Home » The Lane List — January 2013

The Lane List — January 2013

By wmadministrator

Expansion by GE at its Appliance Park in Louisville was the largest individual project in 2012, and Kentucky economic development investment in 2012 was slightly higher than 2011. By year’s end, there had been 354 announcements by companies investing a total of nearly $2.7 billion, creating 14,075 new full-time jobs and preserving 1,896 jobs, according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. (In 2011, there were 322 announcements by companies that invested $2.64 billion, created 13,220 jobs and preserved 2,741 jobs.)

In this file photo, the University of Louisville and GE officials make a partnership announcement at Appliance Park. GE invested $650 million and created 364 jobs as part of an expansion at Appliance Park announced last year.
In this file photo, the University of Louisville and GE officials make a partnership announcement at Appliance Park. GE invested $650 million and created 364 jobs as part of an expansion at Appliance Park announced last year.

Twenty-two new manufacturing firms announced projects totaling $168.5 million in 2012. The largest investment was by U.S. Fuel Corp. in Central City. The coal-to-liquid fuel manufacturer invested $76 million and created 50 jobs in Western Kentucky. Baton LLC, a natural stone company in Louisville, created the most jobs among the new manufacturing firms: 160.

More than 200 existing manufacturing firms announced expansion plans in 2012, totaling $2.1 billion in investments in the commonwealth. GE Consumer and Industrial invested $650 million in its Louisville operations, by far the most invested by any firm. The company also created 364 new jobs.

Berry Plastics in Madisonville created 420 new jobs, the most created by existing facilities planning to expand.

New support service firms invested $177 million in Kentucky, creating nearly 3,200 new jobs. The biggest investment came from iHerb, a health food distributor in Hebron. It invested $30 million and created 600 jobs. TeleTech in Hopkinsville created 700 new jobs and invested $12 million.

More than 94 support service firms announced expansion projects in 2012, totaling $264 million in investments and creating 3,439 new jobs. The biggest investment came from DHL, the airfreight delivery service that has an international hub in Hebron. DHL invested $47 million and created 120 new jobs. CafePress.com created the most new jobs of the expanding support service firms, 592, in Louisville.

jan_lanelist