Home » Sweden-based tobacco company making $3M expansion in Owensboro

Sweden-based tobacco company making $3M expansion in Owensboro

Company employés 340 at Owensboro facility

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 27, 2015) — Swedish Match will invest more than $3 million in its Owensboro facility to expand its research and development department, Gov. Steve Beshear announced today.

swedish“Swedish Match recognizes Kentucky as a prime location for investment, a message we’ve been trumpeting at home and internationally,” said Beshear. “Projects like this represent a vote of confidence in the breadth and quality of Kentucky’s workforce and that our state is a great location for business and foreign direct investment.”

With its 10,000-s.f. expansion, Stockholm-based Swedish Match, a manufacturer of tobacco products, will grow its R&D department by eight employees. The addition will increase the company’s capabilities to formulate new products in Daviess County. The project includes laboratories, offices and meeting spaces. The company expects to complete the project in May and open the enlarged department in early June.

Swedish Match, established in 1904, produces tobacco products including moist snuff, cigars and chewing tobacco. Among the company’s most recognizable brands are Cricket, Game, Garcia y Vega, General, Longhorn, Red Man, Timberwolf and White Owl. The company maintains operations in six countries, employs 4,400 people and sells products in more than 100 countries. The company employs 340 at its Owensboro facilities.

Kentucky has had great success in attracting foreign direct investment. Last year, nearly a third of new investment and more than 20 percent of new jobs came from FDI projects. The commonwealth is home to more than 445 foreign-owned companies from 33 nations, employing more than 89,000 people.

To encourage the investment in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved the company for $100,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.

In addition, Swedish Match is eligible to receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies are eligible to receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives. Last year, the Kentucky Skills Network trained more than 84,000 employees from more than 5,600 Kentucky companies.