Governor Beshear Announces NHK of America Suspension Components

NASCO investing $20 million to construct second facility, create up to 108 new jobs

BOWLING GREEN, KY - Gov. Steve Beshear today joined community leaders and executives of NHK of America Suspension Components (NASCO) to announce the company will invest more than $20 million to construct a new 50,000 square-foot manufacturing plant at its current location in Bowling Green. As a result of the expansion, the Japanese automotive supplier will add up to 108 new jobs over the next several years to its existing workforce, which is currently just over 200 employees.



"Kentucky is proud to have a longstanding corporate citizen such as NASCO reaffirm its commitment to our state by making new investments and creating new jobs," said Gov. Beshear. "The Commonwealth has long been a hub for automotive manufacturers and suppliers and this expansion further strengthens our footprint in the automotive industry."



Established in Bowling Green in 1986, NASCO has become one of the world's largest manufacturing plants for suspension coil springs for passenger cars and light trucks. It is also a leading supplier of trunk lid torsion bars and stabilizer links for the North American automotive industry. The new facility, which is expected to be completed by October of this year, will manufacture motor armature parts for electric and hybrid vehicles.



"The new plant is a major investment in metal stamping technology and our Japanese parent company NHK Spring decided to locate it here in Bowling Green, Kentucky," said Fumiaki Kimura, president of NASCO and New Mather Metals in Franklin, Kentucky. "We are very excited to have been awarded the opportunity to build something new here in Bowling Green and create new jobs. We are grateful to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for providing tax incentives to help offset some of the costs of building and operating the new plant."



NASCO was the first Japanese company to locate in Bowling Green. With these investments, the company's total investment in the community will exceed $150 million. Construction will begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed by October of this year. Initial hiring is expected to begin at the end of 2011.



"This is really good news for Bowling Green, Warren County and our region of the state," said Rep. Jody Richards of Bowling Green. "It further confirms what we have long believed: that our area is business friendly and a true hub for the automotive industry."



"Since opening their first plant in 1987, NHK of America has grown into a leading corporate citizen in our community," said Rep. Jim DeCesare, of Bowling Green. "Their growth has helped lead to better high-paying jobs, which have helped support improvements in our schools and our economy. I am pleased that NHK will be expanding and creating more than 100 new jobs, which means they will continue to call Bowling Green home for years to come."



"NASCO's expansion announcement is another reminder of the value that industries find in locating facilities in Warren County and South Central Kentucky," said Warren County Judge Executive Michael Buchanon. "We thank NASCO for its announcement today and for doing business here for nearly 25 years."



"The city of Bowling Green congratulates NASCO on its expansion announcement," said Bowling Green Mayor Joe Denning. "NASCO continues to be a strong contributor to our local economy, and we're thrilled that the company will expand operations here."



The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved NASCO for tax incentives up to $2.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive will allow NASCO to keep a portion of its investment over a 10-year period through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.



KEDFA also approved NASCO for tax benefits up to $294,000 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 equipment.



These incentive programs are a part of Incentives for New Kentucky (INK), which was enacted by Governor Beshear and the state legislature, including Representatives Johnny Bell, Jim DeCesare, Jody Richards and Wilson Stone of Warren County, in June 2009 to revise previous incentive programs and create new incentive opportunities for economic development. Support given by these local legislators, as well as Senator Mike Wilson, to INK has enhanced industry attraction, retention and expansion efforts throughout South Central Kentucky.



When hiring is complete, the economic impact of NASCO's expansion will create an additional 32 jobs in the community. Additionally, the expansion will increase retail spending by more than $1.9 million. Bowling Green and Warren County will see an increased collection of more than $67,000 in residential property tax, and the county's commercial and industrial property tax will grow by more than $139,000.

Sitel, Best Buy ink deal for Call Center in Glasgow, KY

By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE
Glasgow Daily Times The Glasgow Daily Times Thu Jan 20, 2011, 10:39 AM CST

GLASGOW — A well-known retailer of electronics and entertainment products has announced the company will be locating support services in Glasgow during the next few months, which will mean more than 500 additional jobs for the community’s workforce.

Best Buy Co. Inc. made public Wednesday that the business has signed a deal with Sitel, a leading global business process outsourcing provider, to set up call center operations at the Sitel facility adjacent to the Western Kentucky University-Glasgow Campus off Roseville Road.

Representatives from Best Buy did not respond to inquiries about the deal before press time.

It’s been a long and sometimes frustrating road for local and state officials in bringing the Sitel facility and the right client to the community. After two years of negotiations with the state of Kentucky, Sitel announced in July of 2007 that it would be building the call center in Glasgow. Construction began a year later during the summer of 2008 and was completed in January of 2009.

Dave Garner, president and CEO of Sitel, visited the community that month to tour the new building and announce his company’s plans for the site. At that time he thought Sitel would be able to find one or more clients for the facility quickly, according to a previous Glasgow Daily Times article. The task proved to be more challenging than he imagined.

Because of the local facility’s proximity to the company headquarters in Nashville, Sitel officials had previously said they wanted the operation in Glasgow to be a showplace with just the right client that they could bring prospective customers to see.

Working behind the scenes, local officials in conjunction with Sitel representatives brought multiple potential customers, including ones such as Apple, to tour the building and the community during the past two years, but in spite of their efforts no deals were signed.

Timothy Miller, the new Sitel site director for the Glasgow facility, said his company had received significant support from the local community and its representatives during the long process and he singled out former Mayor Darrell Pickett and IDEA Executive Director Dan Iacconi, along with Vicky Wade with the Office of Employment Training and Lisa Bosnell with WKU-Glasgow as being instrumental in sealing the deal with Best Buy.

“They were very helpful and welcoming. A lot of time, effort and energy has been put into this and I think we finally have the right fit for the center,” Miller said.

“It’s how my last day of work was spent. Bringing jobs to Glasgow is still important to me,” Pickett said Wednesday afternoon.

He and Iacconi used the last few days of 2010 to work with representatives from Best Buy and Sitel to finalize negotiations that had been ongoing for some time.

Officials with Best Buy were very pleased with their visit to the community, according to Miller and now that a contract has been signed, the hiring process for employees will begin very soon.

“It will move very quickly over the next few months. Hopefully, by the end of July we will have achieved the goal of more than 500 employees,” he said.

To help that process, Sitel will have a career open house at the facility next week on Tuesday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon. The company is looking for employees with good people skills more than anything else because they will be dealing with warranty-related customer service issues.

“We need people who provide friendly customer service ... have warmth. We can train them on the technical side. They will need to have basic keyboarding skills. We’re also hiring for management positions, so we’re looking for those particular skill sets as well,” Miller said.

Sitel representatives are hoping for 1,500 to 2,000 applicants for the two-day career open house next week. Miller said people were already stopping by the Sitel building at 101 Hilltopper Way to make inquiries, but he stressed the best way to apply is online at www.sitel.com in the “Careers” section before the open house.