HENDERSON, KY. – Donna Crooks is stepping down after nearly seven years of overseeing the economic development functions of Kyndle.
Crooks, who is a native of Henderson county, plans to pursue a new career in commercial and industrial real estate development. During her tenure at Kyndle, Crooks was involved with the merger of the regional economic development organization and the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. During this time, Crooks has facilitated the development of two shovel-ready sites and Kentucky’s first build-ready site at the 4 Star Industrial Park, two new websites for Kyndle, and a new website for the 4 Star Industrial Park. Crooks recently secured a state grant of over $50,000 to assist with the opening of Henderson’s first-ever entrepreneurial center, HEATLab.
“For the past seven years, Donna has been the face of Economic Development for Kyndle”, said Tony Iriti, CEO of Kyndle. “We are selfishly saddened by her moving on but extremely happy for her as well. She has been a professional in every sense of the word but most importantly, a major part of our Kyndle family. Donna is very well respected by our colleagues at the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet. She will be very hard to replace.”
Before joining Kyndle, Crooks worked as a Director of Economic Development for Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville. Crooks started her Economic Development career in 1997 when she was hired by the Henderson Economic Development Council. Afterwards, Crooks worked as Business Development Director for EDAWN, regional economic development agency for Greater Reno for five years.
Crooks graduated from the Henderson Community College with an Associate Degree and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Nevada-Reno. Crooks also is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and is a member of International Economic Development Council.
“It has been a privilege to serve the Kyndle region over the past several years and work with so many outstanding local community leaders, utility providers, business and industry leaders, and others who care about the development of this region”, said Donna Crooks. “This was a difficult decision to make but I believe it is time for me to begin a different direction in my life.”
“We will be evaluating our service delivery before beginning a replacement search. In the interim, feel free to direct all inquiries to me, said Tony Iriti, CEO.”