The Digital Edition of “Kentucky: The Center of Success” is now
live. Produced by Conway Custom Content for the Kentucky Cabinet for
Economic Development, the publication features our interview with
Governor Andy Beshear; a look inside how Kentucky landed the largest
project in state history with Ford Motor Co.’s BlueOval SK; and
viewpoints on recent investments from executives at such companies
as Novelis, Firestone and Pratt Industries. Gain insights into the
state’s entrepreneurs and startups, as well as training resources
that get the job done. Catch up with strong Kentucky sectors such as
business services, agritech, metals, logistics and advanced
manufacturing. Learn how Build-Ready Sites are just one part of the
state’s speed-to-market value proposition. And you can’t visit
Kentucky without checking in on the commonwealth’s array of
quality-of-life amenities, including an exploding bourbon tourism
scene.
As reported by Catalan News and other sources, Catalan president
Pere Aragonès announced this investment by Germany’s Freudenberg
Group during a two-day visit to Germany that included a stop at the
company’s headquarters in Baden-Württemberg. The investment in
Parets del Vallès, about 15 miles north of Barcelona, is supported
by Catalonia Trade & Investment (ACCIÓ), and will be operational by
next year. The company already operates five plants employing 650
people in Catalonia.
After announcing this project in February, West Virginia Governor
Jim Justice took part in a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this
month at the site of Omnis Building Technologies’ future housing
materials manufacturing plant in Bluefield. Omnis makes
pre-engineered home building systems made up of Concrete Insulated
Building Units (CIBU) that are shipped and then assembled on-site to
construct pre-designed homes. “Once delivered, these patented
turn-key homes are easily constructed and move-in ready in just a
few days. The homes are also self-sustainable, generating their own
water and electricity,” said a press release from the governor’s
office. When looking across the country for a location to build
their facility, Omnis Building Technologies President Jonathan
Hodson said that Bluefield, West Virginia, is an ideal location
because it enables the company to bring CIBU homes to most of the
population in the United States by rail or truck.” The facility is
expected to produce 3,000 homes per year. Site prep for the Omnis
operation was supported by a $1 million U.S. EDA grant.
The Tax Foundation’s Daniel Bunn last week compared R&D tax incentives across Europe,
finding that the Slovak Republic provides the most generous R&D
subsidies for large profitable firms, followed by Portugal, France,
Spain and Lithuania.
