A U.S. maritime administrator says southwest Kentucky is fertile training ground for jobs in the river industries.
Rear Admiral Mark Buzby addressed the West Kentucky Alliance for a Vibrant Economy conference, also known as WAVE on Thursday. He said U.S. domestic and international freight flows are expected to rise 45 percent in the next 30 years in an industry that currently has labor shortages.
“By 2022, the transportation employment sector is expected to employ about 417K jobs simply through industry growth. And another 4.2 million vacancies will need to be filled due to retirement and exits of various sorts,” Buzby said.
Buzby praised WAVE for assembling leadership and expertise from a multi-state region to work creatively and collaboratively to prepare a workforce critically needed for future job vacancies.
The WAVE initiative began in 2016 as an effort by the four westernmost river county judge executives to “grow with the flow” of the river economy.