The South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council highlighted the economic growth the region saw in 2023 with their year in review and approved a loan to the Hopkinsville Industrial Foundation at their meeting on Monday.
In his 2023 year in review, Council Executive Director, Carter Hendricks spotlighted industries such as Toyota Boshoku, SK Ecoplant and others that announced their plans to establish facilities in the region set to provide jobs.
Hendricks also shared that for the first time ever, the region’s manufacturing gross domestic product (GDP) surpassed on $1 billion in 2023.
Looking toward the future, Hendricks says since 2022 economic growth has really picked up and that original momentum continued through 2023 and he hopes the same happens in 2024.
Hendricks highlighted a report from consulting agency, Lightcast that projected economic growth over the next five years with more industries coming to the region resulting in more manufacturing jobs.
Before they concluded their meeting, the council entered a closed session surrounding business recruitment and retention. Following the closed session, the council voted in favor of loaning the Hopkinsville Industrial Foundation $75,000.