FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 28, 2021) – Kentucky companies continue to create well-paying jobs for residents, and today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced financial services provider ARGI Financial Group LLC will create 245 quality job opportunities in the years ahead with a $2.7 million investment.
“I welcome this investment and job creation from ARGI, as yet another company grows their headquarters in Kentucky,” Gov. Beshear said. “ARGI has built its business in the commonwealth over the past 25 years, and it is great to see the company continue to create well-paying jobs that will make a difference for Kentucky families. Congratulations to everyone who played a role in making this expansion project possible.”
With this investment, ARGI will grow its existing 54,000-square-foot location at High Wickham Place by 10,000 square feet. The expanded headquarters will create new management and back office support opportunities in the coming years, in addition to its current staff of 152. Company leaders expect work on the expansion to be completed by 2023. Currently, ARGI operates five locations in Kentucky, including offices in Bardstown, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown and Paducah, which employ 57 people.
“We are honored and grateful the commonwealth supports our efforts in strengthening ARGI’s service to the people of Kentucky,” said Joe Reeves, CEO of ARGI. “Our firm was built on the foundation of serving others, with the primary focus being our clients, our employees and our community. These funds will help us to further live our mission of improving lives with every relationship, and that starts with our people in Kentucky.”
Established in Louisville in 1995, ARGI provides financial and business services for companies and individuals, such as financial planning and accounting, estate planning, retirement planning, tax services and investment management, among others, through the firm’s various affiliates. In addition to its Kentucky locations, ARGI operates in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said the investment continues recent growth in the region.
“Offering high-quality, high-wage jobs, ARGI raises the bar for companies in the business services sector,” Mayor Fischer said. “We are excited to celebrate this major expansion and continued success here in Louisville where companies enjoy a competitive cost of doing business, high-quality amenities and a growing tech-savvy workforce.”
ARGI’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger following the effects of the pandemic.
Today alone, companies have announced more than 1,700 new full-time jobs across new-location and expansion projects totaling over $800 million in new investments.
This year, the commonwealth has shattered every economic development record in the books for yearly investment totals. Year-to-date, private-sector new-location and expansion announcements include over $10 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create 14,000 full-time jobs across the coming years. Through September, Kentucky’s average incentivized hourly wage is $24.15 before benefits, a 10% increase over the previous year.
In September, Gov. Beshear, Ford Motor Co. Executive Chair Bill Ford, CEO Jim Farley and Dong-Seob Jee, president of SK Innovation’s battery business, announced the single largest economic development project in the history of the commonwealth, celebrating a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs and places Kentucky at the forefront of the automotive industry’s future.
In July, thanks to strong fiscal management by the Beshear administration, the state budget office reported the commonwealth ended the 2021 fiscal year with a general fund surplus of over $1.1 billion – the highest ever in the commonwealth – and a 10.9% increase in general fund receipts to $12.8 billion.
In May, Moody’s Analytics published a positive economic outlook for Kentucky, noting mass vaccination as the driving force behind a sustained recovery in consumer services. The state’s recovery, Moody’s said, benefited from earlier reopening efforts and increased demand for manufactured goods over services. The report also found Kentucky’s manufacturing industry outperformed the nation’s since the national downturn last year.
Fitch Ratings in May improved the state’s financial outlook to stable, reflecting the commonwealth’s solid economic recovery. The state’s April sales tax receipts set an all-time monthly record at $486.5 million, as did vehicle usage tax receipts at over $64 million.
In March, Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings for 2020 positioned Kentucky atop the South Central region, and third nationally, for qualifying projects per capita. The commonwealth also placed seventh overall in total projects, the highest of any state with a population under 5 million. Site Selection also recently placed Kentucky in a tie for fifth in its 2021 Prosperity Cup rankings, positioning the state among the national leaders for business climate.
To encourage 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 $1.8 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $2.7 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 245 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $46.80 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, ARGI 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 ARGI, visit ARGI.net.
A detailed community profile for Jefferson 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.
Read about other key updates, actions and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov, kycovid19.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accounts Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
###