The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce’s April 13th Power in Partnership Breakfast is sponsored by West Kentucky Community and Technical College and Dr. Rick Smith with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education is the featured speaker. The breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Paducah-McCracken Co. Convention and Expo Center. 

The program will also include the graduation ceremony for Youth LEAD Class #12 and some of the students will be leading the breakfast program that day.

Pre-registration is required by Monday, April 10 by 2 p.m. at paducahchamber.org or call 270-443-1746. Power Card holders do not have to pre-register. The cost is $25. 

Dr. Rick Smith was recently named as the lead of the External Affairs and Economic Partnerships unit for the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). This is a new unit within the agency focused on increasing public awareness of the value of higher education and strengthening the alignment between higher education and the workforce. The office will also support CPE’s external partnerships with economic development leaders, state agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Dr. Smith previously served as Associate Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development at CPE before taking on the role of Vice President for External Affairs and Economic Partnerships. Before joining CPE, he held critical leadership and development positions at the Kentucky College of Art + Design, Kentucky State University and Northern Pennsylvania Regional College. He most recently served as the President and CEO of the United Way of Ross County, Ohio. Smith has also held leadership roles in healthcare administration, public relations, business development and nonprofit leadership over the past three decades.