BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Governor Steve Beshear joined BILSTEIN GROUP officials and community leaders on Wednesday to mark the groundbreaking of BILSTEIN COLD ROLLED STEEL LP at the Kentucky Transpark in Bowling Green and to celebrate 110 jobs created through the company’s $130 million investment.
“We couldn’t be happier to welcome BILSTEIN’s new investment in Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear. “The Commonwealth maintains great relationships with German companies, and BILSTEIN’s addition reiterates the importance of those relationships. With 64 German-owned facilities employing 10,500 full-time workers across the state, it shows our efforts in attracting those companies to Kentucky make a positive impact.”
BILSTEIN COLD ROLLED STEEL LP is a subsidiary of the family-owned German steel processor BILSTEIN GROUP, Europe’s largest supplier of cold-rolled products. The company will build the 250,000-square-foot cold-rolling steel manufacturing facility in Warren County to better serve its North American automotive industry customers.
“On behalf of BILSTEIN GROUP I am excited to be here in Bowling Green today to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony of our new production facility,” said BILSTEIN GROUP Managing Partner Marc T. Oehler. “This project is a significant step forward for our North American market strategy. The BILSTEIN COLD ROLLED STEEL LP facility will further accelerate our company’s global growth initiatives while providing our customers with demanding cold rolled strip products of the highest quality. The support we have received from the community, the Bowling Green Chamber and the local officials has been invaluable and I look forward to many, many years calling southcentral Kentucky our home.”
Founded in 1911 in Hagen, Germany, BILSTEIN processes over 600,000 tons of cold-rolled steel strip annually and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide. BILSTEIN NORTH AMERICA Inc., established in 2009, maintains five warehouse locations in North America.
The announcement of the Kentucky location followed Gov. Beshear’s 2013 visit to Europe, which included meetings with leaders of companies in Germany, Spain and Austria.
Kentucky has had great success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). 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.
Since January 2013, 29 German-owned facilities announced new locations or expansion projects in Kentucky, creating more than 1,200 full-time jobs through the collective investment of more than $488 million.
“It is with great pleasure that we welcome the new BILSTEIN production plant to southcentral Kentucky,” said Sen. Mike Wilson, of Bowling Green. “This investment speaks to our region’s success in developing transportation logistics and sound infrastructure around the Kentucky Transpark. The estimated 110 jobs will provide tremendous opportunities for our citizens and we thank everyone who worked hard on this new partnership.”
“The additional investment by BILSTEIN GROUP speaks volumes about the work ethic that the people of Bowling Green bring to both business development and their jobs,” said Speaker Pro Tem Jody Richards, of Bowling Green. “I appreciate Gov. Beshear and our business community for maintaining a strong partnership. The additional jobs created and investments made prove that our region is one of the most competitive the country has to offer for good paying jobs.”
“In two short years, BILSTEIN has realized that Bowling Green and the region is a great place to do business and is centrally located in Kentucky’s fast-growing automotive component manufacturing industry,” said Rep. Michael Meredith, of Brownsville. “BILSTEIN’s decision to expand is a testament to our high quality economic climate and outstanding workforce.”
“The addition of internationally known automotive suppliers and metal processors such as BILSTEIN GROUP only reinforces our growing reputation as a hub for the automotive industry,” said Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson. “We couldn’t be more pleased to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the BILSTEIN GROUP facility.”
“Southcentral Kentucky has experienced record growth because innovative companies like BILSTEIN GROUP continue to choose to locate here,” said Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon. “It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. We provide BILSTEIN GROUP with unrivaled infrastructure and transportation logistics and they allow us to be a part of their continued success by investing in the Kentucky Transpark. We are more than excited to be breaking ground today on this outstanding and already growing facility.”
To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $3.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
Additionally, BILSTEIN was approved by KEDFA for $1.4 million 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.
BILSTEIN is also 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.
For more information on BILSTEIN COLD ROLLED STEEL LP and BILSTEIN GROUP, visit www.BILSTEINCRS.com.