Casey County is a rural county seated in South Central Kentucky. With large square mileage, the county’s population is only about 16,000.

With the 127 By-Pass traveling through Casey County, the downtown area suffered. Lack of traffic flow to the area as well as elder landlords of old businesses/buildings.

The First Impressions (FI) Program strives to help communities learn about their strengths and shortcomings through the eyes of first-time visitors. FI is a structured community assessment program that enables communities to learn about the first impression they convey to outsiders. It offers a fresh perspective on the appearance, services and infrastructure of each community. Volunteer teams will undertake unannounced, one-day visits, record their observations, and give constructive feedback to the community. Their photos and responses are then compiled and presented back to the community by a CEDIK representative. In addition, the program will offer suggestions and resources to address the areas identified for potential improvement. The knowledge gained through this program is intended to serve as a basis for community action.

Listening to the needs/wants of our small, rural community I reached out to our Mayor, Judge Executive, and our Economic Development Authority about conducting the First Impressions program. With discussion with Melissa Bond from CEDIK and questions answered, the committee agreed that this would be a beneficial program for our community.

The program (secret shoppers) was conducted in September; we had our Community Forum in November. Fifteen people attended the forum participating in a discussion on the findings from the program and small group planning in addressing the issues/areas for improvement.

Several months after the forum, a follow-up meeting was held to discuss what changes had been made/what steps were being taken to instill positive change. Based on the feedback of the secret shoppers, the following had been changed: the Casey County website was forwarded to the Chamber of Commerce to provided information in one location, discussion and plans are being made to provide more signage (for downtown/local businesses) on the by-pass as well as updating the Welcome to Liberty Signs on highway 127.

The First Impressions program also pointed out that our community is not fully promoting the agriculture and natural resources we have. Committees have been formed to work toward becoming a Trail Town, first highlighting our Green River waterways, and forming a Farmers Market.

Community members are excited to hear about these new efforts and are proud to be included in the process and have their voices heard.