WKWB’s Clark Receives Top PADD Award At Annual Dinner

Judge-Executives, mayors, council members, magistrates and other lawmakers come and go.

But for the past 45 years, some things haven’t changed, and both the Jackson Purchase and Pennyrile regions have been able to rely on one voice for employment support.

Sheila Clark.

During Monday night’s 57th Annual Dinner for the Pennyrile Area Development District at Madisonville’s Mahr Park, the long-tenured West Kentucky Workforce Board executive director was bestowed the John C. Mahre Award For Regionalism.

It is considered PeADD’s highest annual honor and named for the late Christian Countian so devoted to area infrastructure and growth, and Trigg County Judge-Executive Stan Humphries was tabbed to share a few words about Clark and her career.

Among her many accolades, most of them tied to the southeast United States or the U.S. Department of Labor, Humphries said there were three of many moments serving as bright beacons of rapid response to this region.

When the Mattel plant closed in Murray. When Johnson Controls closed in Cadiz. And when the career center opened in Madisonville.

With the West Kentucky Workforce Board spanning more than a dozen counties, Clark said their annual efforts are “unique,” in that they must serve the greater consideration of the Purchase and Pennyrile areas.

Clark remembers that Mattel closed earlier than officials anticipated in Calloway County, putting her office on a fast-track for grant applications.

Their expediency and efforts garnered national attention, and helped develop a blueprint for future rapid response not just in the Commonwealth, but in the country.

Having made many a trip for workforce development, utilities and infrastructure alongside Mahre, who died in 2022, Clark said she was more than honored to receive an award with his name on it — as they fought for the same things.

However, workforce development is a team sport, and she finds satisfaction elsewhere.