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Ford, SK On bringing 5,000 jobs to Kentucky with massive electric vehicle battery park
Ford, SK On bringing 5,000 jobs to Kentucky with massive electric vehicle battery parkOlivia Evans
Louisville Courier Journal
December 5, 2022
Link to Article: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2022/12/05/ford-sk-innovation-break-ground-electric-vehicle-battery-park/69695077007/
Snips....
Calling it a "huge step forward," Ford Motor Company and SK On broke ground Monday on an electric vehicle battery park in Glendale, Kentucky, that is expected to create 5,000 new jobs in the commonwealth.
The BlueOval SK Battery Park, at 1,500 acres, will be the largest in the world and will start production in 2025. It's "the biggest economic development project this state has ever seen," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.
Ford plans to produce an annual run rate of 2 million electric vehicles globally by the end of 2026, and the BlueOval SK Battery Park will play a large role in executing this goal. BlueOval SK has already invested $5.8 billion to produce electric batteries for Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
What's coming to Kentucky
The battery production site will consist of two battery production plants across a more than 2.3-square-mile campus. Each production plant on the campus will employ about 2,500 people. While the goal is to hire as many Kentuckians as possible, Beshear noted that BlueOval SK will need to attract some employees from outside the state.
The BlueOval SK Battery Park, at 1,500 acres, will be the largest in the world and will start production in 2025. It's "the biggest economic development project this state has ever seen," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.
Ford plans to produce an annual run rate of 2 million electric vehicles globally by the end of 2026, and the BlueOval SK Battery Park will play a large role in executing this goal. BlueOval SK has already invested $5.8 billion to produce electric batteries for Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
What's coming to Kentucky
The battery production site will consist of two battery production plants across a more than 2.3-square-mile campus. Each production plant on the campus will employ about 2,500 people. While the goal is to hire as many Kentuckians as possible, Beshear noted that BlueOval SK will need to attract some employees from outside the state.
Kudos to Gov. Beshear for his tireless work for our people. I hope that area will be able to grow their housing, schools and infrastructure ahead of the coming population storm. Although Elizabethtown (locally called E'town) is a fairly developed town of about 30K souls and 150K metro population (including Ft. Knox), it's still very much a rural farm and small industry town.
This plant - including the training school - will drastically change the landscape in this already busy I-65 corridor.
KY
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It is definitely an ant hill of activity, with numerous humongous cranes. Home/land prices are rising like crazy. Acreage we could have bought a few years ago next to us (and wish we had!) for a few thousand dollars an acre, is now going for $8,500 an acre.
I'm glad for all the jobs coming, but very sad to see all the rural land gone where they are putting the plant.
Gov. Beshear is great! I get emails from him nearly every day about a new company coming to KY, or an existing one expanding. He's up for re-election in 2024, and hope all Kentuckians do the right thing for this state.
