Shelby County is the second fastest growing county in Kentucky. A large reason for that expansive growth is due to the influx of new industries locating within the local area and bringing workers here to live.
Several new businesses are making their home in Shelby County, including a number of distilleries, the EnerVenue battery plant, a recycling and refining center and many others. These new companies are bringing hundreds of jobs to the community, and according to government officials, dozens of additional industries at varying stages of interest are looking to locate here.
County Judge-Executive Dan Ison explained how this growth and increase in new businesses directly benefit the county and its residents.
“The big challenge with industry is finding that balance that I talk so much about. How do we keep that rural community and how do we have jobs where people can stay here to work?” Ison said. “Currently, 50% of our workforce leaves this county every day for a job in another county. What if you didn’t have to leave here?
“One of these reason for this is we didn’t have the jobs. We didn’t have high-paying jobs. We’re attracting companies in here now with high-paying, good benefit jobs.”
Ison shared there are currently over 70 industries in Shelby County and that in this day of economic uncertainty, it means that if a plant closes; the community won’t have to close along with it.
“There is a new company coming in out off Freedom’s Way, which will bring in 250 jobs,” Ison said. “That’s 250 jobs that they can go to other industries here in this community because we have grown. This industry makes everything from a part for a rocket to a part for a rocking chair. And that diversity of industries we have really is a benefit to this community.”
According to Ison, the diversity of industries within Shelby County provides long-term protection to the financial stability of the county and its residents.
“You don’t cement people to an industry like auto manufacturing,” Ison said. “Those communities get nothing but auto people. If that plant shuts down, that whole community gets slammed. We don’t have that with all the industry we have brought in. That mix benefits this community.”
Ison also suggested that another benefit is that Shelby County will be able to reduce property taxes for the third time in six years. In spite of this property tax decrease, Ison said many people will say, “But my tax bill never goes down.” He emphasized the reason that homeowner tax bills do not appear to go down is because the property value of most homes in Shelby County continue to be on the rise. He went on to explain that whatever government can do to keep property tax down is just one more benefit to residents.
“We spoke with a company that needs welders and I feel confident he is going to be coming in here,” Ison said. “He has a lot of welders in his business. His welders make up to $100,000 a year. What if we bring ten $100,000 jobs to Shelby County? That’s a million dollars with a 1% occupation tax.”
Since June of 2017, the county’s true surplus has risen from $541,000 to $8,148,486, as of June of this year. Ison explained that this is because of businesses coming into the community.
“People want to work here in this community,” Ison said. “We’ve found that mix in identifying where these new industries need to go, so we don’t destroy that balance of our rural areas. You have to remember, there’s 220,000 acres of agriculture land in Shelby County. A lot of times people see you have taken 300 acres, like the location of the battery plant on Taylorsville Road, and people say ‘you’ve destroyed this community.’ Three hundred acres won’t destroy us because we have 380 square miles in this county. It won’t destroy it. It’s not in a setting that destroys your view.”
Ison urged residents to view the big picture and have an understanding of the economics and what it means to this community such as jobs, being able to stay here and improved quality of life.
“The quality of life is why I am here in Shelby County, I’d say the majority of people are,” the judge said. “Our school system and what they are doing for business is amazing. The way they are reaching out to business is critical.
“A real estate agent told me recently that I would not believe the number of calls he is getting from people with school-age children who say they want their family to be here. Dr. (Sally) Sugg and her group have built an amazing team at the schools and they have done a fabulous job!”
Ison said that he and the mayors of both Shelbyville and Simpsonville are going to be meeting with the industrial foundation to talk about how to handle bringing new businesses to Shelby County and how to recognize when the need for new industries is necessary and when a limit has been reached.
“We are blessed to be able to say what companies we bring into this community,” Ison said. “We don’t have to take that company that pollutes our air. Some counties can’t do that because they are so dependent on those businesses. Some counties have hung their basket on one group, so how do they handle that 20 years from now when that industry leaves? We have such industrial diversity that we don’t have to worry about that.”
