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FAST LANE - April
2003
LOUISVILLE
Republic Airlines Selects Louisville as Its Headquarters
The nation’s
newest regional airline has chosen Louisville as the site for its corporate
headquarters, crew base and primary aircraft maintenance facility.
 Republic
Airlines plans to begin operating this summer with 10 Embraer ERJ-145
regional jets, flying regional routes for US Airways. Ten more planes
will be added to the fleet by July 2004. The airline may begin flying
routes for other airlines by that time as well, said Republic President
Tim Hanley, as major airlines are becoming increasingly interested in
contracting with regional carriers to shuttle passengers from small
and medium markets to larger airline hubs.
The airline expects
to employ 355 workers in Louisville – primarily mechanics, pilots
and flight attendants – with a payroll of over $12 million.
The operation will
initially be housed in temporary facilities at Louisville International
Airport until its permanent headquarters are finished.
Republic officials
said Louisville was selected as the airline’s corporate headquarters
based on the airport’s field capacity, weather conditions and accessibility
to other airline markets, as well as the economic incentives offered
by the city and state. In January, the Kentucky Economic Development
Finance Authority approved up to $7.8 million over 10 years if the airline
meets its projected employment level and payroll.
Other cities that
were being considered by Republic included Rochester, New York and Greensboro,
North Carolina.
LEXINGTON
UK Ranks Among Top Institutions for Post-doctoral
Work
 The
University of Kentucky has been ranked among the top 10 institutions
in the nation for post-doctoral scholars and fellows, according to a
survey conducted by The Scientist, an international magazine that analyzes
the issues that impact life scientists.
In its Web-based
survey, which garnered 2,800 responses from more than 680 institutions,
the magazine asked questions about participants’ level of satisfaction
with their academic institutions. Among the topics were level of collaboration,
commitment to teaching, interaction with principal investigators, training
and counseling, and overall educational and research experience.
LEXINGTON
California Firm Relocates to the Bluegrass
Silrec Corporation,
a small specialty manufacturer of silicon wafers for the semiconductor
industry, has announced that it is moving its corporate headquarters
from San Jose, California to Lexington.
Silrec, a privately
owned company that was founded in 1986, manufactures wafers and recycles
other silicon products for the semiconductor and solar power industries.
Silrec President
Alan Goldberg cited Kentucky’s inexpensive power, affordable land,
and reasonable operating costs as major factors in the company’s
decision to relocate.
Goldberg also credited
the efforts of Lexington United, the city’s economic development
group that worked to recruit the firm to Lexington. In addition, the
Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority has approved tax incentives
for the company.
 Silrec
expects to employ 20 new people within two years. The project represents
an investment of some $1.5 million to the state of Kentucky.
“Silrec’s
decision to come to Lexington is the greatest form of advertisement
we can have,” noted Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac. “Hopefully
this will encourage other companies from the Silicon Valley area to
look more closely at Lexington as a city in which to expand or relocate
their operations.”
DANVILLE
Boyle Loses its Largest Employer as ATR Wire &
Cable Shuts Down
ATR Wire & Cable
has filed for bankruptcy and is closing its plant in Danville, where
it has manufactured tire cord for more than 20 years.
The shutdown leaves
550 workers without jobs and Boyle Co. without its largest employer.
The decision to close the 500,000-s.f. plant came as a result of “several
years of declining sales prices” due to foreign competition, said
ATR Chief Operating Officer Mike Bewley.
Company officials
said the industry has seen a 30 percent drop in prices over the past
several years. ATR clients included major names such as Goodyear, Dunlop
and Bridgestone, making ATR the nation’s fourth largest producer
of specialized steel cord for radial tires.
The loss of the
city’s largest employer will also impact local and state governments.
One local school system stands to lose more than $1 million in annual
tax revenue and water service fees.
The news is also
grim for two companies whose sole business was with ATR. SDS Services
in Liberty handled ATR equipment storage and clean-up. Without the ATR
business, SDS is also out of business, leaving all 15 employees out
of work.
Also closing is
Decatur Wire and Die in Danville, which produced dies used to stretch
wire. ATR utilized the wire in the production of its steel tire cords.
The company is a satellite operation of Decatur Wire and Die of Indiana.
LOUISVILLE
UK Professor's Efforts Hailed as a Breakthrough in
Brain Research
 The
Louisville Science Center has opened a new addition to its “Breakthrough
Gallery,” featuring intriguing new discoveries resulting from the
research of Dr. Greg Gerhardt. Gerhardt is a University of Kentucky
professor and director of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease
Research Center of Excellence and the Center for Sensor Technology at
UK.
Gerhardt’s
innovative sensor technology research enables doctors to understand
the brain in its normal state, aiding in the design of new strategies
for treating brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
The Breakthrough
Gallery showcases careers in health and life sciences via video presentations,
graphic panels, and artifacts related to current regional medical research.
The exhibit, which is underwritten by a grant from the National Institute
of Health (NIH), is updated every two years.
CRITTENDEN
Wolf Steel to Expand Operations at Crittenden Industrial
Park
Wolf Steel, a Canadian
company that produces fireplaces, grills and stoves, has announced plans
to expand their operations at Crittenden Industrial Park over the next
several years.
The company has
already added approximately 10 jobs as part of a plan to transition
its Crittenden distribution center into a full assembly plant. Previously,
all assembly has been done at the company’s main office in Barrie,
Ontario. However, Wolf has reached its capacity there and needed to
expand its operations.
Though the company
also has distribution centers in Colorado, Wisconsin and New Jersey,
Wolf selected Crittenden to implement its expansion due to the facility’s
proximity to I-75 and access to the southern region of the U.S.
The company has
seen its sales increase by 30 percent, primarily due to an increase
in new housing construction and recent financial problems experienced
by some of its close competitors.
GEORGETOWN
Executive Seminar Series Focuses on Importance of
Corporate Ethics
 Business
leaders from around the state are convening at Lexington’s Marriott–Griffin
Gate Resort throughout the year as part of their participation in a
new executive seminar series entitled “Managing by Values.”
The bi-monthly series,
which is sponsored by Georgetown College and led by Norstan, Inc., began
in January and will run through December. It will culminate with a national
symposium on moral leadership in January 2004 that will be held in Lexington.
Companies participating
in the seminar include Valvoline, Fifth Third Bank, Lexmark, Toyota
and CHA Health. The January symposium will be open to the public.
The series addresses
issues involving corporate turnarounds, sales, customer service, corporate
finance and human resources.
“We think that
an executive seminar series on corporate values and ethics is particularly
timely right now,” said Jim Granger, Norstan’s president and
chief executive officer. “The media is filled with stories of corporate
scandal, involving some of the pillars in corporate America. We hope
this series will offer its participants a forum to contemplate and discuss
the importance of values in American enterprise, and to impart in them
a desire to evaluate how they incorporate them in all aspects of their
business.”
STATE
Kentucky Farm Bureau, Anthem to Offer Medical Savings
Accounts
 Anthem
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky have teamed with the Kentucky
Farm Bureau to offer medical savings accounts for self-employed individuals
and their families.
The plans can be
used to pay for medical expenditures using tax-deductible dollars and
can be paired with health plans offered through Anthem.
“Medical savings
accounts are one of the best new ways to save healthcare dollars, cut
taxes and build for the future,” said David Beck, CEO of the Kentucky
Farm Bureau.
Kentucky Farm Bureau
agents will offer the plans, which will be administered by The Farm
Bureau Bank, a national online financial institution.
MT. STERLING
New Auto Parts Plant Expects to Bring More than 230
Jobs
Kyosan Denki America,
Inc. of Winchester and DENSO International America, Inc. of Southfield,
Mich., are partnering to establish a company in Mt. Sterling that will
produce automotive components for North American car manufacturers.
The new company
– Kyosan DENSO Manufacturing Kentucky, LLC – is expected to
employ 230 people by 2008 and represents a $14.7 million investment
in North America for Kyosan Denki America and DENSO. Kyosan Denki will
own 70 percent of the limited liability partnership with DENSO owning
the remaining 30 percent.
The new 44,000-s.-f.
plant will be built on a 14.4-acre site near Ky. 60 and Interstate 64.
The company will begin hiring production workers in 2004.
Currently, Kyosan
Denki America assembles automotive fuel systems, fuel cutoff valves,
and on-board refueling vapor recovery valves in Winchester, but plans
to transfer all U.S. production to the new facility in Mt. Sterling
this month. Additional products will be added over the next two years.
DENSO International
America is the North American headquarters for DENSO Corporation, a
leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and
components. DENSO is headquartered in Japan.
NEWPORT
Shire Strengthens Pharmaceutical Portfolio with New
ADHD Treatment
Shire Pharmaceuticals
has paid Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $150 million for licensing rights
to a new skin patch developed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD).
 The
MethyPatch® will be the world’s first transdermal patch for
the treatment of ADHD, providing patients with the flexibility to control
the duration of the medicine by adjusting the length of time the patch
is worn.
The patch is currently under FDA review and is expected to be approved
this year.
Shire is best known
in the United States for Adderall and Adderall XRTM, the leading brand
for ADHD treatment and for which over 20 million prescriptions have
been written.
“Shire’s
resources and commitment to ADHD therapy make them an ideal partner
to maximize the value of MethyPatch,” said Noven CEO and President
Robert Strauss. “Their large ADHD sales force has well-established
relationships with physicians around the country. Given their resources
and capabilities, we expect Shire will drive significantly greater market
penetration than we could on our own.”
Florida-based Noven
remains responsible for securing MethyPatch final regulatory approval,
and will manufacture the product for Shire.
On another front,
Shire has received preliminary approval from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration for its new drug to treat kidney disease. Upon full FDA
approval, the company expects to launch Fosrenol by the end of the year.
LOUISVILLE
Plastech Considers Louisville for New $78 Million
Auto Parts Plant
Plastech Engineered
Products, a Michigan-based auto parts manufacturer, has announced that
it is considering Louisville for a $78 million manufacturing plant that
would employ 425 employees with a total payroll of about $9.8 million.
Plastech is looking
at various sites in southwestern Louisville, including Louisville Riverport
International. The new plant would consume more than 330,000 s.f. and
feature state-of-the-art equipment.
Plastech creates,
paints and assembles injection-molded parts primarily for the automotive
industry. The 15-year-old company – one of the largest minority-owned
automotive suppliers in the nation – employs more than 2,700 workers
in 16 facilities, including one in southern Louisville.
The company has
been approved for up to $8.5 million in state tax incentives over 10
years. Plastech also received approval for state incentives in 1999
for its existing Louisville facility, which will remain at its current
location. At that time, Plastech planned to employ about 200 people
in the 273,000-s.-f. facility. Today, the site is home to more than
370 jobs.
STATE
Tobacco Settlement Money Funds Agricultural Diversification
Projects
The Kentucky Agricultural
Development Board has approved more than $3.5 million for agricultural
diversification projects, funded by the state’s tobacco settlement
money.
Among the projects
approved were:
- Kentucky Cattlemen’s
Association: $1.9 million to establish a collaborative marketing
effort by the Kentucky Beef Council, Kentucky Pork Producers, Western
Kentucky Growers Cooperative and General Electric Appliances. The
goal of the project is to increase marketing for cattle, swine and
vegetable producers across the state.
- Southeast
Kentucky Agriculture Cooperative: $352,525 to build and equip
a horticulture receiving and shipping facility in Corbin. The facility
will serve as a receiving station for vegetables that will be shipped
to and marketed by Cumberland Farm Products in Monticello. Southeast
Kentucky Agricultural Cooperative currently consists of 50 area growers
with a current production of 226 acres of vegetables and plans to
incorporate over 100 producers in the near future.
- Central Kentucky
Growers Association: $150,000 to update a production line and
expand to year-round marketing. Currently the association consists
of 35 farm families from more than nine counties. The cooperative
estimates that the number of growers will increase by as much as 100
percent for the 2003-growing season.
- Kentucky Heritage
Meats, LLC: $109,200 to establish a custom meat-cutting processing
business in Louisville.
- Nicholas County
Board of Education: $50,000 to construct and equip a greenhouse
that will be used for classes conducted by the Nichols County Vocational
Agriculture. The classes will focus on alternative crops as well as
new and innovative farming techniques.
MOREHEAD
Australian Textile Company Selects Rowan Site for
First U.S. Facility
An Australian textile
company has selected a site in Rowan County’s MMRC Industrial Park
for their first U.S. manufacturing plant.
Simba Textile Mills
and its sister company, Domtex Australia are major suppliers to Australian
retailers of fashion housewares, including sheets and towels. Simba
USA will manufacture homeware products featuring personalized graphics,
designs and logos.
Simba plans to lease
a 31,000-s.f. building that will be built by the Morehead-Rowan County
Economic Development Council on a five-acre tract within the industrial
park, which is shared by Morgan and Menifee Counties.
The company expects
to initially hire 25 employees and projects needing 65 workers within
five years.
In announcing Simba’s
news, Governor Paul Patton noted the success of the region’s cooperative
effort.
“The future
success of economic development efforts will rely on approaches that
rise above political boundaries and help regions, not just individual
communities,” said Patton. “Simba USA is a perfect example
of Kentuckians overcoming boundaries for the benefit of all.”
STATE
Kentucky's Aquaculture Industry Receives Major Boost
from Kroger
Kentucky’s
catfish co-op has received an order for 84,000 pounds of fish from Kroger,
its leading retail outlet and the largest supermarket chain in the United
States.
The order was placed
to coincide with the observance of Lent, said Bob Zumwalt, general manager
of the Purchase Area Aquaculture Cooperative (PAAC) in Graves County.
Kroger also is promoting
PAAC catfish in its advertising. “Every time they’ve run an
ad, they’ve run out of our product,” Zumwalt said.
The fish are available
in Kroger supermarkets throughout most of Kentucky, Tennessee and southern
Illinois and can also be found in restaurants and other retail outlets
in western Kentucky, southern Illinois and southeastern Missouri as
well as most Kentucky state parks.
“Kroger has
found a very receptive audience for the product,” said Steve Smith
of Fish Market Seafoods in Louisville, which is brokering the catfish
sale to Kroger. “The PAAC has done a good job of shaping their
program to what the customer wants. As a result, they’re getting
big-time support from Kroger, because the product is selling.”
Zumwalt said the
PAAC is processing 15,000 pounds live weight a day. The co-op’s
plant, which employs 43 workers, can process as much as 25,000 pounds
a day, he said.
The 7,200-s.f. processing
plant and adjacent fingerling ponds were built in part with grants from
the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The Kentucky Agricultural Development
Board also has awarded grants to the PAAC, with Kentucky State University
providing technical assistance.
“It is a true
example of how powerful collaboration can benefit industry in Kentucky,”
said Angela Caporelli, aquaculture marketing specialist for the Kentucky
Department of Agriculture.
LEXINGTON
UK Opens New $33.5M Facility to House College of Health
Sciences
TENNESSEE
Turner Construction Relocates Healthcare Group to
Nashville
 Turner
Construction Company, one of the top healthcare builders in the country,
has relocated its national healthcare group to Nashville from St. Louis.
Turner officials
said the relocation allows the company to consolidate its preconstruction
expertise and better serve its national healthcare clients, many of
which are based in the Nashville area.
Turner currently
has some 1,000 employees dedicated to its healthcare projects, which
are valued in excess of $1.2 billion nationwide. The national healthcare
group provides preconstruction, estimating, value engineering, logistics
planning, scheduling and operational support to these projects and all
of Turner’s 45 local offices across the country.
“Nashville
is at least the headquarters for healthcare in the United States and
arguably for the world,” said Russ Burns, president of Turner Universal,
a subsidiary of the company already based in Nashville that is one of
its most active healthcare construction offices. “We thought we
needed to line up with the industry and where that headquarters is located
… the reality is that most of the national healthcare work is purchased
or procured here in Nashville.”
Turner Universal
employs approximately 300 people in Nashville.
While the relocation
of the healthcare group will involve moving only five to 10 employees
to Nashville, Burns noted that the true impact will be seen in increased
healthcare construction activity in the region.
OHIO
Broadwing Inc. Sells Broadband Business Unit for $129
Million
Broadwing Inc.,
the parent company of Cincinnati Bell, has agreed to sell the assets
of its broadband business, Broadwing Communications Services Inc., to
privately held C III Communications, LLC, for $129 million in cash.
 Under
terms of the agreement, C III Communications will continue providing
services to customers under the Broadwing name and will retain the company’s
1,100 employees.
Cincinnati Bell
bought the broadband network for $3.2 billion four years ago as part
of its purchase of IXC Communications Inc. and invested another $1.1
billion in the network in the two years following the purchase. Broadwing
Inc. will use the proceeds from the sale to CIII to reduce its current
debt load.
Business
Briefs
BARBOURVILLE
- Southeastern
Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries (SEKRI) is preparing to open a
facility in Barbourville, where it will produce protective combat
uniforms for the U.S. military. The facility is expected to eventually
employ approximately 125 workers. SEKRI is the world’s second-largest
producer of the Javits-Wagner-O’Day chemical protective suit
and the sole producer of the Garrison and Boonie hats for the U.S.
Marines. The company currently operates plants in Corbin and Cumberland
as well as a facility in Jellico, Tennessee.
BOONE COUNTY
- The Grainger
Company, a Chicago-based supplier of commercial and industrial equipment
and supplies, is building a new 13,600-s.f. sales and distribution
facility in Boone County that will serve Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.
Toebben Construction has been awarded the contract for the project.
BOW
- A new $2.5 million
conference center at Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park is slated
to open this spring, offering banquet-style seating for up to 250
people. The 11,000-s.f. facility offers state-of-the-art data connections
and catering handled by the lodge’s full-service dining room.
Accommodations include a 60-room lodge that offers spectacular views
of Dale Hollow Lake. For information on booking an event, call (270)
433-7431.
BOWLING GREEN
- The Holley Group,
a Bowling Green company that manufacturers automotive parts for high-performance
automobiles, has sold its So-Cal Speed Shop business in Pomona, California
to an investor group headed by So-Cal’s former president, Pete
Chapouris III. So-Cal produces parts and accessories for hot rods
and customized automobiles. Holley officials say the sale is part
of the company’s restructuring plan to divest non-core businesses.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
BOYD COUNTY
- Garment manufacturer
Corbin Ltd. has announced plans to lay off 129 workers, less than
six months after it accepted $8.9 million in incentives to consolidate
its Boyd County and Huntington (W. Va.) plants. Corbin officials said
the company plans to remain in the area but is shifting its business
model from manufacturing to wholesale menswear.
CAVE CITY
- Cave City’s
newest tourist attraction is expected to be unveiled next month when
Dinosaur World opens to the public. Patterned after a similar operation
in Plant City, Florida, Dinosaur World will feature more than 100
life-size replicas displayed in an outdoor walking trail setting.
CORBIN
- Investigators
with the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board are still
searching for the cause of an explosion that ripped through CTA Acoustics
in February, leaving six workers dead and dozens others injured. Since
the explosion, CTA, which produces automotive insulation, has been
operating out of vacant factory nearby but plans to build a new facility
on a 47-acre site in Corbin’s Southeast Regional Business Park,
where it hopes to be operating by the end of the year. CTA employs
approximately 550 workers.
DIXON
- The board of
directors of 4 Star Industrial Park has leased 632 acres of land to
Crowder Farms for $32,000 per year for three years. The proceeds will
help the 4 Star board repay a no-interest loan through the U.S. Department
of Agriculture that is being utilized for infrastructure. The property
will still be available for showings to prospective industrial clients.
ELIZABETHTOWN
- The U.S. Supreme
Court has ruled in favor of a small retailer in Elizabethtown, allowing
the adult novelty shop to continue operating under the name Victor’s
Little Secret. The owners, Cathy and Victor Moseley, had been sued
by national retail giant Victoria’s Secret, which maintained
that the store names were too similar, thus tarnishing its established
reputation. The Supreme Court ruled that Victoria’s Secret failed
to prove that it had suffered any damage to its name as a result of
the Elizabethtown store.
FLORENCE
- ImagePoint, a
Knoxville-based manufacturer of plastic signage (formerly known as
Plasti-Line), has landed a $50 million contract with Nissan that is
expected to add 10-15 more jobs at the company’s Florence plant,
where it currently employs approximately 220 workers. The contract
calls for ImagePoint to produce new outdoor dealerships as part of
Nissan’s new image campaign and is expected to take approximately
two years to complete. The manufacturing work will be split between
ImagePoint’s plants in Florence; Columbia, S.C.; and Fontana,
Calif.
FRANKLIN
- An increase in
work orders has led Quality Rework and Sorting to begin construction
on an addition to its existing facility, where it began operating
only a year ago. The company, which provides packaging, inspecting
and sorting of automotive parts, expects to add approximately 10 new
employees as a result of the expansion.
GEORGETOWN
- Georgetown has
ended its moratorium on new residential annexation. Council members
voting in favor of eliminating the moratorium, which has been in effect
since August 2002, cited concerns about sending the wrong message
to businesses wanting to locate in the city. The council has hired
the Maryland-based firm of Tischler & Associates to analyze the
cost of growth in Georgetown and provide a clearer idea as to which
annexations should be approved in the future.
GRAVES COUNTY
- The Purchase
Area Regional Authority has received commitments for nearly $3 million
in state and federal funding to begin buying property for a regional
industrial park in the northern part of Graves County. The authority
plans to utilize the money to initiate engineering work and the purchase
of a portion of 2,251 acres currently under a three-year purchase
option. Plans call for the development of at least 1,500 acres in
small stages, beginning with 400 acres along U.S. 45.
HARDIN COUNTY
- Hardin Memorial
Hospital has opened a new $1.5 million medical complex along the Ky.
313 corridor in Vine Grove. The new 10,000-s.f. facility offers radiology,
laboratory and physical therapy services as well as an urgent care
treatment center.
HAWESVILLE
- Century Aluminum
Company has signed a letter of intent to purchase the remaining 20
percent interest in its Hawesville aluminum reduction plant currently
owned by Glencore. “Hawesville is an excellent asset and is our
lowest-cost facility,” said Century President and CEO Gerald
A. Meyers. “Adding the 48,400 metric tons per year of capacity,
which this acquisition represents, will reduce our overall cash costs
and break-even point by approximately $0.01 a pound.”
HEBRON
- Pomeroy Computer
Resources has acquired Micrologic Business Systems, an IT solutions
provider headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. President Steve Pomeroy
said the acquisition was pursued to help strengthen his company’s
presence in the Midwest.
LANCASTER
- Progressive Machine
and Tool LLC is building a new 10,000-s.f. facility on two acres in
the Lancaster-Garrard Industrial Park. The company plans to move to
the new facility this fall.
LEXINGTON
- Having regained
rights to his clothing company following a 1999 bankruptcy and buy-out,
the founder of J. Peterman is now branching out into another direction.
John Peterman has signed a licensing agreement to design furniture
for New York-based Jeffco Furniture. The J. Peterman Collection will
make its debut this fall.
- The Lexington
franchise of Sunbelt Business Brokers has joined with more than 80
other Sunbelt franchisees to acquire the South Carolina-based business
brokerage firm from its owner and president in a “friendly buyout.”
Owner Ed Pendarvis, who has overseen the company’s growth into
the world’s largest business brokerage firm, will continue as
president and chairman of the board. Sunbelt operates 346 offices
in the U.S. and 11 foreign countries.
- A financial consultant
hired by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has estimated
that it will cost the government between $157.7 and $352.8 million
to buy Kentucky-American Water Co. There has been much discussion
in recent months regarding the ownership of KAWC, which was recently
acquired by RWE, a German firm that is the third largest water company
in the world. Many residents and local officials believe the city
would be better served with local ownership. KAWC, however, insists
that it will not sell itself to the Lexington government. In that
event, the city would have to decide whether to purchase the company
through condemnation, a legal process that could take up to seven
years to complete.
LOUISVILLE
- Work has begun
on the initial phase of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage,
which will entail a $7.75 million renovation of the city’s historic
trolley barns on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard. The planned restoration
will create a 44,000-s.f. facility that will feature meeting space
and galleries for permanent and temporary exhibits of artwork created
by local and regional African American artists.
- Welch Printing
Co. has invested $2.75 million to upgrade its equipment and expects
to add approximately 15 new jobs by the end of the year to help handle
additional work. The new equipment will enable the company to complete
projects more quickly and take on additional business.
- Louisville Mayor
Jerry Abramson is putting together a government program to encourage
local stores and restaurants to expand into vacant storefronts and
strip malls along nine commercial corridors. The initiative will attempt
to match small-business owners with vacant properties and neighborhood
needs. Abramson has said that the program will initially focus on
local businesses but noted that he has also contacted chains such
as Kohl’s and has talked with Wal-Mart about building one of
its new concepts, a scaled-down urban store, on West Broadway.
- Demonstrating
its support of the state’s growing aquaculture industry, the
Kentucky Agricultural Development Board has awarded $300,000 to a
Louisville fish processing plant. Shuckman’s Fish Company and
Smokery plans to use the funds to purchase equipment that will enable
the company to increase production of its cured and smoked seafood
products. The new equipment will allow Shuckman’s to increase
its smoking production from 200 to 1,200 pounds per day and will increase
its vacuum-packing capacity from 4 to 25 packages per minute.
- Louisville-based
Steel Technologies, which processes flat-rolled steel for a variety
of industries, has acquired a steel-processing facility in Ottawa,
Ohio for $10 million in cash. The acquisition of the Cold Metal Products
Co. plant includes the land, building and equipment as well as select
inventory, finished goods and accounts receivable. Steel Technologies
has also received preliminary approval for $1.5 million in tax incentives
to expand its existing facility in Eminence, Ky. The 44,000-s.f. expansion
would create 32 new jobs and a total payroll of more than $900,000.
- Mission Data,
a Louisville-based Web design, content management solutions and software
development firm, has been selected by the YMCA of Greater Louisville
to redesign the organization’s Web site and develop customized
content management tools for the site. Other Mission Data clients
include Heaven Hill, Papa Johns, Aegon Institutional, and Adware Systems.
MT. STERLING
- The University
of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center has broken ground on a new outpatient
cancer treatment center in Mt. Sterling’s Silver Creek development.
The Gateway Radiation Medicine Center, a collaborative effort between
the UK Markey Cancer Center and Mary Chiles Hospital, is expected
to be open this fall.
OWENSBORO
- Large Scale Biology
Corporation has hired an executive to oversee the expansion of its
biomanufacturing division in Owensboro. Ralph Di Libero will serve
as the senior director-business development and vice president-sales
for the California-based company, which grows proteins in tobacco
and other plants for use by drug companies.
SHELBYVILLE
- The Shelby County
Industrial & Development Foundation has purchased 133 acres northeast
of Shelbyville with plans to create a new business park. The foundation
plans to add utilities and divide the property in smaller parcels,
possibly as small as five acres, in order to meet client needs. Land
within the Highpoint Business Park – which is zoned industrial
and surrounded by retail stores, restaurants and some residential
property – is expected to be priced between $25,000 and $30,000
per acre.
SPARTA
- Congress has
approved $350,000 for feasibility study that will focus on plans for
a small regional airport to serve Gallatin, Carroll and Owen counties.
The study will explore possible sites – a 297-acre parcel adjoining
the Kentucky Speedway is one possibility – and look into whether
the development of such a project would relieve some of the congestion
at larger airports such as the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
Airport.
WALTON
- Con-Way Central
Express is relocating its Northern Kentucky commercial shipping operations
from a 24-door facility in Elsmere to a 64-door facility in Walton
with nearly 28,000-s.f. of space. The additional space will allow
the California-based company to transport an additional 500,000 pounds
of freight daily and will provide shippers with faster pick-up and
delivery service. The company’s Northern Kentucky facility services
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee as well as parts of
13 other states in the region.
WILLIAMSBURG
- Barbourville
developers Jerry Strong and Matt Mills have purchased the Cumberland
Regional Mall in Williamsburg for $450,000. Strong and Mills plan
to refurbish the property, which has been appraised for $2.25 million,
in hopes of attracting new retailers to the mall’s vacant storefronts.
WINCHESTER
- Ale-8-One Co.
has launched its first new product since the original soft drink was
introduced in 1926. Company officials at Ale-8’s Winchester headquarters
say they have been working on Diet Ale-8 for nearly two decades but
just recently came up with a sweetener that satisfied their standards.
The drink contains sucralose and acesulfame potassium, sweeteners
that don’t leave the aftertaste commonly associated with aspartame,
the sweetener typically found in diet beverages.
UNION COUNTY
- Union County
is slated to receive $300,000 as part of a Community Development Block
Grant to improve water service and provide wastewater collection to
Martin’s Tire Company. Martin’s, which recycles tires into
power plant fuel, had originally planned to relocate to Eddyville
because water service to its existing plant at Sturgis Industrial
Park couldn’t provide the pressure needed for a sprinkler system
required by building codes. The grant will help fund infrastructure
improvements that will allow Martin’s to expand its existing
operation and in turn add nearly 40 new jobs.
STATE
- Bio-security
was the focus of the Kentucky’s 10th annual Farm Safety Symposium,
recently held in Elizabethtown. “When the first Farm Safety Symposium
was held, farm safety was all about caution with machinery, chemicals,
and livestock,” Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith said.
“Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, bio-security
has grown in importance on the farm. Our farmers are the first line
of defense for America’s safe, abundant and affordable food supply.”
Topics included federal, state, and local safety measures, food quality
and distribution, disease control and proper storage and application
of chemicals.
- Officials with
the Kentucky Division of Forestry say that the destructive ice storm
that bombarded portions of the state in February could have an adverse
affect on timber value. Large portions of timber in Eastern Kentucky,
which were already stressed due to insect problems, suffered long-term
damage. That loss could affect long-term harvest production and in
turn, result in a negative effect on the economy.
- Two companies
that operate online cigarette sales out of Kentucky are among 15 that
have been named in a lawsuit filed by New York City, which claims
that the companies are allowing buyers to skirt New York’s cigarette
taxes. Named in the suit are Hooray’s Inc. of Louisville, which
owns www.smokes-direct.com and www.cigsonline.com, and D.C. Inc.,
a Missouri company that operates www.dirtcheapcig.com out of Paducah.
- Amtrak is ending
its Kentucky Cardinal passenger train service this spring due to lack
of ridership. The city of Louisville spent approximately $360,000
to bring Amtrak back to Louisville in 1999, but the Louisville-Chicago
route never showed enough ridership to be profitable for Amtrak, largely
because the age of the track dictated that the train travel no faster
than 30 mph. Accordingly, a trip between Louisville and Chicago on
the Kentucky Cardinal took some 11 hours, as opposed to an hour flight
or a five-hour drive.
- Kentucky farmers
who suffered as a result of drought, floods and other natural disasters
in 2001 or 2002 will be able to apply for assistance under a nearly
$3.1 billion package recently approved by Congress. Producers who
have sustained losses greater than 35 percent of the normal yield
in either 2001 or 2002 will be able to apply for disaster assistance
payments. (The producer will need to choose one of the two years for
payments.) The assistance covers all crops, including program crops
and specialty crops. Payment rates will be based on a percentage of
applicable price. Livestock producers are also offered assistance.
- The Board of
Regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS)
has approved the consolidation of the following colleges: Ashland
Community College and Ashland Technical College will consolidate to
become Ashland Community and Technical College, Paducah Community
College will consolidate with West Kentucky Technical College and
Prestonsburg Community College is consolidating with Mayo Technical
College.
- Norton Healthcare
and Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) have been named among the
Top 100 Integrated Health Networks from a group of nearly 600 hospitals
and health systems around the country. Compiled by the national research
firm Verispan, the list was compiled based on the ability of health
systems to provide patients with coordinated healthcare. The systems
were rated in categories such as financial stability, integration,
technology and hospital utilization. Norton is headquartered in Louisville;
ARH maintains corporate offices in Hazard and Lexington.
INDIANA
MUNCIE
- Ball State University
has received a $1 million federal education grant to expand its Midwest
Entrepreneurial Education Center and programs. Part of the funding
will be used to develop a new Entrepreneurship Dynamics Laboratory,
which would conduct feasibility studies and write business plans.
OHIO
CINCINNATI
- Cincinnati-based
Fifth Third Bancorp has distributed $64 million in profit sharing
to its employees as a result of the bank’s 2002 earning performance.
Fifth Third employs 20,600 people at 934 offices in eight states.
- Cincinnati is
now home to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s newest
National Homeland Security Research Center. The center is part of
a joint research effort by EPA scientists and the U.S. Air Force to
manage, coordinate, and support a variety of homeland security research
and technical assistance efforts. The researchers will focus on developing
ways to clean up contaminated buildings, protect the country’s
drinking water, and improve risk assessment techniques.
- Chiquita Brands
International has sold its vegetable canning subsidiary to Seneca
Foods Corps. New York-based Seneca has agreed to pay $125 million
in cash and stock and will assume $81 million debt. Chiquita plans
to use the proceeds of the sale to reduce its debt load.
OAKLEY
- Vision Land Development
is investing $225 million to convert the former Cincinnati Milacron
plant into a retail project that could create one of the largest shopping
complexes in the Greater Cincinnati area. The Millworks development,
as it is being called, would feature some one million s.f. of retail,
entertainment and office space.
TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE
- Council Ventures,
a Nashville venture capital firm, has joined with two other venture
capital businesses to invest $5 million in Lancope, an Atlanta provider
of anti-hacking solutions for enterprise networks.
MEMPHIS
- The Fogelman
College of Economics at the University of Memphis is the recipient
of a $1 million gift from LHS, Inc., a local entity that funds healthcare
services and programs that address the needs of women and children.
The monies will be used to launch the Methodist-Le Bonheur Center
for Healthcare Economics. Healthcare economist Cyril Chang has been
appointed to serve as executive director of the center, which will
focus on the problems and solutions regarding rising healthcare costs.
- Memphis-based
Back Yard Burgers, Inc. has entered into a development agreement that
allows Well Done Enterprises to open 25 Back Yard franchises over
the next decade. The agreement involves 23 restaurants in the Washington,
D.C. area and two locations near State College, Pa. Back Yard Burgers
currently has 122 units in 17 states.
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