How Kentucky overcame trade obstacles to set exporting records.
After a year of international trade uncertainty caused by an ever-changing global tariffs landscape, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear stepped up to the podium in Frankfort on February 25 and delivered news that likely surprised more than a few observers.
Beshear announced that Kentucky had once again set an all-time record for products shipped globally. With $50.6 billion in exports in 2025, Kentucky’s new record represented a 5.65% increase from its total export volume of 2024.
“The global demand for Kentucky-made products, made by hard-working Kentuckians right here in the commonwealth, has never been higher,” Beshear said. “For the third consecutive year, we have set a new state record for exports, and that wouldn’t be possible without great companies and our hard-working and talented workforce. The commonwealth’s commitment to developing partnerships all over the globe is critical for our long-term economic success. Now more than ever, the rest of the world is realizing that you just can’t beat a Kentucky-made product.”
Canada again led the way as Kentucky’s top export destination, with over $8.3 billion in products, per data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division and WISERTrade. The United Kingdom at nearly $5.4 billion, France at over $5.3 billion, China at more than $4.7 billion, and Mexico at nearly $4 billion remained in the top five destinations for Kentucky-made products. The governor said that the state’s other top trade partners were Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, Netherlands and Austria.
Aerospace products and parts again ranked as Kentucky’s top export, shipping almost $23 billion in products abroad last year, representing a 22.2% increase over 2024. Industrial machinery, motor vehicles and pharmaceuticals/medicines also ranked among Kentucky’s top exports. Industrial machinery registered $5.7 billion in exports, while $4.6 billion worth of motor vehicles and parts and $3.6 billion worth of pharmaceuticals shipped globally.
Leading Indicators of Growth
Beshear added that Kentucky’s export growth was just one indicator of what he called “the best six-year period for economic growth in state history.”
According to data provided by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, since the beginning of his administration in December 2019, Beshear has announced more than 1,300 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $45 billion in investment and generating 68,000 jobs. “This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth’s history and $24 billion more than the next highest total,” the Cabinet noted.
Many of the investments announced by Beshear are in the battery sector and rank among the largest economic development projects in state history: AESC’s $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory project in Warren County; Ford Motor Company’s $2 billion, 2,200-job commitment in Louisville, as well as its $2 billion, 2,100-job project at the Kentucky 1 plant in Hardin County; Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing’s $712 million investment, creating 1,572 jobs in Shelby County; and Toyota’s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County.
Capital investments alone, however, are not the only indicator of robust economic growth in the Bluegrass State. By almost any objective measure, Kentucky’s economy is humming on all cylinders. While exports are rising, so too is household income. The median household income in Kentucky increased from $64,500 in 2024 to $67,417 in 2025. FDI also increased — from $6.9 billion in 2024 to $10.5 billion in 2025.
Meanwhile, inflation is cooling. The CPI-U for the South Region, including Kentucky, declined from 7% in January 2023 to just 2% in January 2026.
“We broke our export record in spite of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. We paid billions of dollars in tariffs. That makes life harder for Kentucky families and for all families in America.”
— Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear
On top of that, the Tax Foundation released its annual State Tax Competitiveness Index for 2026 and reported that “Kentucky’s tax competitiveness has improved in recent years due to several rounds of reforms that broadened the sales tax base to additional categories of mostly final personal consumption while moving to a single-rate individual income tax at a substantially lower rate.”
The Tax Foundation gives Kentucky high marks overall, particularly for its corporate tax rate, which ranks No. 19 in the country, and its sales tax rate, which ranks No. 20. Kentucky’s overall ranking for tax policy, per the foundation, is No. 25, down one spot from 2025. Kentucky compares favorably to neighboring states Virginia (No. 30), West Virginia (No. 32), Illinois (No. 38) and Ohio (No. 39), while trailing neighbors Tennessee (No. 8), Indiana (No. 10) and Missouri (No. 12).
Beshear: Here’s How We Did It
In the following interview conducted on March 10, we asked Beshear to share insight on how Kentucky was able to achieve its third straight record year of exports and how the state’s New Kentucky Home strategy was working.
What were the most critical factors that led Kentucky to shatter its all-time annual record for exports in 2025?
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR: It is the result of the hard work that is put in each and every day to attract the next business that will manufacture and export quality products all over the world. That success is the result of three things: Number one, we have more businesses producing goods than ever before because we do the work to attract them. We invest into putting in all the sites and all of the roads, etc. That is how we are able to deliver speed to market. We get companies up and running faster. Secondly, it is the result of our workforce. We produce the workers that make corporate facilities efficient. Finally, we have superior logistics. This includes two massive cargo airports — one in Louisville and one in Northern Kentucky just south of Cincinnati. We have the ability to help companies export.
How did Kentucky manage to navigate the global tariffs landscape in 2025 so that the commonwealth was able to achieve back-to-back record years in total export value?
BESHEAR: We broke our export record in spite of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. We paid billions of dollars in tariffs. That makes life harder for Kentucky families and for all families in America. It slows down reshoring. But we were able to overcome that by going out and visiting all of our key export markets, including Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. We are making sure that all of these places that buy our goods know our story and want to continue to do business with us.
What were your biggest FDI wins of 2025? Have you announced any big FDI projects so far in 2026, or are there any that are imminent?
BESHEAR: We are third per capita in FDI. We just got an announcement from MarfoFMA Corp. of Europe to open its first production facility in the U.S. in Covington, Kentucky, to make meals for airlines and create 78 new jobs in a $37 million investment. Tate was another big one. They are an Irish company. We sealed the deal and signed the paperwork with them while I was in Ireland last year. They are creating 400 new jobs in Glasgow, Kentucky. That is the largest jobs announcement in Glasgow in 30 years. It also helped Glasgow get listed in Site Selection for the first time as a Top Micropolitan Area. (Tate is a data center infrastructure manufacturing company that is investing $76 million to establish a 764,000-sq.-ft. factory in Kentucky.—Ed.)
Now that SCOTUS has nullified the IEEPA emergency tariffs, what is the anticipated impact of this ruling on the Kentucky bourbon industry going forward?
BESHEAR: You would hope it would improve it. The Supreme Court said that Donald Trump’s IEEPA tariffs policy was illegal. One would hope that his taxing the American people through tariffs would now stop. The Trump Administration found themselves in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar hole and decided to dig a deeper one. Kentucky-made bourbon is paying a price for that. It has hurt us particularly in Canada. Trump’s disrespect for Canada, along with the tariffs, has resulted in many places in Canada taking Kentucky bourbon off the shelf. When 95% of the world’s bourbon is made in Kentucky, that hurts our companies and our people. The situation globally will improve only when Trump decides to stop issuing more tariff orders.
Kentucky’s overall ranking for tax policy is No. 25. Kentucky compares favorably to neighboring states Virginia (No. 30), West Virginia (No. 32), Illinois (No. 38) and Ohio (No. 39), while trailing neighbors Tennessee (No. 8), Indiana (No. 10) and Missouri (No. 12).
Source: The Tax Foundation
What are the early returns of the New Kentucky Home program?
BESHEAR: It’s been exciting. New Kentucky Home helped spur the new GE Appliances investment — part of a multi-billion investment all over the U.S. — with their most significant one being at their international headquarters in Kentucky. This includes a $2 billion investment in Louisville to overhaul their assembly line to compete with China and other countries. In another win, General Matter is making a $1.5 billion investment and creating 140 jobs in Western Kentucky. (General Matter is building a large commercial uranium enrichment facility at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky to produce high-assay, low-enriched uranium – or HALEU. This plant will supply fuel for advanced nuclear reactors to support national energy security and AI data centers. —Ed.)
But that is not the only way we measure the success of New Kentucky Home. I get to see it in the plant managers who move to Kentucky and the corporate vice presidents who move to Kentucky. I’m hoping that one day soon, an international CEO will move to Kentucky. We will see that in the future. We want not just a facility. We want the people who run these companies to move here too so that they can enjoy our great quality of life.
Gov. Andy Beshear welcomes Global Laser Enrichment’s $1.76 billion investment to Paducah in Western Kentucky on March 26.
Photo courtesy of Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
Western Kentucky Welcomes its Biggest Investment Ever
Gov. Andy Beshear officially welcomed Global Laser Enrichment’s record-setting $1.76 billion investment to Paducah in McCracken County in Western Kentucky on March 26. The project, supported by an award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to create 240 high-wage jobs at the new Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF).
“This is a game-changing investment for Western Kentucky and our entire commonwealth, and I am excited to see this project and the 240 great jobs come to life for families in Paducah and the surrounding region,” said Gov. Beshear. “This project solidifies our role as a leader in the country’s nuclear power sector and will transform our economy, creating opportunities for Kentucky families for generations.”
GLE’s 665-acre Paducah site is located next to the DOE’s former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The PLEF is under license application review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Once licensed, the facility will re-enrich more than 200,000 metric tons of high-assay depleted uranium under a 2016 contract with DOE.
“GLE greatly appreciates Kentucky’s enthusiasm and support for nuclear energy and especially, the creation of new U.S. domestic nuclear fuel sources,” said StephenLong, CEO of GLE. “The incentive package reflects a shared vision for economic development, technological leadership and the establishment of a resilient domestic nuclear fuel supply chain. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with state and local partners as we advance the PLEF. Paducah was once the hub of the U.S. nuclear fuel cycle, and GLE is proud to reassert Kentucky’s leadership with the world’s most advanced uranium enrichment technology.”
Formed in 2007, GLE is working to commercialize America’s most advanced new uranium enrichment technology by enriching significant quantities of uranium at its Wilmington, North Carolina, pilot plant. The company’s commercial deployment is supported by more than $550 million in privately funded engineering, design, manufacturing and licensing investments across North Carolina and Kentucky. GLE was also recently selected for an award of up to $28.5 million from the DOE to support its work.
Gov. Andy Beshear celebrates another project win with his fellow Kentuckians.
Photo courtesy of Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
From Farm to Fuel: Energy Firm Turning Waste into
Gas in Kentucky
One of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s top policy priorities is supporting alternative energy generation. On February 26, he announced a signature win for his state when Green Energy Parks announced plans to locate a new $142 million agricultural waste-to-energy facility in Arlington in Carlisle County.
The new plant will convert locally sourced farm products — including corn stover, livestock manure and distillers’ grains from the Kentucky bourbon industry — into renewable natural gas and food-grade liquid carbon dioxide. At capacity, the plant will produce 1.47 million British thermal units of renewable natural gas per year, capture and liquefy 72,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, and process 575 tons of agricultural feedstock daily.
Chris Negus, co-founder and CEO of Global NRG and co-developer of Green Energy Parks, said the firm chose Arlington because “Kentucky has exactly the right combination of agricultural heritage, forward-thinking leadership and business-friendly policy.” He added, “We’re not just creating 20 high-wage jobs. We’re demonstrating that energy transition and rural economic growth are two sides of the same coin.”
Global NRG is a transatlantic company that specializes in anaerobic digestion, renewable natural gas and sustainable aviation fuel infrastructure. The firm maintains offices in the UK and the U.S. and supports a global portfolio topping $2 billion. Through the firm’s U.S. subsidiary, Global NRG Renewables, the company develops and operates clean energy facilities that convert agricultural and organic waste streams into renewable energy.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) is backing the Arlington project with a 15-year incentive agreement under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $900,000 in tax incentives to the company as long as the firm creates and maintains at least 20 full-time jobs in Kentucky over 15 years and pays an average hourly wage of $105. KEDFA also approved Green Energy Parks for up to $150,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act, which allows qualifying companies to recover Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures and equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
Finally, the firm is also eligible for assistance from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. This includes no-cost recruitment and job placement, reduced-cost training and other job training incentives.
