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FAST LANE - October
2004
The Kentucky Gameday Center will house 188 residential units, which will come fully furnished with everything from bath towels to barware. The complex will offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom suites and penthouses, with prices ranging from $145,000 to $850,000. The building will also include a sports-themed restaurant, parking and a reception area for Gameday owners. Gameday Centers Atlantic, LLC also plans to restore an historic house located on the High Street property (circa 1808), which will be used as a private club with a fitness center, pool, conference facility and private board room for homeowners and guests. When the units aren’t being used by owners, a rental program will be managed by an on-site rental management company. Construction on the Lexington site is expected to begin in Winter 2005 with unit selections slated for Spring 2005. Gameday Centers has already developed its concept in cities across the Southeast. The company currently has properties in Auburn and Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Athens, Ga. Future Gameday Centers are planned for Clemson, S.C.; College Station and Austin, Texas; and Boulder, Colo. HOPKINSVILLE
Working in partnership, TVA’s economic development staff, distributors of TVA power and economic development partners will market the sites to automotive manufacturers seeking to locate facilities in the Southeast. TVA launched the megasites certification program in March in response to a growing need for large industrial properties appropriate for automotive manufacturing facilities. TVA has learned that several major manufacturers may locate additional automotive plants in the Southeast during the next decade. “One of the fastest growing trends that we are seeing in the site location business is the demand for certified industrial sites because companies want sites that are ready-to-go and relatively risk free,” said Ed McCallum, senior principal with McCallum Sweeney Consulting, a South Carolina firm that has been working with the TVA. “With the megasites certification program, TVA has made it possible for sites with the necessary attributes in place and the due diligence completed to receive advanced certification.” The Interstate 24 Megasite in Hopkinsville and the Lowndes County-Golden Triangle Megasite in Columbus, Mississippi meet all criteria required for certification, including size of at least 700 to 1,000 contiguous and developable acres, land availability, transportation access and labor capacity. TVA said the sites also possess unique features, such as ideal topography, a well-defined infrastructure development plan and direct access to major airports, rail and roadways. STATE The Kentucky State Office of Rural Health, based at the University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health in Hazard, has received more than $713,000 to implement a planning process focused on strategies for expanding health insurance to the state’s neediest residents. The one-year State Planning Grant is aimed at exploring public and private means for reducing the number of Kentuckians without health coverage. Currently, that total is approximately 548,000 residents, or 13.6 percent of the population, according to a 2003 U.S. Census Bureau population survey. The issue is particularly problematic in rural Kentucky, with the highest uninsured rate found in Clay County, where 20.7 percent of residents have no health insurance. An additional 1.25 million Kentuckians, or about 31 percent of the population, rely on government-funded insurance programs such as Medicaid, which is vulnerable to external economic conditions. Further Medicaid eligibility cuts could significantly increase the state’s uninsured population. Among the specific goals of the project are to design research that identifies disparities in geographic or racial/ethnic access to care and to identify options for reducing Medicaid expenditures without reducing eligibility or increasing investment in the program. A series of community forums will be convened around the state to gather information about the experiences of being under- and uninsured, ideas and innovations that are helping the uninsured, and alternatives to the status quo. LOUISVILLE
Shares of the company will be traded under the CARE symbol on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. With the nation’s increased demand for geriatric services, the six-year-old company has seen its revenue increase from $35 million in 2002 to $53.1 million in 2003. The company is on track to exceed the 2003 earnings as well, with $32.8 million in revenue for the first six months of this year. HealthEssentials employs some 1,250 workers in 15 states and the District of Columbia. The company plans to utilize funds produced by the sale to pay off debt and for other corporate purposes. LEXINGTON
Construction on the 750,000-square-foot plant is already under way in Albuquerque. The facility is expected to be completed by the summer of 2006. The Albuquerque plant is being built to meet manufacturing needs for Tempur-Pedic primarily within the western states as well as servicing mattress customers in Mexico and South America. The plant is expected to bring 250 to 300 jobs to the area. The plant will be the second U.S. plant built by Tempur-Pedic; the company’s Duffield, Virginia plant opened in September 2001 and was expanded in 2003. The company is also in the process of expanding its Denmark plant to meet growing demand for its products in Europe and Asia. FLORENCE PediaMed Pharmaceuticals has purchased an Arizona company that specializes in the development of therapies for immunological diseases. The acquisition of Tucson-based Protein Therapeutics includes an investigational immunoglobulin, a drug that is currently in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of gastrointestinal problems in autistic children. “With autism growing at a rate of 10 to 17 percent per year, we look forward to tackling a category that disrupts the lives of so many families,” said PediaMed President Dr. Cameron Durrant. “Gastrointestinal symptoms associated with autism are debilitating physically, emotionally and socially. Our acquisition is an important step in building our capacity to conduct clinical research in this significant therapeutic area, one with a very important unmet medical need.” Financial details of the acquisition have not been released. PediaMed is a pharmaceutical company that is devoted exclusively to the development and marketing of prescription and over-the-counter medication for children and adolescents. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Florence, Kentucky, PediaMed is a member of the Union Springs Portfolio of companies, which also includes Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals (Florence, Ky.). HIGHLAND HEIGHTS
The Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region has experienced a dramatic increase in Latino and other immigrant groups in the past decade. Between 1990 and 2000, the Latino population alone more than doubled, with current estimates as high as 65,000 residents. The Center will provide the impetus for fulfilling the needs of Greater Cincinnati’s growing Latino population in the areas of social services, employment, cultural sensitivity and the arts, to name a few. To create an environment focused on a web of resident, student, corporate and community service needs, the Center will focus on helping to coordinate the sharing of expertise through forums and research between NKU faculty, staff and students, corporate leaders and community and government leaders for the benefit of regional development. The Center is scheduled to open Aug. 2005. ASHLAND
The organization is being sponsored by the Ashland Alliance, the Ashland Area Innovation Center and other economic development groups in the Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky region. The Ashland Alliance is a chamber of commerce/regional development partnership that serves the city of Ashland and the Kentucky counties of Boyd and Greenup. The Ashland Area Innovation Center is one of 16 such centers across Kentucky designed to attract technology-based economic development to their respective areas. The Ashland center is housed at the Ashland Community and Technical College. The new investment club, modeled after similar venture capital clubs in Louisville and Lexington, plans to hold quarterly meetings, featuring brief presentations by entrepreneurs seeking start-up or expansion capital for their businesses. The meetings will also include keynote speeches from experienced business people. Membership in the organization is free of charge. The group’s next meeting is planned for December 9. For more information, contact the Ashland Alliance at (606) 324-5111 or the Ashland Area Innovation Center at (606) 326-2239. LOUISVILLE
BOWLING GREEN
Sygen International operates research facilities in Franklin, Kentucky and is a world leader in applying quantitative genetics and biotechnology to animal breeding. The partnership will enable the organizations to jointly pursue state and federal funding opportunities for research diversification and commercialization opportunities in pigs, shrimp, poultry, cattle, finfish, and other animals. Stephen Pearce, Sygen’s biotechnology funding manager will serve as project director and executive-in-residence in CiTE’s Economic Development Group. Sygen’s affiliate company, PIC, is well established in pig breeding, while its SyAqua affiliate initiated shrimp breeding operations in 2002 in response to Sygen’s global initiative to leverage its biotechnology investment across multiple species. “PIC has helped to establish Kentucky as a world biotechnology leader in applying animal breeding research and quantitative genetics to livestock production,” said Brian Mefford, CiTE president and chief executive officer. “When Sygen moved its U.S.-based research and development laboratory, and shrimp breeding research facility to Kentucky, it created a unique opportunity for technology-based economic development.” Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher recently announced the formation of an advisory council to increase Kentucky’s share of funding in the areas of biotechnology and life sciences. The objective of the council is to boost the development of the industry through technology transfer and commercialization of new ideas and discoveries. In addition, the council will focus on attracting technology-related venture capital to Kentucky. NORTHERN KENTUCKY
When the upgrade is completed, the airport will offer 93 stores, including tenants such as Wolfgang Puck, Outback Steakhouse, Johnston & Murphy shoes, Brookstone gifts, CNBC News and Cinnabon. The airport reported $541 in sales per square foot in 2003 and is projecting sales to reach more than $600 per square foot this year, a figure that is higher than most malls. LEXINGTON
“A further goal of the project,” said Robert Tannenbaum, the principal investigator on the grant, “is to increase the number of students graduating with STEM majors by a total of at least 35 in the fifth year of the project, and at least 50 in each of the succeeding years.” In addition to Tannenbaum, who is associate director of undergraduate studies at UK, the project will be co-directed by Carl Eberhart, professor of mathematics, and Jeffrey Osborn, professor of biology, both in the College of Arts and Sciences. The project’s title is “Recruiting, Retaining and Graduating Appalachian and Minority Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Majors. The National Science Foundation awarded only 13 other grants in this program in 2004, including ones to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University (VPI), and the National Academy of Sciences. LOUISVILLE ResCare Inc., a Louisville-based human service company that provides job training and educational supports to people with developmental or other disabilities and to youth and adults with special needs, has purchased the home-care services of Health Care Services Inc., a Georgia company that operates as First Choice Medical. First Choice will become part of Southern Home Care Services, a subsidiary of ResCare that provides home health care services in Georgia and South Carolina. First Choice will retain its respiratory, home medical equipment and home infusion segments. The acquisition is expected to add some $4.6 million to ResCare’s annual revenue. In addition, the company’s Division for Training Services was recently awarded a $14.3 million contract by the U.S. Department of Labor to continue operating the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center in Tuscan, Ariz. The term of the contract is through August 31 2006, with three one-year options for renewal. LEXINGTON
OHIO
Production of the all-new SUV will join a lineup in Ohio that includes the Honda Accord, Civic, Element light truck and the Acura TL. Placed in the Acura lineup beneath the MDX in both price and size, it will be the fourth performance and luxury Acura model produced in North America. “Since we began auto production in 1982, our Ohio plants have focused primarily on production of passenger cars,” said Koki Hirashima, Honda of America’s president and CEO. “Along with the model mix produced at Honda’s other plants in North America, this will position us for the future – providing added flexibility to meet the needs of our customers for both cars and light trucks.” The announcement in Ohio reflects Honda’s business strategy to manufacture products close to the customer. The company operates four plants in Ohio and the company has not yet determined whether the vehicle will be produced in Marysville or East Liberty. Both facilities are equipped to produce various models without extensive alterations to their existing manufacturing layout. Honda is the largest employer in the central Ohio region, with more than 13,000 workers in its four plants. OHIO
Federated’s decision to leverage the Macy’s brand affects regional department stores that currently operate as Burdines-Macy’s in Florida, Bon-Macy’s in the Pacific Northwest, Goldsmith’s-Macy’s in Tennessee, Lazarus-Macy’s in the Midwest, and Rich’s-Macy’s in the southeast. The stores will begin operating exclusively under the name Macy’s by the end of January. Federated is one of the nation’s leading department store retailers, with annual sales of more than $15.2 billion. The company operates 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Business Briefs BOWLING GREEN
CALVERT CITY
CLINTON COUNTY
GEORGETOWN
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS
HOPKINSVILLE
LA GRANGE
LAWRENCEBURG
LEXINGTON
LOUISVILLE
MARION
MIDWAY
MT. STERLING
MURRAY
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
PIKEVILLE
PROVIDENCE
STANFORD
WARSAW
STATE
OHIO
TENNESSEE
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Copyright 1996-2004, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content
is copyright 2004, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
An Atlanta company has announced plans to develop a luxury sports condominium complex in Lexington across from Rupp Arena and within walking distance of the University of Kentucky campus, targeting the legions of sports fans that flock to the city for the Wildcats’ basketball and football games. 
A 2,100-acre parcel near Interstate 24 in Hopkinsville is one of two sites selected by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as “megasites,” or large, industrial properties suitable for major automotive manufacturing plants. 
HealthEssentials Solutions, a Louisville company that provides geriatric care and services, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to move forward with an initial public offering.
Lexington-based Tempur-Pedic International is building a $90 million manufacturing facility in New Mexico in order to meet increased demand for its mattresses.
Northern Kentucky University has announced plans to create a Latino/Multicultural Center for Regional Development to help provide services to the region’s increasingly diverse population. 
With a goal of bringing together entrepreneurs and investors, a number of Ashland organizations have partnered to create the Tri-State Capital Investment Club.
Kentucky’s Center for Technology Enterprise (CiTE) has entered into a strategic relationship with Sygen International plc to further promote Kentucky’s leadership role in the scientific improvement of livestock production.
The Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport is nearing completion of a $28 million retail upgrade. Industry experts say will give the airport an edge in attracting more airlines and more flights since carriers often negotiate to receive a portion of retail revenue.
The University of Kentucky has been awarded a $1,998,996 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project aimed at increasing the number of minority and Appalachian-area students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at UK. 
Honda of America Manufacturing has announced that a new Acura sport-utility vehicle will be produced in Ohio, beginning in 2006.
Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores, Inc. has announced that it will convert all of its regional department stores to the Macy’s nameplate.
The Cargill Inc. steel rolling mill in Calvert City is one of eight facilities being sold to Gerdau Ameristeel. The Toronto-based company purchased the eight plants, which are part of Cargill’s North Star Steel unit, for $266 million. The Calvert City plant employs approximately 150 workers and produces steel products for barge and ship builders, original equipment manufacturers, fabricators and metal builders. 
The Kentucky Horse Park has entered into a partnership with Georgetown College that will support students enrolled in the college’s Equine Scholars Program, which targets students interested in combining a liberal arts education and their interest in the equine industry. Along with other equine organizations in the Bluegrass region, the Kentucky Horse Park will help students add internships to their academic experience to meet their specific needs in equine areas as well as business, design, museum and educational fields. Six students have received the scholarship for the 2004-2005 academic school year. Beginning with the 2005 school year, 40 students per year will be awarded an equine scholarship. 
Four Roses Distillery has opened a new visitor’s center on the grounds of its historic distillery in Lawrenceburg. The center is housed in the distillery’s original 19th-century, Spanish Mission-style building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and features interactive exhibits, including a 15-minute feature film detailing the history of Four Roses and the bourbon-making process. 
Citing a lack of sufficient consumer interest, Brown-Forman has abandoned its efforts to grow its flavored malt beverage. Despite taking over the distribution of its Jack Daniel’s Original Hard Cola from Miller Brewing Company earlier this year, the number of distributors wanting to carry the whiskey-and-cola beverage dropped drastically, from 140 to only 35. 
Some 30 new jobs are expected to be added at Bank One’s loan center in Louisville as a result of the company’s decision to close its loan center in Ft. Worth, Texas. The positions, which include commercial credit specialists, collateral specialists and loan set-up and funding jobs, will pay between $28,000 and $40,000 per year. 
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has signed an agreement to acquire the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana for $47 million, pending approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. CDI President and CEO Thomas H. Meeker said the New Orleans track, with its rich tradition and winter-race schedule, is “an excellent strategic fit for CDI.” 
Two Kentucky hospitals have been recognized as among the best in the nation, according to the most recent annual ranking released by U.S. News & World Report. Jewish Hospital in Louisville was ranked No. 44 for its orthopedics department. St. Elizabeth Hospital North in Covington was ranked No. 49 in neurology and neurosurgery. The standards for ranking are rigorous, with only 177 of the nation’s 6,012 medical centers considered to be of high enough quality to be ranked in even a single specialty. Those hospitals were then assessed by reputation, death rate and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services, with each category receiving equal weight. 
Ashland Inc. has signed an agreement to sell the ingestibles line of business of Ashland Distribution – which includes food and beverage additives and pharmaceutical actives and excipients – to Mitsubishi Corporation (MC). Ashland Distribution, a division of Covington, Ky.-based Ashland Inc., is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio and is a leading distributor of chemicals, plastics, materials for composites, and environmental services in North America. “The sale of the ingestibles business to Mitsubishi allows us to further sharpen our focus on businesses that are central to our core business,” explained Hank Waters, president, Ashland Distribution. “The ingestibles line of business represents less than four percent of Ashland Distribution’s total sales, and there is not much overlap between it and our other lines of business.” On the other hand, Mitsubishi Corporation’s food-related products are positioned as a core business, with food ingredient sales of nearly $500 million worldwide.