Seventy-five More Years
Ashland Inc. puts a smile on Kentuckians' faces

Kentucky is indeed fortunate that Ashland, Inc. – one of its top corporate citizens – decided to remain here instead of moving- its corporate headquarters to one of several eager and incentive-rich nearby states.

Why was Ashland in such demand?

Ashland has been committed to supporting education, the arts and the disadvantaged throughout Kentucky. Ashland's support includes generous financial contributions and the extensive involvement of its employees to make Kentucky and the cities in which Ashland operates a better place to live and raise a family. Ashland is a Fortune 500 company and one of the top publicly-held companies in the Commonwealth.

Why did Ashland stay in Kentucky?

Perhaps the board of directors decided that Ashland is a Kentucky company and its corporate offices must remain in Kentucky.

From our perspective, Covington – Ashland's new corporate home in Northern Kentucky – provides lots of benefits. The Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati Airport offers excellent connections to major U.S. cities (Columbus, St. Louis, Atlanta) in which Ashland has divisional operations as well as international flights so Ashland can service its worldwide operations. Convenient air transportation will substantially improve Ashland's corporate efficiency.

The area has excellent educational institutions (Northern Kentucky University, University of Cincinnati). Ashland's ability to recruit top management will be improved by being in the Greater Cincinnati MSA, which offers a high quality of life and a broad range of housing options and lifestyles.

Northern Kentucky also offers a pro-business environment that is a confidence builder for corporate decision makers. High quality office facilities were readily available to accommodate Ashland's needs.

Selecting Covington also allowed Ashland's corporate offices to remain separate from divisional operations (i.e. Valvoline in Lexington) and yet be close enough for cost and time efficiencies.

In the face of corporate changes – such as Humana's merger with United Healthcare, financial woes at Vencor, the merger of DataBeam Corporation with IBM/Lotus, and Studio Plus with Extended Stay America – Ashland's decision to stay in Kentucky is the most significant business news story of 1998.

Kentucky Governor Paul Patton, Secretary of the Economic Development Cabinet Gene Strong, Triad Organization's Dan Tobergte, and the local political and economic development leaders in Covington and Kenton County must all be smiling. We think all Kentuckians should be smiling.

Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Consultants, Inc. and publisher of The Lane Report.

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