Gov. Steve Beshear, center, spoke with Rob Combs, right, and Tony James of the Jessamine County Economic Development Authority at the SMC plant Monday morning before making an announcement of 94 new jobs at the facility. (Photo by Benjamin S. Rossi/brossi@jessaminejournal.com / January 23, 2012) |
A $1.5 million tax incentive through the Kentucky Business Investment program means that 94 new jobs will be coming to Nicholasville, according to Gov. Steve Beshear.
Beshear was on hand Monday, joining community leaders and company officials from SMC LLC to announce the company will establish a manufacturing facility in Nicholasville. The start-up company plans to hire 94 employees as a result of the nearly $1.9 million investment.
“SMC is a start-up company; it’s a manufacturing facility,” the governor said. “And they have agreed to invest $1.9 million here in Nicholasville. But there’s a number that’s associated with this company that I like even better because with that investment, they’re creating 94 jobs right here in Nicholasville.”
Beshear said that means 94 families have a future.
“That 94 stands for 94 families that are going to be able to put their heads down on their pillows at night and feel a lot more comfortable about the future about being able to keep a roof over their heads, feed their families and send their kids to school and create a better quality of life,” Beshear said.
SMC will be located in the former 22,500-square-foot Custom Wiring building at 400 Enterprise Drive and will manufacture circuit-board assemblies and perform systems integration for the electronics industry. The company, which has already begun operations, expects to be at full capacity in early 2013.
Beshear credited the KBI program the General Assembly passed in 2009 for allowing companies like SMC to open.
“This project is a perfect example of why the overhaul of Kentucky’s economic incentives and development program of 2009 was so critical to the future of this state,” he said. “Because of that action, Kentucky is now equipped better than ever to recruit companies to come in from out-of-state and create jobs and to help new companies, like SMC, to get off the ground and create new jobs.”
Beshear said since 2009, KBI has helped 387 projects create more than 30,000 jobs across the state.
SMC owner Rob Coats has high hopes for the success of the Nicholasville plant.
“SMC is very pleased to be a part of the Nicholasville community. This business is high-tech manufacturing with a small-business atmosphere that we expect will attract the best people from the area,” Coats said. “We appreciate the support that the Cabinet for Economic Development has given us to encourage us to invest in Kentucky.”
Coats said the best way to jump-start a sagging economy is small-business growth.
“The simple truth is that small-business growth and the creation of 10 jobs or 20 jobs or in this case, maybe 100 jobs, is really the answer to reducing unemployment, which, in turn, improves the economy and finally improves the quality of life for folks in Nicholasville, folks in Kentucky and throughout the United States,” Coats said.
The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income-tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
“This is great news for our community and further proof that the effort of the General Assembly and Gov. Beshear to revamp our economic development incentives in 2009 was the right move to make,” Rep. Robert Damron, D-Nicholasville, said. “I want to thank SMC for taking this step. It will mean a lot to those families who benefit from these jobs.”
For more information on SMC, visit www.SMCkyEMS.com.
