BENJAMIN PETERSON

The new executive director for the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County is coming home.

Benjamin Peterson is a 1992 graduate of Greenwood High School and received two degrees from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

The 41-year-old said Friday in a telephone interview he’s looking forward to his new opportunity.

“It’s been 18 years since I lived in Bowling Green,” he said, adding that visits to family have kept him abreast of Bowling Green-Warren County’s economic and commercial growth.

Peterson said the Warren County job opened at a time when he wasn’t pursuing a career move.

“It’s interesting how things happen,” he said.

Peterson has been working with a cooperative agency for the city of Paducah and McCracken County since 2009, managing and maintaining the six-member McCracken and Paducah GIS Consortium system. The consortium includes McCracken County, the city of Paducah, Paducah-McCracken Joint Sewer Agency, Paducah Power System, Paducah Water and Paducah-McCracken 911.

Peterson said that process was a collaborative effort to bring maps and GIS data onto the Internet, increasing access to the general public.

“It’s available, free and viewable – even on mobile devices,” he said. The change in the technology allows McCracken County residents to view the intricate maps right on their smartphones, he said.

A proposed update of Warren County’s comprehensive development plan will allow him to capture the big picture here, he said.

“It’s always about the big picture. You provide a quality … and professional service to the community,” he said. “The character of the area changes because of development. Growth needs to be managed in the manner that the community wants it.”

Peterson said research and conversation with people in the area will be a large part of his job initially.

He said the development process is an opportunity to promote the community and also celebrate growth as the area attempts to meet the needs of young working professionals, established families and retirees. A balance of needs is required, he said.

Economic growth in Warren County and the region was off the charts in 2015, with the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce announcing nearly $1 billion in projects.

Peterson starts March 1, taking over for current interim Executive Director Steve McWhorter. Longtime Executive Director Steve Hunter stepped down in 2015.

Peterson also has been serving on the Site Specific Advisory Board for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, chairing it from 2012-15.

Constructed in 1952, the plant was shut down in 2013 and is an Environmental Protection Agency Super Fund site. Workers there made uranium that was then transported to Portsmouth, Ohio and Oak Ridge, Tenn. At its height of fuel-rod production, the plant employed 1,800 people.

He also served on the Kentucky Chapter of American Planning Association executive committee, which presents an opportunity to share viewpoints with other community planners across the state.

Peterson began his career in planning with an area development district and then in 2000 as a GIS/planner with the city of Paducah. At WKU, he earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture with a minor in geology and a master of science degree in geography with an emphasis in environmental planning.

He was appointed by the governor to the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission in 2015

Before moving to Paducah, he spent two and a half years at the Green River Area Development District in Owensboro, working as a community development and transportation planner.

Peterson is married to Miranda, who is a registered nurse and teaches nursing. They have two boys, Caleb, 13, and Cody, 11. His parents, David and Donna Peterson, live in Warren County.

Peterson said he likes to relax by fishing and hunting, and he also works with bees.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.