FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 2, 2022) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear joined local leaders in Todd County and executives from Novelis to break ground on the aluminum producer’s new recycling center in Guthrie, a $365 million investment creating 140 well-paying jobs for Kentuckians.
“I am very pleased to have the opportunity to take part in this ground-breaking ceremony today for a project that will create 140 quality jobs for Kentucky residents,” Gov. Beshear said. “Novelis has seen rapid growth in our state, and this new recycling center in Todd County emphasizes the company’s commitment to sustainability and job creation in the commonwealth. I want to thank the leaders at Novelis for this latest long-term commitment in our incredible workforce.”
Novelis broke ground on its new sheet ingot casting, shredding and recycling center, which will serve the automotive market with annual capacity of 240,000 tons. The new facility will be located near the company’s existing automotive finishing plant on Old Railroad Lane in Guthrie. Novelis leaders expect the project to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by more than 1 million tons each year and enable the company to grow its automotive recycling programs in North America. Use of recycled aluminum as input material requires only 5% of the energy used to make primary aluminum, in turn eliminating 95% of the carbon emissions associated with production.
The new facility was announced in January, just over two months after Gov. Beshear joined Novelis for the grand opening of the company’s automotive aluminum finishing plant in late October. The initial phase included a $300 million-plus investment creating over 150 jobs, including 100 Kentucky residents. In addition to its Todd County operations, Novelis maintains a 130-employee beverage can recycling facility in Berea that opened in 1989. The Madison County facility melts and casts ingots from 20% of the nation’s recycled beverage cans. Novelis also is an owner of Logan Aluminum, a joint venture with Tri-Arrows Aluminum Co., which is a top employer in Russellville.
“This ground-breaking marks a major milestone in our ongoing commitment to sustainability and supports our automotive customers’ carbon reduction targets as well,” said Tom Boney, executive vice president and president of Novelis North America. “The Commonwealth of Kentucky continues to be a great partner for us, and we are proud to build on the rich 40-year history of recycling aluminum in Kentucky. We look forward to deepening our relationships to ensure our facility has a lasting, beneficial impact in the region.”
Atlanta-based Novelis is the world’s largest aluminum recycler and the leading producer of flat-rolled aluminum, with 33 advanced rolling and recycling facilities in nine countries across North and South America, Europe and Asia. The company employs approximately 14,650 people worldwide. More than 225 vehicle models feature Novelis aluminum and the company’s products also are used to manufacture a variety of products including beverage cans, airplanes, computers, mobile phones, flexible tubing, insulating sleeves, license plates and architectural products, such as roller shutters, awnings, roofing, gutters, facades and sandwich panels.
Kentucky is home to 230-plus metals-related facilities, which employ approximately 25,000 Kentuckians. In 2021, Kentucky’s metals industry announced over 1,700 full-time jobs with $975 million in new investments.
Todd County Judge/Executive Todd Mansfield thanked all who had a hand in getting the project to this point.
“On behalf of the residents of Todd County, we thank Novelis leadership for their continued investment in our county and region. We also thank Gov. Andy Beshear, the TVA, Todd County Fiscal Court, City of Guthrie, Pennyrile Area Development District, our education and workforce partners, and our utility partners for continuing to demonstrate strong leadership supporting Novelis and their future growth,” Judge/Executive Mansfield said. “Because of Novelis’ stewardship and regional partnership, our region will benefit from this $350 million capital investment and over 140 new jobs creating hope, opportunity and prosperity for the residents of Todd County and South Western Kentucky.”
South Western Kentucky Economic Development Director Carter Hendricks said he looks forward to furthering the region’s partnership with Novelis.
“The South Western Kentucky region remains a hot bed for economic development activity as demonstrated by Novelis’ recent expansion announcement and groundbreaking. We are proud that Todd County and South Western Kentucky are home to Novelis and their continued growth with this significant capital investment and creation of new jobs,” Hendricks said. “We look forward to continuing to work with Novelis leadership and local, regional and state officials to ensure Novelis’ success for generations to come in our less taxing, more relaxing region.”
Todd County Industrial Foundation President John Walton said the community and Novelis are ready to grow together.
“We are excited to celebrate this ground-breaking with Novelis and our region. We are confident Novelis will continue to enjoy success in Todd County and South Western Kentucky due to our strong workforce, outstanding quality of life and business friendly communities,” Walton said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to meet Novelis’ needs as they continue to grow in our region.”
Tennessee Valley Authority Senior Vice President of Economic Development John Bradley highlighted the company’s sustainability efforts.
“TVA and Pennyrile RECC are proud to partner with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and Southwestern Kentucky Economic Development Council to support companies like Novelis, committed to creating jobs and investment in the region,” Bradley said. “We congratulate Novelis on the ground-breaking as the company moves toward its goal of creating a more sustainable world, the impact of which will yield dividends for generations to come.”
Novelis’ 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.
Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings for 2021 placed Kentucky atop the South Central region, and third nationally, for qualifying projects per capita.
The economic momentum has carried strongly into 2022. On Jan. 28, S&P Global Ratings revised Kentucky’s financial outlook to positive from stable and affirmed its “A-” credit rating. S&P cited a reduced reliance on one-time items to balance the budget and a higher balance in the state’s rainy-day fund as primary factors influencing the change. And at the end of April, Fitch Ratings also elevated its outlook on Kentucky from “stable” to “positive,” recognizing the commonwealth’s surging economy.
In recent months, the commonwealth has announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September, 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. Last month, 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 national leader in EV battery production.
Kentucky also saw an all-time, record-setting budget surplus in fiscal year 2021 and entered 2022 with an estimated $1.9 billion more than budgeted.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in January preliminarily approved an incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide tax incentives based on the company’s investment annual job-creation and wage targets. Additionally, KEDFA approved Novelis for 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, Novelis 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 Novelis, visit Novelis.com.
A detailed community profile for Todd 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.
###