By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
Newport City Manager Tom Fromme delivered his annual “State of the City” presentation Wednesday at the Newport Business Association luncheon and provided plenty of insights into the successes and challenges of the past year.
Many positives have occurred for Newport during the past year, particularly in the area of development, according to Newport City Commissioner Tom Guidugli, who was among those in attendance for the luncheon at River’s Edge Event Center.
“The state of this city is strong. We’re in a unique position, recruiting and having more development at this particular time than in the history of Newport,” Guidugli said. “It’s ripe for opportunity. We’re in a situation where the economy is aligning with demand. We’re increasing our housing opportunities across the entire spectrum. There are a lot of things to be proud of in Newport.”
Fromme’s presentation outlined the tremendous amount of new development that has taken place in Newport during the past 12 years, crediting the success to stability in the elected and staff leadership. He said that Newport is in “reasonably good shape from an infrastructure and financial point of view” and the city has a cash balance of $3.45 million.
In addition, Fromme pointed out that Newport has “invested heavily in infrastructure repairs during the past 8 years,” bettering streets and sidewalks in the city.
“I feel that given all the economic circumstances in the country, and the pension issue in the state of Kentucky that everybody has to deal with, we’re doing very well with what we have to work with,” Fromme said.
From an economic standpoint, Fromme revealed that Newport enjoyed a net gain of 40 businesses in the 2018 calendar year. The additional jobs generated resulted in an increase in payroll of $500,000 for Newport.
And with the Ovation project now under construction, plus the SkyWheel attraction soon becoming a reality, Newport expects to see even more jobs materialize in the future.
“Those attractions place the city in a situation where we have more tourism,” Guidugli said. “That tourism will create more opportunities for our restaurants and all those people who provide services in our community, which are important to our tax bases.
“Jobs drive our budget, and it’s important that we continue to create jobs to be able to do everything possible to support our community, including the police and fire departments, and serve our residents in the best possible way.”
Fromme pointed out that several challenges — including limited revenue streams, the growing costs of public service delivery, the state pension situation and personnel reductions — need to be addressed. But he said Newport is also enjoying unparalleled success.
“Newport’s not one of the biggest cities around, obviously,” Fromme said, “but we’re a big city from the standpoint that we’ve got a tremendous amount of development and we’re located in a great area. We really believe we’re a focal point for this region.
“Some of the developments currently going on are just going to solidify that as we move into the future. We do have challenges, but so does every city.”
SLAM-DUNK GUEST: Will Weber of the Campbell County Economic Progress Authority promised a “slam-dunk” guest speaker to begin the luncheon, and he followed through by introducing Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball head coach Darrin Horn.
Horn, who accepted the NKU job in the spring, enthusiastically promoted his team’s upcoming season and urged those in attendance to purchase season tickets. Horn also joked as a result of speaking at the Newport Business Association event, he can now tell recruits that “I was invited to speak at an NBA luncheon.”
Horn, a native of Glasgow, Ky., arrived at NKU after spending the past four seasons as the associate head coach at the University of Texas. During his first three years as an assistant coach for the Longhorns, Horn had primary responsibility for the development of the Texas frontcourt players.
Horn was a four-time letterwinner and three-year starter at guard for Western Kentucky (1991-95). He helped lead the Hilltoppers to four consecutive 20-win seasons, two Sun Belt Conference championships and a pair of Sun Belt Tournament titles.
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