It was 1983, and Jim Gray was a baby-faced twentysomething, still mourning the loss of his larger-than-life father, and struggling to steer the family business that had fallen into his lap. Gray Construction was by all measures successful—its $30 million in annual revenue made it a leading player in Glasgow, a small town in south-central Kentucky—but he had bigger dreams.

Having spent a year at the University of Kentucky’s law school, Gray was “smitten” by Lexington, a midsize city with a small-town feel, nestled in the lush, horse farm-resplendent countryside. But what drove Gray to root up his firm and move it slightly north was the economic opportunity posed by the city’s relationship to its signature institution: “I knew that UK’s presence would attract both top-shelf executive-level talent and entry-level talent… engineers from all disciplines, architects, project managers,” Gray remembers. “I understood that the faculty, students, and the institution itself helped ensure a premier quality of life… cultural enrichment… a place where lifelong learning occurs naturally, organically…That would help me attract—and keep—the best and brightest workforce from all over the world.”

Read more