Keep on Target
Scandals aside, Kentucky is still a great place for business

For weeks, Kentuckians have been talking about the sex scandal involving their governor. But we’re no strangers to controversy. We also have an ongoing investigation of our state Department of Transportation’s alleged bribery and extortion scandals. Back during the primaries, we endured news about the murder of a sheriff’s candidates in Pulaski and Harlan counties, politically related shootings in Clay County and R-rated campaign commercials in Floyd County.

Still, there are plenty of good things going on in Kentucky, especially for businesses. In fact, I’d like to think that the good outweighs the bad in the Bluegrass state, particularly when one addresses business and economic development.

For example, Kentucky workers are among the most productive in the nation. Worker productivity is measured in the amount of value added to products in the manufacturing process. In the most recent year for which such statistics are available (1999) value-added across the nation averaged $163,406 per worker. In Kentucky, value-added was $180,717 per worker, or nearly 11 percent above the national average. Newly-released figures now show that that figure has jumped to 13 percent above the national average.

In fact, Kentucky’s value-added per worker figure exceeded similar figures in 12 of 13 surrounding states, including Ohio, Tennessee and Indiana. Among competitor states, only Virginia had a higher value-added per worker in 1999 – $184,094.

Aside from the dedication of Kentucky workers, our state also boasts some of the lowest costs in the nation for electric power. According to the North American Business Cost Review, energy costs in Kentucky are just 68.2 percent of the national average. Compare that to California, where brownouts, over-regulation and electric utility bankruptcies are the norm.

Kentucky’s worker training programs are rated in the nation’s top 10. We are the first state with 100 percent of its school districts online to an integrated voice, video and data network.

And as the Cabinet for Economic Development likes to point out, Kentucky is the eighth most favorable state for the cost of doing business. Our state is a leader in worker’s compensation reform. Improvements in education, from kindergarten through the university system, get top priority from our leaders.

What’s more, the Kentucky Innovation Act of 2000 is just now starting to set a real, tangible and extremely important pace for the future. The creation of the Office for the New Economy, which was created by the Innovation Act, reports directly to the governor. The Office for the New Economy facilitated development of the first statewide strategic plan for developing the technology-centered economy in our state.

The hiring of Dr. Bill Brundage to head Kentucky’s Office for the New Economy was a real coup. Eventually, thousands of our Commonwealth’s workers will owe their good-paying jobs to this intelligent, strategic move.

Also, economic leaders on the local level throughout this state have repeatedly proven their economic fortitude and foresight. A series of economic moves, including the closing of the York plant and relocation of the Ligon LandStar trucking company, cost Madisonville thousands of jobs back in the 1980s. The empty 345,000-square-foot York building used to stand as a foreboding testimony to the area’s economic recession. But Madisonville’s leadership decided to tackle the situation head-on.

Over the past two years, economic and political leaders in Madisonville have succeeded in drawing about two dozen new businesses to their community. The cavernous old York building now houses a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the Glitterwrap company and serves as a symbol of the area’s revitalization.

The same can be said about the Fruit of the Loom factory in Campbellsville. Once empty, it now houses a state-of-the-art warehousing and shipping facility for Amazon.com. Campbellsville is another Kentucky city boasting smart leaders and excellent workers. Campbellsville has been noted by national publications such as Fast Company for making one of the most dramatic transitions to the New Economy of any American city. Somewhere between 20 and 30 new businesses have located in Campbellsville since Fruit of the Loom’s closing.

Great manufacturing companies continue to grow and prosper while doing business in Kentucky. In late July, the 10 millionth American-made Toyota, a Camry, rolled off the line in Georgetown. In late September, the one millionth Ford Super Duty F-Series truck came off the line in Louisville. And the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont produced the company’s nine millionth barrel of Kentucky Straight Bourbon whiskey this past summer.

Despite his problems, we shouldn’t forget that a lot of the good things that have happened for business in Kentucky occurred during Paul Patton’s two terms as governor. He may not be perfect, but he’s no failure.

And yes, Kentucky has other political problems and scandals. But Kentuckians need to remember that bad news is not the only news.

Claude Hammond is editorial director of The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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