Thursday's Team Kentucky update began as it typically does, with Gov. Andy Beshear pointing to the state's job growth data.
"Since the start of my administration, I've announced nearly 1,400 private sector new location and/or expansion projects that have now hit the $54 billion mark. These announcements are creating a record number of jobs, now more than 71,000," he said.
But just hours before, a joint committee on economic development heard testimony from Kate Shanks with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce that could add a wrinkle to the rosy job picture —namely housing or a lack of it.
Shanks said the chamber conducted a listening tour for a new report and found that many communities don't feel prepared to handle a rush of new workers.
"We specifically asked if a new company wanted to bring 1,000 new jobs to your community, could you meet the housing demands of those new jobs? And not surprising to us and consistent with where we were a couple of years ago, it would be very difficult, somewhat difficult, or difficult," she said. "The vast majority of the folks that participated in our listening tour found that it would be difficult to meet those jobs."
And those concerns were present even for smaller job announcements.
Nearly 42 percent of business and community leaders said a lack of available housing would be a major challenge for a local business seeking to expand by 100 jobs. Twenty percent of respondents said an expansion of that size might be delayed or canceled due to a lack of housing.
The chamber is set to unveil its policy prescriptions for the 2027 session soon.