FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 29, 2022) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced new job creation within Kentucky’s coal industry as River View Coal LLC, which operates an underground coal mine in Union County, will expand its footprint in the state with a new facility in Henderson County, creating 260 well-paying jobs with a $35 million investment.
“It is great to see continued job creation in Northwest Kentucky,” Gov. Beshear said. “We are pleased to welcome River View to Henderson County as this significant investment and job creation breathes new life into an industry that has always been important to our economy.”
Leaders at River View will construct a new 30,000-square-foot facility on 56 acres in Henderson County in response to growing demand. Work on the River View project is expected to begin in April 2023 and be completed by December 2024.
“River View is excited to expand into Henderson County. The coal industry has faced a lot of challenges in recent years, but this project allows us to continue to mine coal for the power producers who care about providing affordable and reliable electricity to homes and businesses,” said River View General Manager Bill Adelman. “Kentucky has many state and local elected officials who have supported investment and growth in our commonwealth. We’re appreciative of their efforts, and the laws they’ve passed, that make expansion opportunities like this one more likely to happen. River View looks forward to what this project means for our miners and Henderson County.”
River View, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance Coal LLC, began producing coal in 2009 and is now the largest underground room-and-pillar mine of its kind in North America. The existing operation includes a preparation plant onsite with a throughput capacity of 2,700 tons of raw coal per hour. Currently, River View employs 783 people in Kentucky. Alliance Coal also operates sister mines in Eastern and Western Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia.
State Sen. Robby Mills commended company leaders for the investment and job creation.
“I applaud the investment by Alliance Resource Partners and I am excited that coal mining will continue to be strong in Northwest Kentucky for many years to come,” Sen. Mills said.
State Rep. Jonathan Dixon noted the company’s longstanding presence in the region.
“River View Coal has been vested in the success of our communities for many years,” Rep. Dixon said. “It is great news that they are continuing to produce great paying jobs and making a huge investment in Henderson.”
Henderson County Judge/Executive Brad Schneider said the project will benefit the existing workforce in addition to the new job creation.
“Henderson County is thrilled to welcome River View Coal and Alliance Resource Partners to our community. Our county has a long history of helping provide this country its most abundant and reliable energy source, coal, and it is exciting that we’ll soon be back in the business of powering America,” Judge Schneider said. “And not only are we both grateful for, and ecstatic about, the new jobs and new capital investment this facility will bring here, we are just as thankful that this project means all the existing mining jobs at River View’s current portals in Union County will remain in the neighborhood. That means our brothers and sisters in surrounding counties who depend on these jobs to feed their families won’t have to worry about their futures. Their work will go on right here in Northwest Kentucky. It’ll just be a few more minutes down the road.”
Missy Vanderpool, executive director of Henderson Economic Development, highlighted the significant economic impact the project will have on the community.
“We are so excited to welcome River View to Henderson County. This investment and job creation has an annual impact to our community of nearly $300 million,” Vanderpool said. “The partnership between River View and Henderson is strong and we know it will continue to grow even stronger. Thank you, River View, for your investment in Henderson County.”
River View Coal’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger from the effects of the pandemic.
In 2021, the commonwealth shattered every economic development record in the books. Private-sector new-location and expansion announcements included a record $11.2 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create a record 18,000-plus full-time jobs across the coming years. Kentucky’s average incentivized hourly wage for projects statewide in 2021 was $24 before benefits, a 9.4% increase over the previous year.
In the past year, the Beshear administration announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK Innovation celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. And in April of this year, the Governor was joined by leadership at Envision 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.
The economic momentum has carried strongly into 2022, with both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings upgrading Kentucky’s financial outlook to positive in recognition of the commonwealth’s surging economy.
And Site Selection magazine placed Kentucky at 6th in its annual Prosperity Cup rankings for 2022, which recognizes state-level economic success based on capital investments.
Kentucky has posted record low unemployment rates for five consecutive months, holding at or below 3.9% since April 2022.
In July, the Governor reported the highest annual growth rate in 31 years. And for the second year in a row, Kentucky’s General Fund budget surplus has exceeded $1 billion. Also in July, Gov. Beshear reported that the state’s rainy day fund is up to a record balance of $2.7 billion, significantly higher than the $129 million balance the fund had when the Governor took office.
In September, Kentucky reported August 2022 General Fund receipts hit an unprecedented high for any August on record, marking 21 straight months of growing revenues for the state.
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 $3.4 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $35 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 260 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $49 including benefits across those jobs.
Additionally, KEDFA approved River View Coal for up to $300,000 in tax incentives 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.
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, the company 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 Alliance Coal and River View, visit ARLP.com.
A detailed community profile for Henderson 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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