BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (June 19, 2018) – Company officials, business leaders, community leaders and elected officials gathered today to celebrate the groundbreaking of Canadian-owned Crown Verity USA, Inc. at the Kentucky Transpark in Bowling Green. This new location is their first in the United States and will help better serve their U.S. customers. Crown Verity USA, Inc. will create 25 new jobs in south-central Kentucky over the next five years.
For nearly 30 years, Crown Verity has been a leader in residential and commercial kitchen and outdoor product manufacturing, however, the Verity history is extensive. Dating back to 1892, Verity has been a manufacturer of a variety of consumer and commercial goods – from farm implements, lighting fixtures and component parts for aircraft during World War II, to commercial restaurant appliances in the early 1950s. In 1991, Crown Verity founder Bill Verity identified a need for a superior commercial restaurant grill and a new company was born. Crown Verity continues to be a producer of state-of-the-art outdoor kitchens, grills and accessories.
“Crown Verity selecting Kentucky for its new facility demonstrates precisely why we’re working to establish our state as the hub of engineering and manufacturing excellence in America,” said Vivek Sarin, executive officer of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. “The commonwealth provides manufacturers with a business-friendly, right-to-work environment, a prime location and ready infrastructure for quickly and reliably shipping products to market, a skilled workforce and, through our apprenticeship programs, an employee pipeline for the long term. Further, Crown Verity is cutting months off a traditional permitting and construction schedule because it bought a certified Build-Ready site. Gov. Bevin, Terry Gill and I look forward to seeing Crown Verity’s new facility quickly rise, open and begin production and I welcome the company’s presence for the long term in Kentucky’s business community.”
“The decision to expand and open a new Crown Verity facility in the United States was driven by the business growth we have seen in the last three years. Our focus to provide a high-quality product to our customers in the most efficient and timely manner drove us to look for an accessible US presence. The decision to locate in Bowling Green was partly a logistics exercise, but mainly, it was a cultural and systematic fit. The great people of Bowling Green, led by the Chamber of Commerce, showed us quickly that this was the right place to set up and continue our business growth. Not only are we looking to make Crown Verity stronger, we feel we can bring value to and be an active member of, the community. We look forward to making this our new home and providing greater value to our customers. We thank everyone that has made this process seamless, exciting and easy,” said Crown Verity President Andy Incitti and CEO Bill Verity.
Crown Verity’s quick timeline to open operations combined with their need to better and more efficiently serve its North American customers were two guiding factors in their decision to invest in Bowling Green and Warren County. Crown Verity’s new U.S. location is a former Kentucky Build-Ready certified site. Build-Ready sites streamline industrial project timelines and reduce costs; a true win-win for companies and communities alike. The Kentucky Transpark offers two more Build-Ready sites; a 108,000 square-foot virtual speculative building; and a 60,000 square-foot virtual building.
“We have experienced great success with our proactive and comprehensive approach to real estate development in the Transpark,” said Ron Bunch, chamber president and CEO. “In this case, we knew Crown Verity was interested in beginning operations within a six-month timeframe. We are ecstatic that the company selected our community in a relatively short period of time for their first U.S. location. We proudly welcome Crown Verity USA to South Central Kentucky and wish them the brightest of futures in our community.”
“The Kentucky Transpark is centrally located and a great location for meeting logistics needs in the U.S.,” said Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson. “Within a day’s time, you can reach 65 percent of the country’s population. Crown Verity USA’s future in our community and their market growth in the U.S. and the rest of North American is bright. Congratulations to them on their groundbreaking.”
“We are happy to join Crown Verity USA in celebrating the groundbreaking of their new business venture here in the United States,” said Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon. “We congratulate them and look forward to their success in our community for years to come.”
Crown Verity USA joins other international businesses in the Kentucky Transpark, including Austrian-owned Alpla, Inc.; Japanese-owned American Howa Kentucky, Inc.; French and Japanese joint venture corporation Constellium-UACJ; German-owned BILSTEIN COLD ROLLED STEEL LP; Canadian-owned Bowling Green Metalforming, LLC; Canadian-owned Cannon Automotive Solutions, Inc.; and German-owned Rhenus Automotive Systems.
This multi-phase $3.6 million project will initially include a 60,000 square-foot light assembly and distribution center and will grow to include a vertically integrated supply chain for Crown Verity’s fabrication, assembly and packaging operations. For more information about Crown Verity, visit www.crownverity.com.
The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce has announced seven economic development projects totaling $40.92 million in capital investment and 157 new jobs for 2018. Bowling Green was recently recognized by Site Selection magazine as a top tier-2 metropolitan area in the United States and was ranked among the top 20 for 2018’s ‘Best Small Cities to Start a Business’ by Wallethub.com.
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