< PreviousCompanyCityInvestmentCountry BlueOval SK, LLCGlendale$5.8 BRepublic of Korea AESCBowling Green$2 BJapan Toyota (TMMK)Georgetown$922.6BJapan e-STORAGEShelbyville$711.9 MCanada Toyota (TMMK)Georgetown$709 MJapan CompanyCityInvestmentCountry BlueOval SK, LLCGlendale5,000Republic of Korea AESCBowling Green2,000Japan e-STORAGEShelbyville1,572Canada GE AppliancesLouisville1,300China Toyota (TMMK)Georgetown700Japan FDI Jobs Announced Investment Total Jobs Announced Announcements 59,815 22% 21,336 53% FDI Investment Announced Total Investment Announced Jobs $ 35.3 B 36% $ 18.6 B GERMANY Major International Announcements by Investment2020 - 2024 Major International Announcements by Jobs FDI Projects vs. All Projects 2020 - 2024 JAPAN CHINA 74 PROJECTS $ 6.6 B · 5,343 JOBS 10 PROJECTS $ 736 M · 2,370 JOBS 7 PROJECTS $ 6.2 B · 5,515 JOBS 4 PROJECTS $ 104 M · 671 JOBS 27 PROJECTS $ 1.16 B · 2,607 JOBS 12 PROJECTS $ 402 M · 669 JOBS 43 PROJECTS $ 935 M · 1,861 JOBS 6 PROJECTS $ 656 M · 325 JOBS CANADA SWEDEN REPUBLIC OF KOREA MEXICOINDIA FDI% of All Projects Announced WITH INVESTMENTS IN NOTABLE COUNTRIESKentucky’s export growth saw a 18.7% increase over 2023 $ 47.7 BILLION MORE THAN 2 0 2 4 Did You Know? Kentucky off ers small businesses up to $10,000 in export assistance through its State Trade Expansion Program (STEP). This has fueled record exports in recent years. $ 18.9 Billion Kentucky’s #1 Export Aerospace Products & Parts # 1 Aerospace # 2 Motor Vehicles # 3 Pharmaceuticals & Medicines # 5 Engines Turbines # 4 Motor Vehicle Parts 2024 Top International Export Partners 6.Brazil 7.Netherlands 8.Malaysia 9.Germany 10.Singapore 1.Canada 2.United Kingdom 3.France 4.China 5.Mexico 2024 EXPORTS More than 530 Kentucky facilities have international roots that represent 33 countries KENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 29If a product is part of your everyday life, there’s a good chance it was made in Kentucky. The commonwealth’s manufacturing sector is incredibly diverse, spanning virtually every industry and touching every corner of the bluegrass, with more than 6,000 facilities statewide employing around 260,000 Kentuckians. Kentucky’s best fi ve-year period on record for private-sector growth has been in large part thanks to the growth of the commonwealth’s manufacturing presence, as the industry contributes $38billionannually to the state’s gross domestic product. Since the start of the administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 800 private-sector new-location and expansion announcements from manufacturers that are creating close to 40,000full-timejobsforKentuckians with over$29billion in new investment. Manufacturers looking to locate a new facility or expand existing operations fi nd that the commonwealth provides all the needed resources to accommodate long-term growth. Kentucky’s ideal central geographic location, state-of-the-art infrastructure, low business costs and personalized service ensure companies can continue to grow and create great jobs for Kentuckians. But even more crucial to manufacturers is a talented and available workforce with the skills needed to succeed. The commonwealth ranks among the leading manufacturing states with over12.2% of its workforce in the industry, compared to 8.1% nationally. Kentucky’s leaders are focused on furthering the state’s pipeline of skilled workers to meet the needs of any industry and keeping its manufacturers more connected than ever. 30 KENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE KY MAKES KENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 31Kentucky’s expertise, workforce and personalized service are major factors in our ability to maintain and grow a prominent position in the manufacturing industry. In addition, our low business costs can help a company’s profi ts skyrocket. Global companies have discovered the value of locating in Kentucky. Currently, more than 530 Kentucky manufacturing, service and technology-related businesses are internationally owned, representing 33 countries. Kentucky ranks among the leading manufacturing states with 12.2% of its workforce in manufacturing, versus 8% nationally.$5.4 BILLION IN MANUFACTURING PROJECTS ANNOUNCED IN 2024 6,898 MANUFACTURING JOBS ANNOUNCED IN 2024 6,000 MANUFACTURING FACILITIES IN KENTUCKY 260,000 KENTUCKIANS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING NEARLY 69% OF 2024 PROJECTS IN MANUFACTURING 12% OF KENTUCKY'S WORKFORCE EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING KENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 3334 KENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE W ant to know how resurgent the Kentucky economy has become in recent years? Look at the numbers. Led by tremendous gains in manufacturing employment and investment, the Bluegrass State is leaving its competition in the dust. Consider that in , Kentucky saw its total factory count climb to , and its total manufacturing workforce reach , workers. Since the beginning of the administration of Gov. Andy Beshear in December of , Kentucky has secured some of the biggest manufacturing investments in state history. In December , Gov. Beshear Beshear announced that his administration that month alone approved tax incentives for nearly $. billion in new investments that will result in the creation of more than , new jobs statewide. e approvals included Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky’s $ million investment to construct a new paint facility in Georgetown. is deal marked Kentucky’s largest single investment of . But it’s not just large companies that are investing in Kentucky and creating new jobs for Kentucky workers. Businesses of all sizes are betting big in the Bluegrass State. Among the new projects announced by Gov. Beshear in December were a $. million investment by Whelan Machine & Tool in Louisville and a $ . million investment by ISCO by RON STARNER Records fall as multiple factors drive industry growth statewide. Kentucky Puts the MUSCLE IN MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING Kentucky’s manufacturing base includes companies like Commonwealth Rolled Products in Hancock County. Photo by Charity Hedges courtesy of Kentucky Cabinet for Economic DevelopmentKENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 35 Industries, a maker of piping materials, in Louisville. Because of projects like these and many others, Kentucky now ranks as one of the top manufacturing states in the nation, with over 12% of its workforce within this sector. The national average is just 8.5%, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. When Kentucky set a record in 2021 of $11.2 billion in announced private-sector investment, over 93% of that total came in the manufacturing sector. Kentucky has long been known as the place where Louisville Slugger bats are made and where the world’s best bourbon is distilled, but did you also know that major Kentucky brands include Smucker’s, Champion Pet Foods, Dippin’ Dots and Dixie plates and bowls? Disco balls, Pop-Tarts, Hot Pockets and America’s most popular sports car — the Chevy Corvette Stingray — are also made in Kentucky. Workers Migrating to Factory Towns Quantifying the impact of this industry is a science. Hamilton Lombard, demographer at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, noted that “in 2020, for the first time since the mid-2000s, more Americans moved to manufacturing-dependent counties than left them. This trend has continued each year since 2020, helping boost production growth in much of Kentucky. One in seven Kentucky workers work in manufacturing, the highest share in the South and the sixth highest nationally.” This migration pattern bodes well for the Kentucky economy, and it is a big reason why Kentucky continues to set records in total economic development investment and job creation year after year. Missy Vanderpool, executive director of Henderson Economic Development in Henderson, Kentucky, said her community saw major investments in 2024 from Hydro Aluminum and Henderson Distilling just one year after Pratt Industries came to town with the opening of a $500 million plant. “We launched a talent attraction campaign, and that is paying off for us,” she says. “We take high school students and middle school students on manufacturing tours. We make them aware of great opportunities in manufacturing. We continue to work on site development to attract new manufacturing projects; and we will launch a full marketing campaign soon for the new Sandy Watkins site in Henderson.” Located in the MSA of Evansville, Indiana, Henderson is part of the new Interstate 69 Corridor that is being constructed through the American Heartland and will ultimately run all the way from Canada to Mexico. “More trucks will come through here after the completion of the I-69 Ohio River Crossing bridge. We will be connected by truck to markets like Indianapolis, Memphis and Texas,” said Vanderpool. “Projected timelines are 2029 to 2030 for completion of the bridge.” “ In the electrical world, if you are not ready, the opportunities will disappear. We are prepared from an energy standpoint. ” — Brad Thomas, Economic Development Director, Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy CooperativesPowering Up for Big Plants Brad Thomas, economic development director for Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, said Kentucky wins manufacturing projects because “we are in the center of the population of the U.S. and our logistical advantages to move products are so prominent. We make the pieces and the parts that make the world go round.” The largest project that East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) served in 2024, was the 1,600-job, $712 million Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing complex in Shelby County. “This is a manufacturing project owned by Canadian Solar to build a grid storage battery complex. It will provide stability in the ever-changing electric grid world,” he said. “We were able to meet the speed-to-market timelines that these companies have. We are building KENTUCKY SAW ITS TOTAL FACTORY COUNT CLIMB TO 6,000 AND ITS TOTAL MANUFACTURING WORKFORCE APPROACH 260,000 WORKERS IN 2024. Source: Kentucky Cabinet for Economic DevelopmentKENTUCKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE 37 transmission to the building and locating a new substation there. We are running on a record pace to get them operational at 65 megawatts in less than a year in a million-square-foot building.” To serve projects like this, EKPC is moving other power infrastructure projects forward, he said. Among them: Two new solar facilities in Fayette and Marion counties will produce 136MW. New reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) generators will produce 214 MW of power when they become operational in Casey County. EKPC is in line to receive $1.4 billion in federal grants and loans under the USDA’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program for 757MW of renewable energy generation and associated transmission projects. A two-on-one Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Generating Facility will be constructed at the John Sherman Cooper Station in Somerset and will generate 745 MW. “We continue to build out generation with new solar facilities and new combined cycle plants,” Thomas said. “In the electrical world, if you are not ready, the opportunities will disappear. We are prepared from an energy standpoint.” Preparedness is evident throughout Kentucky as manufacturers announce plans to invest, expand production and hire workers. These include Kitchen Food Company investing $69 million to build a plant in Hopkinsville and create 925 jobs; Cinis Fertilizer building a $109.2 million factory and creating 65 jobs in Hopkinsville; and Stellar Snacks cutting the ribbon on the largest economic development project in West Louisville in more than two decades. Next >