Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-KY, served as the keynote speaker at the London-Laurel County Chamber of Commerce’s April luncheon.
Adams — Kentucky’s 86th SOS — was a first-generation college graduate, attending Harvard Law on low income aid. He worked for Sen. Mitch McConnell and former governor Ernie Fletcher before moving to Washington, D.C. to serve as council to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in the second George W. Bush administration.
Due to Adams’ experience, he was appointed to the Kentucky Board of Elections in 2016, then Secretary of State.
Adams’ primary purpose for speaking at the event was to bring awareness to human trafficking.
“Laurel County and the 15 counties around have more reports of human trafficking than we have in Jefferson or Fayette,” he said. “This is not a derby problem. This is a problem just under where we can see that happens in every community in our state.”
Adams went on to share that Kentucky has had 1,000 reported cases and 2,700 victims that have been identified.
“That’s the ones that we know about. That’s not the ones that we don’t know about,” he clarified.
In an attempt to fight against the issue, Adams launched Kentucky Businesses Against Trafficking (KBAT), an initiative which raises awareness of human trafficking among the business community and attempts to protect the identities of victims.
Furthermore, Adams discussed the importance of bipartisan election legislation, and not ruling out ideas due to the party they are attached to.
“In six straight legislative sessions, we have had bipartisan election legislation pass into law. Every other state in our country hasn’t done that even once,” said Adams. “We’ve built bipartisan public confidence in our election systems. We have suggestions and input from both sides. That’s why, when other states are going backwards, we’re going forwards.”
Air Evac Lifeteam sponsored the luncheon, with Program Director Letch Day speaking on its behalf. Day shared that the medical transport agency is coming up on its 45th anniversary. The agency has over 150 bases across the United States. The parent company — Global Medical Response, or GMR — has over 375 air medical transports.
“We are over an hour from a level-one trauma center. So, if you were transported by ground, it would take over an hour to get to a level-one trauma center. If you’re transported by air, we could have you there in about 30 minutes,” said Day, emphasizing the agency’s importance. “Statistics show that trauma patients coming from a rural area have a greater chance of not surviving. That’s where we come in.”
More can be learned about the agency at https://www.lifeteam.net/membership.
London Tourism and Parks Director Chris Robinson discussed upcoming events, with the closest ones being the Redbud Ride this Saturday and Spring Forward Business week kicking off Wednesday.
Nearly 40 local businesses will help celebrate this year’s Spring Forward Business Week. Visitors can enter to win a $1500+ prize package filled with gift cards and “swag” from participating businesses. Community members only need to visit a participating location, scan the QR code, and submit their entry for a chance. The oppurtunity lasts through Saturday.
The chamber welcomed one new member — Chase McWhorter of Chase F. McWhorter Law, P.S.C. McWhorter is an associate attorney at Cessna & George Law Firm who focuses on family, civil, and criminal cases.
The “much-anticipated” results of the NCAA Bracket Challenge were also announced at the luncheon. The first place winner was Bill Gray, second was Mike Hacker, and there was a third place tie between Garry Conley and Jason Burton. Hacker was not in attendance.
Golden Corral Buffet and Grill catered the luncheon.
Upcoming ribbon cuttings include Loyal Friends Pet Cremation on April 25 at 10 a.m., Live Wire Enterprises on April 28 at 9 a.m., Baptist Health Occupational Med. Urgent Care of Corbin on April 29 at 11:30 a.m., and Baptist Health of London May 16 at 10 a.m.
The next London-Laurel County Chamber of Commerce luncheon is set for May 15 at 12 noon at the London Community Center. To learn more about the chamber, visit the Facebook page or call 606-864-4789.