Asahi Bluegrass Forge Corp. has broken ground on a new 69,000-s.f. manufacturing facility in Richmond that will result in the creation of 50 new jobs with an average annual salary of around $40,000.
The Japanese-owned company specializes in press forging for the automotive industry, producing parts such as gears, bearings and joints as well as transmission parts.
The new facility will be the second Richmond facility for Asahi, which has been part of the Madison County business community for eight years and currently employs 45 workers.
The company is investing $20.3 million in the new plant, which is expected to begin production in 12 months.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority has preliminarily approved Asahi Bluegrass Forge for tax incentives up to $1 million through the Kentucky Business Investment Program, a performance-based incentive that allows the company to keep a portion of its investment over a 10-year period through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
Kentucky Economic Development Secretary Larry Hayes, who spoke at the official groundbreaking ceremony, noted that Kentucky has developed a “special relationship” with Japan over the past 25 years, and noted that Hawaii is the only state in the nation with more Japanese investment per capita than Kentucky.
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