MANCHESTER, KY – Land, land ownership and the history behind them both led one southeast Kentucky native to return home to put her legal services to work for the people she knows living in the hills and valleys she loves.
Attorney Juliana Coffey left her Jackson County, Kentucky, home to pursue her education in 2008. In 2016, the University of Kentucky Law School graduate returned to begin her legal career. However, she is not content to simply own a law firm in the region. She’s making a concerted effort to put her expertise to work where it’s needed most.
“The community has really poured into my practice,” Coffey said. “I can trace a significant portion of my business growth to a handful of local professionals who have gone out of their way to help me grow my business. They’ve referred people to me and helped me make meaningful connections. It is very heart-warming and makes me glad to be here, where people are pulling for me. Plus, when people invest in you and put themselves out there on your behalf, it motivates you to do good work for them and for the clients they have created for you.”
After working with an established firm in the region for a couple of years, the young, working mother opened her private practice in nearby McKee, Ky., and accepted the position of Assistant County Attorney for Jackson County. Her practice serves clients throughout southeast Kentucky, where she focuses on family law, probate/estate, SSI, title services, and closings.
Shortly after opening her practice – Juliana Coffey, Attorney at Law – she recognized the need to establish a title company that could provide clients with a fast and thorough title search and closing services with competitive rates.
After some research, she opened Brass Key Title Group in downtown Manchester in November 2021. She found that she loved performing title work because it suits her skill set and because it’s specialized work in an area where many people deal in land and have a passion for it.
And, perhaps most importantly, she loves and respects the soil where her ancestors trod.
“Land ownership is a bigger deal here than it is in other places, in my opinion. The interesting side of the title work is tracing property back through time, through families and owners. You find old, interesting deeds and conveyances,” she explained.
That’s why the historic building located at 219 Main Street, Manchester, Ky. was the perfect locale and why she called on the lending professionals at Southeast Kentucky Economic Corporation (SKED) to help finance her dream location.
“The history of the Manchester building was so appealing to me for the title company,” Coffey said. “It was the perfect fit for a title company, particularly since it was originally a law office. Mike and LaBerta White, the previous owners, are also history buffs in Clay County. They lead an exceptional historical society locally, so they were careful to preserve the historic feel of the building in the process of their renovation.”
Coffey had heard of SKED and its mission of helping entrepreneurs finance and develop their businesses in southeast Kentucky. She felt confident the nonprofit organization would be the perfect fit for her expansion. She says the staff has given her assistance in more ways than she could have imagined.
“I’m very glad I chose to work with SKED for my business needs,” Coffey said. “Karen Minton, in particular, has become a friend to me during this process. My background is in law, not business, so as a young owner, I make an effort to seek guidance and good support.”
“I’m very glad I chose to work with SKED for my business needs. Karen Minton, in particular, has become a friend to me during this process. My background is in law, not business, so as a young owner, I make an effort to seek guidance and good support.”
“SKED provides a lot of those resources beyond just financing – like mentorship and marketing support. At this phase of my career, I need to have business professionals that I can call on for guidance, so I appreciate that about SKED.”
SKED used funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Intermediary Relending Program to assist Coffey in the building’s purchase and U.S. Small Business Administration Microloan funds to provide her working capital.
Young, homegrown professionals and small business owners are the heart and soul of southeast Kentucky. And that is who SKED aspires to see succeed and expand in the region, said SKED Business Loan Officer Karen Minton.
“I am so excited to see what Juliana’s future holds,” Minton said. “She is smart, driven, and successful. But, all she needed from our organization was the encouragement and financial support to invest her time and talents back into her hometown and inspire other young people to do the same. It’s why SKED was created 35 years ago, and it’s why we’re working each day to keep that small business ownership dream alive.”
Learn more about Juliana, her young family, and her legal services at https://www.julianacoffeylaw.com/.
To learn more about how SKED helps small business owners do business better, check out www.skedcorp.com.
