I’ll always make room to pat Kentucky when she receives high honors, and this one is pretty special, if you ask me.
Kentucky Counties in a National Top 10
Site Selection is an online publication that focuses on the worlds of corporate real estate, foreign direct investment, facility planning, and location analysis. Touted as “the Bible” for the economic world, Site Selection annually ranks metropolitan and micropolitan areas based on their success in attracting and then retaining big businesses.
The recent addition of a list that ranks the nation’s counties in this category has opened the door for the spotlight to shine on Kentucky. Indeed, Site Selection’s top 20 for 2025 features three Commonwealth counties in the top ten and another in the rest of the top 20. No other state has more than two.
Starting at the “bottom”…
#15 – Mason County
Last year, Mitsubishi Electric invested more than $143 million in the county seat of Maysville. More than 120 jobs will be created through this endeavor.
#8 – Shelby County
Last fall, a staggering 1,572 skilled, high-tech positions were created more than $700 million was poured into Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing. It was the biggest jobs announcement in the Commonwealth in two years.
#6 – Scott County
Scott County is home to the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Plant, which has bumped its investment in electric vehicle battery production up to $1.3 billion. If that isn’t enough, December 2024 saw more than $920 million earmarked for a new paint facility.
#3 – Muhlenberg County
Graham, Kentucky, in Muhlenberg County, just two counties away from my hometown, has been chosen as the home for a TNT production facility, thanks to a fat contract awarded to Repkon USA by the United States Army. Additionally, Biomass Engineering and Equipment, an industry leader in biomass material handling and machinery design, recently broke ground on a multi-million dollar facility at Paradise Regional Industrial Park…