Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear welcomed the opening of Confluent Health LLC’s new company headquarters as leaders and local officials held the grand opening for the $10 million project that will create 350 full-time Kentucky jobs.
“We are committed to building an economy that works for every single Kentucky resident, and investing in the rapidly expanding health care industry is one of the many ways we are doing just that,” Gov. Beshear said. “Confluent Health began operations right here in Kentucky and have been committed to our workforce and our communities for years. This investment is just another example of a quality company buying in to what the commonwealth has to offer. I could not be more excited about the ribbon-cutting ceremony today and wish Confluent continued success.”
The project is expected to double the previous office space from 18,000 square feet to more than 36,000 square feet. Confluent Health will expand its headquarters in response to significantly increased demand resulting from numerous acquisitions and organic growth. Jobs created with the expansion will include marketing, IT, human resources, administrative and executive roles. The project was announced in January of this year with work on the new facility beginning shortly after. Confluent currently employs 125 people in Louisville.
“Confluent Health is a Kentucky-born and bred health care company invested in innovating an accessible and equitable future of musculoskeletal care,” said Confluent Health President and CEO Dr. Larry Benz. “We are proud to expand our national footprint while deepening our roots in the bluegrass state.”
Confluent Health operates five divisions, including 45 physical and occupational therapy company partners spanning over 530 outpatient physical therapy locations across 29 states. Confluent Health maintains a higher education company focused on post-professional training where it houses a residency and fellowship program and offers university partnerships in entry-level physical and occupational therapy, as well as PA programs. It also operates an occupational health company with over 1,500 workplace safety and injury prevention sites in 48 states, a national independent provider association, and Confluent Ventures, an innovation center with digital health, virtual reality physical therapy and omnichannel health care pathway services.
Currently, more than 200 health care-related technology, service and manufacturing locations operate in the commonwealth, employing over 37,000 Kentucky residents. Since the start of the Beshear administration, businesses within the sector have announced more than 2,000 new jobs throughout the state. The industry includes headquarters operations, pharmaceutical makers, medical equipment design and production, medical device manufacturers and health care product distributors.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer congratulated the company and noted the thriving healthcare environment of Louisville.
“We are very excited that Confluent Health is expanding their presence and opening a new national headquarters in Louisville – nearly quadrupling their staff and creating more high-quality operations jobs here,” Mayor Fischer said. “Louisville is a leader in the health and aging care industry, and our unique ecosystem allows Louisville-based healthcare companies and startups to accelerate, incubate and showcase technology that provides solutions for health and aging. Congratulations to the entire Confluent Health team and founder Dr. Larry Benz and thank you for continuing to invest in our community!”
Confluent Health’s investment and planned job creation further recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger from the effects of the pandemic.
In 2021, the commonwealth shattered every economic development record in the books. Private-sector new location and expansion announcements included a record $11.2 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create a record 18,000-plus full-time jobs across the coming years. Kentucky’s average incentivized hourly wage for projects statewide in 2021 was $24 before benefits, a 9.4% increase over the previous year.
In the past year, the Beshear administration announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK Innovation celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. And in April of this year, the Governor was joined by leadership at Envision AESC to announce a $2 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs in Warren County. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States.
The economic momentum has carried strongly into 2022, with both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings upgrading Kentucky’s financial outlook to positive in recognition of the commonwealth’s surging economy.
And Site Selection magazine placed Kentucky at 6th in its annual Prosperity Cup rankings for 2022, which recognizes state-level economic success based on capital investments.
Kentucky has posted new record low unemployment rates for three consecutive months, falling from 3.9% in April to 3.8% in May and 3.7% in June.
In July, the Governor reported the highest annual growth rate in 31 years. And for the second year in a row, Kentucky’s General Fund budget surplus has exceeded $1 billion. Also in July, Gov. Beshear reported that the state’s Rainy Day fund is up to a record balance of $2.7 billion, significantly higher than the $129 million balance the fund had when the Governor took office.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in January preliminarily approved incentive agreements with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide tax incentives based on the company’s investment and annual job creation and wage targets.
In addition, Confluent Health can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.