W. Edward Barker (Ed)
After growing up in Paducah and graduating college at Virginia Tech as an Engineer, Ed started his career at a Fortune 50 company in Lexington, Kentucky working as a manager in the food industry. He moved back to Paducah as the start-up manager to establish a manufacturing facility for the beverage industry. Here Ed hired all the original employees and set up most of the team structure of the business. Later, Ed was hired to sell capital equipment and eventually rose to the position of President, serving for a number of years. He then entered the engineering business and eventually was chosen to establish a new manufacturing facility in Paducah. Ed has held the following titles during his career: National Sales Manager, Vice President & General Manager, Business Development Manager, General Manager, President & CEO and Partner & Area Director. The industries Ed has served include food, beverage, capital equipment manufacturing, light manufacturing, engineering/construction, pharmaceutical manufacturing and business advising. Ed currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Paducah Water and is a member of the Rotary Club of Paducah. Ed served as Chairman of the Rotary Education Assistance Plan for 10 years.