WKU News

Today, Kentucky to the World (KTW) announced its new location, in the new Collaborative SmartSpace at the Innovation Campus at Western Kentucky University (WKU), officially opening this fall. The Louisville-based KTW was recruited to be one of the Collaborative SmartSpace’s initial tenants, to live and create alongside several other revolutionary and exciting partnerships with entities like the MIT Open Documentary Lab and the USC Civic Imagination Project, sharing the region’s innovations with the world.

“Kentucky to the World’s new home will allow us to showcase the vibrance of Bowling Green’s community, economy and workforce,” KTW President/CEO Shelly Zegart said. “Our goal is to inspire talented people to come from beyond our borders to find their futures–and stories about those futures–in Bowling Green and Kentucky.”

Today’s announcement builds on WKU President Timothy C. Caboni’s preview of the organization entering the Collaborative SmartSpace during his August convocation address.

“Our 285,000-square-foot Innovation Campus headquarters now provides resources, attracts talent and nurtures intellectual capital in the communities we serve and provides a home for modern laboratory space, a collaborative smart space and new facilities to support technological advancements,” President Caboni said during that address. “Among the many new regional partners utilizing the resources of the Innovation Campus is Kentucky to the World, a Louisville-based nonprofit striving to elevate the intellectual and cultural reputations of the Commonwealth through live events, digital content, and K-12 education programs.”

The expansion of KTW’s presence to its new Bowling Green location coincides with KTW’s 10th anniversary, enabling the nonprofit to collaborate with even more creatives and strategists to tell new stories of Kentucky’s top innovators. The Collaborative SmartSpace includes a storytelling room and will be adding various new features for creative, artistic, and strategy professionals. KTW will air its original video content throughout the SmartSpace, filled with success stories and interviews of Kentuckians to inspire rising entrepreneurs, especially students, using the space.

The Collaborative SmartSpace is a 30,000-square-foot space meant for talented people from across the region – industry professionals, entrepreneurs, funders, researchers, students, and others – to come together in a space where they intend to meet others and collaborate. The space provides its members 24/7 access, training rooms and conference rooms, Wi-Fi, and will include a variety of opportunities and programs tailored for members – programs on which KTW will be collaborating.

“The spirit and intent of the Collaborative SmartSpace really reflects the ethos of Kentucky to the World,” Zegart said.

KTW chose Bowling Green for its new site because it is the fastest growing city in Kentucky. The new presence builds on a partnership more than a year in the making, as several Bowling Green-based entities collaborated with KTW on its recent storytelling series, Kentucky: Resilience in the Face of Economic Change.

Bowling Green-based nonprofit AccelerateKY partnered with KTW on that series, which includes a digital video series and forthcoming KET television special produced by KTW recorded from AccelerateKY’s “Connect. Inform. Inspire.” conference hosted last October by the Innovation Campus at WKU.

KTW’s other new Innovation Campus neighbors include a variety of innovative companies and entities from the region, like global manufacturers Holley Inc., Logan Aluminum, and Envision AESC, and the new Metals Innovation Initiative, which is working to promote Kentucky as the preeminent destination for metals innovation.

“When I first heard about Kentucky to the World’s mission, I knew it was an organization that we wanted to have involved in our Innovation Campus,” said Buddy Steen, CEO of the Innovation Campus at WKU. “We believe that talent is the most essential ingredient in our economic development of Kentucky. Sharing KTW’s success stories of living Kentuckians who have made it big is just further proof what people can build and grow here.”

This new location for KTW is based at the Innovation Campus’ headquarters at 2413 Nashville Road.

For a decade, Kentucky to the World's mission has been to elevate the cultural and intellectual reputation of our Commonwealth on the global stage. They accomplish this by sharing compelling stories of extraordinary people with Kentucky roots who are shaping the world with their creativity, intellect, and passion through live events, television specials, digital content, collectibles, school programs and other initiatives. For more information, visit kentuckytotheworld.org.

Contact: Shannon Holbrook, (859) 494-6143