With four automobile plants and more than 350 auto parts companies, Kentucky's involvement in the automotive industry continues to grow.

State government has played a vital role in that growth. "Recruiting is one of our prime missions," says Joe Lilly, spokesman for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. "Our goal is not only to attract new industries, but to encourage expansion."

Kentucky is a part of what some call "Auto Alley," a region that stretches from Michigan down to Alabama with 56 automobile plants scattered in 14 states. (All are located within a 500-mile radius of Central Kentucky.) Interconnecting these plants with numerous suppliers are interstate highways 75, 71, 65 and 64.

Location is not the only favorable factor that draws automotive companies to Kentucky. The workforce is top-rated. The U.S. Commerce Department reports that Kentucky workers are 11.3 percent more productive than the national average. Utility rates for industry and offices are nearly the lowest in the nation. Universities and colleges work with industry to provide training and educational support. And the state negotiates incentive packages to bring businesses into Kentucky and then to foster growth.

Ford Motor Company

Ford first came to Kentucky in 1913, when Henry Ford began a "factory" at the Summers-Herman Dealership on Breckinridge Lane in Louisville. Actually, the "factory" happened to be a storage area where Model-T kits were shipped in from Detroit.

"The workers put them together in the morning, then put on a tie in the afternoon and went out front and sold what they had put together," said Bill Kellerman of Ford.

From that interesting beginning, Ford grew by leaps and bounds. In 1925, Henry Ford created what Kellerman called "the first modern assembly plant" at a new Southwestern Parkway location. The plant turned out Model A's and oter Ford trucks and cars from scratch. During World War II, the plant geared up to produce military equipment, primarily 45,000 armored personell carriers. In 1955 Ford moved the assembly plant to the Fern Valley Road location. Next came Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant, also in Louisville, which opened in 1969.

The Louisville Assembly Plant makes the Ford Explorer, the Mercury Mountaineer, and the Ranger compact pick-up truck. The Explorer is the best-selling sport/utility vehicle in the U.S. The Ranger is the best-selling compact pick-up. The assembly plant employs 3,700 workers, and in 1997 had a payroll of $229 million.

The Kentucky Truck Plant makes the Ford F-Series pick-up trucks, which have been the best-selling trucks in the country for 16 years. With 4,300 employees, the truck plant had a 1997 payroll totaling $246 million. The plant is expanding operations to produce the new Super-Duty F-Series pick-up truck, a larger framed truck with a more powerful engine. The Super-Duty truck will serve the commercial sector as well as travel-home or boat owners. Production of the Super-Duty trucks will add more than 1,000 new jobs to the plant in May.

"The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development does an outstanding job whenever we work on incentives for our investments," says Al Covelli, regional governmental affairs manager for Ford, noting the state's incentives in the form of training funds and relief on debt service for the truck plant expansion. According to Coveffi, Ford has invested over a half billion dollars for the current truck plant expansion.

Ford also enriches the Kentucky economy through its business with suppliers. In 1997 Ford spent nearly $2.6 billion to buy parts from 67 Kentucky companies. Many of these Kentucky-made parts, ranging from computer components to seats, supply 53 Ford plants worldwide.

General Motors

In 1979 General Motors purchased a manufacturing facility in Bowling Green and two years later the first Corvette rolled off the production line. "We have a very avid following around the world," says Jane Bowlin, spokeswoman for the Corvette plant, speaking of the appeal that the Corvette has for sports car enthusiasts.

Production at the Bowling Green facility, which employs some 1,000 workers, depends on demand. In 1997 the plant produced 9,752 Corvettes. That demand is likely to increase in 1998 when the new design for the fifth-generation Corvette is introduced. 1998 will also see the introduction of the Corvette convertible.

Toyota

In 1987 Toyota's announcement that it would locate its first North American plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, had far-reaching effects on the state's economy. The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development reports that since Toyota's announcement, 121 automotive parts plants have located in Kentucky, bringing some 23, 507 jobs with a total known investment approaching $3 billion.

The Toyota plant itself has been a boon to the economy. "We have hired about 7,600 team members," says Tom Harris, spokesman for the Toyota plant, "and we've always given a preference to Kentuckians. About 95 percent of our workforce is made up of Kentuckians." Harris says the annual payroll is $500 million, and Toyota's investment to date at the Georgetown plant is $3.9 billion.

The plant produces three Toyota vehicles: the Camry, the Avalon, and the Sienna mini-van. The Camry was the 1997 best-selling car in the U.S. "Last year we exported almost a billion dollars in vehicles and parts to about 20 different countries," Harris says. The Avalon, produced only at the Georgetown plant, is very popular in Japan, he adds.

Toyota is building two more plants in Auto Alley, one in Princeton, Indiana, and the other in Buffalo, West Virginia. The close proximity to Kentucky of these new Toyota plants have some people speculating that more supply industry will locate in Kentucky. Jim Wiseman, spokesman for Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc. (with administrative offices in Erlanger, Kentucky, supporting all Toyota plants in North America), acknowledges that Kentucky is in a good location for supplying the two new plants, but he says that there are some overblown expectations. "A lot of people expect suppliers to move in over night, and that will not happen," says Wiseman. "You have to understand that Toyota's supply base of 350-plus companies in North America is a mature one. We're not looking for a lot of new suppliers anymore." The Indiana and West Virginia plants will create more business for existing suppliers in Kentucky. With the addition of two More Toyota plants in the region, Wiseman says that Kentucky may be a desirable site for distant suppliers wanting to relocate or to open another manufacturing facility. The new Indiana plant will make the T-100, Toyota's large pick-up truck. The West Virginia plant will make both four cylinder and V-6 engines.