FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 9, 2021) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted a major technology business announcement as Consumer Cellular Inc., a provider of cellphones, no-contract cellular plans and accessories, will locate its first Kentucky operation in Louisville, creating 486 full-time jobs with a more than $15.5 million investment.
“I want to welcome Consumer Cellular to the commonwealth and thank its leaders for this commitment to Kentucky’s talented workforce,” Gov. Beshear said. “We have seen economic growth throughout the state this year, and Louisville has been a major part of that success. I look forward to this facility opening in the coming months and following the company’s growth in Kentucky.”
Consumer Cellular will locate in an existing building on Triton Boulevard in Louisville. The new customer support center will allow the company to better serve customers on a national scale. Jobs created through the project include management and call center support positions. Company leaders expect to add more than 400 of the new roles in 2022.
“Consumer Cellular is proud to invest in the Bluegrass State,” Consumer Cellular CEO Ed Evans said. “Kentucky has everything we look for in a location. The state offers a low cost of living, high quality of life and individuals who are ready, willing and able to go to work. I appreciate Gov. Beshear, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and everyone else who we have worked with to make this expansion possible. They have fostered an economic atmosphere that will allow our company to grow, which made the decision to expand here even easier.”
Founded in 1995, Oregon-based Consumer Cellular is a postpaid mobile virtual network operator that offers cellphones, low-cost, no-contract cellular plans and accessories focused on users over age 50. The company operates exclusively in the U.S. and employs more than 2,400 people across four locations in Arizona and Oregon.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer welcomed the continued economic growth in the region.
“Each new company announcement is another sign that our city is regaining the strong momentum it was experiencing prior to the pandemic,” Mayor Fischer said. “In the first 11 months of this year, we have announced 48 projects creating 3,347 new jobs and investing $920 million in our city, and we are happy to add Consumer Cellular, which will bring with it a significant number of new jobs, to that list.”
Consumer Cellular’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.
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 $11 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create 17,000-plus 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 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 $5.5 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $15.51 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 486 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $20 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, Consumer Cellular 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 Consumer Cellular, visit ConsumerCellular.com.
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.
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