New tenant for Kentucky Tri-Modal Transpark in BG

[stewey]

A second tenant has been lined up for the transpark in Bowling Green. HOWA USA Inc., a Japanese manufacturing company which will make dash insulator, headliners, and other products for the interiors of automobiles such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, plans to build a 82,000 square-foot facility and employ up to 61 full-time workers. They also plan to invest more than $10 million in the Warren County economy. The good news continues to roll out of BG.

http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/2007/0.../news/news2.txt

[Rural King]

That is great news for Bowling Green and is probably a good harbinger for things to come. All those environmental lawsuits were definately keeping industries from coming into the park, but now that they are out of the way I think BG can expect more industries to find the park to be a very attractive site to set up operations.

[Lexy]

What's the status of the cargo airport for that park?

[stewey]

Yet another company commits to the transpark. Cannon Automotive Solutions, which makes frame parts for Ford F-150 pickup trucks, plans to create 100 full-time jobs in the next five years with an average wage of $17.90 per hour. I think it's safe to say now that the transpark is a definite success for the South Central Kentucky region.

http://www.bgdailynews.com/articles/2007/0.../news/news2.txt

[Rural King]

^ Yep. I have to agree, the landing of two great manufacturers within weeks of each other clearly shows the park is going to probably fulfill and potentially surpass expectations. All that was holding it back the Transpark until now were those environmental impact lawsuits, and the quick succession in landing these firms after those lawsuits were settled seems to prove that out. I think BG should expect more great economic news out of this very smart industrial development project.

BG provides a great distribution point to a host of automobile assembly sites throughout the Southeast, so I would think it is likely that future tenants may well keep with the trend of being high-paying automotive related manfacturers. The types of plants that towns and cities across the country all want but few land. That bodes well for BGs future.

[seicer]

It's also one of the industrial parks that is actually filling up. There are so many parks throughout the state that are either at or close to 0% occupancy or well below their expected minimums for their age. The proximity of rail, air and interstate is a big draw for this park.

[Lexy]

It should not go without saying that these announcements almost parallel the expansion of I-65 to the north and south of Bowling Green. That has GOT to be a large selling point considering how dangerous it was before the work began.

[seicer]

Well, long-range planning for widening of major interstate corridors (65, 75, 71, and parts of 64) were set in stone in the 1980s but funding was not available until the mid 1990s for most projects. Certainly, the four-lane I-65 was congested but I don't think that it would prohibit growth -- it still operated at LOS B-C during the day, and LOS A-B at night.