FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 27, 2023) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced new growth in Kentucky’s manufacturing sector, as Matrix Pack North America, a producer of sustainable and environmentally conscious paper products, will locate a new $47.9 million facility in Boone County and create 144 full-time jobs.
“I want to thank the leaders at Matrix Pack North America for this commitment to the commonwealth and the Boone County community,” said Gov. Beshear. “Kentucky’s sustainability effort continues to grow, and it is great to see Matrix Pack North America be a part of that momentum. I want to congratulate them on this new partnership, and I look forward to seeing their success in the commonwealth.”
To meet growing demand in the market, the company is building a new 100,000-square-foot facility to expand the production of paper straws, lids, cutlery and to-go containers. Construction is expected to begin in October of this year and be completed by June 2024.
“Our family and business have been an integral part of the Boone County community for over 60 years. We are excited about the opportunity to bring this growth to Boone County,” said Matrix Pack North America President Stuart Seltman. “Further, we are so grateful and appreciative of the support we have received from Boone County, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and all of the elected officials, including those working behind the scenes, to bring this to fruition.”
In late 2022, Seltman, fourth-generation owner and president of Crescent Paper Tube and founder of Virescent Paper Products, partnered with Matrix Pack SA and Pacific Paper Straw to establish Matrix Pack North America. The company is now embarking on a journey to become one of the nation’s leading green paper products manufacturers, specifically aiming to service existing and future customers in the United States and Canada beginning in 2023. Matrix Pack North America will produce and deliver paper products to replace single-use plastics in the food service markets of North America.
Boone County Judge/Executive Gary W. Moore welcomed Matrix Pack North America’s investment and job creation: “We appreciate Stuart Seltman’s commitment to Northern Kentucky and thank him for starting this new manufacturing company and creating quality jobs in the region. Stuart is the fourth generation of the Seltman family committed to manufacturing. Crescent Paper Tube was the first company in the Northern Kentucky Industrial Park in 1962. It is exciting that sustainable consumer products will be made in Boone County and used by customers throughout the U.S. and Canada in the future.”
BE NKY Growth Partnership CEO Lee Crume noted the advancing manufacturing industry and how materials and packaging have high growth potential in Northern Kentucky: “Through our target industry study by EY, we know that materials and packaging companies have a strong presence and opportunities to be successful in Northern Kentucky. Matrix Pack North America is an ideal fit for our region, and we appreciate the founders’ new investment in Boone County.”
Matrix Pack North America’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth.
Last week, Gov. Beshear announced that his administration secured the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund, as well as the most jobs filled in state history.
The General Fund budget surplus at the end of fiscal year 2023 was more than $1.55 billion. Nearly all of the $1.55 billion surplus will go into the commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund, bringing the fund to a record balance of $3.7 billion – a 2,700% increase since Gov. Beshear took office in 2019.
Gov. Beshear also announced an increase of 6,400 jobs filled, bringing the commonwealth to 2,015,600 filled jobs in June. That is a record number of nearly 60,000 more jobs filled than before the pandemic.
This year, the Governor announced that Kentucky set the record for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history. On May 18, Gov. Beshear announced that Kentucky set a new historic low unemployment rate of 3.7%, which is the lowest rate ever recorded in the commonwealth.
Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 860 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $26 billion in announced investments.
The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2022 was $26.78 before benefits, the second-highest mark since 2010 and an 11.5% increase over the previous year.
The Governor also secured the best two-year period in state history for economic growth and announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK On celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. In April 2022, the Governor was joined by leadership at AESC to announce a $2 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs in Warren County. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States.
That position was strengthened even further in May 2023, when the Governor and leaders at Toyota announced a $591 million investment across multiple projects as the company’s largest manufacturing operation in Georgetown introduced its first battery electric vehicle. Growth within the EV sector continued into June as Gov. Beshear joined INFAC North America to break ground on the company’s $53 million investment to support EV-related production in Campbellsville.
Over a two-month period this year, Kentucky secured two credit rating increases from major agencies. On May 12, Gov. Beshear announced that his administration obtained the first state-level credit rating upgrade in 13 years and the first-ever upgrade from Fitch Ratings. On June 29, Gov. Beshear announced the commonwealth received its first-ever rating increase from S&P Global Ratings.
Site Selection magazine recently placed Kentucky first in the South Central region and top-5 nationally in its 2023 Prosperity Cup ranking, which recognizes state-level economic development agencies for their success in landing capital investment projects. The publication also placed Kentucky second nationwide and first in the South Central region for its annual Governor’s Cup ranking for 2022, which recognizes state-level economic success based on capital investments.
Gov. Beshear also announced a new “Supply Kentucky” initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies.
To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) today preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $1 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $47.9 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 144 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $23.86 including benefits across those jobs.
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, Matrix Pack North America 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 Matrix Pack North America, visit MatrixPack.com.
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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