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FAST LANE - December
2003
Webasto Roof Systems, a supplier of roof systems to the automotive industry, was selected winner in the large industry category. Webasto-Lexington began operations in 1998 and currently employs approximately 300. In 2003, a new state-of-the-art manufacturing center was completed that increased the size of the Kentucky-based operations to over 300,000 square feet. The winner in the medium industry category was Modine Manufacturing Inc., a full-service supplier of air-conditioning and heating components to the automotive market. Modine opened its Harrodsburg facility in 1970 and now employs nearly 200 workers. OnLine Printing, the winner of the small industry category, is a short-run, on-demand printer that produces a broad variety of personalized material. The company has been in business since 1986. The companies were selected for their leadership in making key contributions to the community in which the company is located through increased investment and new jobs; innovative and entrepreneurial leadership in products, production methods or services; active involvement in legislative issues that impact Kentucky business and industry; and through their dedication to the industrial community by participation in organizations that advance industry and manufacturing. The award winners were selected by a panel of judges representing businesses, educational institutions and trade associations. In announcing this year’s recipients, AIK President and CEO Andrew Meko said, “Kentucky industries make enormous contributions to the quality of life in our state. These three outstanding companies exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit, community leadership and policy contributions made by Kentucky industry to the success of our Commonwealth.” ERLANGER
TMMNA currently has over 250,000-square-feet of office and technical space at its 40-plus-acre campus in Boone and Kenton counties, where it employs a staff of more than 600. Approximately 75 new professional and technical jobs are expected to be created over the next two years with an average salary of $60,000 per year. Toyota currently has 10 vehicle-manufacturing and parts facilities in North America – including one in Georgetown, Kentucky – and is in the process of building plants in Baja California, Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; and Jackson, Tennessee. “As our North American manufacturing operations continue to expand, the quality and production engineering laboratory will play a growing role in a number of functions - including parts, components and materials testing and warranty claim analysis,” noted Dennis Cuneo, senior vice president of TMMNA. Construction on the $15.6 million headquarters project is expected to be complete by summer. LOUISVILLE With the conviction that there’s strength in numbers, three Louisville-area venture capital groups have come together to form one fund. Emergent Ventures combines the expertise of Evermore Investments, The Yearling Fund and ICS Management Group and will invest in a broad range of early-stage companies in the Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee region. In an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal, Dale Boden, managing partner of the Yearling Fund, said, “I think we all felt like a combined effort was a more efficient and effective way to make investments and that it allowed us to combine talents. The combined group represents some of the most experienced early-stage investors in this region.” The three groups have co-invested in the past, according to Jay Tannon, an organizer of Emerging Ventures and a member of Evermore’s executive committee. Fund organizers say they expect initial investment amounts to range between $250,000 and $1 million. LEXINGTON
Host was the recipient of one of UK’s first baseball scholarships and went on to play in the Chicago White Sox system until an arm injury forced him to retire. He began his sportscasting career in 1957, becoming the play-by-play announcer of UK football and basketball for the Kentucky Central Sports Network and WVLK radio. He was also a broadcaster for the UK campus public radio station. Host opened Jim Host & Associates in 1972; two years later, the company landed the broadcasting rights for UK’s basketball and football games. The company is now internationally known for its sports marketing and other marketing activities. In 2000, Host Communications was named as one of the top five sports marketing companies in the world by SportsBusiness Journal and its founder was named to the UK Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2001, Jim Host was named “Kentuckian of the Year” by the Chandler Foundation. LOUISVILLE
The newly combined company, which will be named Reynolds American Inc., will be headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, home to R.J. Reynolds. R.J. Reynolds will control the majority 58 percent of the new company with Brown & Williamson’s parent company, British American Tobacco, owning the remaining 42 percent. Susan Ivey, president and chief executive officer of Brown & Williamson, will assume the same position with the new company. Reynolds American will hold more than 30 percent of the U.S. cigarette market and is expected to produce some $10 billion in annual revenues. By combining operations, the companies anticipate annual savings of more than $500 million. Brown & Williamson has had a presence in Louisville since 1927, when founders George Brown and Robert Williamson moved the company from North Carolina to Louisville to take advantage of Kentucky’s central location and proximity to major tobacco markets. Since then, the company’s economic impact has amounted some $500 million annually. The loss of B&W comes only three years after tobacco giant Philip Morris announced that it was closing its Louisville plant. That shutdown cost the city 1,400 jobs. HENDERSON
Alcan Communications Coordinator Kenny Barkley, who initiated the plan, told the Henderson Gleaner, “From Alcan’s perspective, we are going to do what we can to help the school system, and this is one way of trying to find an answer to the attendance problem. ... the more (students) are at the school, the better grades they are going to get. If this savings bond is just one way of making them want to be there, then cool. It’s just one way of trying something new. “If I had a choice between a student who was an “A” student and missed work or missed school 20 days or 25 days a year, I would rather have a “C” student who didn’t miss a day, because they are dependable,” Barkley added. The company anticipates spending around $5,000 on the program – and plans to sponsor it again if attendance improves by the ends of the school year. Alcan operates a smelting facility in nearby Sebree, Kentucky. LEXINGTON The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant of more than $6 million to the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy to study new treatments for nicotine addiction. The funding represents the largest single grant ever received by the UK College of Pharmacy. UK College of Pharmacy professors Linda Dwoskin, Ph.D., and Peter Crooks, Ph.D., in collaboration with Michael Bardo, Ph.D., professor of psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, will conduct preclinical studies to develop new therapies for tobacco use cessation and for treatment of nicotine dependence. Tobacco use and nicotine addiction are also linked to depression, and innovative drugs also may prove to be new treatments for depression. The researchers are taking an integrative approach to increase understanding of the underlying mechanisms of tobacco use and nicotine addiction, with a focus on pharmacotherapeutic drug development. LEXINGTON
The “Live Where You Work” program will provide financial assistance of up to $15,000 for eligible employees, along with housing information and education and innovative financing options. The initiative is designed to promote urban revitalization by targeting homes in the downtown and University of Kentucky area. LFUCG, UK and Samaritan Hospital will require applicants to successfully complete an approved homeownership education program, which focuses on credit maintenance, budget planning, home maintenance and post-purchase counseling. After obtaining certification from a homeownership counseling agency, applicants will be referred to participating lenders – Bank One or National City Bank – to apply for a home loan. All three employers are providing eligible employees with forgivable loans of up to five percent of the home’s purchase price to be used for down payment, closing costs, rehabilitation or renovation assistance of houses, condominiums, town houses and duplexes. The EAH loans are forgiven over a five-year period providing the homebuyer remains a full-time employee of his or her employer. The program was designed with the assistance of Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest source of home mortgage financing. Through its employer-assisted housing (EAH) initiative, Fannie Mae provides free technical assistance to employers that are interested in developing EAH plans. Employers interested in implementing an EAH benefit plan may contact Fannie Mae’s Kentucky Partnership Office at (859) 226-5140. LOUISVILLE
The honor is presented each year, based nominations from readers and interviews with state and local government specialists. In an article profiling his achievements, Abramson is lauded for his success in getting Louisville’s newly merged city/county government off to a good start. WESTERN KENTUCKY The Tennessee Valley Authority has awarded $2.4 billion in new coal contracts for Western Kentucky that are expected to generate up to 500 new jobs in the region. The contracts, which range from 10 to 20 years, will mainly supply the TVA’s Paradise Fossil Plant in Muhlenberg County. New scrubbers were recently installed at the plant, making it one of the cleanest plants in the system, according to TVA officials. Details of the contracts include:
LOUISVILLE
In June, the company announced that it was merging with its sister company, ARV Assisted Living, and would move approximately 50 Atria jobs from its Louisville headquarters to ARV’s offices in Costa Mesa, California. At the time, the decision to set up headquarters in California was based on the fact that the combined companies had more assets there as compared to Kentucky. In addition, Atria’s president and CEO, Douglas Pasquale, was already based California. Recently, however, Pasquale accepted a position as chief operating officer with National Health Properties, Inc. and has left Atria. That combined with the fact that most of the company’s vice presidents are located in Louisville caused the company to reconsider the move to California. According to company officials, the merger is expected to continue as planned, with the system fully integrated by the end of this year. Combined, the company will own 134 assisted living facilities in 26 states and employ a staff of more than 8,000. OWENSBORO
The plant, which opened only five years ago, produces frames for Toyota’s Tundra and Sequoia models. Though Toyota officials confess to having reservations about allowing another company to produce its frames – up to that point Toyota had always made its own frames - those concerns were quickly laid to rest. The plant received the Toyota Delivery Award for the next three years in a row. The Owensboro plant was one of approximately 300 facilities nominated for the honor, which is awarded based on quality performance, on-time delivery, productivity improvements and profitability. STATE
The campaign is expected to last approximately five years. When complete, the “Fulfilling the Promise Campaign” is expected to rank as the largest private fund-raising effort ever undertaken by a system of two-year colleges in the nation. The largest such campaign to date – totaling $43 million – was conducted by the Kentucky community college system in the mid-1990s. During the Fulfilling the Promise Campaign, KCTCS and its colleges will solicit major gifts from individuals, companies, foundations and other sources to invest in specific projects such as scholarship endowments, program support, state-of-the-art equipment and technology, faculty-staff development, and new facilities. Toyota Motor Manufacturing and the Kentucky Colonels have already stepped forward with gifts of $500,000 and $320,000 respectively. The Toyota funds will be used to launch the KCTCS Center of Excellence in Automotive Manufacturing. The Kentucky Colonels gift will establish a scholarship program to benefit single, working parents who need assistance to afford a college education. RICHMOND
The National Association of Management and Technical Assistance Centers (NAMTAC) honored CEDET for developing the Kentucky Artisan Heritage Trails cultural tourism project. The project promotes artisan and cultural attractions in 16 Eastern Kentucky counties. Visitors are able to design personalized driving tours by using one of three primary services that were developed for the project: the trail’s interactive Web site, www.kaht.net; computer workstation kiosks at the new Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea and elsewhere; and a map set for use in brochures. The Artisan Trails project was launched at EKU in 2001. An additional phase of the project, to be implemented in 2004, will include 17 more counties. ASHLAND
The center will be located at the Ashland Community and Technical College. “If Kentucky is going to create the dynamic companies and job opportunities of our nation’s future economy, it must create an entrepreneurial climate that encourages and supports new technologies and ideas,” said Dr. Bill Brundage, commissioner of the Office of the New Economy. The Ashland Area Innovation Center is an extension of the Office for the New Economy’s Eastern Innovation Region headquartered at the Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology at Eastern Kentucky University. It is the first of 16 centers that will be located throughout the state. Their role will be to assist entrepreneurs and scientists located in rural areas with the business building and funding tools needed to transform innovative ideas into successful businesses. OWENSBORO
Yu Hak Hahn of Windermere, Florida, is matching every dollar donated for the science center (up to $1 million) through the end of the year. As of press time, some $300,000 had been matched, bringing the total amount raised for the center to $3.3 million. KWC needs to raise at least $4.4 million in order to break ground on the project, according to KWC President Wesley Poling. Hahn graduated from KWX in 1958 and went on to launch a laser optics technology firm, CVI Laser Corp. The company has grown into a world leader in the manufacturing of products used in machines ranging from eye surgery equipment to missiles. He recently sold that business and has started a new company, Spectral Products, which designs and manufacturers instruments such as spectrometers, spectrographs, and spectrum analyzers. Hahn plans to donate some of the company’s prototype machines to KWC for use in the science center. INDIANA
The merger combines the nation’s two largest Blue Cross Blue Shield providers, creating a network that serves nearly 26 million medical members in 13 states, including Kentucky. The merged entity will operate under the WellPoint name, with Indianapolis serving as its corporate headquarters. Anthem President and CEO Larry Glasscock will retain that position in the combined company, with WellPoint’s Chief Financial Officer David Colby serving as CFO and executive vice president. By merging the two operations, the combined company expects to save a minimum of $50 million in 2004, approximately $175 million in 2005 and at least $250 million annual by 2006. The merger is expected to close by mid-2004, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
TENNESSEE Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America and its subsidiary, Bodine Aluminum, Inc., have broken ground for a new engine block casting plant in the Jackson/Madison County Airport Industrial Park. Bodine Aluminum, founded in 1912, became a Toyota subsidiary in 1990. The company’s two plants in Troy and St. Louis, Missouri produce cylinder heads, cylinder blocks and other castings for most of Toyota’s North American-produced vehicles. Toyota currently has 10 vehicle manufacturing and parts facilities in North America, and in addition to Bodine is building two more in Baja California, Mexico and San Antonio, Texas. By 2006, Toyota will have the capacity to build 1.66 million cars and trucks a year and 1.29 million engines in North America. Construction of the Jackson facility is slated to begin in February; production is expected to begin in late 2005. The plant will eventually employ 200 workers. Tennessee’s U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander lauded Tennessee’s growth as the “geographical center of the American automobile industry,” noting that since 1983, 900 new auto parts suppliers have located in the Volunteer State, creating 150,000 jobs.
Business Briefs BARDSTOWN
BOWLING GREEN
CALVERT CITY
CRESCENT SPRINGS
CYNTHIANA
DANVILLE
ELIZABETHTOWN
ELK HILL
ELLIOTT COUNTY
FALMOUTH
FLOYD COUNTY
FORT MITCHELL
GLASGOW
HARDIN COUNTY
HART COUNTY
HENDERSON
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS
LEXINGTON
LEWIS COUNTY
LONDON
LOUISVILLE
MARION
MOREHEAD
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
OWENSBORO
PADUCAH
PAINTSVILLE
RICHMOND
RUSSELLVILLE
SOMERSET
ST. CATHARINE
WESTERN KENTUCKY
WINCHESTER
STATE
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Copyright 1996-2003, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content
is copyright 2003, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
Lexington’s Webasto Roof Systems, Modine Manufacturing of Harrodsburg and Louisville-based OnLine Printing have been named the 2003 winners of the Kentucky Industry of the Year Awards. The awards are presented each year by Associated Industries of Kentucky (AIK). 
Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TMMNA) has announced plans for a 98,400-square-foot expansion of the company’s quality and production engineering laboratory at its headquarters operation in Northern Kentucky.
The University of Kentucky has awarded its Public Relations Lifetime Achievement Award to Jim Host, founder and chairman of Lexington-based Host Communications, Inc., one of the world’s best-known sports marketing firms. 
The announced merger between Louisville-based Brown & Williamson Tobacco and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. will mean the loss of 450 jobs in addition to the departure of one of Louisville’s most prominent corporate citizens.
In an effort to encourage and support education, Alcan Aluminum has begun holding a daily drawing at Henderson County High School in which the student whose name is selected receives a $50 savings bond. Here’s the catch: you have to be present to win. Students who have no unexcused absences, two or less unexcused tardies and no suspensions by the end of the year will also have the opportunity to win a $250 bond.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) has teamed with the University of Kentucky and Samaritan Hospital to offer the city’s first employer-assisted housing initiative, aimed at increasing homeownership opportunities. 
Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson as been selected by Governing magazine as one the nation’s top public officials of the year. 
Atria Senior Living Group has announced that it plans to keep its headquarter operations in Louisville, reversing a decision made by the company earlier this year to move to California. 
Dana Corp.’s Owensboro plant has been recognized as one of the 10 best manufacturing facilities in North America by IndustryWeek magazine. 
Now the plant’s efficiencies have been recognized throughout the manufacturing industry. In its five years of operation, Dana has increased the number of frames it produces by 96 percent while also managing to cut its total inventory in half. IndustryWeek notes that the plant “reduced costs by $1.8 million in 2002 and has reduced its in-plant defect rate by 29 percent during the past three years. Finished-goods inventory dropped 29.6 percent during the same period, and raw materials inventory fell 65 percent.” 
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) has kicked off a multimillion-dollar private fundraising campaign to help expand access to postsecondary education and workforce training across the Commonwealth. 
The Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology (CEDET) at Eastern Kentucky University has received a national “Project of the Year” award for its economic development efforts.
Ashland has been selected by the Kentucky Office for the New Economy as the site of the state’s first Innovation Center, where new economy businesses will receive support through entrepreneurship training, mentoring, networking and access to capital. 
A Kentucky Wesleyan College alumnus has offered a $1 million matching grant gift to help fund the school’s new $5.4 million science center. 
Indianapolis-based Anthem, Inc. has announced plans to merge with WellPoint Health Networks Inc. of California, creating the nation’s leading health benefits company. The total value of the transaction is approximately $16.4 billion.
Holley Performance Products is moving its remanufacturing carburetor operations to Bowling Green from its Springfield, Tennessee plant. Company officials say the market for remanufactured carburetors has seen a steady decline, making it difficult to justify maintaining a separate plant for such operations. The move to Bowling Green will bring approximately 80 jobs to the area. 
Johnson Controls Inc. is outsourcing a portion of the work currently being handled at its auto parts plant in Glasgow, resulting in the loss of 25 jobs of its 350 jobs there. The plant produces sun visors, overhead consoles and other interior auto parts. 
Hart County is receiving $500,000 in a Community Development Block Grant from the state that will be used to build a pre-treatment facility for T. Marzetti, an Ohio food company that is building a 48,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in the Hart County Industrial Park. The pre-treatment facility is necessary in order for the company to build on the site. The facility will be owned by Hart County Fiscal Court and managed by the Caveland Environmental Authority Inc. 
Exstream Software Inc. has acquired Connexion Informatique, a French business that provides software and expertise in business document printing. The newly acquired entity will continue to develop and support its presentation software and will also sell and support Exstream’s enterprise personalization software, Dialogue, throughout France and southern Europe. 
Papa John’s has opened its first restaurant in China. The Shanghai store is one of several planned for that city and the surrounding provinces of China. The opening represents the company’s 14th international market. 
American Standard Inc. has announced that it is moving the majority of the water-faucet assembly operations at its Paintsville plant to Monterey, Mexico. The shift will result in the layoff of 165 of the Paintsville plant’s 215 employees. According to company officials - who emphasized that Paintsville facility is not closing - the remaining employees will handle warranty work, repair-parts distribution and returns and some administrative functions. American Standard has operated in Paintsville for more than 30 years and at one point employed more than 700 people. 
Eastern Kentucky University’s student newspaper, The Eastern Progress, has been selected to receive the National Pacemaker award by the Associated College Press. The award is considered college journalism’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. This year’s award represents the fourth Pacemaker award for the newspaper. Progress editors during the contest period of 2002-03 were Jamie Vinson Sturgill, now with the Winchester Sun, and Jennifer Rogers, now employed at Host Communications.