Governor Steve Beshear announced General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics, plans to create up to 1,300 new jobs at facilities in London and Winchester and make significant investments at both facilities.
“The Commonwealth has scored not one, but two major victories here, with 1,300 new jobs on the way to London and Winchester,” said Gov. Beshear. “General Dynamics is a global company with a tremendous array of products and services, which means a wealth of opportunities for its employees.”
General Dynamics Information Technology provides information technology (IT), systems engineering, professional services and simulation and training to customers in the defense, federal civilian government, health, homeland security, intelligence, state and local government and commercial sectors. With approximately 21,000 professionals worldwide, the company delivers IT enterprise solutions, manages large-scale, mission-critical IT programs and provides mission support services.
Both new facilities in Kentucky will provide technical assistance for the technical implementation of the federal government’s Health Insurance Marketplace. The London site will be located on Old Whitley Road, and is expected to employ up to 1,000 people. The site in Winchester will be on Bypass Road, and should include approximately 300 employees. The company also has approximately 400 employees at an existing facility in Corbin.
General Dynamics will be staffing the new call center with customer service representatives during summer 2013. Prospective applicants are encouraged to apply by visiting the General Dynamics IT career page at www.gdit.com/careers and entering “Kentucky” as the location on the job search page.
Job fairs in Winchester are planned at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Winchester-Clark County Campus on Monday, July 15, from noon to 4 p.m. and Tuesday, July 16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Job fairs are planned in London on Saturday, July 20, and Saturday, July 27, at Somerset Community College, Laurel Campus, 100 University Drive, Building 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
To encourage the investment and job creation in London and Winchester, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved Vangent, which was acquired by General Dynamics in October 2011, for tax incentives up to $11.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
“This is fantastic news for our towns,” said Sen. Albert Robinson, of London. “We have the wherewithal in terms of human capital and work ethic to get a big job like this done.”
“I am pleased that General Dynamics’ new facilities will create 1,300 new jobs in Kentucky,” said Sen. R.J. Palmer, of Winchester. “I am especially happy that Winchester will be the home of one of those facilities, and I welcome the 300 new jobs to our community. This investment and the jobs that will follow will provide a huge boost to our economy. I wish the company a long and prosperous future in Winchester.”
“I am thrilled with General Dynamics’ decision to expand their operations here in Kentucky and Laurel County,” said Laurel County Judge-Executive David Westerfield. This multimillion-dollar investment will definitely stimulate the economic growth and development of our area, by adding these much-needed 1,000 new jobs. The Laurel County Industrial Authority, the Fiscal Court and I are pleased to have been involved in the process of helping General Dynamics locate here, and we are excited at the prospects General Dynamics’ expansion will have on our community, both now and in the future. Laurel County wishes them many years of prosperity and continued growth.”
“We are extremely excited that General Dynamics is bringing 1,000 jobs to London and Laurel County,” said London Mayor Troy Rudder. “These new jobs will have a major impact on the economics of the surrounding area. We thank the state and local officials who worked to make this project possible.”
“We have marketable buildings, a marketable workforce and a marketable community,” said Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner. “To add a company like General Dynamics to our quickly growing list of recognizable corporate partners is very satisfying. Our community continues to work hard in developing relationships with our local, regional and state partners to ensure companies find us and call Winchester/Clark County home.
“General Dynamics choosing Winchester/Clark County is another huge plus for our local citizens in their quest to find quality jobs,” said Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham. “We are fortunate to continue to attract such high quality companies like General Dynamics. Their confidence to invest in our community and our people validates all we are trying to do in our community when it comes to creating an atmosphere conducive to success.”
For more information on General Dynamics, visit www.gdit.com.
Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at www.ThinkKentucky.com. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion on Facebook or follow on Twitter. Watch the Cabinet’s “This is My Kentucky” video on YouTube.
A detailed community profile for London (Laurel County) can be viewed at http://www.thinkkentucky.com/community.aspx?county=Laurel. For Winchester (Clark County), visit http://www.thinkkentucky.com/community.aspx?county=Clark.