Gov. Beshear to pitch Kentucky for Asian investment in overseas trip this week

FRANKFORT, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Gov. Andy Beshear is about to head overseas to Asia to pitch Kentucky as the place to bring international business.

“Right now, the story in Kentucky is that this is the place to be and we continue to grow,” president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Ashli Watts told FOX 56 News.

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And that’s the pitch Beshear will be making to businesses across Japan and South Korea this week. Between the two countries, businesses based there are today employing almost 50 thousand Kentuckians across more than 200 facilities.

“We are a prime location. We’re within one day’s drive of two-thirds of the nation’s population. We’re a logistics hub. We really specialize in manufacturing. When you look at Toyota and Ford and Blue Oval and GM,” Watts said.

And many of these relationships are major employers. Toyota has made cars in Georgetown since 1986. Nearly 10,000 people have jobs there.

Watts said Kentucky’s economy is very strongly tied to Asia. And it’s something Beshear is leaning into; 88 projects by companies from all corners of that continent have begun since he took office in 2019. Some regions of the state are hoping future investments are still to come.

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“I’d like to see some activity in northeast Kentucky. Personally, I’d like to have some factories located there. We’ve got the best workforce in the country and the logistics are just perfect,” Sen. Robin Webb (D-Grayson) said this week on FOX 56’s “Red, White, and Bluegrass

And the start of one project could open doors for another. As Watts notes, the business investments made now can have ripple effects that last long after that first ribbon cutting.

“So if you go back several decades and you look at Toyota locating in Georgetown, and then you look at the years later and all the suppliers that have come to Kentucky because of Toyota, it really is a regional impact that it has,” Watts said.

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