A ceremony was held Tuesday at the state Capitol Rotunda in recognition of Kentucky's first place honor in Site Selection Magazine's Governor's Cup rankings. The Commonwealth was awarded top prize for new and expanded industry activity per capita over the last year. Site Selection Editor Mark Arend says the award is given for projects that were announced in 2014. "So, those projects have yet to be built or the expansions have yet to be completed, but those facilities will all need to be staffed,” he said. “So, that's when the jobs start coming in."
Last year, Kentucky announced more than 350 new location and expansion projects, expected to create almost 15,000 jobs. Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Larry Hayes has been active in industrial and commercial development for decades. He says the many negative stigmas about Kentucky are being put to rest. "At times, I think we want to feel badly about ourselves or we believe some of the particular stereotypes that people used to have,” he said. “The truth of the matter is, Kentucky is doing business globally, very successfully."
Arend adds the ranking proves Kentucky has the ability to attract capital investment projects on a national scale. ?
