Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development

123 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 – and job creation – 18,100. And that has carried over into 2022 in a significant way, with nearly $7.5 billion invested and more than 13,000 full-time jobs created through September. Private-sector companies are locating and expanding at a higher rate than ever in Kentucky’s history, creating quality jobs and long-term investment in the state’s economy. “The unprecedented economic momentum we are seeing throughout Kentucky is no accident,” Gov. Andy Beshear says. “From our key industries seeing continued growth, to investment in our site selection and workforce training initiatives, we are investing in and attracting quality companies and jobs in every corner of the commonwealth. We’re all moving in the same direction as Team Kentucky and I could not be more proud of our continued success.” At the forefront of this momentum is the commonwealth’s rise to prominence in the electric-vehicle (EV) industry and the rapid growth of companies directly supporting this new market. The combination of large- scale projects from some of the industry’s largest companies, coupled with various announcements directly contributing to the supply chain and logistical support of the sector, has established Kentucky as the new EV battery capital in the United States. In August, Gov. Beshear joined state and local officials and representatives from Japan- based Envision AESC to break ground on a $2 billion, state-of-the-art gigafactory in Bowling Green’s Kentucky Transpark. The 30 GWh plant is creating 2,000 skilled jobs in South Central Kentucky to produce battery cells and modules that will power up to 300,000 next-generation EVs by 2027 and will be manufactured for multiple global automotive manufacturers. The announcement of the Envision AESC investment came just months after Kentucky’s first game-changing EV battery project. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and executives from Ford Motor Co. and SK On announced the BlueOvalSK Battery Park in Hardin