FRANKFORT, Ky. – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted continued momentum of the commonwealth’s site development efforts with the announcement of two new Build-Ready locations in Lyon County, putting the area in a position for future economic success.

The sites, located at 1000 Industrial Park Road in Eddyville Industrial Park and publicly owned by the Eddyville Riverport and Industrial Development Authority, add to the state’s growing list of properties certified by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development as Build-Ready. These sites are available statewide for companies looking to locate in the commonwealth and start construction and operations quickly.  

“Kentucky’s Build-Ready program has grown throughout the last several years, and I’m excited to see that momentum continuing in Lyon County,” said Gov. Beshear. “One of the biggest draws to the commonwealth for growing companies is our site selection, and communities like Lyon County taking the initiative to develop sites for these potential investments is great. I want to congratulate Lyon County on its two new Build-Ready sites, and I’m excited to see what companies it might bring to the area.”

Site A includes 20 - 80 acres within the Eddyville city limits at the Eddyville Industrial Park. Site B consists of 8 - 20 acres within the same industrial park. The Eddyville Industrial Park itself is 106 acres available for development. The Site A property sits only half a mile from Interstate Highway 69 and four miles from Interstate Highway 24. Additionally, the property is five miles from Eddyville Riverport, with a rail spur on-site. The Eddyville Industrial Park is also only 35 miles east of the Barkley Regional Airport in Paducah, Kentucky.

Utilities include an 8-inch gravity sewer line that serves the site. The property also includes the availability of a 10-inch waterline that runs along the south side of U.S. Highway 62. The excess water capacity of the property is 850,000 gallons per day at the site. Both sites offer electric, gas and fiber internet utilities.

In November 2021, Gov. Beshear announced a Product Development Initiative Grant for the Eddyville Industrial Park. The Lyon County location was selected for funding through the Product Development Initiative (PDI) in 2020. PDI was created through a partnership between the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and the Kentucky Association for Economic Development (KAED) to provide competitive grants to Kentucky economic development organizations and local governments to supplement site and building improvement projects.

Lyon County Judge/Executive Jaime Green-Smith spoke on how the community comes together to invest in site development projects.

“We know that available sites in the industrial park drive economic development projects in our community,” said Judge Smith. “As a community, we work together to invest in product development and build great economic development sites. Our strategy has been to develop diverse sites to meet the different needs of industrial tenants looking to locate in the industrial park.”

Eddyville Mayor Greg Greene talked about the selling points for the two new sites.

“Speed-to-market is a decision driver in economic development,” Mayor Green said. “We are ready to meet the needs of business as they make location decisions. Our industrial park is fully served with utilities, has great transportation access and truly embodies the ‘Build-Ready’ spirit. With the completion of these Build-Ready sites, we are ready to meet any timeline a company has when they are looking for a new site.”

Eddyville Riverport and Industrial Development Authority Board Chair Billy Ray Coursey mentioned the partners that made the Build-Ready sites possible.

“The Eddyville Riverport and Industrial Development Authority are committed to the long-term success and investment into this park,” said Coursey. “We now have two different Build-Ready sites to meet the needs of both large and small projects. Both sites came about thanks to cooperation and collaboration between the Eddyville Riverport, Lyon County IDA, Kentucky Utilities and the Cabinet for Economic Development.”

Lake Barkley Partnership Executive Director Amanda Davenport thanked the community for its support during the process.

“The investments in these sites would not have happened without local cooperation,” said Davenport. “We are thankful to have local leadership that understands and embodies cooperation throughout the community. The shared investment into our Build-Ready sites shows our county’s commitment to working together to better our business and industrial community.

With a Build-Ready site, much of the work – aside from construction – has already been completed. That includes controlling the land to be developed, completing archaeological, environmental and geotechnical studies, constructing a building pad, finishing preliminary design work, obtaining approved site plan permits and putting necessary infrastructure in place. On a Build-Ready site, construction can begin immediately.

To be Build-Ready-certified, a site must include a pad ready to accommodate a building of 50,000 square feet with the ability to expand to 100,000 square feet or more – and utilities extending to the site’s edge. Applicants – usually a city, county or economic development group – must have previously filed the necessary permits, as well as preliminary building plans, cost estimates and schedule projections. Applicants also are asked to provide a rendering of a potential building for the site.

Including the new sites in Eddyville, the commonwealth is home to roughly 23 Build-Ready sites. Multiple other locations across the state are currently working toward certification.

To date, eight former Build-Ready-certified sites, including tracts located in Hart and Laurel counties and four sites in Warren County, have been selected by companies for new location projects, allowing companies to bring their operations online in a cost-efficient manner while creating jobs for local Kentuckians.

The new Build-Ready sites in Eddyville further recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger from the effects of the pandemic.

Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced the creation of 46,000 full-time jobs and more than 850 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling $25.9 billion in announced investments.

The Governor has now secured the best two-year period in state history for economic growth.

In 2021, the commonwealth shattered every economic development record in the books. Private-sector new-location and expansion announcements included a record $11.2 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create a record 18,000-plus full-time jobs across the coming years.

That momentum continued strongly into 2022 with 248 new-location and expansion announcements totaling 16,000 full-time jobs behind nearly $10.5 billion in new investment.

The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2022 was $26.78 before benefits, the second-highest mark since 2010 and an 11.5% increase over the previous year.

Gov. Beshear also announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK Innovation celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. And in April 2022, the Governor was joined by leadership at Envision AESC to announce a $2 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs in Warren County. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States.

Kentucky’s success has been noted by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, which have upgraded the state’s financial outlook to positive in recognition of the commonwealth’s surging economy.

Site Selection magazine placed Kentucky second nationwide and first in the South Central region for its annual Governor’s Cup ranking for 2022, which recognizes state-level economic success based on capital investments.

Gov. Beshear’s administration is projected to post the four highest years of budget surpluses in Kentucky history, and the state’s rainy-day fund has a record balance of $2.7 billion.

Gov. Beshear recently announced a new “Supply Kentucky” initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies.

The Governor also recently announced that Kentucky set the record for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history. Over the past 15 months, the rate has been between 3.8%, the lowest rate ever recorded, and 4%, marking the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history. Kentucky has now achieved a 3.8% unemployment rate during four months since the beginning of 2022.