Out of the Bluegrass
and Into the Green

The western half of the state begins with Bowling Green, where sleek and sexy machines have been made for decades at the General Motors Corvette plant. That plant is only increasing its attractiveness with the addition of the Cadillac XLR to its production line. What's more, the plant may become a two-shift facility by 2005, as company executives note that its workers have worked maximum overtime for several years running.
        The city's project in transition is its Trimodal Transpark. Margaret Peake Grissom, president and CEO of the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce, says that the industrial park project now includes some 635 acres (257 hectares) of purchased land, with 240 of those acres (97 hectares) rezoned and master planning under way. She also lauds the presence there of both Western Kentucky University and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. While the transport is strictly bi-modal right now (the nearest airport is in Nashville, 69 miles to the south), eventually, officials hope that an expanded airport right on-site will complete the trimodal trifecta.
        Hill's Pet Nutrition is investing $30 million in an upgrade and equipment update at its Bowling Green facility. Japanese companies Waltex (automotive welding equipment) and Kiriu USA (auto brake rotors) demonstrate the region's replication of statewide automotive success. Grissom cites another possible location coming soon to the South Central Industrial Park Phase IV, a brand new, 300-acre (121.4-hectare) expansion of the original park, which already comprised 500 acres (202.4 hectares). Kiriu's project will occupy 35,000 sq. ft. (3,252 sq. m.) in the new phase.
        "Bowling Green was selected from over 20 sites in Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky not only because of its strategic location for the automotive parts supplier, but also because of the very supportive community for new industry and further business development," said Kiriu President Toshio Nakagawa at the announcement. As an official Nissan supplier, Kiriu will be in a great position to serve the expanding Nissan manufacturing presence at its two Tennessee plants and its new facility in Canton, Miss.
        Of course, Grissom says the metro's automotive capabilities and heart-of-the-country location make it a natural for that industry, but the area is also welcoming quite a bit of activity from the office and services sector. One recent project in that realm has come from Plano, Texas-based Perot Systems, which will create around 200 new jobs as the first tenant in the Western Kentucky University Center for Research and Development. The company's 10-year, 30,000-sq.-ft. (2,787-sq.-m.) lease will house an operation from its healthcare division, which posted 43-percent growth in 2002, capping a three-year period where Perot Systems revenue from the healthcare market grew at a 49-percent compound growth rate. It's one of 10 industry divisions that Perot serves.

Tim McCabe

        Tim McCabe, director of real estate for Perot Systems, oversees an international portfolio of 56 locations, including two large campuses in Bangalore and Noida, India, that house some 3,500 associates. The Kentucky location, meanwhile, is starting out with 60 employees, but that number is expected to steadily increase as the company invests $1.3 million in improvements, topping out at a projected 367 associates. The project, which will handle receivables and other claims-management strategies for a range of healthcare providers, arose from the growing healthcare vertical segment the company is fostering, which grew by a quantum leap with recent acquisitions in Nashville and Dallas.
        "We needed to find facilities that worked for those businesses based on a set of criteria that included labor, skilled work force, incentives, proximity to the Nashville or Dallas organization and a host of other minor issues," says McCabe. "In Nashville, we had the feeling that the labor market wasn't deep enough to allow us to grow. We went to consultant Mike Mullis, of J. Michael Mullis Co., based in Memphis, who deals primarily in site selections for major corporations."
        What it boiled down to for all stakeholders was a location that was a one-stop airplane flight away. But flying turned out not to be necessary.
        "We looked in a four-state area, at 35 potential regions, towns and cities that might meet our needs," explains McCabe. "One of the criteria was we wanted to see a university, and liked retired military and other skilled workers. In this case, we narrowed it down to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and although I presume you could fly, you could drive it in an hour."
        Key to the decision was the manifold potential of the WKU student body. First, their student profile fit Perot's needs; second, the school's Web-based training programs were a good possible fit with Perot's future needs; and third, the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority Work-Study Program provides for employer reimbursement of $2 for each hour worked by students, according to certain conditions. Add in the coincidental timing with the WKU technology center project, and the foundation for a public-private partnership was set. And the state took it from there.
        "The governor's office played a very active role in bringing this to the state," says McCabe, acknowledging Kentucky's presence from the very first meeting all the way through the incentives application process, which resulted in $2.9 million in tax benefits. "Everything went according to plan," he says. "You wonder about things when everybody is not in the same town, but it was very fluent."
        As a result of all these factors, what the site searchers thought would be a 300-mile (483-km.) radius became a 60-mile (96-km.) jaunt to an extremely welcoming community.
        "The response in terms of applications has been overwhelming," says McCabe. "The people are just incredibly bright and skilled." He says the division has four other similar facilities, though none of this magnitude. And he confesses to being pleasantly surprised by the cosmopolitan feel of an MSA that only has 250,000 people.
        Asked about growth plans for the hot division, he says, "We'll continue to grow the business. My guess is two to three facilities within the next 36 months. The conventional wisdom is that when you get to about 500 associates, you look for another location. You're not taxing your labor market, there is a certain amount of disaster avoidance, and we think 500 is a good critical mass for any given location."