FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 9, 2022) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated Flottweg Separation Technology Inc., a manufacturer of centrifuges and other liquid-solid separation equipment, on the company’s commitment to invest $1.75 million and create 12 high-wage jobs with a new warehouse facility in Boone County.
“It’s great to see job creation continue throughout the commonwealth, and it is even better when those jobs include high wages as is the case with this expansion in Boone County,” Gov. Beshear said. “Flottweg has established a strong presence in Northern Kentucky over the past 15-plus years, and this investment shows the commitment of the company’s leadership to future growth in our state.”
Flottweg leaders will reinvest in the Northern Kentucky operation, which assembles and repairs machinery for the company’s existing customer base. The expansion – the company’s fourth since 2011 – comes in response to rising demand and will accommodate increased parts manufacturing. The investment will support construction of a new 15,000-square-foot warehouse facility on Flottweg’s existing campus on Toebben Drive, expected to be completed by Q1 2023.
“New jobs are continually being created and community involvement will expand with the growth of our building,” said Flottweg President Dan Ellis. “We are happy to grow our presence here in Northern Kentucky. Most of us live and work here and consider it our corporate responsibility to invest in our neighborhood.”
“Our U.S. subsidiary has been instrumental in the growth of the company,” added CFO Peter Frankfurter. “With this expansion we want to empower them to continue this forward momentum.”
Established in 2006, Flottweg Separation Technology is a subsidiary of Flottweg SE, which was founded in Germany in 1932. Flottweg SE has grown into a global technology leader producing centrifuges, belt presses and separators used for liquid-solid separation. The company’s products support a range of industries, including the mining, petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and machining sectors. Its products also have environmental uses, including treatment of wastewater or oil sludge.
Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore thanked Flottweg leaders for building on the company’s investment in Northern Kentucky.
“Flottweg has consistently grown its presence in Boone County since 2006, adding high-quality jobs to its U.S. headquarters in Northern Kentucky,” said Judge/Executive Moore. “We welcome the company’s nearly $2 million investment and the new manufacturing jobs this expansion creates.”
Northern Kentucky Tri-ED CEO Lee Crume noted advanced manufacturing is a strong sector of the economy in the region thanks to its workforce and ideal location.
“The Cincinnati region has a strong legacy of machine tooling and also a bright future with companies like Flottweg investing in new equipment and talent,” Crume said. “Our Target Industry Analysis reveals that employment in advanced manufacturing is projected to grow 9% from 2020-2025, and this expansion by Flottweg will contribute to that growth.”
Flottweg’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger from the effects of the pandemic.
In 2021, the commonwealth shattered every economic development record in the books. Private-sector new-location and expansion announcements included a record $11.2 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create a record 18,000-plus full-time jobs across the coming years. Kentucky’s average incentivized hourly wage for projects statewide in 2021 was $24 before benefits, a 9.4% increase over the previous year.
Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings for 2021 placed Kentucky atop the South Central region, and third nationally, for qualifying projects per capita.
The economic momentum has carried strongly into 2022. On Jan. 28, S&P Global Ratings upgraded Kentucky’s financial outlook to positiveand affirmed its “A-” credit rating. S&P cited a reduced reliance on one-time items to balance the budget and a higher balance in the state’s rainy-day fund as primary factors influencing the change. And at the end of April, Fitch Ratings also elevated its outlook on Kentucky from “stable” to “positive,” recognizing the commonwealth’s surging economy.
In recent months, the commonwealth has announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK Innovation celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. Last month, the Governor was joined by leadership at Envision AESC to announce a $2 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs in Warren County. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the national leader in EV battery production.
Kentucky also saw an all-time, record-setting budget surplus in fiscal year 2021 and entered 2022 with an estimated $1.9 billion more than budgeted.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in March preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $112,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $1.75 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 12 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $38 including benefits across those jobs.
Additionally, KEDFA approved Flottweg for up to $50,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.
In addition, the company can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.
For more information on Flottweg, visit Flottweg.com. For a brief overview of the company’s Kentucky subsidiary, click here.
A detailed community profile for Boone County can be viewed here.
Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at CED.ky.gov. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion at facebook.com/CEDkygov, on Twitter @CEDkygov, Instagram @CEDkygov and LinkedIn.
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