BE NKY Names Cheryl Besl, Director of Marketing

Cheryl brings extensive marketing and communications expertise to regional economic development organization

FT. MITCHELL, KY (September 19, 2019) – The BE NKY Growth Partnership (BE NKY) announced today that Cheryl Besl joined the organization as Director of Marketing on Monday, September 16. She leads the organization’s marketing program to attract new businesses to the region, help existing businesses grow and increase awareness of Northern Kentucky and BE NKY locally, nationally and internationally.

“BE NKY is focused on creating economic opportunity in the region, Cheryl will lead our efforts to promote Northern Kentucky’s vibrant business climate among key stakeholders, such as site selector consultants and growing foreign and domestic companies,” said Lee Crume, BE NKY President and CEO. “We value Cheryl’s passion for raising Northern Kentucky’s profile.”

Cheryl joins BE NKY with extensive experience in marketing, communications and relationship building in both the public and private sector. Most recently, she managed digital communications and engagement for The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority (The Port) in addition to leading media relations around community initiatives.

“Northern Kentucky’s cooperative approach to economic development has driven tremendous success for the region,” said Cheryl. “I’m excited to be part of the BE NKY team, building a strong future and amplifying the region’s many assets.”

Prior to her role at The Port, Cheryl was Director of Client Services and Public Relations at Topic Design, a full-service marketing agency in downtown Cincinnati, where she created campaigns on behalf of a variety of clients throughout the Midwest. She led financial literacy initiatives for a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill for a member of Congress.

Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Indiana University. She has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including Girls on the Run Cincinnati, Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, Hyde Park Blast and Give Back Cincinnati. 

About BE NKY

BE NKY serves as the primary economic development entity for Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties, providing marketing, business retention/expansion and entrepreneurship services for the region. Since its founding in 1987, more than 700 primary industry projects have located to or expanded within Northern Kentucky, creating more than 70,600 new jobs and investing more than $8.4 billion.

BE NKY’s mission is to generate, preserve and enhance high quality economic opportunities for Northern Kentucky and support development of the region’s business operating environment.