Record Crowd at Franklin-Simpson Industry Appreciation Banquet

Some 350 people gathered to honor industries throughout Simpson County at the 2008 Franklin-Simpson County Industrial Appreciation Luncheon, mirroring the growth of industry in the County over the past decade.

Two major manufacturers-Integrity/ZAP and Wabash National Corp., which could collectively employ nearly 1,500 at start-up are expected to launch their operations next year. In 2008, over 75 percent of the new jobs announced in Kentucky belonged to Franklin.

"Franklin-Simpson has had quite a year in economic development," County Judge/Executive Jim Henderson said. "For the second time in 10 years, Franklin led the state in the number of new manufacturing jobs announced in any community in Kentucky."

The electric car and tractor-trailer projects as well as a Nevada steel cabinet maker which plans to locate here are on hold due to the credit crunch and other economic factors.

"Because of the volatility with the stock market and the banks, all of these projects are unfortunately on hold right now and waiting for the national economy to recover," Industry Authority Board Chairman Gary Broady said. "But, despite these delays, 2008 has proven to be an excellent year.”

Broady said the number of manufacturing jobs in Simpson County continues to hover around the 4,000 mark.

Broady said the industrial boom has resulted in new retail establishments, restaurants and service industries opening in Franklin despite the shaky economy.

Franklin Mayor Jim Brown rec­ognized outgoing state Sen. Richie Sanders and state Rep. Rob Wilkey on behalf of the Industrial Authority for contributions to economic development in the community. Both did not seek re-election this year.

County Judge Henderson rec­ognized companies which announced or expanded in Frank­lin this year:

• Wabash National Trucking Corp., a leading manufacturer of semi-trailers in North America, has selected a 100 acre site in the East Industrial Park to build a 300,000 square-foot plant that will employ 460. It will represent a $26 million investment. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2009.

• Valley Ridge Corp. is planning to locate a manufacturing facility on Quick Draw Drive just off Ky. 1008 in south Franklin. The business moved here from New York and provides metered concrete as well as wall blocks, land­scape blocks and other concrete products. It will employ 10.

• The state's biggest economic development announcement of 2008 came in August when Integrity Automotive and ZAP announced that they would part­ner and build a 1 million square foot electric vehicle manufacturing plant in the North Industrial Park in Franklin that would employ 1,000 up front and 4,000 at peak production. ZAP manufacturing operations in China will be moved to the Franklin plant, which is expected to begin producing elec­tric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2009.

• Harman Becker Automotive, which was last year's Industry of the Year, underwent its third expansion at their facility in north Franklin since coming here in 2000. The $8.6 million expansion boosted total square footage to 150,000 and created 150 additional jobs.

• Goodrum Pallet located here in 2005 and outgrew its 24,000­square-foot facility, acquiring a 90,000 square-foot building on West Madison Street earlier this year. The expansion should result in 10 new jobs and bring employ­ment to 40.

Henderson recognized several new retail and service projects:

• Williams Construction of Bowling Green is building a shop­ping center next to Lowe's that will initially be home to Hibbett's Sporting Goods, ColorTyme Rent­al and Fox Pizza.

• Across the street from the Williams Shopping Center and close to Wal-Mart is another new retail center under construction. It will be home to an upscale Mexi­can restaurant and as many as five other retail businesses.

• Peebles Department Store opened recently in the Franklin Plaza Shopping Center.

• "Despite hard economic times throughout the country, the Frank­lin-Simpson County area has been fortunate to have new industries .and industrial expansions during the past year as well as new retail businesses," Henderson said. "We want to thank all of these companies that are represented here today and appreciate their belief and their investment in our community”.