West Regional Office location provides an anchor for programs, partnerships, and service throughout western Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Farmers, families, young people, and community organizations across western Kentucky now have a more visible connection to Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension through its newly renovated West Regional Office on Scottsville Road in Bowling Green.

University leaders, faculty, agents, staff, and community partners joined representatives of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 11 for a ribbon-cutting and open house at the new location, 2522 Scottsville Road.

Located in a busy and growing part of Bowling Green, the office gives Extension agents and specialists a regional base for developing programs, working with partners, and responding to local needs.

Dr. Tyrell Kahan, associate Extension administrator, called the office “an anchor” for Kentucky State’s work in western Kentucky.

“The space is welcoming, professional, and reflective of the energy and potential of our Extension program,” Dr. Kahan said.

Kentucky State established its West Regional Extension Office in Bowling Green in 2022. The new location represents the next phase of that work and is part of a broader effort to bring the University’s 1890 land-grant resources closer to the people it serves.

Other recent additions to Kentucky State’s Extension presence include the West Louisville Cooperative Extension Office and a Barren County office and hay-testing laboratory in Glasgow. By February 2026, the Glasgow laboratory had analyzed more than 600 hay and forage samples for more than 120 farmers across 25 counties.

Across the Commonwealth, Kentucky State Cooperative Extension delivered educational programs to more than 280,000 Kentuckians in 2025.

Programs in agriculture and natural resources, health, community development, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H youth development carry research-based knowledge beyond the Frankfort campus. Faculty and staff work with local, state, federal, nonprofit, and industry partners to address needs identified by Kentucky communities.

Janey Cline, West regional Extension director, led the transformation of the Bowling Green space and preparations for the opening.

“Her leadership was evident in every aspect of the project and the opening,” Dr. Kahan said.

Among those Dr. Kahan credited with helping prepare the office and ribbon-cutting were Anita Love, administrative assistant for Cooperative Extension in Barren County; Rebecca Candela, Extension program support coordinator; Bart Branstetter, area Extension director for western Kentucky; Tyler London, area agent in agriculture taechnology; and Jacob Hall, horticulture and small farms Extension agent. Faculty, agents, and staff from across the program also supported the opening.

The occasion represented more than the completion of a renovation, Dr. Kahan said. It demonstrated the pride, professionalism, creativity, and teamwork driving Kentucky State Cooperative Extension’s growing presence and impact across the Commonwealth.