourism Association and the Cumberland Valley Area Development District Board of Directors. Mr. Rickett is also a member of the Founders Club and the Executive Committee for The Center for Rural Development, the Kentucky Appalachian Advisory Commission, the Kentucky Venture Capital Task Force and Treasurer of Southern and East Kentucky Tourism Development Association. In 1996, Mr. Rickett was named the recipient of the first Governor's Economic Development Leadership Award by Governor Paul Patton. Jerry is a graduate of Leadership Tri-County and Leadership Kentucky. Mr. Rickett is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati and the Advisory Council at Eastern Kentucky University School of Business. Congressman Hal Rogers appointed Jerry to the Board of The Tennessee Valley Corridor.
Prior to his service with Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, Mr. Rickett was Chief Planner with the Cumberland Valley Area Development District, London, Kentucky and Physical Planner with the Kentucky River Area Development District, Hazard, Kentucky. Mr. Rickett is a graduate of Cumberland College and holds two Masters degrees from Eastern Kentucky University.