Covington's newly elected mayor, Ron Washington, says his top priorities for 2025 are improving access to affordable housing, supporting local businesses, and ensuring the success of the city's Central Riverfront development project.
On Thursday before speaking at an event hosted by the Covington Business Council, Washington said he's ready to take on these challenges to improve the city's economy to benefit everybody in the community.
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Washington says housing is one of the main concerns for many people in Covington.
"People need a place to say," Washington told reporters. "Families have people sleeping on their couches, sleeping in basements, these are hard-working, tax-producing citizens. So, this is not just a Covington problem. It's a nationwide problem but here in Covington, we're going to do our best to address it. And we're doing a full-court press to bring in every resource possible to help with this."
Another factor in the city's success is the construction of Covington's Central Riverfront development site, Washington says. The site where a former IRS facility once stood is expected to include a hotel, offices, retail, and entertainment spaces, along with more than 250 apartments and 16 townhomes.
The mayor says so far, things at the riverfront site are off to a great start and Covington's residents will soon see the benefits of what the city's been working on.
"As we build our tax base on the north end, we can help with those vital services in the rest of our city," he said. "In all of those neighborhoods, we can provide blacktop, we can provide police officers, firefighters, equipment, better parks, better recreation, so this is important for all of Covington."
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In addition to the new development, local leaders in Northern Kentucky are starting a new campaign to help boost the local economy.
Recently, a large number of local restaurants in the region have closed their doors. To combat this, the city of Covington is helping launch a campaign called "Dine NKY" to bring more traffic to local restaurants.
On Tuesdays, local leaders will be dining in and sharing their experiences at local restaurants on social media to encourage more people to visit Northern Kentucky and support these businesses.
Washington says keeping these local businesses strong will be key to the city's economic success this year and beyond.
