Melony Furby is a 2005 graduate of the Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute (KECI).  Fifty-four community leaders from Northeastern Kentucky have graduated from the program and are advocates in their communities working to promote entrepreneurship as a part of economic development for the state of Kentucky.

Graduates of the program use tools and techniques to coach entrepreneurs and help them focus on developing or expanding a small business.  When an entrepreneur is ready, the coaches work with Small Business Development Centers, Innovation Centers and other organizations to ensure access to the appropriate resources for the business owner to move their business forward.

Melony will be a resource to the graduates as they coach entrepreneurs, market the KECI program to community leaders, and work on public policy issues that make Kentucky more small business friendly.

An advocate for small businesses, Melony has worked with and on behalf of small business owners for over 28 years.  She has owned two businesses and knows the challenges of small business ownership.  She has worked on community and economic development issues for over 10 years.

Melony was part of a three-person team from KECI that was instrumental in bringing the players to the table to develop the Maysville Area Entrepreneur Center.  The Center is a partnership between Morehead State University’s Small Business Development Center, Maysville Community & Technical College and the City of Maysville.  The Center serves entrepreneurs in a thirteen county region.  

In 2005, Melony received the Community Leadership Award from the Buffalo Trace Area Development District and in 2002, she received the Distinguished Service to Education Award from Maysville Community & Technical College.

Melony has two children; Brian is an attorney in Maysville and Rachel is a graduate student and Hall Director at the University of Kentucky.  Rachel has been accepted into a PhD program in Gerontology at the University of Kentucky.