kentucky

What’s
Online 
Take a video tour
of the Bluegrass
State

economic development guide kyedg.com

Proof of Success
Bourbon distillers pour

Road
money into facilities

Scholars Sitting Tall

in the Saddle
Auto innovation takes the Equestrian Games harness
lead in the Commonwealth equine industry

presented by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development | 2010

At the heArt
of KentucKy …
And the
crossroAds
of the nAtion.

A nine-county region of vibrant, progressive communities

in Central Kentucky strategically positioned between regional population: 186,346
the Louisville and Lexington metro areas with business Civilian labor force: 641,246
development assets and advantages that are easily labor market area: 31 Counties
accessible via four major highway corridors (KY 55, lma population: 1,280,552
US 127, US 150 and US 27) to the Bluegrass Parkway total available labor: 47,566
and Interstates 64, 65 and 75.

ContaCt one of our partners for more information on Bluegrass south …

Anderson County George Leamon George.Leamon@BluegrassSouth.com

Boyle County Jody Lassiter Jody.Lassiter@BluegrassSouth.com
Garrard County Nathan Mick Nathan.Mick@BluegrassSouth.com
Lincoln County Arlen Sanders Arlen.Sanders@BluegrassSouth.com
Marion County Tom Lund Tom.Lund@BluegrassSouth.com
Mercer County Drew Dennis Drew.Dennis@BluegrassSouth.com
Taylor County Ron McMahan Ron.McMahan@BluegrassSouth.com

Washington County Hal Goode Hal.Goode@BluegrassSouth.com
 kentucky
economic development guide
46

Workstyle
Road Scholars 28
Kentucky leads in auto innovation
and what fuels them.

Retooled and Ready 34

Kentucky crafts impressive roster
of advanced manufacturers.

Lab Partners 40
A booming bioscience sector gets a

34 52 booster shot from state initiatives.

Sitting Tall in the Saddle 46

World Equestrian Games harness
Kentucky’s equine industry prowess.

Worldwide Appeal 52
Kentucky companies find global markets
are a passport to growth.

Small Business, Big Success 56

Kentucky programs give a lift to entrepreneurship.

Proof of Success 62
Bourbon distillers pour new investment
dollars into Kentucky.

Making Big Waves 66

Kentucky is awash in water
recreation opportunities.

Table of Contents Continued

62 On the Cover Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear with the 2010 Toyota
Camry LE, 2010 GM Corvette ZR1 and 2011 Ford Super Duty F250,
all made in Kentucky. Photo by Brian Mccord

KYEDG.com 7

 Insight
Overview 17
Business Almanac 18
Business Climate 22
Energy/Technology 76
Transportation 82

82 88 Economic Profile 106

Livability
Health 88
Education 94
‘You’ll Never Want To Leave’ 100

Special advertising section:

Lincoln Trail Workforce Investment Board

All or part of this magazine is printed with soy ink on

recycled paper containing 10% post-consumer waste.

94 Please recycle this magazine

100

KYEDG.com 9
Discover unlimited
Possibilities!
location:
• Within a day’s drive of 60%
of the US population
• Adjacent to US 23
four-lane highway
support:
• State incentives
• Local incentives
• Workforce development

Features:
• Low-cost power
• Natural gas
• Reasonable price
benefits:
• Lower operating cost
• Greater profit potential

GAteWAY reGioNAl
bUsiNess PArK
P.O. Box 186 • Jenkins, KY 41537
606-438-1265
Cabinet for Economic Development E-mail: joedepriest@msn.com
 kentucky
economic development guide
2010 Edition , volum e 2

Content Director/Business Publications

Bill McMeekin
Proofreading Manager Raven Petty
Content Coordinators Jennifer Graves, Erica Hines
Staff Writer Kevin Litwin
Copy Editors Lisa Battles, Joyce Caruthers, Jill Wyatt
Contributing writers Pamela Coyle,
Joe Morris, Amy Stumpfl
Media Technology Director Christina Carden
Senior Graphic Designers Laura Gallagher,
Jessica Manner, Janine Maryland, Kris Sexton,
Candice Sweet, Vikki Williams
Media Technology Analysts Chandra Bradshaw,
Yamel Hall, Alison Hunter, Marcus Snyder
Photography Director Jeffrey S. Otto
Senior Photographers Jeff Adkins, Brian McCord
Staff Photographers Todd Bennett, Antony Boshier
Web Content Managers John Hood, Kim Madlom
Web Design Director Franco Scaramuzza
Web Designer Leigh Guarin
Web Developer Jeremy Dickens
Ad Production Manager Katie Middendorf
Ad Traffic Assistants Marcia Millar, Patricia Moisan
I.T. Director Yancey Bond
I.T. Service Technician Ryan Sweeney
Regional Sales Manager Charles Sweeney
Sales Support/Community, Business, Custom
Rachael Goldsberry
Senior Accountant Lisa Owens
Accounts Payable Coordinator Maria McFarland
Accounts Receivable Coordinator Diana Guzman
Office Manager/Accounts Receivable
Coordinator Shelly Miller
Senior Integrated Media Managers Blake Petit, Clay Perry
Sales Support Manager Cindy Hall

Chairman Greg Thurman

President/Publisher Bob Schwartzman
Executive Vice President Ray Langen
Senior V.P./Sales Todd Potter, Carla Thurman
Senior V.P./Operations Casey Hester
Senior V.P./Client Development Jeff Heefner
V.P./Content Development Teree Caruthers
V.P./Custom Publishing Kim Newsom
V.P./Visual Content Mark Forester
V.P./Content Operations Natasha Lorens
V.P. Sales Charles Fitzgibbon,
Herb Harper, Jarek Swekosky
Controller Chris Dudley
Content Director/Travel Publications
Susan Chappell
Marketing Creative Director Keith Harris
Distribution Director Gary Smith
Recruiting/Training Director Suzy Simpson
Executive Secretary Kristy Duncan
Human Resources Manager Peggy Blake
Receptionist Linda Bishop

Advertisements in this publication were purchased from

Journal Communications and are not endorsements of the
Cabinet for Economic Development or the Commonwealth.

Kentucky Economic Development Guide is published annually

by Journal Communications Inc. and is distributed through the
Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.
For advertising information or to direct questions or comments
about the magazine, contact Journal Communications Inc.
at (615) 771-0080 or by e-mail at info@jnlcom.com.

For more information, contact:

Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
Old Capitol Annex, 300 West Broadway • Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: (502) 564-7670 • Fax: (502) 564-1535
www.thinkkentucky.com

Visit Kentucky Economic Development Guide

online at KYEDG.com

©Copyright 2010 Journal Communications Inc.,

725 Cool Springs Blvd., Suite 400, Franklin, TN 37067,
(615) 771-0080. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine
may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent.

Member Magazine Publishers of America

Member Custom Publishing Council

KYEDG.com 11
 Big Sandy
Regional Industrial
Development Authority
Floyd – Johnson – Magoffin – Martin – Pike

The Energy to Move America Forward

• 334-Acre
Industrial Park

• 54,700-Sq.-Ft.
Speculative Building

• Easily Accessible to Rte. 3,

US 23 and Big Sandy
Regional Airport

(606) 886-2374
www.bsrida.org

 • Attractive incentives for
business and industry
• Industrial park and spec
building available
• Historic charm
• Easy access
• Central location in US
• Award-winning community
• Charming and relaxing
atmosphere – even
Mr. and Mrs. C visit

Greensburg/Green County
Industrial Foundation
110 W. Court St.
Greensburg, KY 42743
(270) 932-4298
director@greensburgonline.com

www.GreensburgOnline.com

KYEDG.com 13
 14 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 KYEDG.com 15
 COMMuNITY WILL OffER A STRuCTuRED LEASE
OR SELL puRCHASE AGREEMENT ON ALL buILDINGS.
HICKMAN, KY

75,000 SQ. FT. BUILDING LOCATED

1/2 MILE FROM THE HICKMAN-FULTON
COUNTY RIVER PORT

TENN-KEN SHORTLINE RAIL

ROAD CONNECTS TO THE
CANADIAN NATIONAL MAINLINE

All buildings are locally controlled and available for immediate possession

We are located within one day’s drive from 60% of the US population and close to
all major shipping lanes in the US

Hickman – Fulton County River port located at mile marker 922 on the Mississippi River

Sites served by Mainline service of the Canadian National RR

All sites served by TVA Power

Great state and local incentives

HIGHWAY DISTANCE TO SELECTED MAJOR MARKETS

Atlanta, GA 412 Dallas, TX 600 Nashville, TN 170

Baltimore, MD 826 Detroit, MI 594 New Orleans, LA 521
Birmingham, AL 361 Houston, TX 725 New York, NY 986
Boston, MA 1200 Indianapolis, IN 349 Norfolk, VA 874
Buffalo, NY 785 Jacksonville, FL 762 Oklahoma City, OK 614
Charlotte, NC 579 Kansas City, MO 436 Omaha, NE 614
Chicago, IL 416 Lexington, KY 282 Philadelphia, PA 920
Cincinnati, OH 348 Louisville, KY 245 Pittsburgh, PA 636
Cleveland, OH 599 Memphis, TN 112 St. Louis, MO 218
Columbus, OH 455 Minneapolis, MN 796 Wichita, KS 637

EXISTING BUILDING
FULTON, KY 60,000 SQ. FT. WITH 55,000 SQ. FT. CLINTON, KY
AN EXPANSION OF
40,000 SQ. FT
SHOWING A TOTAL
OF 100,000 SQ. FT.

HWY. 307N – 1/2 MILE LOCATED ON US HWY. 51

FROM I-69 CORRIDOR AND WITHIN 12 MILES
OF THE PURCHASE PARKWAY
RAIL SPUR IN PLACE AND CONNECTS WITHIN I-69 CORRIDOR
1/4 MILE TO THE CANADIAN NATIONAL MAINLINE

16 Eddie Crittendon, Executive Director • (270) 472-2125 • www.westkyeconomic.com

K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Overview

Revved Up for Business

‘Auto Alley’ is in gear to retain and attract major businesses

It is a pleasure to present We’re especially proud to be home to a bevy of

the 2010 Kentucky Economic homegrown companies – Humana, Lexmark, Papa John’s,
Development Guide. As you KFC, Ashland Inc. and Louisville Slugger among them –
browse this magazine, you all of which have become household names around the
will see why many of the world. We also put a heavy emphasis on our very own
world’s most successful exciting cadre of small businesses.
companies have discovered Whatever your size, wherever you’re based, no matter
that Kentucky is a great place your product or service, Kentucky makes it easy to do
to build their business. business. We invite you to explore the many advantages
We think you will agree that Kentucky offers to new and expanding businesses. If you
Kentucky has everything your would like to join what’s happening in the Commonwealth,
industry needs to succeed, give us a call. We want to help you write your own
including industrial electricity costs that are consistently success story.
among the lowest in the nation, a tax structure that
is among the most competitive in the region and Sincerely,
an ideal location within 600 miles of two-thirds of
America’s population.
Kentucky also has some of the most effective and
progressive financial incentive programs anywhere, a
workforce with a “can-do” attitude and an unsurpassed
quality of life. Called the new “Auto Alley” for our strong Steven L. Beshear
vehicle manufacturing presence, the Commonwealth now
also offers a burgeoning service sector and an increase
of high-tech opportunities.
Earning national and international recognition for our
hospitable business climate and profitable investment
opportunities, Kentucky is home to thousands of
domestic companies and nearly 400 international
operations, representing 30 countries.

KYEDG.com 17
 Almanac

Keeping Good Company

Lexington’s attributes as a place to live and work have earned kudos.
In 2009, Children's Health magazine ranked the city No. 6 on its Best
Places to Raise a Family list. The magazine conducted a statistical
A Winning Hand
analysis to rank 100 select U.S. cities, and weighed more than The United States Playing Card Co.
30 factors that parents deem important, including crime and safety, manufactures, markets and
education, economics, housing, cultural attractions, and health. distributes playing cards, children's
card games, collectible tins, puzzles,
Lexington also placed sixth on CNN/Money’s 2009 rankings of the best and card accessories. The company,
mid-sized markets in which to launch a business. The ranking noted which produces more than 400,000
that Lexington “puts a unique spin on 4-H: horses, health care, high decks of cards per day, employs 500
tech and higher education make up its diversified economy.” people at its 570,000-square-foot
headquarters and manufacturing
operations in Boone County, where it
moved in 2009 from Cincinnati.

Batter Up!
Since 1884, Louisville Slugger has put prime
lumber in the hands of the greatest players in
baseball. The family-owned Hillerich & Bradsby
Co. turns out the bats that have been used by
generations of players from Little League to
Major League Baseball. The company, which
makes its bats and operates a museum in
downtown Louisville, celebrated its 125th
anniversary in 2009. The museum includes a
wealth of memorabilia and interactive exhibits.
For information on visiting the museum, go to
www.sluggermuseum.org.

18 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Write it Down
Cynthiana in Harrison County
boasts several manufacturing
companies making a number
of products. Perhaps none
is as well known as the
450,000-square-foot 3M plant,
which makes some 672 varieties
of the familiar Post-it Notes,
Post-it Easels and other
Post-it products.
The plant, which employs more
than 500 people, also makes
Scotch-brand packaging and
mailing tape.

On a Roll in
Bowling Green
The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce
is tops in class.
The organization was named 2009 Chamber of
the Year in its size category by the American
Chamber of Commerce Executives.
To earn the recognition, a chamber must first
qualify based on seven criteria related to net
income, assets, and partner retention dollars and
accounts. Only the top-ranked chambers are then
invited to complete an application that provides a
comprehensive view of their success based on Blanket Knowledge
financial and partnership performance, as well as The National Quilt Museum of the United States
their communication and community programs. in Paducah collects, preserves and shares the
The final component of the process, for the three traditions of quilt making, one square at a time.
highest ranked chambers, is an interview with a More than 40,000 visitors tour the museum’s
panel of experienced chamber professionals. three galleries each year to see traveling exhibits
Since 2007, the Bowling Green chamber has and the permanent collection. Exhibits change
participated in 35 industry expansion or new regularly, with approximately a dozen new shows
investment projects totaling nearly $139 million annually. The permanent collection includes more
and creating 2,091 jobs. For more on the than 300 quilts created by more than 333 quilt
chamber, go to www.bgchamber.com. makers. A key feature of the museum is an
extensive collection of miniature quilts, which are
no larger than 24 inches by 24 inches. For more,
go to www.quiltmuseum.org.

KYEDG.com 19
 20 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Getting to the Root of Bluegrass
Kentucky puts the bluegrass in music, and its contributions to the uniquely American
musical art form can be seen and heard at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in
Owensboro. The 22,000-square-foot museum includes exhibits on bluegrass pioneer
Bill Monroe, historically significant instruments such as Pete Seeger’s banjo, a time line
of milestones in bluegrass music history and a replica 1950s café that hosts live
performances and has a jukebox featuring traditional and contemporary bluegrass songs.
For more on the museum, go to www.bluegrassmuseum.org.

Recipe for
an Expansion
Bremner Food Group, the nation’s
largest supplier of private-label
cookies and crackers, is sweet on
Princeton in Caldwell County, where
the company makes everything from
Saltines and Graham Crackers to Fig
Bars and Animal Crackers, and also
produces Shredded Wheat and a
private-label version of Triscuits.
Bremner, a subsidiary of Ralcorp
Holdings, is installing new production
lines, relocating production lines
from other facilities and increasing
its warehouse space to handle
increased capacity in a $62.1 million
expansion that will add 111 full-time
jobs to the current workforce of 600.
The company came to Princeton
in 1993. The Kentucky Economic
Development Finance Authority
Underground Attraction
preliminarily approved Bremner Mammoth Cave National Park includes the longest recorded cave
Food Group for tax benefits of up system in the world, with more than 367 miles explored and mapped.
to $5 million under the Kentucky The first human is believed to have entered Mammoth Cave about
Business Investment program to 4,000 years ago. The park was established in 1941 to preserve the cave
aid the expansion. system, including Mammoth Cave, the scenic river valleys of the Green
and Nolin rivers, and a portion of the hilly country of south central
Kentucky. Several different cave tour packages are available, and the
park includes three developed campgrounds and more than a dozen
primitive camping sites in the back country and along the Green and
Nolin rivers. Go to www.nps.gov/maca for more.

KYEDG.com 21
 Business Climate

resources
low cost

innovative

22 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Sweetening the Pot
Incentive program boosts business recruitment, retention
Story by Joe Morris
Photography by Antony Boshier
H
elping Kentucky’s businesses
thrive is a chief goal of Gov.
Steve Beshear and state
legislators, and never was that aim
more visible than in 2009, when the
governor signed the Incentives for a
New Kentucky bill into law, increasing
the state’s competitive advantages.
The legislation updates economic
development incentives utilized by the
Kentucky Cabinet for Economic
Development to attract, expand and
retain business. A key component of
the legislation streamlines and
consolidates four longstanding
programs into the new Kentucky
Business Investment Program,
or KBI, a more flexible program
offering income tax credits and
wage assessments to new and
expanding businesses.
Along with numerous other tax
benefits, the bill also enhances state
203
Total number of new investment
and expansion projects in 2009
assistance through the Kentucky
Reinvestment Act, putting a focus on
existing manufacturers making a
significant capital investment in a
Kentucky facility in order to remain
competitive.
Multiple changes within the
restructuring mean Kentucky can
compete with any state, region or even
country when it comes to business
recruitment and development, says
state Rep. Tommy Thompson of
Owensboro, who sponsored the
bill in the Kentucky House of
Representatives.
“We discerned that our economic
development incentives were a bit
outdated, and they just weren’t
market-tested in terms of being what
industries are looking for today in
terms of location and investment
incentives,” Thompson says. “The
governor challenged the cabinet to go
$977 million
New business and expansion
investment in Kentucky in 2009
out and survey a lot of different
stakeholders about incentives, and
also talk to local communities about
what they need to attract businesses.
That information and research led
to this package, which will grow
jobs and help us be competitive in
the marketplace.”
Just as important, Thompson says,
the incentives are performance-based,
so businesses have to hit specific
benchmarks with jobs and revenue
before any tax abatement or other
financial packages are created.
Everything from breaks for
retooling machinery and retaining
employees have been factored into the
new rules and regulations, so existing
businesses fare just as well as new
companies being lured into an area.
That helps the state expand existing
industry sectors and maintain a stable
workforce, says Larry Hayes, secretary
6,687
New jobs created in 2009
KYEDG.com 23
 Rep. Tommy Thompson of Owensboro
sponsored legislation that makes the state
more attractive to businesses.
More Insight
Under the newly created
Kentucky Business Investment
Program (KBI), the state will
provide income tax credits and
wage assessments to new and
existing agribusinesses,
regional and national
headquarters, manufacturing
companies, and nonretail
service or technology-related
companies that locate or
expand operations in Kentucky.
The legislation also:
• Creates a new sales
and use tax refund for
companies that are heavy
users of computer and
telecommunications
equipment

• Expands the Kentucky

Reinvestment Act to benefit
existing manufacturers that
need to make a significant
capital investment in
Kentucky facilities in order
to remain competitive

• Expands the Kentucky

Enterprise Initiative Act to
of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic include a sales tax refund
for the purchase of
Development. electronic-processing
“Once you came here, you were part equipment costing $50,000
of our happy family and we worked or more in addition to the
with you, but if you had to make a minimum $500,000 project
investment
major investment and update your
facility without job creation, we really For more on the state’s
couldn’t assist you in any great way,” incentives and financial
Hayes says. programs, go to
thinkkentucky.com.
“These new incentives give us the
ability to work with our existing
companies, help create new
opportunities for them and identify
new pieces of business for them to get
into,” he says. “We can help them with
the financing for mergers and
acquisitions, so they can bring a
product in from somewhere else.”
Focusing on bringing in new
investment and helping established
businesses means the Cabinet for
Economic Development will be a
major player at every level of Kentucky
business, Hayes says.
“We’ve always been very
enthusiastic about being a good
partner in terms of doing business
here, but now we have the ability to be
a true business partner, and talk to
them in a way we haven’t been able to
do in the past,” he says.

24 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 KYEDG.com 25
 26 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 A Focus on Jobs and Investment
Gov. Beshear: Retooled incentives put Kentucky in strong competitive position
Q: As the national economy
improves, how do you see these
upgraded incentive programs
positioning Kentucky for new
investment?
A: The Incentives for a New
Kentucky programs give Kentucky
a new level of flexibility, allowing
us to become a true partner with
businesses. In fact, we’re already
seeing results.
Kentucky Reinvestment Act to
upgrade their Kentucky facilities,
preserving more than 760 jobs.
Others are utilizing programs such
as the Kentucky Business
Investment program to expand
operations in the Commonwealth.
Recent expansions include
Paducah Louisville Railway’s
headquarters in Paducah,
Bremner Food Group in Princeton,
Polyair Corp. in Bardstown and
Kentuckiana Curb Co. in Louisville.
These projects alone represent
new investment of more than
$90 million.
Companies across the Bluegrass
are benefiting from Kentucky’s
economic development efforts.
– Joe Morris

In November 2009, Hitachi

Automotive Products (USA) Inc.
in Harrodsburg announced that
it would expand, adding a new
advanced fuel system production
line to the plant. The expansion
adds about 100 new jobs and a
more than $20.2 million
investment.
Additionally, Signature HealthCARE
recently announced it would
relocate its national headquarters
from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.,
to Louisville, investing nearly
$5.4 million and creating more
than 120 jobs.
We were also able to assist
Akebono Brake Corp. in
Elizabethtown on its headquarters
expansion, adding 70 new
professional jobs in the
community.
These are just some of the many ◆ We are located 12 miles from the
companies currently investing in Georgetown, Kentucky Toyota
Kentucky. Plant (the largest in the USA)

Q: How do you think these new

incentives will be helpful to
companies already in the state
that might be thinking about
expanding or upgrading their
facilities?
A: One of the most important
aspects about this new legislation
is that it puts a focus on
Kentucky’s existing businesses.
Companies like Curtis Maruyasu
America in Lebanon, National
Office Furniture in Fordsville and
The Standard Group in
Jeffersontown have utilized the
◆ Quick access to the I-75 and
I-64 interchanges
◆ One-hour drive to the greater
Cincinnati/northern Kentucky
International Airport
◆ Forty-five-minute drive
to Bluegrass Airport in
Lexington, Kentucky
Cynthiana/Harrison County Economic Development Authority
2169 US Hwy. 27 N. • Cynthiana, KY 41031 • (859) 588-3000
www.harrisoncountyky.gov

KYEDG.com 27
 Road
Scholars
Kentucky leads in auto
innovation and what fuels them

Story by Kevin Litwin

K
entucky is in the driver’s seat to
build the next generation of 672,277
vehicles and develop the new
$44,747
technology that will power them.
Long a center of automotive 680,424
manufacturing, the Bluegrass State 1,852,654
was a natural location for a joint
federal and state battery 780,727
manufacturing research center that
$39,977
will help develop and commercialize
power applications for advanced $47,644
1,484,084
vehicles, including hybrids. The effort
will support President Obama’s goal of
having 1 million plug-in, hybrid, Vehicle Production by State (2008)
electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Michigan
Argonne, the nation’s lead facility Ohio
for transportation-related research, is Kentucky
partnering with the Commonwealth, Missouri
University of Kentucky and University Alabama
of Louisville to establish the center in more at KYEDG.com

28 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 KYEDG.com 29
 30 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide

Greg Higdon, president of the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers; Kentucky is generating new investment in auto-related innovation.
Lexington. The Kentucky-Argonne
Battery Manufacturing Research and
Development Center will facilitate
the development of advanced
lithium-ion batteries and advanced
manufacturing technologies that
will reduce battery production costs.
The center also will promote
collaborations between federal labs,
universities, manufacturers, suppliers
and end-users, and accelerate the
movement of technologies developed
at national labs and universities into
the marketplace.
Initial research will focus on
developing and testing lithium-ion
batteries, asymmetric capacitors and
other advanced electrochemical
energy storage systems. The center,
which received approval in December
2009, for state funding of up to $3.5
million, will leverage the extensive
research facilities and expertise of
UK and UofL.
“The center will help greatly
Dav i d M u d d
A n t o n y B o s h i er
increase the amount of federal and
private research dollars coming to By the Numbers
Kentucky and will lead to additional
high-paying, high-tech jobs,” says
Larry Hayes, secretary of the
Kentucky Cabinet for Economic 65,265
Development. Auto manufacturing-related
Other innovations in the automotive workforce in Kentucky
sector can be found across Kentucky.
Hitachi Automotive Products (USA)
Inc., a fixture in the state since 1986,
is adding an advanced fuel system
18
Percentage of manufacturing
production line at its 400,000-square- workers in Kentucky in auto-
foot facility in Harrodsburg, where related manufacturing
the company manufactures
electromechanical auto parts. The
$20.2 million expansion will add 100 420
new jobs to make components for use Auto-related facilities in the state
in advanced direct injection fuel
systems in more fuel-efficient and
lower-emission automobile engines.
Hitachi is among the 420 auto-
$5.9 billion
Gross domestic product of
related facilities and suppliers in auto manufacturing in Kentucky
Kentucky that employ more than in 2007
65,000 workers. Toyota, Ford and
KYEDG.com 31
 32 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 General Motors each have substantial
operations in Kentucky, which is
third among states in light vehicle
production.
Industry analysts point out that
Kentucky remains attractive to
automakers for a number of reasons,
including its central location and
availability of low-cost power – the
fourth lowest in the nation.
“It’s quite amazing how low the
energy costs are that Kentucky can
provide for these facilities,” says Greg
Higdon, president and CEO of the
Kentucky Association of Manufacturers.
Ford, a fixture in Kentucky since
1912, has two assembly operations in
the Louisville area. The automaker has
outlined plans for a major retooling
A n t o n y B o s h i er
More Insight Playing a Lead Role
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has been named
chairman of an influential public policy think tank that
researches and develops economic development
policies and provides a forum for collaboration among
governors, legislators, business and academic leaders
and the economic and community development sectors
in the South.
Beshear becomes the 40th chairman of the
Southern Growth Policies Board, following in the
footsteps of such Southern governors as Bill Clinton
and Jimmy Carter.
The governor will host the 2010 Chairman’s
Conference in Lexington on June 6-8.  The focus of the
and reinvestment in Louisville, a outside of Japan to build a hybrid
project that could cost up to $600 product – a high-end Camry that
million and make the plant capable of features the absolute latest in
assembling multiple types of fuel- technology,” says Rick Hesterberg,
efficient vehicles. assistant manager for external affairs
Since 1981, General Motors has in Georgetown.
manufactured its iconic Corvette in A total of 6,600 full-time employees
Bowling Green, the only location work at the massive facility, while
where the car is produced. another 1,300 work at the automaker’s
In Georgetown, the Toyota plant Erlanger headquarters near the
that began operations in the fall of Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky
1988 has become the automaker’s International Airport. The Georgetown
largest North American facility. The plant has the capacity to build 500,000
plant produces the Camry and Avalon engines each year plus parts for other
sedans, Venza crossover and Camry Toyota facilities throughout the U.S.
hybrid. Toyota has invested $5.3 “We have 90 direct suppliers in
billion in recent upgrades in its Kentucky and provide them with
Georgetown operations. $2 billion in business annually,”
“We became Toyota’s first plant Hesterberg says.
conference will be on highlighting and strengthening
the automotive industry in the South.
“Kentucky is the perfect location to host a serious
conversation on the South’s emerging leadership in the
automotive industry,” Gov. Beshear says.
The region is home to 16 automotive manufacturing
facilities, producing 36 percent of the nation’s cars and
light trucks. The conference, “Driving the Next 20 Years:
Maximizing the New Automotive Industry in the South,”
is being developed as an opportunity to connect
industry players across the region to take actions
to create additional jobs and investments. Go to
www.southerngrowth.com for more on the conference.
KYEDG.com 33
 34 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Retooled
and Ready
Kentucky crafts impressive roster
of advanced manufacturers
Story by Pamela Coyle • Photography by Antony Boshier
A
new generation of more advanced manufacturing is
helping keep Kentucky competitive, diversify its
economy and pump more than $27 billion into the
state economy each year.
Kentucky’s robust manufacturing base accounts for
nearly 20 percent of the state’s GDP, although older factory
workers may not recognize some of the plants of today. A
core of innovative and technologically advanced companies
turn out aerospace components, safety equipment,
specialty chemicals, veterinary tools, defense systems,
biological research supplies and everything in between.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development has
identified more than 740 advanced manufacturing facilities
that call Kentucky home, and new projects or expansions
come on line every month. Grindmaster-Cecilware is
expanding in Louisville, a $1.6 million investment that
will create 33 jobs. Blackhawk Composites, a startup
manufacturer of advanced aerospace composite parts,
is creating 30 jobs in Butler County and investing
$1.5 million.
Safetran Systems, which makes railroad crossing
warning systems, is adding 150 workers as part of a $2.8
million expansion at its facility in Marion. In Greenup
County, Price Solutions LLC is expanding its operation to
Conner Means works at Peptides International, located in Louisville, creating peptides for industry research.
produce MAC Security Portals and other modular products.
That’s another $1.7 million investment and 20 new jobs.
Nearly 100,000 people work in Kentucky’s advanced
manufacturing facilities. Just under 130 of them are in
Lexington, at the Animal Safety and Life Sciences divisions
of Neogen Corp. The company is based in Lansing, Mich.,
but the Kentucky operation includes production of
veterinary diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and wound-care
products for domestic as well as farm animals. The Neogen
division makes research and diagnostic products that
include drug detection kits for forensic testing and horse
racing, a natural fit for a state where horses and horse
racing are major industries.
The Lexington operation saw revenues increase 29
percent for the year ending May 31, 2009, for a total of $57.7
million, says Terri Morrical, vice president of animal safety.
“We’ve been doing extremely well. Every year we
typically add positions,” says Morrical, who started the life
sciences company in 1990. Neogen bought it two years later,
when the staff numbered 12 people.
Spring 2010 brings the launch of additional drug
detection kits, plus products that can test for salmonella
at food-production sites, she says.
Biological science is also the forte of Peptides
KYEDG.com 35
 Glasgow-Barren County
A GREAT IDEA!
IDEA = Industrial Development Economic Authority
working to promote the economic development of industrial, agricultural,
tourism and small business of Glasgow and Barren County. We work with all
federal, state and local agencies, and groups to accomplish these purposes.

• Rich history of agriculture, metalworking, • Industrial and warehousing facilities available

precision machining, fabrication, assembly for sale or lease ranging from 5,000 to
processes and advanced manufacturing in region 343,000 sq. ft.

• Low cost of conducting business, low real estate • Robust broadband network available to all points
pricing, low cost of living and low crime rate in the community, quality low cost, electric,
water, sewer and telecommunications
• Centrally located in the Eastern United States
within a day’s drive of half the nation’s population • Local governments, schools and utilities operate
and manufacturing employment a GIS consortium, which provides constantly
updated mapping
• New spec building completed (80,000 sq. ft. –
expandable to 120,000 sq. ft., 16-acre lot, • Excellent postsecondary education facilities
24-ft. ceiling, 320 ft. x 250 ft.) at new located in the community
Highland Glenn Industrial Park
• Thriving medical community with community-
• 300 acres of land available ranging from owned hospital
five-acre to 150-acre tracts at the new
Highland Glenn Industrial Park • CSX rail service throughout the community

Spec Building • Progressive Farmers magazine recently

at named Barren County “Best Place to Live”
in rural America

Dan Iacconi, Director • (270) 651-6314 or (800) 467-6314

36
K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
idea@glasgow-ky.com • www.glasgowbarrenidea.com
 International, a rapidly growing company that
manufactures peptides, amino acids and other biomaterials
for pharmaceutical and medical research.
“Last year, we sold peptides to 45 countries,” says Bryce
Johnson, the company’s president and a former chemistry
professor at the University of Louisville. “It’s traditionally
been Western Europe and Japan, and now India, South
Korea and China are increasing.”
Peptides are amino acid chains used in research on
cancer, heart disease, obesity and Alzheimer’s. The
company’s chemists build them in sequence, as part of
Peptide’s thick catalog or, more recently, to precise
customer specifications.
“A very hot area in obesity research involves processes in
the brain that control appetite suppression and such,”
Johnson says.
The company just launched a new platform with three
amino acids for tumor imaging and detection. Another
small part of Peptide International’s business involves
components for “cosmeseuticals,” in which pharmaceutical
development technology is used in cosmetic products such
as anti-wrinkle cream.
In January 2010, the company began offering customized
services to walk clients through Food and Drug
Administration approvals and other regulatory processes.
“If their research looks like it will go into full drug
production, we will help with each step as they qualify,”
Johnson says.

Some of Neogen Corp.’s products

Examples of major advanced manufacturers in Kentucky

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky
(Automotive production)
Ford Motor Co. Kentucky Truck Plant covers, center caps and intake manifolds)
and Louisville Assembly Plant
(Automotive production)
Lexmark International
(Printers and information processing supplies,
headquarters)
L-3 Communications Integrated Systems
(Defense-related support activities)
General Motors Corp. (Automotive production)  
AKEBONO Brake (Auto disc and drum brakes)
Bowling Green Metalforming (Automotive parts)
Huish Detergents Inc. (Detergents)
Montaplast of North America
(Plastic injection molding for automotive wheel
Raytheon Co.
(Naval ship self-defense weapon systems)
Catlettsburg Refining LLC (Petroleum refining)
GE Aircraft Engine Division
(Aircraft engines, turbines, blades and vanes)
Peptides International Inc.
(Biological products and supplies for research)
Süd-Chemie Inc. (Catalysts & clay products)
Neogen Corp.
(Diagnostics, veterinary instruments, veterinary
pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements)

KYEDG.com 37
 When you stay with Hampton Inn
in Elizabethtown, you’re staying with friends.
Our place is yours, whether you’re here for
business, a Fort Knox graduation or vacationing
with friends or family. We love having you here!

1035 Executive Dr.

Elizabethtown, KY 42701
(270) 765-6663
(800) HAMPTON
www.elizabethtown.hamptoninn.com

38 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 GE Heats Up Appliance Park
New energy-efficient products spark $150M investment, 800 new jobs
Once a candidate for sale, A city within a city, Appliance a dryer, was shipped in 1953. GE
General Electric’s appliance Park is the global headquarters for estimates the complex produced
business, headquartered at GE Appliances & Lighting, spanning more than 185 million appliances
Appliance Park in Louisville, is 900 acres. The park includes 25 by the end of 2007. Today, GE
mounting a major comeback, one miles of rail line, and even boasts contributes more than $425 million
that has put it solidly on the its own ZIP code. Each annually to the Louisville economy.
front lines of green energy and manufacturing building could – Pamela Coyle
“smart” products. enclose 15 football fields. One
General Electric is investing warehouse is as big as six city
$150 million to bring in state-of- blocks. The first appliance
the-art appliance lines and manufactured at Appliance Park,
creating more than 800 jobs at
a site the company had once
considered selling. The sprawling
Louisville complex will soon
produce hybrid-electric water
heaters, energy-efficient, front-
loading washers and dryers,
and several new appliance
components.
The new hybrid technology will
allow GE to be the first U.S.
manufacturer to introduce a water
heater that meets the new U.S.
Department of Energy’s ENERGY
STAR standard for this new
category of hot water heaters.
The new washers and dryers
represent the latest in efficiency
technology and will be designed to
meet the expected 2014 ENERGY
STAR requirements. And, both
new products will contain
technology that will enable them
to communicate with utilities to
take advantage of lower-priced
energy in the markets that offer
time-of-use pricing.
To help make this project
possible, the Commonwealth
showed its support by approving
over $20 million in state
incentives for the new “smart”
product lines.
“This is a shining example of
how Kentucky aggressively works
with existing companies to help
them reach their potential here in
the Bluegrass,” said Governor
Steve Beshear. “These
investments are yet another piece
of evidence that Kentucky has
become the home of cutting-edge
efficiency in energy consumption.”

KYEDG.com 39
 40 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Lab Partners
Booming bioscience sector gets a
booster shot from state initiatives
Story by Joe Morris • Photography by Antony Boshier
A
growing core of innovative companies, coupled
with internationally known universities and
health-care providers, is helping scientists and
engineers in Kentucky produce many life science and
biotechnology breakthroughs.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development’s
Department of Commercialization and Innovation (DCI)
is facilitating the process, working with start-up companies
and business incubators, as well as large-scale R&D firms,
universities and companies across a spectrum of bio-related
fields, from drug-discovery research to crop science and
cancer treatment.
And those in the lab say DCI’s support, plus the sheer
volume of technical expertise found in the Bluegrass State,
is a winning combination.
“In 2009, we created three new companies to increase
our portfolio to 16,” says Steve Gailar, president and CEO
of MetaCyte Business Lab, a high-tech business accelerator
that is a for-profit subsidiary of the University of Louisville
Foundation. Two companies located at the lab recently
completed closings on financing for more than $2 million,
and one company received $270,000 in state matching
funds for a $1 million National Institutes of Health award.
Since 2002, MetaCyte has secured more than $20 million
in funding for its portfolio companies and has created more
than 40 high-paying jobs. State assistance has smoothed
Employees at MetaCyte Business Lab in Louisville
the path for much of that expansion, Gailar says.
At ApoImmune, the focus is on developing
immunotherapies, treatments that regulate the patient’s
immune system to fight disease. ApoImmune, one
of MetaCyte’s portfolio companies, has two platform
technologies: ProtEx, which is designed to aid in transplant
therapies, and ApoVax, which will be applied to cancer and
infectious-disease vaccines.
The company has been aided by state programs,
including a forgivable loan tied to hiring goals and
investments from Commonwealth Seed Capital and the
Kentucky Enterprise Fund. All together, the company has
received around $1.3 million in funding to help it grow.
“Support from various economic development programs
from Kentucky has been instrumental in our growth and
development and enabled us to increase our staffing from two
employees to 15 employees over the last three years,” said Steven
Downey, president and chief executive officer at ApoImmune.
BioLOGIC Corp., in Northern Kentucky, has opened a high-
tech business accelerator in Covington that will serve as its
U.S. headquarters. The new facility has already drawn several
biotech firms to Kentucky, including PHD Diagnostics, which
has developed a simple genetic test that can tell smokers
and ex-smokers their likelihood of developing lung cancer.
The test is used as part of a smoking cessation program.
Other client companies in the facility are developing
KYEDG.com 41
 42 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide

“We wanted to be in Kentucky, and the assistance we received through
[Commerce Lexington], our local banks and the state economic development
people all made that happen.”
anti-cancer drugs, researching drugs for Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s diseases, developing technology that can help
provide affordable clean water for households in developing
countries and over-the-counter natural health products.
Naprogenix in Lexington conducts research into the
chemical diversity of plants and discovers novel active
compounds that are useful in creating pharmaceuticals
and agrochemicals.
The combination of financing and strong support at the
state and regional level has proved beneficial to Laboratory
and BioDiagnostics LLC, or LabDx, said Rob Mudd,
president of the 31-employee Lexington company that
develops technology for the electronic delivery of results
from medical diagnostic instruments.
Clockwise from left: BioLOGIC has opened a high-tech business
accelerator in Covington; Steve Gailar, president/CEO of
MetaCyte Business Lab; MedCenter 3 houses MetaCyte.
A $250,000 forgivable loan from the Bluegrass Business
Development Partnership helped the company get off the
ground and stay local, he adds. The partnership is an
economic development collaborative of Commerce
Lexington, Lexington Fayette Urban County
Government and the University of Kentucky’s Office
of Commercialization and Economic Development.
“We wanted to be in Kentucky, and the assistance
we received through [Commerce Lexington], our local
banks and the state economic development people all
made that happen,” Mudd says. “A lot of people got
involved, and they were able to guide us, to get the right
doors opened and help us establish strategic objectives
and find beneficial relationships.”
KYEDG.com 43
 Economic Opportunities Abound
on the

Bellevue • Covington • Dayton

Ft. Thomas • Ludlow • Newport
Southbank Partners Inc.
421 Monmouth St. • Newport, KY 41071
Partnering with Bellevue, Covington, Dayton, Ft. Thomas,
Newport and Ludlow on economic and community development
to make the “Southbank” of the Ohio River the most vibrant
and livable area in northern Kentucky.

44 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 The Doctor Is In
UK’s Markey Cancer Center attracts highly accomplished leader
When the University of approach combines our strengths in
Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center research with state-of-the-art
recruited Dr. B. Mark Evers from clinical facilities and faculty. Markey
the University of Texas Medical can make great strides in
Branch in Galveston in April 2009, translational research – taking
it got three professionals all discoveries from the laboratory
bundled up in one. through clinical trials and eventually
Evers, 51, a highly regarded into clinical practice.
gastrointestinal surgeon, scientific – Joe Morris
investigator and administrator, will
direct the center, serve as
professor of surgery in the College
of Medicine and be physician-in-
chief of the oncology service line,
and hold the endowed Markey

Rock Solid
Cancer Foundation Chair.

Q: What were the major points

that drew you to the Markey
Cancer Center?
BuSineSS oppoRtunitieS ...
A: The center is already extremely
strong clinically and in basic
science. One of my goals when I
took this job was to achieve
designation by the National
Cancer Institute within five years. I
wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think
that was possible.
To have a Top 20 medical center, poWell
you need to have the resources
and leadership to attract the best
clinicians and researchers to your
countY, kY
institution and to support them in
their work. We have that Home to two of the world’s natural rock
leadership, and the wonders, Natural Bridge and the Red River Gorge,
Commonwealth has made a huge Powell County, Kentucky is also home to rock solid
investment in building the industrial and business development opportunities.
academic medical campus of the
future today. AvAilABle lAnd: Clay City Business Park and
Stanton Industrial Parks
Q: How do you think the AcceSS: Powell County, Kentucky is located approximately
Markey, as well as a growing 40 miles east of Lexington via I-64 and the Mountain
health-related research Parkway. Located immediately off the four-lane Mountain
community, is positioning Parkway, Powell County blends small-town charm with easy
Kentucky as a growing hub of access to larger cities. Transportation is further enhanced
bioscience expertise? with a local UPS hub and airport.
A: Kentucky has a lot of special FinAnciAl incentiveS And WoRkFoRce:
challenges in the area of health, Kentucky’s best financial incentive programs along
and cancer is one of the biggest. with Powell County’s qualified workforce and strong rural
The Markey Cancer Center is work ethic provide a rock solid basis for business success.
uniquely positioned to provide
leadership in cancer prevention contAct: Powell County Economic Development
and treatment. Our P.O. Box 10 • Stanton, KY 40380 • (606) 663-2156
multidisciplinary, team-based powellindustrial@bellsouth.net • www.kyrockies.com

KYEDG.com 45
 46 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Sitting Tall
in the Saddle
World Equestrian Games harness
Kentucky’s equine industry prowess
Story by Joe Morris
W
hile Kentucky has long been
known for its fast racehorses
and high-quality bourbon,
the arrival of the 2010 Alltech FEI
World Equestrian Games this
September will cement Kentucky’s
stature as the Horse Capital of
the World.
From Sept. 25 to Oct. 10, all
equestrian focus will be on the
Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
2010 marks the first time the
competition has been held outside
Europe, and Kentucky’s winning bid
was the result of serious efforts by
The World Equestrian Games will come to Lexington in fall 2010, the first time they will be held outside Europe. staff photo
local and state officials.
Nowhere is that cooperative spirit
more evident than at the park, which
underwent a multimillion-dollar
overhaul just in time for the games.
The 1,200-acre working horse farm
is home to the International Museum
of the Horse, the American Saddlebred
Museum as well as the National Horse
Center which consists of over thirty
national and regional equine association
headquarters. Now it also boasts a
permanent, 7,300-seat lighted outdoor
stadium and 5,500-seat indoor arena,
both of which already are drawing
interest – and bookings – from other
equine events. That alone has made
the investment well worth the effort,
says John Nicholson, executive director.
“It was revolutionary when we put
forth the idea of hosting the games,”
Nicholson says. “But the people of the
Commonwealth invested in the park,
and the FEI realized we had the facilities
and infrastructure few places in the
world could compete with. It’s just
part of what makes Kentucky, Kentucky.”
Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear,
who sits on the board for the Kentucky
Horse Park Foundation, says another
KYEDG.com 47
 S ta f f P h o t o

benefit is that the games will showcase
a wide variety of equine disciplines
and activities, further educating the
community on how important
the horse is to our local and
state economies.
“Up to this point, Kentucky
has largely been known for our
thoroughbred racing industry,”
Beshear says. “The games will allow
us to show the world that we are at the
forefront of the sport-horse industry
as well. Racing Thoroughbreds are
the minority in Kentucky’s equine
population while the vast majority are
varied breeds used for sport, such as
the disciplines in the games, or used
for pleasure activities like trail riding.”
For title sponsor Alltech, the games
provide a chance to highlight its
animal health and nutrition programs
and products to a global audience, and
it’s going after the opportunity with
unbridled enthusiasm, says Kelly
Welker, executive director of Alltech’s
G.A.M.E.S. group.
“We really don’t do big sponsorships,
and this is certainly the first time
we’ve invested $10 million in one,”
Welker says. “But we are delighted to be
working with everyone involved, and
we are all aligned to see Kentucky
thrive and put on an amazing show.”

Clockwise from top: The logo of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games; groom Shelly Gilbert, from England, grazes
Woodfalls Inigo Jones at the Kentucky Horse Park, which will host the 2010 Equestrian Games from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.

48 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 S ta f f P h o t o
Jeff Adkins
Horse Sense The Kentucky Horse Park
The venue for the 2010 Alltech FEI World
Equestrian Games is a working 1,200-acre
horse farm, educational theme park, and equine
competition facility in Lexington. The park draws
900,000 visitors and 15,000 competition horses
each year. KHP showcases dozens of breeds of
horses in daily equine presentations, horse-drawn
tours, horseback riding, a movie presentation and an
array of horse shows and special events throughout
the year. The park includes a 7,300-seat lighted
outdoor stadium and 5,500-seat indoor arena and
a 1,200-seat covered arena for exhibitions and
competition. The International Museum of the Horse,
an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the American
Saddlebred Museum and a gift shop are part of the
park complex. The park is also home to the National
Horse Center, a complex where 35 national, regional
and state equine organizations and associations are
headquartered.
KYEDG.com 49
 Marshall County

River. Road. Rail.

We can get you there!

Marshall County Economic Development

Josh Tubbs, Director
1101 Main St. • Benton, KY 42025
(270) 527-2009 • Fax: (270) 527-4795

www.opportunitymarshall.com

50 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Northern
Kentucky
Opportunity Central –
for Advanced Manufacturing;
Office/Regional
Headquarters; Technology

“The games truly are the jumping-off point for

many economic development and tourism
opportunities in the Bluegrass Region and beyond.”
888-874-3365

The horse park now has bookings

well into 2014, Nicholson says, and Alltech FEI World
overseas owners and breeders are Equestrian Games
showing interest in relocating to the
area. This bodes well not only for Dates:
creating a more multidimensional Sept. 25 - Toyota Motor Engineering
equine industry, but also for landing Oct. 10, 2010 & Manufacturing North America, NA
other large-scale events and, perhaps, Location:
even a return of the big event itself. Kentucky Horse Park,
As First Lady Beshear puts it: “The Lexington
games truly are the jumping-off point
Duration:
for many economic development and
tourism opportunities in the Bluegrass 16 days
Region and beyond and will leave a Anticipated reserve ticket sales:
legacy of excellence for Kentucky’s 600,000
equine industry.”
Anticipated economic impact:
WILD Flavors
More than $167 million
Number of participating nations:
More than 50
Broadcast coverage:
6 ½ hours on NBC
Gov. Steve Beshear and www.alltechfeigames.com
First Lady Jane Beshear

KYEDG.com 51
 Worldwide
Appeal
Kentucky companies find global
markets are a passport to growth

52 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide

What’s Online  aluminum and fiber-optic wire and
Watch an interview with Carey Smith,
founder and CEO of Big Ass Fans,
online at kyedg.com.
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photography by Antony Boshier
K
entucky manufacturers are
expanding their global reach at
the same time foreign-owned
companies are increasing investment
in the Bluegrass State.
The state’s exports are approaching
$20 billion annually, and Kentucky
ranks ninth nationally in exports per
capita. Goods sold to other countries
support 49,000 direct jobs; major
markets are Canada, Mexico, Western
Europe, China, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan
and Singapore.
Primary exports are transportation
equipment, chemicals, machinery, and
computer and electronics products, a
list that belies the diversity of Kentucky’s
products and their destinations.
BFW Inc. in Louisville sells its fiber-
optic headlight systems to hospitals
and physicians around the world, and
exports now make up about 25 percent
of the company’s gross sales, says
Lynn Cooper, president.
The company is introducing new lamp
technology that uses less energy, but
extends the device’s life tenfold, from
1,000 hours to 10,000 hours, she says.
“This new technology will become a
significant driving force in the growth
of international sales,” Cooper says.
General Cable in Highland Heights
designs, makes and ships copper,
cable products for multiple markets
that include communications and
A BAF facility in Lexington
KYEDG.com 53
 What’s Online 
See an interview with Lynn
Cooper, president of BFW, online
BFW President Lynn Cooper at kyedg.com.

54 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 energy. It won the 2009 Northern
Kentucky International Trade more insight
Association Award of Excellence.
In Lexington, Big Ass Fans, or BAF, Foreign investment is the other part of the trade equation,
makes fans with diameters up to 25 and Kentucky is adding new projects almost monthly. A February
feet and ships to 50 countries. The 2010 directory published by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic
firm has added an employee solely Development lists more than 390 foreign-owned manufacturing and/
dedicated to boosting international or supportive service firms in the state, employing more than 71,600
sales. Exports account for less than full-time workers.
10 percent of BAF’s sales, but overseas Direct foreign investment neared $30 billion at the end of 2006,
sales in 2009 grew 20 percent over the with Japan and Germany contributing more than two-thirds of the
previous year, says Carey Smith, the total. And the bottom line continues to grow.
company’s founder and president. INFAC Corp., a South Korean company that makes mechanical
“It is amazing how many people see cables and electronic components for the automotive industry,
them outside the country,” Smith says. announced an expansion of its Taylor County distribution and sales
Sightings of Big Ass Fans – the center in October 2009.
Lexington company name is stamped A month later, Hitachi Automotive Products (USA), Inc. announced
on the blades – often take place in it would spend $20.2 million to expand its operation in Harrodsburg.
airports in tropical destinations that India-based Chandra Proteco Ltd., in December 2009, said it will start
don’t use air conditioning. The company manufacturing in Morgantown as Kentucky Copper Inc., a $32 million
has industrial and commercial investment.
product lines.
“We make everything in Kentucky,
and all the components are made
within 150 miles of where we are,”
Smith says. Kentucky Exports in 2008
Some companies, including Canada $5.9 billion
Paducah-based PEBCO Inc.,
France $1.9 billion
are benefiting from increased
industrialization in countries that Mexico $1.2 billion
include China, India, Colombia and United Kingdom $1.2 billion
South Africa. PEBCO makes dry-bulk
handling equipment used in the Japan $840 million
mining and basic materials industries. Germany $752 million
Rick Ladt, the company’s president,
Netherlands $644 million
says patented chute systems allow
automated and accurate loading onto Taiwan $625 million
trucks and trains, and dust-free China $604 million
loading of dry bulk materials is
especially popular. Brazil $557 million
“In the last few years, export has All countries $19.1 billion
become a larger and larger portion of SOURCE: Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
our business,” he says. more at KYEDG.com

KYEDG.com 55
 Pine Ridge Regional Industrial
Where the Past, Present and Future
come together and volunteerism is a way of life …

128 Acre Industrial Park

Located at the Quillen Chapel Interchange of the
Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway, near Campton.

“The Gateway to the Mountains”

Low Utility Rates

Hard working, dedicated workforce
from five counties. Eastern/central section of
Kentucky. One hour from Lexington Airport.
Minutes away from Wendell Ford Regional
Airpot and Stanton Airport.

No other part of the state can match this area’s

scenery. Natural Bridge State Park – Red River
Gorge. Hundreds of natural arches, five rivers,
countless smaller streams and small lakes.
The Shawnee once called the region
“the playground of the gods.”

Where tradition and technology go

hand-in-hand. Good roads and modern
utilities allow area residents to enjoy the
charm of small-town life and the
ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
56 K e n t u cconvenience
of the modern world.
 Authority and Business Park
Wolfe • Lee • Powell • Owsley • Breathitt Counties

The region offers good schools, highly rated

academics and sports programs, five golf courses,
libraries and museums, churches, Hazard Community
College/Lees College Campus, Kentucky Area
Technology Center – Lee County Campus.

Each of the five counties offer smaller

industrial parks suitable for satellite
businesses. Each county offers outstanding
annual festivals including the Woolly Worm
Festival – one of Kentucky’s top 10 tourism
events. Daniel Boone National Forest.
Community parks and playgrounds,
rock climbing, large populations of
deer and turkey, and some of the best
fishing and hunting in the country.

More species of wildflowers

than anywhere else in
the world.

BoB Smith
(606) 464-2888
forktrt@bellsouth.net
Outstanding fire departments and civic groups.
Steve hale
Largest oil and gas fields east (606) 663-2283

of the

Mississippi River. shale@whitakerbank.com KYEDG.com 57
 Small
Business,
Big Success
Kentucky programs give a lift to entrepreneurship

58 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 A CO2 laser cuts sheet metal at Boneal,
a small manufacturing firm in eastern Kentucky
that has won contracts with the U.S. Postal Service,
U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Air Force.

KYEDG.com 59
 Story by Joe Morris • Photography by Antony Boshier
W
hile Kentucky’s largest employers are grabbing
headlines for plowing millions into facilities that
create hundreds of jobs, the state is working
diligently to aid small business and encourage
entrepreneurship.
From a microloan program for loans up to $35,000 to
classroom-style training sessions to outreach events and
mentorship programs, the state has embraced small business.
In 2009, the Cabinet for Economic Development’s Small
Business Services Division hosted eight small business
forums across the state, showcasing a particular region
or area development district and offering fledgling
entrepreneurs the chance to learn about the key
components that turn an idea into a solid business plan.
“We want to make sure people get assistance, whether
that’s financial support, help making connections, finding
out about contract opportunities or even attending some
workshops,” says John E. Cole III, director of the Kentucky
Small Business Services Division.
Mammoth Designs Inc., a Flemingsburg-based
manufacturer of cab enclosures, canopy tops and accessories
for utility terrain vehicles, was founded in 2005 by father-
son team, Matt and David Oldham.
What started as a business being run out of the younger
Oldham’s basement has grown into a substantial operation,
60 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
aided in part by consultation from state small business
experts, who offered advice on streamlining operations,
increasing efficiencies and boosting profits. (Some of the
company’s UTV equipment was featured in the movie
Tropic Thunder.)
The company’s growth also has been helped by loans
from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance
Authority and the Mountain Association for Community
Economic Development.
“Whenever you expand, you need more capital,” David
Oldham says. “We’re working so that we can make our
business less cyclical, and growing daily, and so these
sources of capital have been very helpful to us.”
The company is exploring the government-contract
market, and having resources available from the state to
help it do so has been a key to its success in that effort,
Oldham says.
At 30-year-old Boneal Inc., a prime-contract manufacturer
for government agencies and the private sector, being in a
Small Business Administration-certified HUBZone – a
historically underutilized business district – has been
beneficial in landing government business.
Consultants from the Kentucky Procurement Assistance
Program (KPAP), also housed in the Cabinet for Economic
Development, worked with Boneal when the company
 More Insight
Kentucky offers a number
of programs that assist
small companies. The
Kentucky Economic
Development Finance
Authority, for example,
offers a loan program to
eligible businesses with
fewer than 50 employees
engaged in manufacturing,
agribusiness, or service
and technology. Loans of
$15,000 to $100,000 are
available for such things as
acquiring land and
buildings, buying and
installing machinery and
equipment, or for working
capital. For more on the
program and other
programs that assist small
business in Kentucky, go to
www.thinkkentucky.com.
began to explore the government market, helped them get
HUBZone certification and provided information about
government specifications and pricing history.
Boneal has subsequently won contracts with the U.S.
Postal Service, U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air
Force. Boneal continues to utilize KPAP’s bid match service
to identify government contracting opportunities, and
participates in many KPAP training/networking events
to aggressively seek out new marketing contacts.
“In Kentucky, there are a number of programs that help
businesses help themselves,” says David Ledford, Boneal
president. “We got a lot of guidance when we were learning
about government contracting and were able to get access
to a lot of data and research that was out there, as well as
some helpful introductions. We have always found the
Cabinet for Economic Development staff have a genuine
interest in what we’re doing.”
From left: Father-and-son partners Matt, left, and David Oldham
own Mammoth Designs, which specializes in aftermarket utility
terrain vehicle accessories; David Ledford, president of
manufacturer Boneal Inc. in Means, Ky.
Entrepreneur Helper
Array of resources aid Kentucky startups
A wide range of public funding and business support
programs also help Kentucky create and grow hundreds
of new high-tech ventures each year. From pre-seed,
seed and commercialization funds, to tax incentives
and other programs, Kentucky has the resources and
infrastructure in place to help innovators and
entrepreneurs succeed at every stage of developing
their technologies.
A statewide network of Innovation and
Commercialization Centers offers entrepreneurs
advice and help in starting a high-tech company and
finding funding. Since 2001, the Cabinet for Economic
Development, through its Department of
Commercialization and Innovation (DCI), has invested
more than $150 million in high-tech companies,
initiatives and projects that have created thousands
of high-paying, high-tech jobs statewide.
Kentucky has an amazing range of resources to
assist high-tech start-up companies,” says DCI
Commissioner Deborah Clayton. “Our state programs
are especially valuable to innovative entrepreneurs as
the funding is usually provided in the form of forgivable
loans and grants.”
To help cultivate a strong entrepreneurial spirit among
Kentucky’s young innovators and entrepreneurs, the
Cabinet hosts an annual business plan competition,
Idea State U, which is open to all eight of Kentucky’s
public universities. More than $100,000 in combined
prizes and awards make the event one of the nation’s
largest state-sponsored business plan competitions.
DCI offers a variety of other programs that encourage
small business growth, including Kentucky’s unique
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Matching Funds
program, which has drawn national attention. It matches
both Phase 1 and Phase 2 federal awards received by
Kentucky’s early-stage, high-tech businesses.
Enabling Kentucky companies to undertake
research, development and commercialization in the
fields of alternative fuels and renewable energy, as
well as helping build research-intensive industries in
the state and investing seed capital in promising high-
tech companies are also priorities for state efforts.
For more on the programs that assist small business
in Kentucky, go to www.ThinkKentucky.com.
– Joe Morris
KYEDG.com 61
 Proof of
Success
Bourbon distillers pour new
investment dollars into Kentucky
Story by Joe Morris

K
entucky’s horse industry is
internationally known, but
those who prefer sips to saddles
have ensured that its Bourbons are a
popular Bluegrass State export as well.
The numbers are certainly there: $3
billion in gross product, 10,000 direct
and spin-off jobs with $442 million
in annual payroll. Kentucky produces
95 percent of the world’s supply of
Bourbon, with nearly 5 million barrels
currently aging in the Commonwealth.
And with more than $100 million in
planned and active capital investment,
it’s an industry that’s ramping up to
be even bigger.
Among those increasing their
production and operations in the state:
Rare Breed Distilling is building a
20,000-space barrel storage warehouse
at its Wild Turkey distillery in
Lawrenceburg.  The $2.3 million
project will add to Wild Turkey’s
storage capacity for its maturing
whiskey products.
Sazerac North America is planning
a combined $28 million expansion at

Brian McCord

62 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 More Insight
The Kentucky Bourbon
Trail® links six of the
state’s historic
distilleries: Brown
Forman’s Woodford
Reserve, Four Roses,
Heaven Hill, Jim Beam,
Maker’s Mark and Wild
Turkey, and allows
visitors to explore the
more than 200-year
history of America’s
Official Native Spirit.
For more on the
Kentucky Bourbon
Jeff Adkins

Trail®, go to www.
kybourbontrail.com.

KYEDG.com 63
 its Owensboro distillery and the
Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.
The projects will add nearly 90 new
full-time jobs in the Commonwealth.
Beam Global Spirits & Wine, which
operates the Jim Beam distilleries in
Frankfort and Clermont, will begin
production in Frankfort of DeKuyper
cordials and other spirits currently
bottled outside of Kentucky. The move
will result in the addition of about 120
new jobs and more than $28 million in
technology upgrades at the Frankfort
distillery over a two-year period.
“The $28 million plant upgrade in
Frankfort is part of a current
consolidation of our North American
locations, but we have been
continually expanding in Kentucky for
the past three or four years,” says Jeff
Conder, vice president of Americas
operations for Beam Global. “We have
invested about $70 million in
warehousing and distillation capacity,
increasing our Bourbon-making
capacity in Kentucky by 50 percent.”
64 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
Beam has gone from 1.2 million
barrels in storage to almost 2 million,
much of which is dedicated to
Bourbons requiring more time in the
barrel, so it has ramped up production
for both its four-year products, as well
as those that require more aging.  Distillers’ Association. “And many of
“Kentucky is the nexus of our
network, not only because we have
increased capacity for Bourbon, but
also because we’ve been able to bring
into our facilities some of the products
from recent acquisitions to be
produced here as well,” Conder says.
Many of the state’s new and existing
distilleries have become tourist sites,
as well as manufacturing centers,
allowing the state’s signature industry
to become an increasingly visible
destination as well as an economic
development juggernaut.
September in Kentucky is Bourbon
Heritage Month, and the Kentucky
Bourbon Trail® marked its 10th
anniversary in 2009 with more visitors
to its historic distilleries than ever
before.
“In the past 10 years, Bourbon
production has increased by more
than 75 percent, and that has had an
effect on tourism as well,” says Eric
Gregory, president of the Kentucky
these distillers have spent millions to
upgrade the visitors’ experience.”
As an example, he points to Maker’s
Mark and its $3 million upgrade to
their distillery experience that
included a gourmet café and upgraded
gift shop at its Loretto distillery.
“A lot of the expansion is geared
around the tourism component, which
has been skyrocketing,” Gregory says.
“Since we opened the Kentucky
Bourbon Trail, attendance has never
gone down, and in 2009, we had more
than 350,000 visits to the sites on the
trail, with more than 3,000 people
visiting all distilleries.”
The state’s willingness to pitch in
with marketing and promotion has
helped enormously, and Gregory

ph o t o s b y J e f f A d k i n s
credits economic development
officials at all levels of government for
capitalizing on the boom.
“Bourbon and Kentucky have been
linked for centuries, and it’s known all
around the world,” he says. “We’re
growing jobs in the distilleries and in
the related tourism industry and are
having a tremendous financial
impact.”
Clockwise from left: The Woodford Reserve
distillery in Versailles; master distiller Jim
Rutledge sniffs a Bourbon sample during
the distilling process at Four Roses
distillery in Lawrenceburg; the Kentucky
Bourbon Trail includes a number of world-
famous distillers
Shot of Success
$3 billion
Value of gross product of Kentucky
distilleries
10,000
Number of direct and spin-off jobs
at Kentucky distilleries
$442
million
Annual payroll at Kentucky
distilleries and spin-off industries
95
Percent of world’s Bourbon supply
that comes from Kentucky
A Barrel Full
of Fun
City celebrates its spirit
with Bourbon Festival
With more than 95 percent
of the world’s supply being
distilled in Kentucky, the
Bluegrass State will get few
arguments about its dominance
in the Bourbon industry.
The state celebrates its
Bourbon-producing heritage
each September at the Kentucky
Bourbon Festival in Bardstown,
the Bourbon Capital of the World.
Bourbon has been produced
in Bardstown since 1776,
giving the community a true
revolutionary spirit. About 70
percent of Kentucky’s Bourbon
is produced in the region that
includes Bardstown.
The festival is a five-day
extravaganza filled with food,
live music, entertainment,
a host of events for adults and
families, seminars, tours and,
of course, Bourbon.
The 2009 event, for example,
included events ranging from the
ancient craft of barrel making to
a cooking class using Bourbon
recipes to seminars by master
distillers to Bourbon tastings to
tours of historic Bardstown and
Bootleggers & Bushwhackers
Train Robbery, a ride on a steam
locomotive where bandits came
after its cargo of liquid gold.
Begun in 1992 as a Bourbon
tasting and dinner, the festival
grew to more than 45,000 visitors
from 43 states and 13 countries
in 2009.  It has been named one
of the top events by Southeast
Tourism Society, the American
Bus Association and the Kentucky
Tourism Council.  
The dates for the 2010 festival
are Sept. 14-19. Festival events
are open to the public and while
many are free, some require
reservations and tickets. For
more on the festival and for
event and ticket information,
go to www.kybourbonfestival.com.
KYEDG.com 65
 Making
Big Waves
Kentucky is awash in water recreation opportunities

Jeff Adkins

66 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 A n t o n y B o s h i er
Story by Amy Stumpfl

W
ith more than 1,000 miles of navigable waterways,
the Bluegrass State offers virtually unlimited
opportunities for outdoor recreation.
In fact, Kentucky boasts more miles of running water
than any state other than Alaska. From boating and fishing
to historic river towns and museums, the state’s many
waterways capture the hearts of residents and visitors alike.  125,000 acres of rugged scenery – including dramatic
“People are often surprised when they start looking at
the sheer numbers,” says Elaine Wilson, executive director
of Adventure Tourism for the Tourism, Arts & Heritage
Cabinet. “Louisa May Alcott’s father said it best, ‘The less
routine, the more life.’ So, chuck the routine and plan some
outings with family and friends.”  great way to appreciate the scenery.”
Water activities and attractions abound the state,
including the Belle of Louisville, a century old stern-
wheel steamboat that transports passengers up and
down the Ohio River. Newport’s Ride the Ducks features
amphibious vessels modeled after World War II landing
craft, and Lost River Cave in Bowling Green hosts the
state’s only underground boat tour.
During a full moon at Cumberland Falls near
Williamsburg, visitors can see a beautiful and rare
phenomenon, a moonbow – a rainbow produced by light
reflected off the surface of the moon rather than from direct
sunlight – one of only two found in the Western Hemisphere.
Nestled in the heart of the Cumberland Plateau, Big
South Fork National River and Recreation Area also is
a popular destination for water recreation, whether it’s
fishing or whitewater paddling. Comprising more than
gorges and sandstone arches – the park averages 675,000
visitors annually.
“Some areas are pretty rugged, while others are more
manageable,” says Howard Duncan, park ranger. “Hiking
and horseback riding also are popular activities, and a
For those looking for a more relaxed pace, the Big South
Fork Scenic Railway provides spectacular views along with
an inside look at the park’s rich history and culture.
On the shoreline, an array of interesting museums and
attractions augments the waterway experience, from the
Kentucky River Museum in Boonesborough to the McAlpine
Lock and Dam in Louisville to Covington’s Behringer-
Crawford Museum and its riverboat memorabilia.
The River Discovery Center in Paducah honors the
unique heritage and culture related to the state’s waterways.

From left: A water skiier takes in a sunset over Herrington Lake in eastern Boyle County; the Belle of Louisville on the Ohio River

KYEDG.com 67
 68 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 A n t o n y B o s h i er
From top: Visitors at the River Discovery Center try out the Pilothouse Simulator; Big South Fork National River is popular with kayakers.

Established in 2003, the center uses interactive exhibits

and state-of-the-art technology to explore the region’s
rivers and river industry. For example, the Pilothouse
Simulator allows visitors to captain their own boat,
maneuvering through various obstacles and challenges.
“The simulator is the first of its kind in a museum
setting,” says Julie Harris, center executive director.
“It’s great fun for both children and adults, providing a
very realistic experience. In fact, it’s so real that we’ve
even had a few people get seasick.”
Other exhibits include Hidden Highways, which explores
the vast inland waterways throughout the eastern United
States, complete with changing elevations. And 24 Hours
on the River provides a bird’s-eye view of river traffic at
the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers at Owens
Island. The River Discovery Center offers a number of
educational programs throughout the year, as well as
summer day camps for children ages 8-12. Harris says
the center is gearing up for a major expansion, which
will include new facilities, exhibits and even aquariums.
“We welcomed 17,000 visitors in 2009 – up 30 percent
over 2008 – so we are really excited about the expansion,”
she says. “Our exhibits touch on all aspects of the rivers,
Brian McCord

educating people in a fun, entertaining way.”

For vacation ideas on land and water in Kentucky,
go to www.kentuckytourism.com.

KYEDG.com 69
 Hollywood in the Bluegrass
State stars with incentive program for film production

In a state that is synonymous with the first given under a new state television projects that spend
horses, it’s fitting that a movie about program designed to draw more at least $500,000 in the state
legendary Triple Crown winner film production to the state. are eligible for a 20 percent
Secretariat would be filmed in The incentives, administered refundable tax credit for
Kentucky. by the Tourism, Arts and Heritage production and post-production
The path from the track to the Cabinet, were signed into law by expenses. The credit is also
silver screen was made easier by a Gov. Steve Beshear as part of his available for commercial
$1.2 million tax credit for the Disney Incentives for a New Kentucky productions that spend at least
Studios subsidiary making the movie, legislation passed during the 2009 $200,000 and documentary
the life story of Penny Chenery, special session of the Kentucky filmmakers and Broadway
Secretariat’s owner. The credit was General Assembly. Film and productions that spend at
least $50,000 in the state.
“This is a great way to kick off
Kentucky’s new film incentive
package,” Gov. Beshear says. “I
think it’s appropriate that a state
known for thoroughbred racing be a
part of a film about one of the most
well-known horses in racing history.”
The production company spent
about two weeks filming in the
state in fall 2009, infusing around
$6 million into the Kentucky
economy for expenditures such as
salaries for extras and hotel stays.
State officials had been trying
to land the project for three years
and were told the film would be
shot in Louisiana until Disney
learned of Kentucky’s incentives.
“Films like Secretariat will offer
Kentucky communities and small
businesses a great opportunity
when it comes to film production,”
says Kentucky First Lady Jane
Beshear. “I’m hopeful that the
incentives we offer will prompt
more filmmakers to follow and
help us promote Kentucky’s
beauty and economic
development opportunities.”
Besides Secretariat, expected
to be released in late 2010, the
incentives are luring other
projects, including an independent
film to be shot in Anderson County
and the surrounding area.
 – Bill McMeekin

70 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
Elizabethtown &
Louisville Metro Areas:

Building
a Regional
Economy

Looking
Beyond Boundaries

Wired65: Talent,
Innovation & Place

Special Advertising Section

 Wired65: Building A Regional Economy
Regional Collaboration
Regional collaboration brings economic prosperity
to Kentucky’s heartland
I
n Kentucky’s heartland, an
economic development initiative
known as Wired65 is allowing civic
leaders in 26 counties to look beyond
the physical and political boundaries
that organize them, and devote their
time, passion and expertise to regional
collaboration.
Initiated by the Lincoln Trail Area
Development District Workforce
Investment Board through a federal
grant, the $5 million Wired65 program
began as a workforce development
strategy covering 15 Kentucky counties,
primarily to address the Fort Knox
workforce expansion under BRAC. It
soon became evident to area leaders
that the regional boundaries needed to
be enlarged in order to realize their
vision of an area that could compete
globally in a wide range of economic
areas.
“It wasn’t a 26-county focus when
we first started,” says Kim Huston,
Wired65 co-chair and president of the
Nelson County Economic Development
Agency. “But once we got into it, we
knew we needed to bring the larger
Louisville metro area, which meant
including southern Indiana and also
moving southward to Green County.
Now, we have six area development
districts that are involved, covering
26 counties.”
Working in such a large region has
its advantages and its challenges,
Huston says, but because community
leaders understand that economic
prosperity and innovation occur when
regional assets are linked, working in a
larger region offers greater rewards.
“We have large cities and small
towns involved in this effort,” she says.
“Not all the opportunities and
challenges these communities have or
face are the same. We went through a
comprehensive process, evaluating our
region’s strengths and weaknesses, to
develop programs and projects that are
transferable from urban to rural areas.”
Globalization is changing economic
boundaries; regions are recognized as
the most important economic
recreational and cultural experiences.
geographies in today’s economy. By
The numerous area colleges and
looking at individual economic
universities provide a powerful
resources through the lens of
regionalism, leaders envision a cluster economic engine. Schools are pursuing
of prosperous communities driven by new ways to integrate education with
talent, competing together as one in a industry so that students graduate with
global marketplace. the workforce skills that employers
Leaders have discussed workforce need. They are looking at what’s
needs, industry trends, education working in the career pipeline,
services and quality of life attributes. expanding upon those models and
They’ve spent a significant amount of preparing for 21st-century jobs.
time focusing on young professionals Health care and logistics are strong
and what they seek when choosing an industry segments today. Some of the
area to live and work. Extensive region’s greatest opportunities lie in
research shows Kentucky’s heartland as energy, manufacturing, information
a great place to raise a family, one where technology, tourism, agriculture,
family and friends are a high priority. human resources and entrepreneurship.
People in the area also value The U.S. Army is transferring its
opportunities for social, educational, Human Resource Command to Fort
Jeff Adkins
www.wired65.org
 Elizabethtown & Louisville Metro Areas
Knox over the next few years, bringing
thousands of white-collar jobs to the
area. Those jobs will be filled by people
who will enjoy Kentucky’s scenic
beauty, bourbon, horses and vast
opportunities for adventure tourism.  Promote the region as a
Wired65 is funded by a federal grant
from the Department of Labor that
requires that funds be used to support
sustainable changes in industries and
workforce development. The Wired65
region includes 26 counties (19 in
Kentucky and seven in Indiana), the
Louisville and Elizabethtown
metropolitan areas, and portions of six
workforce investment areas.
– Betsy Williams
Left: A welder fixes a trailer hitch;
Kentucky-based companies are creating
breakthroughs in all areas of health
care, including the processing of MRI
images Above: The Kentucky Derby;
P.O. Box 604 • 613 College Street Rd. • Elizabethtown, KY 42701
Kentucky Center for the Performing
Arts; St. Catharine College;
pumpkin patch
All rights reserved. No portion of this special advertising
section may be reproduced in whole or in part without written
Special Advertising Section
This special section is published for Lincoln Trail Area
Development District by Journal Communications Inc.
For more information, contact:
Lincoln Trail Area Development District
(270) 769-2393 • (270) 769-2993  Fax
(800) 247-2510 TDD • www.ltadd.com
©
Copyright 2010 Journal Communications Inc.
725 Cool Springs Blvd., Suite 400
Franklin, TN 37067, (615) 771-0080
consent.
On the cover:
UPS is a major presence in the region and the state.
Setting
Priorities
Five regional priorities form
core of Wired65 work program
Regional leaders collaborated for
18 months, utilizing the services of
two organizations – TIP Strategies
and Next Generation Consulting –
to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of the 26-county
Wired65 region. After surveying
hundreds of people and meeting
with multiple focus groups across
Kentucky’s heartland, they
identified five major regional
priorities that have formed the
core of Wired65’s work program:
• Fix the Education Pipeline –
Focus on smoothing transition
points within the P-20 education
system. Make learning relevant
to growth industries and make
the connection between
education, income and
prospects for the future.
• Prepare for 21st-Century Jobs –
Provide cutting-edge vocational
training in high school and
better align postsecondary
programs with the needs of
local businesses.
• Create a Talent Magnet –
world-class destination for
21st-century talent by
highlighting the region’s
educational, innovation
and research assets.
• Invest in Priority Sectors – Invest
in economic and workforce
development projects that
strengthen the region’s priority
sectors: health care, life sciences,
logistics, human resource
management, energy
technologies, advanced
manufacturing, agriculture,
entrepreneurship, and tourism.
• Focus on Quality of Place –
Take a regional view and use
the region’s quality of place as
a recruitment and retention tool
for knowledge workers.
The Kentucky Education and
Workforce Development Cabinet
and Wired65 have awarded one
Quantum grant of $2.5 million
and 10 Catalytic grants totaling
$853,000 to fund programs
addressing these five
regional priorities.
– Betsy Williams
 Wired65: Building A Regional Economy

Passing
Inspection
Fort Knox gains 5,000 jobs under BRAC realignment as
Army’s international HR headquarters

F
ort Knox is transforming into the Opening in June 2010 is the Human
Fort Knox human resources department for one of Resource Center of Excellence, which will
BRAC the largest organizations in the world, house the international headquarters for the
by the the U.S. Army. U.S. Army Human Resources Command and
Numbers Current figures show a net increase of Army Accessions Command. When fully
5,000 permanent positions at the post, populated, approximately 4,500 people will be
• Total projected including approximately 2,500 civilian jobs working in the mammoth 900,000-square-foot
employment largely in human resource management and structure.
impact is 7,800 information technology. This boost to the While many of the new job openings will be
jobs, including
spinoff jobs region’s knowledge-based economy is causing either Army human resource specialists or
quite a stir. assistants, there will also be many
• As many as 13,000
new residents “The region could see as many as 13,000 opportunities for information technology
(employees and new residents over a period of three to four experts, administrative workers and a wide
family members) years,” says Brad Richardson, executive variety of other disciplines. Salaries will range
• $322 million plus director of One Knox, the organization serving from approximately $25,000 to upwards of
in new payroll; as the liaison between Fort Knox and the $140,000.
$1.5 billion total region’s communities. “Our charge is to help “There are lots of great things happening,”
payroll post-BRAC
the communities with all of the changes that Richardson says.
• More than
$750 million
are occurring and help them deal with the – Betsy Williams
in construction growth issues.”
projects on Fort The growth will have a huge impact on
Knox since 2006 the region’s workforce programs, schools,
• A sustained infrastructure and housing. One Knox,
40 percent increase which is funded by the Office of Economic
in state and local
tax revenues
Adjustment of the Department of Defense
and the participating counties, assists by
• From 2007-2012,
the total projected
coordinating studies and planning, soliciting
state tax revenue funding for community capital projects, and
generated from Fort serves as the single point of contact for the
Knox operations will local communities in their coordination
exceed $385 million,
representing a with the military, Army civilians and
$96 million increase defense contractors.
in new state To assess the projected economic impact
tax revenue on the surrounding communities, the Lincoln
• Projected annual Trail Area Development District engaged
state tax revenue consultants to produce a regional economic
generated post-
BRAC from Fort impact analysis. The consulting team predicts
Knox operations the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
is approximately will have a significant economic impact on
$75 million both the nine-county study area and the
• The Commonwealth Commonwealth of Kentucky.
of Kentucky has
committed
The study estimates that for every two
$100 million to new jobs on post, one will be created off post.
transportation BRAC could result in more than $322 million
and infrastructure in new payroll from new direct jobs,
improvements
to prepare for
construction jobs, and spinoff employment.
increased demand It may also produce a sustained 40 percent
by new residents increase in local and state tax revenues.

www.wired65.org
 Elizabethtown & Louisville Metro Areas

From Grain to Gold

The Derby Region’s rich
Bourbon history
contributes to a robust
regional economy

B
luegrass and Bourbon blend together
in Kentucky’s heartland, creating a
dynamic hospitality industry that is rich
in scenery, history and tradition.
For more than 200 years, Kentucky distillers
have crafted distinguished Bourbons, which
account for 95 percent of the world’s Bourbon
production. Today, distilleries help create about
10,000 jobs in the state, generating an annual
payroll of $442 million and $125 million in celebratory dinner to a weeklong event
taxes, according to a study released by the featuring concerts, fine arts and, of course, About
Kentucky Distillers’ Association. Bourbon tastings. Kentucky’s
Brands like Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark and Those visitor numbers continue to generate Bourbon
Heaven Hill dot the region’s landscape, making new investment and additional jobs in the Industry
Bourbon a signature Kentucky commodity and hospitality industry, with the creation of new
the largest export category of all U.S. spirits. hotels and restaurants and the adaptive reuse of Distillers of Bourbon
Other distillers on the legendary Kentucky and other spirits pump
historic buildings as quaint lodging and retail hundreds of millions of
Bourbon Trail® include Four Roses, Wild establishments. A lively entrepreneurial spirit is dollars into Kentucky’s
Turkey and Brown-Forman’s Woodford Reserve; evident throughout the region, with restaurants economy each year,
together they manufacture the amber liquid of according to a
and cooking schools centering on Bourbon- Kentucky Distillers’
fermented grains and limestone water that is based delicacies – all served amid Kentucky’s Association study.
marketed under dozens of different names. breathtaking scenery. Other findings:
Brown-Forman, located in Louisville, is among “You can’t find the Bourbon experience
the top 10 largest global spirits companies, with • Kentucky hosts
anywhere else in the world,” says Bardstown’s 43 percent of all
more than 25 brands in its portfolio and sales in Przystal. “It’s led people here – it’s the hook – U.S. distilling jobs
more than 135 countries. and then they discover the many other great • The distilling
“People want to savor the Kentucky Bourbon things to see and do in our region.” industry has a job
experience,” says Dawn Przystal, vice president multiplier of 3.29,
After a day in the countryside visiting creating more
of tourism expansion and marketing for the
distilleries, take a trip into Louisville for a stop spin-off jobs than
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention other industries
on the Urban Bourbon Trail. Louisville has been
Commission and a member of Team Bourbon, a such as tobacco
home to many distillers since Evan Williams farming, horse farms
regional marketing effort. “The creation of the
Kentucky Bourbon Trail® in 1999 has marketed his first whiskey in the city in 1780. and coal mining
encouraged the distilleries to enhance the The establishments on the Urban Bourbon Trail • Distilling ranks
visitor experience. Each distillery is unique – vary from historic hotel properties to fourth out of
cosmopolitan bars and include Proof on Main, 244 Kentucky
some are modern facilities, others are historic manufacturing
landmarks – and the experience is an extension part of the 21c Museum and Hotel. industries in total
of their brand.” This 90-room boutique hotel nestled in the employment and
heart of Museum Row in historic downtown job multiplier
Distilleries have received more than
Louisville offers an authentic, luxurious • Distillery operations
1.5 million visits in the last five years, as generate $9 million
Bourbon enthusiasts view the process and then Southern experience in an art-filled setting. annually in taxes
taste the result. And 2009 marked a 400 percent Founders Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson on aging barrels
increase in Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Passport launched the museum, hotel and award- and property
participants – those who visited all distilleries. winning restaurant in 2006 to support
More than 50,000 people attend the annual Louisville’s downtown revitalization and engage
Kentucky Bourbon Festival held September in the public with contemporary art.
Bardstown. The event has grown from a – Betsy Williams

Special Advertising Section

 Wired65: Building A Regional Economy
Investing in Regional Talent
Wired65 grants champion projects that will develop a new
workforce generation
T
he Kentucky Education and Workforce Development
Cabinet and Wired65 awarded more than $853,000 in
grants to 10 organizations that will champion
projects that offer new ways to develop, retain and recruit
the next generation of talent. These forward-thinking
ventures will emphasize workforce development efforts that
cater to employers in the 26-county region.
Venture Economic Development Department
Junior Achievement Career Planning for
High School Students
Champion liaison between regional farmers and Louisville’s food
Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana
Mission farmers about marketing and sales opportunities and
JAKY is bringing business people and volunteers into the
classroom to guide young people through their career and
college planning process with the JA Real Jobs, Real World
program.
“The work we are doing will help students remain
motivated to stay in school and achieve the career of their
dreams,” says Debra Hoffer, president of JAKY, which has
expanded its service area in order to serve more than 3,000
students throughout the 26-county region. Career planning
programs are being delivered in 120 classrooms,
establishing links between students and postsecondary
education institutions.
“The teachers are ecstatic to place a real businessperson
in their classes to help students achieve their goals,” Hoffer
says. “And this has captured the attention and support of
the business community because they see as individuals
that they can do something that has a deep impact on
creating the workforce of the future.”
Venture
Fix the Pipeline: Improving High School Transitions
Champion
Greater Louisville Inc. and Louisville/Jefferson County
Metro Government
Mission
Three components will be implemented to increase the
number of students who graduate from high school, submit
college applications and enroll in college. The components
include a Close the Deal campaign to create a strong college-
going culture by involving elected officials, holding regional
workshops to increase college familiarity and implementing
a KnowHow2Go marketing campaign to promote the tools
www.wired65.org
needed to enhance education transitions.
Venture
Building the Regional Food Economy –
Phase I Implementation
Champion
Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government,
Mission
This project funds a public interest broker to serve as a
market. The broker is also charged with implementing
strategies to grow the region’s food economy, educating
focusing on the next generation of farmers.
“The city of Louisville and surrounding communities
have been working for a number of years to build
a sustainable farm economy,” says John Logan Brent, Henry
County judge executive.
The broker is meeting with area hospitals, restaurants,
food distribution companies and emergency feeding
organizations to find those product opportunities, then
coordinating delivery with farmers.
Leaders are discussing the creation of a permanent retail
setting, a farmer’s market that would include a processing
place where consumers could take their green beans and
corn for canning and freezing. Nearby restaurants would
use the locally grown food to gain critical mass, thus
creating a cycle of profitability.
“People love to drive out from the urban areas and look
at well-maintained farms and countryside,” says Brent, a
Henry County native. “But it doesn’t come that way without
some profitability, which comes about when you connect the
producer with the consumer.”
Venture
School At Work® “Building a Career Ladder in
Healthcare”
Champion
Catalyst Learning Co.
Mission
Adults employed in entry-level jobs at four hospitals in
the Wired65 region will participate in School At Work
(SAW) from September 2009 to June 2010. SAW has been
 Elizabethtown & Louisville Metro Areas

used successfully by Norton Healthcare and Floyd Memorial
since 2005 to advance employees.  By refreshing essential
skills and completing individual career plans, SAW helps
employees prepare for local colleges and move up the
career ladder.
Venture One-Stops as Talent Development Portal
Inspiring Student Entrepreneurs to Spark Business
Activity in Their Communities
Champion
Kentucky Council on Economic Education
Mission perception of One-Stops as an unemployment office
A new high school entrepreneurship study designed for
career and technical classes will be demonstrated to high
schools in 15 counties in the Wired65 region. A teacher/
leader will be designated to each county. Students will be
pre- and post-tested and participate in a virtual
entrepreneurship program.
Venture Regional Visioning and Leadership
HIRE Education Forum Regional Internship Program
Champion Champion
The HIRE Education Forum
Mission
The Family Scholar House is a
residential program that provides support to
single-parent students working toward a
four-year college degree. Innovative
technology and outreach support will
maximize the Family Scholar House’s new
Academic Services Center. Funding will
provide the new center with an outreach
coordinator and technology
for training.
Venture
Invention Fair
Champion
Western Kentucky Research
Foundation, WKU
Mission
Invention Fair is a regional event
that will showcasethe creative ideas and
inventions of high school students. Winners
of county invention fairs will advance to participate in the
26-county Invention Fair in the spring of 2010, with
potential feed into an existing college competition, IdeaU.
 Venture
Champion
WorkOne – The Region 10 Workforce Board Inc.
Mission
The project works to refocus the existing
and transition its market brand as a “talent development”
portal. Funding will be used to promote the new identity
to different business and industry sectors and assist the
incumbent workforce in improving information and
computer technology occupations. 
 Venture
Development Campaign
Regional Leadership Coalition

Mission Mission
This region-wide college internship program will employ This campaign will create a compelling, shared
college students as interns in an effort to fill workforce vision of the region’s future that will speak to the
shortages, provide on-the-job training and create a talented community and sustain regional cooperation. It will
pool of individuals for future workforce needs. HIRE is a also look toward regional economic aspirations in
collaborative of 31 accredited colleges and universities the global marketplace and each unique community.
spanning the 26-county region. County chambers, young professionals, leadership
organizations and educational institutions will
Venture participate in the campaign. 
Innovative Technology and Outreach Program

Champion
Family Scholar House Inc. – Betsy Williams

Special Advertising Section

 This workforce solution was funded by a grant awarded under Workforce
Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) as implemented by the
U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The
solution was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official
position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department of Labor makes no
guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect
to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but
not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness,
usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This solution is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization
and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.
 Gallery

Horse farms and miles of fences line the countryside in Lexington,

which bills itself as the Horse Capital of the World.
Photo by Jeffrey S. Otto

KYEDG.com 71
 A cyclist crosses the
Chenault Bridge in Danville.
Photo by Jeff Adkins

72 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 The Lincoln Memorial in Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville.
Photo by Antony Boshier

KYEDG.com 73
 A canon stands in front of the visitors center at Leslie W. Morris Park on Fort Hill.
Photo by Jeff Adkins

74 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 The clock tower atop the historic
Barren County Courthouse is reflected
in the mirrored modern windows of the
Citizens First Bank Building on the town
square in Glasgow.
Staff photo

KYEDG.com 75
 Energy/Technology
They Know
Nano
Kentucky researchers make big
breakthroughs on a tiny scale
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photography by Antony Boshier
K
entucky is making a big splash
in a field that manipulates
molecular particles into
products with applications in the
aerospace, cancer research, solar
power and across virtually every
other field of technology.
Lexington-based Topasol is working
with the U.S. Navy on “smart” coatings
for military aircraft that turn one
color to show impact damage and
another color to show heat stress.
In Louisville, NaugaNeedles makes
minute probes that are 1/1000th the
width of a human hair for research
in medicine, fluid sciences and
thermal vibrations.
And at the University of Louisville,
a 10,000 square-foot clean room is a
key feature of the $42 million Science
A technician works in the University of Louisville Micro/Nano Technology cleanroom.
76 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
and Technology Research Center.
Nanotechnology is the common
denominator.
“We are probing smaller worlds that
we had no clue about and needed a
smaller tool to go there,” said David
Mudd, sales and marketing director
for NaugaNeedles, a University of
Louisville spinoff based on the
research of Mehdi M. Yazdanpanah.
Researchers who use atomic force
microscopes use the needles to probe
the liquid environments and make
highly sensitive measurements within
living cells. NaugaNeedles are more
flexible and harder to break than other
nanoprobes, and unlike some of their
competitors, are conductive, he said.
These unique properties make them
useful in studies in fields that range
 KYEDG.com 77
 A technician with a central processing unit in the University of Louisville Micro/Nano Technology cleanroom;
Right: Jose Rivera, manufacturing engineer, inspects a NaugaNeedles product under a microscope.
More Insight
Kentucky companies
developing alternative
energy technologies have a
new source of potential
financing – their state
government. Kentucky New
Energy Ventures is a $5
million state fund,
managed by DCI, that
makes both equity
investments and direct
grants to firms with
promising ideas for
alternative and renewable
energy technologies.
Applications are accepted
on a regular basis. For more
information, go to www.
startupkentucky.com.
78 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
from cancer research to lithium ion batteries.
“To study something, you have to disturb
it and not just hit it with light,” Mudd says.
Uschi Graham, a chemistry professor at
the University of Kentucky, founded Topasol –
short for topical solutions. The company’s
super-sensitive aircraft coating will help
engineers pinpoint damage before it develops
into more serious problems, possibly
grounding the aircraft longer for repairs.
“New advanced composite structures for
aircraft bodies are extremely strong and
durable and lightweight,” she said. “But even
at low velocities, a bird strike can cause
delamination, but you cannot tell by looking
at the structure.”
The patent-pending technology, which
the university licensed to Topasol, is still in
development. So are other nanocoatings to
reduce reflection and glare, allowing solar
cells to absorb more of the incoming energy,
though the company owns that technology
outright, says Graham, the company’s
president and CEO.
At the University of Louisville, scientists
and engineers from multiple disciplines are
using the Micro/Nano Technology Cleanroom,
trying to make very small things that address
very big problems.
Some work in nanotechnology; others work
in MEMS, or microelectromechanical systems,
devices and structures.
In MEMS, scientists place microcomponents
on wafers and etch away particles they don’t
need. Combined with radio frequency
technology, the approach at UofL has created
an implantable wireless sensor for glaucoma
management and a sensor than can detect
whether patients are healing properly after
spinal fusion surgery.
Other UofL groups are working on
scavenging energy from vibrations in wind
and traffic, and even electrochemical energy
from trees.
The Micro/Nano lab also is leading an effort
to link all of Kentucky’s university and private
nanotech efforts together.
Mudd likened the field to Horton Hears a
Who! In the Dr. Seuss classic book, Horton, a
large elephant, realizes a speck of dust is an
entire planet populated by microscopic
inhabitants no one can see.
 KYEDG.com 79
 80 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Start It Up
Kentucky universities spin research into new companies
Polite company for years shied
away from using the words
commercialization and academia
in the same sentence, but don’t
tell the University of Kentucky.
UK stands out among its
benchmark institutions nationally in
licensing revenue and faculty-related
start-up companies, ranking 17th
and sixth, respectively. Even more
impressive – it ranks first among its
benchmarks in startups per $10
million of research expenditures.
“You wouldn’t think a small, quiet
town would be so successful,” says
Len Heller, UK vice president for
commercialization and economic
development.
Kentucky’s flagship university
in Lexington takes development of
intellectual property seriously. It
holds more than 300 active patents,
with a strong portfolio in drug
development and design, plant biotech,
equine health and materials for medical
devices and drug delivery systems.
“The president and college deans
look for faculty who have an
entrepreneurial spirit,” Heller says.
“Commercializing our innovations
and creating new companies and
jobs is at the heart of our economic
development mission.”
The numbers show it.
According to the Lexington Venture
Club, early stage companies in the
Bluegrass area attracted $47.5
million in venture funding last year.
Companies affiliated with UK
accounted for 52 percent of the
funding and paid higher salaries
than the other area companies.
Success stories include Allylix,
which modifies yeast genes to make
flavors and fragrances, and Mersive
Technologies, a leading display
technology company.
AllTranz is working to improve drug
delivery through transdermal patches,
and Tolera Therapeutics, founded by
the Cleveland Clinic, uses an antibody
developed at UK to prevent the acute
rejection of organ transplants.
Bioscience also is a big source
of commercialization at the University
of Louisville.
MetaCyte Business Lab, a
business accelerator owned by the
University of Louisville Foundation,
has helped launch 16 companies.
The facility’s staff act as a business
team, helping the new firms get
started and obtain financing.
MetaCyte has raised $20 million
so far to support its companies.
“Our goal is to have professional
financing at the earliest rounds,”
says Steve Gailar, MetaCyte’s
president and CEO.
Pradama Inc. is among the
beneficiaries. The company uses
research by William Pierce Jr., a
UofL professor of pharmacology
and toxicology, to develop drugs
to prevent and treat bone disease.
Pierce is now the university’s acting
executive vice president for research.
– Pamela Coyle
KYEDG.com 81
 Antony Boshier

82 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Transportation

Overnight Sensation
DHL’s relocation adds to Kentucky’s superior logistic advantages

Story by Kevin Litwin

K
entucky’s numerous
transportation infrastructure
advantages make it a natural
for distribution operations.
Located in the center of eastern
United States industrial and consumer
markets, Kentucky is within a day’s
truck drive of 60 percent of the nation’s
population, personal income and
manufacturing output.
Five interstates, several key U.S.
routes and a network of limited-
access state parkways serve the state.
Kentucky’s intermodal transportation
systems, including rail and riverway
barges, provide efficient and cost-
effective ways to move goods and
receive materials.
Already home to UPS’ mammoth
World Port logistics and distribution
hub in Louisville, a key in attraction

From left: The William H. Natcher Bridge;

a DHL aircraft is loaded with containers.

KYEDG.com 83
 84 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Five interstates, several key U.S. routes and a network of limited-access parkways go through Kentucky. staff photo
for logistics-dependent businesses,
Kentucky scored another major coup
in August 2009, bringing DHL Express
back to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport (CVG).
Executives with the international
package movement company say
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International is ideal for a distribution
headquarters because of the close
proximity to Interstates 71 and 75,
making it easy for DHL trucks to
access the airport. DHL Express spent
$50 million on the operations center,
and in 2010 is scheduling more than
65 flights per day to and from the
airport hub with a fleet of Boeing
767s and B747-400s and McDonnell
Douglas DC-8-73s.
The center employs 1,600 DHL
staffers who are sorters, engineers,
flight operators and compliance
personnel. The huge DHL hub and
gateway at CVG has 15 miles of conveyor
belts, with thousands of letters and
packages sorted every night.
“The U.S. is an important part of
DHL’s overall Express network, and
the hub in Cincinnati helps us connect Kentucky
our customers to over 220 countries Transportation
and territories worldwide,” says by the Numbers
Robert Mintz, DHL Express public
relations manager. “Our new state-
of-the-art fully automated facility is
within a five-hour flight time between 122
major trade lanes and is ideal for Business sites in Kentucky within
50 miles of a commercial airport
serving shippers that need to be
connected to the global marketplace.”
70
Besides DHL, thousands of other
companies have specifically chosen to
base all or part of their operations in
Sites with rail service possible
Kentucky, thanks in large part to the
state’s efficient transportation network. 
148
Kentucky’s central location and
logistical assets appealed to Chegg.com,
which in February 2010 selected a 611,000-
Sites within 10 miles of an
square-foot facility in Shepherdsville, interstate highway or parkway
Bullitt County, as the site for a ware­
housing and distribution operation.
Chegg, the nation’s leading online
college textbook rental company, will
invest $27.3 million in the project and
23
Sites within 10 miles
create 109 full-time jobs and up to of a public riverport
1,200 part-time seasonal jobs. The
KYEDG.com 85
 C R O U N S E C O R P O R AT I O N
R I V E R T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

Your Carrier
of Choic e
Sinc e 19 4 8

In October of 2008, Crounse Corporation celebrated its 60th anniversary by moving into its new
headquarters at 400 Marine Way, Paducah, Kentucky. Today, Crounse Corporation employs over
300 people, and with a fleet of 35 towboats and 948 barges it transports more than 30 million tons
of cargo each year along the US inland waterways. Crounse has become one of the largest
carriers of coal on the inland river system with a reputation for superior service to its customers.

400 Marine Way • Paducah, KY 42003 • (270) 444-9611 • (270) 444-9615 fax • www.crounse.com
86 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Kentucky Economic Development
Finance Authority preliminarily
approved Chegg for up to $1.5 million
in tax benefits through the Kentucky
Business Investment program.
“Everyone at Chegg is thrilled to
be expanding operations and bringing
additional jobs to Bullitt County,” says
Aayush Phumbhra, co-founder and
senior vice president of operations at
Chegg. “Kentucky, and Shepherdsville
in particular, makes a great home for
Chegg’s textbook fulfillment center.”
Top transportation companies and
organizations are taking notice of the
state’s distribution advantages,
including Chicago Consulting, whose
business it is to recommend relocation
cities and counties for manufacturers,
distributors and retailers. In 2009,
Chicago Consulting named Henderson
County in northwest Kentucky as the
best place in the nation to have a
warehouse distribution center.
“Logistics and transportation are
key reasons why we are ideal for a
distribution company to establish a
facility,” says Kevin Sheilley, president
of Northwest Kentucky Forward, an
economic development group that
represents the counties of Henderson,
McLean, Union and Webster. “In
addition, as more of the central U.S
population continues moving to the
midwest and the south, Kentucky
becomes even more strategic for
distribution companies.”
Sheilley adds that northwest
Kentucky is especially perfect for
transportation companies because
it is located on the new I-69 corridor
and the CSX main north-south line
runs through the middle of the region.
“Also, the Henderson river port is
one of the busiest on the central U.S.
inland river system, with a lot of heavy
tonnage going through,” he says. “Yes,
good transportation is a vital asset for
us in northwest Kentucky.”
“Logistics and transportation are
key reasons why we are ideal for a
distribution company to establish
Kentucky’s logistical advantages make it a distribution hub. photo by jeff adkins a headquarters.”

KYEDG.com 87
 88 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Health

The Doctors
Are In
Story by dave raiford Kentucky is a magnet for medical experts
Photography by ???????

Story by Dave Raiford • Photography by Antony Boshier

A
s Kentucky’s leading medical
institutions, such as UK
HealthCare in Lexington and
the University of Louisville and Jewish
Hospital in Louisville, increase their
research efforts and add more top-
flight talent, providers in the rural
areas of the state are benefiting from
the enhanced medical care they provide.
“It brings a lot more specialists into
the state, and through telemedicine
programs, rural hospitals have access
to specialists they may not otherwise
have had,” says Mike Rust, president
of the Kentucky Hospital Association.
The University of Kentucky and UK
HealthCare have two missions from a
clinical point of view, says Dr. Michael
Karpf, University of Kentucky vice
president of health affairs. One is to
develop top specialty-care programs
that keep patients in the state for
treatment. The other is to stress the
inclusion of rural providers through
such means as outreach programs,
telemedicine and rotating specialists
into outlying hospitals.
“It has allowed us to develop more
robust research programs and to develop
exceptional medical education
programs,” he says.
The programs have enabled partner
facilities to treat patients locally who
would have sought treatment elsewhere,
preserving much needed lines of
revenue for rural hospitals.

University Health Services, left, and the Wethington Allied Health

Building on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington

KYEDG.com 89
 The state’s major medical centers
have accomplished a long list of
medical firsts.
Jewish Hospital, through its
partnership with the University of
Louisville School of Medicine, performed
the first hand transplant in the nation in
1999, and has since developed the Jewish
Hospital Hand Care Center.
90 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
In July 2009, Jewish Hospital and
University of Louisville physicians
conducted the world’s first Phase One,
Food and Drug Administration-
approved clinical trial using cardiac
stem cells to treat heart disease.
Researchers at the University of
Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center are
investigating the ability of a protein
that allows maintenance of healthy
levels of stem cells in bone marrow
during chemotherapy.
Among efforts to connect rural
providers with the specialists and
researchers, UofL Health Care (which
includes the University of Louisville
Health Sciences Center, University of
Louisville Hospital and University
 KYEDG.com 91
 92 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 UK HealthCare

Physicians Associates) has developed
a remote-physician presence robot
network. The system allows UofL
doctors to provide remote patient
consultations with patients in rural
hospitals by using a robot (standing
5 feet 6 inches tall) connected via a
secured connection.
Through its UK Center for
Excellence in Rural Health, in Hazard,
the university works to increase the
number of physicians practicing in
rural areas. Eighty percent of the
medical professionals graduating from
the center’s programs are practicing in
rural areas. UK HealthCare specialists
have regular rotations at rural hospitals.
Clinical volumes at the medical
center in Lexington have grown from
19,000 discharges in 2003 to a
projected 34,000 in the 2010. National
Institutes of Health funding for the
center’s research has grown from $50
million in 2003 to $80 million in 2009,
and the system’s payroll has increased
from $365 million in 2004 to a
projected $638 million for 2010.
As patients throughout the state
remain in their communities longer to
receive treatment and then transfer to
medical centers in Lexington or
Louisville for more complex treatment,
the benefits continue to multiply.
“Those are dollars that are kept
in state. As we help those regional
providers, they send the complex
patients to us and that is one of the
reasons we’ve grown so dramatically,”
he says.

More Insight Kentucky ranks high in health care

Thomson Reuters released its annual study Large Community Hospitals
in March 2009 identifying the 100 top U.S. King’s Daughters Medical Center, Ashland
hospitals based on their overall organizational Baptist Hospital East, Louisville
performance. Kentucky hospitals on the list and Medium Community Hospitals
their categories were: Saint Joseph East, Lexington
Teaching Hospitals Small Community Hospitals
St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Edgewood Saint Joseph-London, London

KYEDG.com 93
 Education

May the Workforce

Be With You
Strong college network, programs keep skilled labor pool filled

Story by Kevin Litwin

O
ne of Kentucky’s significant
advantages as a place to live
and work is its strong network
of colleges and universities. From
major research centers such as the
University of Kentucky and University
of Louisville, four-year private and
public universities across the state,
and community and technical
colleges, Kentucky provides a ready
supply of skilled and knowledge-
based workers.
The Kentucky Community and
Technical College System (KCTCS)
encompasses 16 colleges at 68
campuses strategically located across
the state that offer dozens of credit
and certificate courses in a range of
careers and disciplines. Many of the
courses are offered in the evening or

From left: Jesse D. Jones Hall at Murray State

University; the campus of the University of
Kentucky in Lexington photo by antony boshier

94 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 KYEDG.com 95
 From left: Kentucky’s colleges, such as Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, provide an array of workforce and
skills development programs; Centre College in Danville is one of Kentucky’s numerous high-quality private universities.

online to appeal to people already in
the workforce.
Tuition throughout the Kentucky
Community and Technical College
System is much less than what is
charged at four-year universities,
with a credit hour at KCTCS schools
costing as little as $125.
Often working in concert with the
state colleges is the Bluegrass State
Skills Corp. (BSSC), which provides
millions of dollars in training grants
each year to manufacturers, hospitals
or companies that have an economic
development impact on Kentucky.
BSSC is attached to the Cabinet for
Economic Development in recognition
of the relationship between economic
development and workforce training.
Its grants help companies train their
employees so they can operate in the
most efficient and productive manner
possible and stay competitive.
In its 2008-09 fiscal year, the
division provided workforce training
grants to companies and organizations
that included 3M, Baptist Healthcare
System, Citi Group, Ford Motor Co.,
Ingersoll Rand, Kimberly-Clark, Papa
John’s, Raytheon and Sherwin-Williams.
“And it’s not just big companies,”
says Robert Curry, Bluegrass State
Skills Corp. executive director. “We
also annually assist companies that
are considered small businesses. Overall,
the grants we approve range from
$2,500 to nearly $200,000, depending
on the scope of the training project.”
BSSC was established in 1984 to
stimulate economic development,
specifically by customizing advanced
skills training programs for business
and industry. In fiscal year 2008-09,
the BSSC Board of Directors approved
more than 225 annual grants totaling
almost $8 million to train more than
32,000 Kentucky workers.
Besides the monetary grants, BSSC
also provides $2.5 million in annual
tax credits to businesses that partake
in employee training initiatives.
“There is still a strong demand
for BSSC grants and tax credits even
in this tough economy, which is
encouraging, because it shows that
companies are still interested in
upgrading and moving their
workforces forward,” Curry says.
“These are the Kentucky companies
that will be much better prepared once
the economy turns around, reaping
the rewards of having a highly skilled,
globally competitive workforce.”

96 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Kentucky Private
Colleges and
Universities
Alice Lloyd College
Asbury College
Bellarmine University
Berea College
Brescia University
Campbellsville University
Centre College
Georgetown College
Kentucky Christian University
Kentucky Wesleyan College
Lindsey Wilson College
Mid-Continent University
Midway College
Pikeville College
Saint Catharine College
Spalding University
Sullivan University
Thomas More College
Transylvania University je f f a d k i n s

Union College

Kentucky’s Public Universities

University of Kentucky Eastern Kentucky University Morehead State University
www.uky.edu www.eku.edu www.morehead-st.edu
Enrollment: 27,000 Enrollment: 15,800 Enrollment: 9,100

University of Louisville Northern Kentucky University Kentucky State University

www.louisville.edu www.nku.edu www.kysu.edu
Enrollment: 22,000 Enrollment: 14,800 Enrollment: 2,700

Western Kentucky University Murray State University

www.wku.edu www.murraystate.edu
Enrollment: 19,300 Enrollment: 10,200

KYEDG.com 97
 98 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Solving the Math Problem
Academy turns out STEM skills achievers
The stereotype that girls don’t ultimately graduate as seniors from three STEM electives,” Alderdice says.
like math and science has been the academy not only receive their “The average ACT score for students
squashed at the Carol Martin high school diploma, but have also who attend Gatton is 28.8 out of 36.”
Gatton Academy of Mathematics earned 60 to 70 Gatton Academy students are
and Science in Kentucky. college credits during their two housed in a separate building on the
The state-sponsored high school years on campus. WKU campus, with all tuition, housing
was established in 2007 on the “While enrolled during their two and meals provided at no cost. In
campus of Western Kentucky years at Gatton, students take their 2009, Newsweek magazine named
University in Bowling Green as usual required high school classes Gatton one of the 16 elite public high
a way for top high school juniors along with four college courses in schools in the United States.
and seniors to take college-credit college math, five in science and – Kevin Litwin
courses in the STEM disciplines –
science, technology, engineering
and mathematics.
A total of 60 high school students –
30 girls and 30 boys – are chosen
from a statewide application
process to enroll as juniors at
the academy each August.
“We have about 200 students
apply each year for the 60 open
spots, and more girls apply than
boys,” says Corey Alderdice, Gatton
Academy assistant director of
admissions and public relations.
“That helps to dispel the notion
that girls aren’t interested in
math and science.”
The 60 students who will
A n t o n y B o s h i er

The Gatton Academy of Mathematics

and Science opened for high school
juniors and seniors in fall 2007

KYEDG.com 99
 100 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Livability

‘You’ll Never
Want To Leave’
Charm, sophistication make a welcome home for newcomers

Story by Amy Stumpfl

Photography by Antony Bosier

F
rom the smallest community
to the most sophisticated city,
Kentucky offers a wealth of
resources sure to fit just about any
lifestyle. From world-class galleries
and museums to scenic waterways
and state parks, the Bluegrass State
has a knack for turning visitors into
full-time residents.
Best of all, newcomers find a unique
brand of Southern hospitality that
makes them feel right at home.
Take J. J. DiUbaldi for example.
After graduating from Vanderbilt
University and spending 10 years in
Nashville, this single professional was
looking for a change of scenery when
he moved to Louisville in August 2009.
An avid outdoorsman, DiUbaldi has
enjoyed exploring his new hometown –
especially the city’s extensive park system.
“Cherokee Park in the Highlands
area was built by Frederick Law
Olmstead – the same person who
designed New York’s Central Park,”
he says. “There are miles of paved

From left: Kentucky lets you get close to

the water; Miles of trails and greenways
provide endless outdoor recreation
opportunities.

KYEDG.com 101
 s ta f f ph o t o

102 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Brian mcCord

and unpaved walking and biking trails
there. Portions of the Louisville Loop –
a paved, 100-mile, multiuse trail – also
have been completed. The RiverWalk
and park are conveniently located,
and you’ll see many downtown lunch-
walkers and picnickers there.”
In terms of nightlife, DiUbaldi
has found plenty of great clubs and
restaurants.
“You never have to go more than
a mile to find a good local bar in
Louisville, and most of them serve
food late, too. I’ve been pleased to find
several vegan, vegetarian and organic-
food establishments, with many
restaurants buying from local
growers whenever possible.”
In the case of Maria and Dave
Russell, a 2008 move to Hopkinsville
represented an opportunity to put
down roots near family. The couple –
which spent about three years traveling
in their RV after Hurricane Katrina –
originally planned to spend just a
month in Hopkinsville.
“Our son-in-law is in the Army and
was in Afghanistan while our daughter
was pregnant with their second child,”
Maria says. “We arrived in our RV,
intending to stay for a month to help
with the little ones. On the way to her
house one day, I spotted a house that
had just been put up for sale. By 5 p.m.
that day we had a contract.”
The Russells found the cost of living
much lower than other places they
have lived, including Washington,
D.C., North Palm Beach, Fla., and San

Clockwise from top left: Vibrant restaurants, like the Atomic Cafe in Lexington, are a signature of Kentucky’s communities; lobby of
the Muhammad Ali center in Louisville; Kentucky has an abundance of courses to challenge any golfer; The Fourth Street Live
entertainment district has bars, restaurants and shopping in the heart of downtown Louisville.

KYEDG.com 103
 Diego, Calif. The median home price is
less than $100,000.
Russell says she enjoys the
community’s convenient location
and ready access to state parks
and recreation.
“Boating is one of our passions,
so we love being close to Land
Between the Lakes. There are a
number of public boat launches
nearby, and we can have our 13-foot
Boston Whaler launched on Lake
Barkley in less than an hour,” she says.
Marilyn and Steve Thore also
have enjoyed traveling around their
adopted home state since relocating
to Hopkinsville from Newberg, Ore.,
in summer 2009.
The Thores have discovered a
bevy of scenic and historic sites,
and museums, such as Fort Donelson,
the Audubon Museum in Henderson,
Lake Barkley State Resort Park and
Lexington’s many attractions. Among
the highlights have been a visit to
Berea with its art and crafts center,
and Paducah’s historic downtown. 
“We certainly have loved all the
sites visited, but most of all, we have
enjoyed the wonderfully warm
Southern culture and the people of
Kentucky,” Marilyn Thore says. “The
slower pace and delightful people,
coupled with the natural beauty of
Kentucky, make it a place that once
here, you might never want to leave.”

Whether it’s boating, fishing or just relaxing, Kentucky waterways are a natural attraction. photo courtesy of www.kentuckytourism.com

104 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Getting To Know Kentucky Culture
commonwealth hAs rich offerings of art, culture, history
Kentucky boasts a deep pool of arts, cultural, historic
and recreational opportunities. Here is just a small sample:
Churchill Downs
www.churchilldowns.com
It’s hard to think about the Bluegrass State without
thinking of the Kentucky Derby.
The state has six racetracks, but perhaps none more
famous than Churchill Downs in Louisville, where the
“most exciting two minutes in sports” is held the first
Saturday in May. The track hosts a series of race dates
in spring and fall.
Churchill Downs includes the Kentucky Derby Museum,
two floors of interactive, horse racing-related exhibits,
a 360-degree high-definition video presentation and
a walking tour of the track complex.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
www.nps.gov/abli/index.htm
Kentucky lays claim as the birthplace of the 16th U.S.
president and is in the midst of a celebration of the
200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
The state is home to a number of Lincoln-related
historic attractions, including the Abraham Lincoln
Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville.
Owensboro Museum of Fine Art
www.omfa.museum/
Housed in two structures listed on the National Register
of Historic Sites, the museum’s permanent exhibits
includes a stained-glass gallery of late 19th-century
German stained glass, a major collection of American Folk
Art, with an emphasis on 20th-century Appalachian art,
and works for sale by regional artists and craftspeople.
Appalachian Artisan Center
www.artisancenter.net
The Appalachian Artisan Center in Hindman showcases
the works of artists from 49 counties in eastern Kentucky
and helps preserve and promote the artistic and cultural
heritage of the region.
More than 150 juried members display and sell their work
in the gallery. The center also operates a studio program to
help artists create and grow their own small businesses.
Headley-Whitney Museum
www.headley-whitney.org
Founded in Lexington in 1968 by noted jewelry
designer George Headley, the museum includes a diverse
and eclectic permanent collection of jewels and artifacts,
as well as international and regional exhibitions.
KYEDG.com 105
 Shelby County, Kentucky
American Saddlebred Capital of the World

Shel•by Coun•ty Ken•tuck•y

| SHELL-bee | ‘kounte | ken’teke | noun
• Over 300 acres of zoned appropriate, developed land and
available buildings
• Located on I-64 between Louisville and Lexington
• One of the lowest industrial electric rates in the country
• Labor market of 1,430,161 in 2008
• Harley Davidson’s number ONE alternative site selection
• Future home of Eaton Corporation’s data center

We’re more than just beautiful horses.

www.scidf.com
106 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 economic profile
Business snapshot
Kentucky boasts industrial electricity costs that are consistently among
the lowest in the nation, a tax structure that’s among the most competitive
TRANSPORTATION in the region and an ideal location within 600 miles of two-thirds of the
U.S. population. The Commonwealth is home to nearly 400 international
Interstates companies and thousands more domestic companies. Thirteen of the
I-24, I-64, I-65, I-71, I-75, I-264, Fortune 25 largest U.S. corporations and nine Fortune 25 largest global
I-265, I-275, I-471 corporations operate out of Kentucky. In addition, Kentucky ranks third
State Parkways in total light-vehicle production in the country.
(nine total)
Audubon Parkway
Railroads Educational attainment
Martha Layne Collins
CSX, www.csx.com
525,607
Blue Grass Parkway
Louie B. Nunn Norfolk Southern, www.nscorp.
Cumberland Parkway com/nscportal/nscorp Some College
Daniel Boone Parkway/ Canadian National Railway

198,819
Hal Rogers Parkway Company, www.cn.ca
Bert T. Combs Paducah and Louisville Railway
Mountain Parkway www.palrr.com Associates
William H. Natcher Parkway
Commercial Airports
Edward T. Breathitt
Pennyrile Parkway
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport
352,092
Julian M. Carroll Bachelors
www.cvgairport.com
Purchase Parkway

245,450
Blue Grass Airport
Wendell H. Ford Western
www.bluegrassairport.com
Kentucky Parkway
Louisville Regional Graduate
Airport Authority
Water Source: Onboard Informatics
www.flylouisville.com
Seven public riverports operate
facilities at Henderson, Hickman, Owensboro-Daviess County UTILITIES
Louisville, Lyon County, Regional Airport, www.owb.net
Owensboro, Paducah Barkley Regional Airport Electric power is distributed by four
and Wurtland. www.barkleyregional.com investor-owned electric utilities, 30
municipal electric systems, the
Tennessee Valley Authority and 21

What’s Online  rural electric cooperatives.

Natural gas is available from 30
For more in-depth demographic, statistical and community information gas-distribution companies, 42
about Kentucky, go to KYEDG.com and click on Economic Profile. intrastate pipeline gas companies,

Ballard County Economic & Industrial Development Board

Terry Simmons, Hwy. 286
Pres/CEO Wickliffe, KY
101 Liberty Dr., Ste. 4 36,000 sq. ft. clearspan
Kevil, KY 42053 with 24 ft. eave height
(270) 744-3232 available for development

Take a look at the lands at the confluence of the mighty Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers. It’s all right here.

KYEDG.com 107
 108 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 172 municipal, college or housing
authority providers and one gas
and water district operated locally
at the county level.
Employment by Major Industry by Place of Work (2008)
Industry Number of Employees
All Industries 1,791,017

Population Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting 8,119

Mining 23,462

4,258,739 Construction 84,438

Total population Manufacturing 245,207
Trade, Transportation & Utilities 394,152

1,393,212 Information
Financial Activities
32,268
91,302
Age 0-24
Services 813,464

860,286 Public Administration

Other
91,706
2,680
Age 25-39
Source:U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

1,210,484 Western Kentucky University

Age 40-59

719,142
Age 60+

36.82
Median Age
Source: Onboard Informatics

Income

$41,538
Median Household Income

$52,800
Average Household Income
U.S. Census Bureau,
2008 American Community Survey

TAXES
State Sales Tax – 6%
State Income Tax – Net income for
Kentucky individual income taxes is
gross income minus either the
standard deduction or allowable
itemized deductions.
Property Tax – Combined state and
local rates average $1.05 per $100
valuation in urban areas and $0.82
per $100 in rural areas.
Occupational license tax – 0.08%-
2.5% (not in entire state)

K YE D G . c o m 109
 visit our
advertisers
Appalachian Industrial Development Authority
Atmos Energy
www.atmosenergy.com
Ballard County Economic &
Industrial Development Board www.keeneland.com
Baptist Heathcare System
www.bhsi.com
Big Sandy Regional Industrial
Development Authority
www.bsrida.org
Bluegrass Crossings Business
www.bluegrasscrossings.com
Booneville-Owsley County
www.owsleycountykentucky.org
Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce
www.southcentralky.com
City of Greensburg
www.greensburgonline.com
Columbia-Adair County Industrial
Development Authority Inc.
www.columbia-adaircounty.com
Commerce Lexington
www.commercelexington.com
Community Ventures Corporation
www.cvcky.org
Corbin Economic Development Agency
www.sekbp.com
Crounse Corporation
www.crounse.com
Cynthiana/Harrison County
Economic Development
www.harrisoncounty.ky.gov
Danville Economic Development Partnership
www.betterindanville.com
E-On U.S. LLC
www.site-selection.com
Elizabethtown/Hardin County
Industrial Foundation Inc.
www.eifky.org
Fleming County Industrial
Development Authority
www.flemingcountyky.com
Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority
www.f-sindustry.com
Fulton County-Hickman County Economic
Development Partnership
www.westkyeconomic.com
Glasgow/Barren County Industrial
Development Economic Authority
www.glasgow-ky.com
Greater Louisville Inc.
www.greaterlouisville.com
Greater Owensboro Economic
Development Corporation
www.edc.owensboro.com
Greater Paducah Economic
Development Council
www.gpedc.com
Hampton Inn
www.hamptoninn.com
Hopkinsville Christian County
Economic Development Council
www.hopkinsvilleindustry.com
Jeffersontown Economic
Development Authority
www.jeffersontownky.com
Keeneland
Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
www.thinkkentucky.com
Kentucky Community
& Technical College System
www.kctcs.edu
Kentucky Department of Travel
www.kentuckytourism.com
Lake Barkley Partnership
Leitchfield-Grayson County Industrial
Development Corporation Inc.
www.growgrayson.com
Lincoln Trail Workforce Investment Board
Logan Economic Alliance for Development
www.loganleads.com
Louisville Water Company
www.lwcky.com
Marshall County Economic Development
www.opportunitymarshall.com
Morehead-Rowan
County Economic Development
www.edc-eky.com
Murray-Calloway County
Economic Development Corporation
www.thinkmurray.com
Northern Kentucky TRI-ED
www.northernkentuckyusa.com
Northwest Kentucky Forward
www.northwestky.com
Paducah & Louisville Railway
www.palrr.com
Paradise Park/MIDC
www.paradisebusinesspark.com
Pine Ridge Regional Industrial Authority
Powell County Industrial
Development Authority Inc.
Publishers Printing Company
www.pubpress.com
Purchase Region Industrial Park
www.prpindustrialpark.com
RR Donnelley
www.rrdonnelley.com
Scott & Murphy & Daniel LLC
www.scottmurphydaniel.com
Shelby County Industrial
& Development Foundation Inc.
www.shelbycountyindustrialfoundation.com
Southbank Partners Inc.
www.southbankpartners.com
University of Kentucky Commercialization
& Economic Development
www.econdev.uky.edu
University of Louisville
www.louisville.edu
KYEDG.com 111
brought to you by

Because getting there

really can be half the fun …

Go online to Relocation Tools for moving tips, tools and more.

 Ad Index
10 Appalachian Industrial 81 Columbia-Adair
Development Authority County Industrial
Development Authority Inc.
80 Atmos Energy
70 Commerce Lexington
107 Ballard County
Economic & Industrial 68 Community
Development Board Ventures Corporation

91 Baptist 2 Corbin Economic

Heathcare System Development Agency

12 Big Sandy 86 Crounse Corporation

Regional Industrial
Development Authority
30 Bluegrass
Crossings Business
C3 Booneville-Owsley County
1 Bowling Green Area
Chamber of Commerce
13 City of Greensburg
27 Cynthiana/Harrison County
Economic Development
6 Danville Economic
Development Partnership
50 E-On U.S. LLC
105 Elizabethtown/Hardin
County Industrial
Foundation Inc.
 Ad Index (cont.)
44 Fleming County Industrial 50 Marshall County
Development Authority Economic Development

20 Franklin-Simpson C2 Morehead-Rowan County

Industrial Authority Economic Development

16 Fulton County-Hickman 14 Murray-Calloway

County Economic County Economic
Development Partnership Development Corporation

36 Glasgow/Barren County 51 Northern Kentucky TRI-ED

Industrial Development
Economic Authority 8 Northwest
Kentucky Forward
39 Greater Louisville Inc.
84 Paducah &
4 Greater Louisville Railway
Owensboro Economic
Development Corporation 26 Paradise Park/MIDC

38 Greater Paducah Economic 56 Pine Ridge Regional

Development Council Industrial Authority

38 Hampton Inn

44 Hopkinsville Christian
County Economic
Development Council

68 Jeffersontown Economic
Development Authority

50 Keeneland

C4 Kentucky Cabinet for

Economic Development

98 Kentucky Community &

Technical College System

112 Kentucky Department

of Travel

42 Lake Barkley Partnership

111 Leitchfield-Grayson
County Industrial
Development
Corporation Inc.

99 Logan Economic Alliance

for Development

108 Louisville Water Company

 Ad Index (cont.)
45 Powell County Industrial
Development Authority Inc.

15 Publishers Printing Company

32 Purchase Region
Industrial Park

110 RR Donnelley

110 Scott & Murphy & Daniel LLC

106 Shelby County

Industrial & Development
Foundation Inc.

44 Southbank Partners Inc.

11 University of Kentucky
Commercialization &
Economic Development

92 University of Louisville
 112 K e n t u c ky E c o n o m i c D e v el o p m e n t G u ide
 Experience the Owsley Count y Adventure

Available Land Pioneer Village Sag Hollow Golf Course

• Livable Community
• Available Workforce
• Available Business Property
• Recreational Opportunities
• Scenic Beauty
• ATV Trails Connecting with
Multi-Co. Area
• Fall/Spring Horse Trail Ride
• Abraham Lincoln Statue

(606) 593-6800 • (606) 593-7296 • www.owsleycountykentucky.org

City of Booneville Booneville-Owsley

& Owsley County Industrial Authority
Fiscal Court (606) 593-6800
P.O. Box 1
Booneville, KY 41314
(606) 593-5151 (606) 593-6268
(606) 593-GOLF
wolf creek metal
(606) 593-6800 www.saghollow.com (606) 593-7080