Lt. Gov. Luallen welcomes Itsuwa KY to Nelson County’s industrial family
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen speaks with Akira Hayashi, Itsuwa KY’s general manager at Thursday’s event at My Old Kentucky Home State Park.
Thursday, March 19, 2015, 3 p.m. — Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen was on hand Thursday for the formal announcement that Itsuwa, a Japanese automotive supplier, will build at $5.2 million facility in the Wilson Industrial Park.
Itsuwa’s 32,000-square-foot facility will specialize in coating and painting automotive parts and create 43 new jobs. The Bardstown facility is the company’s second U.S. location, and is expected to be in operation by early 2016.
Lt. Gov. Luallen noted that foreign investment is an important part of the Kentucky’s economic development. Last year, 30 percent of new investment and 20 percent of new jobs created in Kentucky were a result of foreign investment, she said.
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Investments like Itsuwa’s is proof positive that Kentucky is continuing it recovery from the Great Recession, she added.
Akira Hayashi is presented with a framed print of Federal Hill by Kim Huston, president of the Nelson County Economic Development Agency. Click to enlarge.
Kentucky has more than 430 international-based companies, including 170 from Asia, Luallen said. Kentucky has the third-highest number of automotive industry jobs in the U.S.
Akira Hayashi, Itsuwa’s general manager, said he looked forward to locating its new facility in Bardstown, and was grateful for the warm welcome he had received.
Kim Huston, president of the county’s economic development agency, presented Hayashi gifts, including one presented to every new industry locating in Nelson County — a framed print of Federal Hill at My Old Kentucky Home State Park.
Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen speaks with Bardstown Mayor John Royalty while Liles Taylor, Luallens deputy chief of staff, looks on. Click to enlarge.
Itsuwa’s Bardstown facility has been tentatively approved for tax incentives up to $850,000. The performance-based incentives will allow the company to keep a portion of the money it invests through tax credits by meeting job and investment targets.
Representatives from the state’s Cabinet for Economic Development were on hand for the announcement, as was local elected officials that included Bardstown Mayor John Royalty, Judge Executive Dean Watts, Bloomfield Mayor Rhonda Hagan and members of Nelson Fiscal Court and the Bardstown City Council.
Initial work on preparing the building site will begin as soon as the weather breaks, Huston said. The facility will locate next to Orbis and across the street from NPR.
Itsuwa KY is a subsidiary of Itsuwa Sesisakusyo Co. Ltd.
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