Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear visited Bowling Green Tuesday with a double dose of good economic news. Kobe Aluminum is expanding operations and investing $11 million to construct a new building and purchase new equipment. Kobe is a Japanese-owned automotive supplier, and Beshear says Kentucky's relationship with Japanese companies is strong.
"This is another step forward in that relationship. Kobe Aluminum has been here since 2005, but they've made the decision to expand, to invest more here," adds Beshear. "That's always exciting for us because we're getting more of our people back to work."
Kobe has more than 200 fulltime workers, and with the expansion, the company will add 15 positions.
Meanwhile, another company has decided to locate in Bowling Green. Canadian-based Davert USA will create 20 fulltime jobs and invest more than $2 million to start operations. Governor Beshear says Bowling Green should be proud of the announcement.
"This is their first location in the U.S. so it's very exciting to get a new company in here and investing in Kentucky," remarks Beshear.
Davert USA provides solutions for metal fabrication, engineering, design, and prototype needs.
While in Bowling Green, Governor Beshear boasted about how the commonwealth is doing on the job front. He cited a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that showed between September 2011 and September 2012, Kentucky had the second-highest job growth rate in the U.S.