Northern Kentucky is ready to take 2011 by storm.
In 2010, the region strengthened its commitment to higher education, enhanced its technical training resources, extended its health care capabilities, and improved its surface and air transportation assets. It's got plants over here and distribution centers over there. And that? That's innovation. It's happening all the time.
Northern Kentucky is set for success, says Dan Tobergte, President/CEO of the Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation. Many projects Tri-ED and local officials have nurtured are already starting to bloom.
For example, last fall ZF Steering Systems LLC, which specializes in passenger car steering technology and universal joint applications, announced it will construct two new buildings and create 374 new full-time jobs over the next three years in Florence – a $95.8 million investment.
"We look forward to these new jobs in early 2012 once the new facilities are completed," Tobergte says.
When the expansion project was announced, ZF Steering President and CEO Pierre Abboud cited Northern Kentucky's "skilled workforce and competitive business environment" as reasons his company decided to increase its commitment here.
"It was a coordinated effort between all entities involved that produced great results," Tobergte says.
Growing and attracting business
Several other companies had good news from 2010 that will be felt in 2011:
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Hahn Automation, a Hebron supplier of custom automation equipment serving the automotive, household and pharmaceutical industries, broke ground for a 25,000-square-foot building on a five-acre site;
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Diversified Structural Composites, an Erlanger manufacturer of pultruded fiberglass and carbon fiber composite components, consolidated two operations into a larger 96,000-square-foot facility;
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Jacobs Automation, which specializes in technology for packaging, converting, material handling, and automated assembly functions, relocated to Hebron;
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Zumbiel Packaging, a manufacturer of paperboard consumer packaging, moved its headquarters and the remainder of its manufacturing operations to Hebron, building a 180,000-square-foot facility right next to its existing 320,000-square-foot space.
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Parkway Products began expanding its Erlanger aerospace and defense components facility from 55,686-square-feet to over 110,000 square feet.
To open up more incentives for future activities, Tri-ED is partnering with the
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to ask state legislators for a bill that would provide incentives for new capital investment and additional jobs not just to manufacturers, but also to up-and-coming service providers and related white-collar businesses located here.
Education
Meanwhile, five years of preparation culminated with opening of the $28.5 million
Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Gateway Community Technical College in late 2010. This 12,000-square-foot facility is an integrated manufacturing center, with electrical, industrial maintenance, welding and science labs and other high-tech equipment to prepare students for advanced manufacturing jobs.
"This is an added boost for manufacturers … It enables us to develop greater workforce depth in this region," Tobergte says.
And over at Northern Kentucky University, the
College of Informatics is coming along. Its home, the $52.8 million Griffin Hall, is expected to be ready this spring; it will be open for courses this fall. The mission of the new college is "to graduate students who are savvy about information technology, who are accomplished communicators, and who are intellectually agile 'renaissance people' for the information age."
Higher quality graduates are more desirable employees – which makes for more competitive businesses.
Retention & Infrastructure
Keeping those employees and their families well is important to our regional quality of life, too, and Northern Kentucky is not standing still on the health care front.
St. Elizabeth Medical Center has emerged from a merger ready to advance its long-term plans. Today, with 6,000 employees, it operates full-service inpatient hospitals in Edgewood, Florence, Fort Thomas, and Williamstown; a chemical dependency treatment center in Falmouth; and full emergency and ambulatory care services in Covington. The Edgewood, Williamstown and Covington sites are among only 6.5 percent of all hospitals in the U.S. recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Magnet program. Numerous other organizations have
cited St. E for excellence.
Another business-friendly move is improvement to our highways. Tobergte says about $80 million will be spent over the next three years on "significant improvement" to the Mt. Zion and Richwood exits of I-75 to facilitate access to nearby industrial parks.
A $35.8 million, year-long pavement repair project is already underway from the I-71/I-75 interchange to the Sparta exit area, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Department of Highways. (The state highway department's district office provides
a detailed description of this and other local work.)
The five-year plan for our airport, announced recently, addresses changes in the aviation industry and how CVG will adapt.
"Air service development remains a top priority for us and we are working with business and community leaders as we actively seek additional air service from existing or new carriers," CEO John C. Mok said in a January 18 news release.
CVG is home to the North American air hub of shipping giant
DHL. On the passenger side, CVG offers approximately 200 daily departures to 70 non-stop cities, including non- stop international service to Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Punta Cana and Cancun.
Says Tobergte: "There's a lot going on."
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