Governor Steve Beshear on Monday joined community leaders and company officials from SMC LLC to announce the company will establish a manufacturing facility in Nicholasville. The start-up company plans to hire 94 employees as a result of the nearly $1.9 million investment.
“I’m pleased to welcome SMC as Nicholasville’s newest corporate citizen,” Beshear said. “This exciting project will add dozens of new job opportunities that will have a ripple effect throughout the region. We look forward to a continued partnership with SMC and appreciate their investment in Kentucky.”
The new venture will be located in the former 22,500-square-foot Custom Wiring building and will manufacture circuit board assemblies and perform systems integration for the electronics industry. The company, which has already begun operations, expects to be at full capacity in early 2013.
“SMC is very pleased to be a part of the Nicholasville community. This business is high-tech manufacturing with a small business atmosphere that we expect will attract the best people from the area,” Rob Coats, SMC’s owner said. “We appreciate the support that the Cabinet for Economic Development has given us to encourage us to invest in Kentucky.”
To encourage the start-up company’s investment in Nicholasville, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved SMC for tax incentives up to $1.5 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.
“I am pleased that SMC is coming to Jessamine County, affirming the hard work ethic of our community, as well as the terrific quality of life,” said Sen. Tom Buford, of Nicholasville.
“This is great news for our community and further proof that the effort of the General Assembly and Gov. Beshear to revamp our economic development incentives in 2009 was the right move to make,” said Rep. Robert Damron, of Nicholasville. “I want to thank SMC for taking this step. It will mean a lot to those families who benefit from these jobs.”
“The entire community welcomes the new job opportunities and investment SMC will provide,” said Nicholasville Mayor Russ Meyer. “Based upon our knowledge of the company, we anticipate a bright future for them in Nicholasville. SMC has our full support.”
“It is a pleasure to welcome SMC to Nicholasville and Jessamine County,” said William Neal Cassity, Jessamine County Judge-Executive. “Thank you for your confidence in our community. Be assured that we look forward to seeing you grow and prosper and we hope you will consider us a partner in that effort.”
