Kilgore, located in the heart of East Texas, is a small town that punches well above its weight. Situated between Shreveport, LA and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex on Interstate 20, Kilgore is close enough to urban centers for easy commercial logistics while enjoying a cost of business that is far below national and even state averages. Texas is known around the world for its business-friendly climate, but East Texas is even better for business.
Kilgore’s manufacturing facilities and distribution centers enjoy a location directly adjacent to Interstate 20 and US 59/259, providing four-lane limited access highway in all directions. These coast to coast and border to border highways are the cornerstone of Kilgore’s logistics channels. Regional transportation via a network of state highways connects Kilgore directly to greater East Texas and beyond. Publicly-owned business and industrial parks are strategically positioned adjacent to state and US highways to facilitate rapid transit of goods and workers.
Synergy Business Park, Kilgore’s flagship industrial park, is a Class-A, campus style park located just two miles from Interstate 20. With full infrastructure, amenities, and curb appeal, the companies that call Synergy Park home enjoy a community environment that attracts the best and brightest of the East Texas workforce. Project-ready sites are cleared, platted and ready to break ground. With the park entering its fifth phase of development, Kilgore has decades of experience in providing the best location in East Texas.
In addition to well-known domestic brands, Kilgore is home to operating locations of internationally-headquartered companies from North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. These companies benefit from Kilgore’s business-friendly climate as well as local staff and officials who are well-versed in the requirements of establishing a new international facility in the United States.
Kilgore’s daytime population is nearly double the resident population, as workers from around the region commute to work from a labor pool population numbering over 700,000. Skilled workers from 12 surrounding counties are eager to drive to Kilgore each day to be a part of the high-impact economic culture for which Kilgore is known.
Education is the cornerstone of a community’s workforce, and Kilgore is well-positioned to provide the workforce training needs of its corporate citizens. Kilgore College (KC), a two-year community college, awards hundreds of degrees and certificates each year. KC continues to invest in the future of Kilgore’s workforce, with a state-of-the-art Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Technology facility newly opened and Transportation Institute, with a focus on CDL and forklift training, planned to break ground later this year. Through a partnership with Kilgore College and University of Texas at Tyler, students pursuing a career in technical fields have access to certificate, two-year and four-year educational programs focusing on automation, machining, electrical and mechanical careers.
East Texas Regional Airport, only a 10-minute drive from Synergy Park, offers multiple daily flights to DFW International Airport via American Eagle. By road, hundreds of regional, domestic, and international flights are approximately two hours away via Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Shreveport Regional Airport and Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in nearby Tyler. Kilgore is situated between Port of Caddo-Bossier 60 miles to the east, and Port Houston, 200 miles to the south, providing access to both shallow and deep-water ports.
Close enough to urban centers for a night on the town, Kilgore’s residents benefit from a quiet, small-town setting surrounded by numerous lakes, parks, mountain bike trails and other outdoor activities. Kilgore’s charming downtown, crowned with star-studded oil derricks in the “World’s Richest Acre” is frequently populated by citizens and visitors alike. Famers markets, live music, car shows and many other community events encourage shoppers to visit the many boutique shops and restaurants situated in and around downtown.
Kilgore’s strategic location, competitive cost of doing business, cutting edge workforce training, high quality of place and thriving manufacturing and distribution clusters make Kilgore an ideal location both for companies and their workforce. Kilgore continues to set a high bar of success and elevate the regional economy with targeted business attraction strategies and an industry-leading business retention and expansion program.
Kilgore Economic Development Corporation (KEDC) is a Type A economic development corporation founded in 1990 with the goal of diversifying Kilgore’s local economy. Managed by a team of four and led by a five-member Board of Directors, KEDC continually receives state, regional, national, and international recognition for high-impact and innovative economic development projects. To learn more about what Kilgore has to offer, visit KEDC on the web at kilgore-edc.com.
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