Governor Steve Beshear joined local and company officials in western Kentucky to announce Berry Plastics Corporation will reopen its Madisonville operation, investing $96 million in the plant and creating more than 400 full-time jobs.
“Today’s announcement is a demonstration that Berry Plastics continues to build on its growth as a leading global manufacturer in its field,” said Gov. Beshear. “We’ve worked hard with our community partners to make towns like Madisonville attractive to businesses, and that work is paying off. I’m proud of the hundreds of new jobs and the nearly $100 million invested here. This is a tremendous day for the Commonwealth, for Madisonville, and for Berry Plastics.”
Established in 1967, Berry Plastics manufactures injection-molded plastic packaging, thermoformed products, flexible films and packaging, as well as tapes and corrosion protection products. The company, which has more than 950 current employees in Kentucky at facilities in Franklin, Danville, Louisville and Bowling Green, plans to reconfigure its Madisonville operation to increase the company’s production capacity.
“I am very pleased to announce that we will soon begin reconfiguring our Madisonville, Kentucky facility, which is slated to begin production in 2013,” said Jon Rich, chairman and CEO of Berry Plastics. “We are extremely appreciative of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Hopkins County officials and the city of Madisonville for their joint support of this initiative, which will allow us to reopen the facility – creating the opportunity for new jobs within the region and specifically the Madisonville community.”
Berry acquired the Madisonville (Hopkins County) facility during its acquisition of Rexam’s specialty and beverage closures business in August 2011. Earlier this year, the company shuttered the facility, as a result of the redistribution of production to its other rigid closed top manufacturing facilities. The facility had employed approximately 140. Berry announced today that it will convert the facility to manufacture rigid open top products.
“This is an exciting investment in Madisonville by Berry Plastics Corporation,” said Sen. Jerry P. Rhoads, of Madisonville. “Our city will reap the benefits of new jobs, economic growth and development. Berry Plastics’ decision to reopen its operation in Madisonville also speaks well of our workforce. I applaud Gov. Beshear for taking the lead to support this industry, their employees and their families.”
“Today is indeed a great day in Madisonville,” said Madisonville Mayor David Jackson. “The city of Madisonville welcomes Berry Plastics’ investment of capital and jobs to our industrial community. The tremendous investment and large number of jobs will have a wonderful impact on our community. Many of our citizens will have increased opportunities to prosper economically leading to higher standards of living. Our thanks go to Berry Plastics for making the decision to invest in Madisonville; to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for assisting in this project; the Madisonville/Hopkins County Economic Development Corporation for steering the project and the wonderful citizens of Madisonville, whose work ethic and desire for growth makes this city competitive in economic development.”
“On behalf of the citizens of Hopkins County, I wish to applaud Berry Plastics for choosing Madisonville and Hopkins County for this significant investment,” said Hopkins County Judge-Executive Donald Carroll. “We pledge as a community to work with Berry Plastics in achieving success with this plant now and in the future. We are excited about the tremendous number of jobs and investment and what that means for Hopkins County. Our thanks go out to the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the local economic development corporation for their efforts.”
To encourage the investment and job creation in Madisonville, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $10 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.
KEDFA also approved Berry Plastics for tax benefits up to $450,000 through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act, which allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.
In all, 16 new and expanding industry announcements have been made in Hopkins County in the manufacturing and supportive service sectors during Gov. Beshear’s administration. Those projects represent more than 800 new jobs and $128 million in new capital investment in the community.
Hopkins County has also been certified by the Kentucky Workforce Investment Board as a Work Ready in Progress Community. The certification is an assurance to business and industry that the community is committed to providing the highly skilled workforce required in today's competitive global economy.
For more information on Berry Plastics, visit www.berryplastics.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 at www.Facebook.com/ThinkKentucky or follow on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ThinkKentucky.
A detailed community profile for Madisonville (Hopkins County) can be viewed at http://www.thinkkentucky.com/EDIS/cmnty/index.aspx?cw=008.