The Northwest Kentucky Forward Annual Report for FY 09–10 (year ending 30 June 2010) is now available. Among the highlights are the following:
- Major Reinvestment at Rio Tinto Alcan;
- Location of software developer IWT;
- 150 project leads
- 22 active projects
- 100% visitation of all qualified existing businesses
- 9 expansions
- $2 million for training
- 35 Jumpstart and Micro-loans
- 42 new business start-ups
- Next Rally4Education scheduled for 6 November.
Over the last 12 months, capital investment by new and expanding industries in Northwest Kentucky has exceeded $60 million!
These investments have retained jobs at major employers like Rio Tinto Alcan, created new jobs through expansions at Sunrise Tool & Die and Brenntag among others, and created new jobs through new locations like at Innovative Workflow Technologies.
Governor Beshear was in Henderson today to announce expansions by Sunrise Tool & Die and Matrix Composites and the relocation of Legacy Plastics from Evansville to Henderson.
For more information on these expansions, please see the NWKF newsrelease.
Governor Beshear will be in Henderson on Wednesday, 14 July, to announce a series of expansions/relocations resulting in millions of dollars in investment and the creation of jobs.
The announcement will take place at the Sullivan Technology Center at Henderson Community College at 1:30 pm CDT.
What a busy week it has been for economic developers in the Northwest Kentucky area! Insite Consulting, an economic development consulting service based in South Carolina, visited Northwest Kentucky Forward and Union, Webster and McLean counties to help develop opportunities and diversification for economic growth for the region.
Read more…
Allstate Tower Company has purchased the Vincent Industrial Plastics facility in Henderson. The company had previously announced plans to construct approximately 20,000 sq. ft. facility in Henderson Corporate Park. However, the purchase of the VIP facility is allowing them to expand to 70,000 sq. ft. and offer 200,000 sq. ft. to lease.
http://www.northwestky.com/news/documents/AllstatetoVIPRelease.pdf
The Existing Business arm of NWKF recently conducted a survey of our existing businesses. This survey covered the 133 companies in the four-county region which could potentially apply for incentives under Kentucky primary economic development incentive programs.
The survey measured current and future economic trends among these companies. NWKF Existing Business Manager, Cj Maple, worked with a group of existing businesses to find out what they wanted to know and what questions they wanted asked. As a result, more than 65% of companies responded!
Overall, the picture for businesses in NWKY is very positive. But don’t just take my word for it, you can view the survey results yourself.
Governor Steve Beshear was in the Henderson on Friday to announce that Rio Tinto Alcan, which operates a large aluminum smelter in southern Henderson County, has been approved for $15 million in incentives.
The incentives are to encourage RTA to move forward with a planned $50 million reinvestment that would secure the facility for the long-term. The smelter which employs more than 500 high wage positions is arguably the most important economic engine in this region.
Most of the incentives are in the form of state corporate income tax credits made available through the new Kentucky Reinvestment Act (KRA) which the General Assembly approved last June. NWKF had strongly lobbied for this program for several years and praised its passage as key to future growth and opportunities.
NWKF congratulates RTA on this announcement and looks forward to continuing to work with them.
KAN, the Kentucky Aluminum Network, has been asked to testify before the Kentucky Senate’s Natural Resources and Energy Committee this Wednesday. We are excited to again have an opportunity to tell Aluminum’s story and how important it is to the state to Kentucky’s leaders.
KAN is an association of aluminum producers, processors, suppliers and supporters that has recently been formed to promote the Aluminum industry in Kentucky. Aluminum employs nearly 15,000 in the Commonwealth and pays more than $100 million in taxes. Aluminum production in Kentucky represents approximately 1/3 of the nation’s AL production.
Governor Beshear will be in Henderson on Friday at 11:30 for an exciting announcement. We will post more in the coming days but please join us at the Sullivan Technology Center at Henderson Community College on Friday!