At a meeting held Thursday, John Truitt was unanimously voted to fill the position of Sprocket board chair. In addition, Ines Rivas-Hutchins was appointed to fill the open board seat.
The chairship, formerly held by Monica Bilak, was vacated when she resigned to accept the position of Regional Director of GroWest, a consortium of innovation hubs that, along with Paducah, includes Madisonville, and Murray.
“I am thankful for the board’s confidence in me and will do all I can to advance and support the creation of tech-based businesses in the region,” said Truitt. “This is a very crucial moment for us economically,” he added. “I think if there’s one industry we need to focus on in this midst of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, it has to be tech.”
Truitt is a co-owner and founder of Kalleo Technologies, a company that provides network management solutions, cloud-based services, and outsourced network monitoring and help desk support to corporations. The company employs 65 workers and recently relocated to the former TTECH building in downtown Paducah.
Earlier this year, Truitt was appointed to a steering committee by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to advise on the development of programs for KY Innovation which is the new state program for supporting Tech startup businesses.
Ines Rivas-Hutchins has for the past four years been at the helm of INTEC Group, LLC, the Paducah company she founded. INTEC specializes in construction services to the Federal Government including the U.S. Department of the Army, U.S Air Force, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Considered one of Western Kentucky’s top woman-owned government contractors, INTEC Group has successfully managed over 150 federal projects with contract values in excess of $70 million dollars.
Rives-Hutchins serves as an officer on the board of the Women Construction Owners and Executives, a national organization dedicated to advancing women in the construction industry.
“I am very excited to join the Sprocket team and look forward to continuing my work to promote female entrepreneurship,” she said. “Women are too often underrepresented, and it’s my hope that through Sprocket programs and technology, we can help level the playing field regionally.”
Sprocket, Inc. is a non-profit center for entrepreneurship, education, and community learning located at the rear of the Coke Plant in midtown Paducah.