Episode 197. Terry Forcht – Founder, Chairman and CEO, Forcht Group of Kentucky
Terry Forcht is a leading Kentucky entrepreneur and investor and the founder of Forcht Group of Kentucky. A lawyer by training, Forcht began a law practice in Corbin, Ky. after serving as the chairman of the commerce department at Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands).
In 1972, he purchased the first building block of his future company – Hillcrest Nursing Home. Today, 1st Corbin Long Term Care owns nine health and rehab centers. In the same year, he was appointed to the board of directors of Corbin Deposit Bank & Trust Company.
Forcht and other investors later founded Tri-County National Bank with $1.5 million in assets. That bank now has 30 locations and manages over $1 billion in assets. Forcht has also invested heavily in media. His holdings include newspapers and broadcasters (TV and radio). Forcht Group also invested in such diverse holdings as a pharmacy and diagnostic lab, retail furniture and gift shop, a construction company, real estate, and other businesses.
Forcht has won a number of awards and served on several boards. He and his wife of over 50 years, Marion, have given several major gifts to the community. These include money to build a wing at the Grace on the Hill Church, establish the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in the School of Business at University of Louisville, and a contribution to complete the murals in Frankfort’s Capitol Rotunda building.