COVINGTON, Ky. — Droves of Northern Kentucky business professionals and elected leaders celebrated the opening of OneNKY Center in Covington on Friday, marking a milestone moment years in the making.
The project, which leaders have called the new front door to Northern Kentucky, broke ground in August 2023.
WATCH: Get a look inside all four floors of the brand new OneNKY Center
Two years later and more than $25 million later, ten tenants have moved into the four-story, 47,000-square-foot building.
- BE NKY Growth Partnership
- The Catalytic Fund
- EducateNKY
- Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky
- LifeSciKY
- meetNKY
- Northern Kentucky Bar Association
- Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
- OneNKY Alliance
- Thomas More University Division of External Affairs
"I think this is a day we should rename ourselves officially. No longer just Northern Kentucky, a reference to a place on a map, but OneNKY, a reference to the people and to the community, not just a place," said Bill Butler, Corporex Companies founder. "That’s how we should be known from this time forward."
The grand opening of the center, aimed at consolidating Northern Kentucky's growth organizations under one roof, marked the realization of a 42-year-old goal for Butler. We previously reported that he first proposed unifying business associations under one roof in 1981, as one of 16 Northern Kentucky initiatives he wanted Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown to fund.
"The OneNKY Center is what community is all about," Butler said. "People from every political philosophy, multiple agencies, officials, citizens, corporations—we all came together as one for the good of the whole."
Along with a plethora of office spaces and conference rooms, the center features a life sciences lab, run by LifeSciKY. It is the only lab of its kind between Lexington and Columbus.
"This effort builds on Covington's reputation as a hub for innovation," Covington Mayor Ron Washington said. "It will anchor jobs, research and investments for decades to come."
Christin Godale is the lab's executive director. She said that as an incubator lab, it will bring in startup companies focused on research to improve human lives.
"They're working on therapeutic treatments for cancer. They're looking to solve the IVF crisis, to make it easier to have babies," she said. "The goal is to achieve a breakthrough that directly impacts patients."
Godale said, as of now, three companies have partnered with the lab. They're from Louisville, Ky., Knoxville, Tenn. and Houston, Texas.
