Kentucky Product Development Initiative (KPDI) Powering Performance in South Western Kentucky

07/14/2025

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MEDIA RELEASE

Contact:           Carter Hendricks

Executive Director

                        270-885-1499

Release:           July 14, 2025

Kentucky Product Development Initiative (KPDI)

Powering Performance in South Western Kentucky

 

The South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council (SWK EDC) recently received exciting news about continued investment in the region’s newest industrial park, the John E. Walton Business Park in Elkton, Kentucky.

“We are thrilled that the state of Kentucky continues to support communities with industrial site and product development as we recognize how important it is to our region’s success,” stated Sharon Butts, Associate Director for the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council.

The John E. Walton Business Park, the region’s newest industrial park, is a 24-acre park with twenty-four acres owned and controlled by local authorities and the additional acreage under option. The park has all utilities, due diligence, and is annexed and zoned for industrial use. The most recent grant will allow for additional due diligence on the recently optioned 119 acres.  This grant follows two previous rounds of funding from TVA and the Kentucky Product Development Initiative, which allowed local authorities to purchase twenty-four acres, perform due diligence, relocate and extend utilities, construct road access, install signage, and fencing.

The SWK region has also celebrated recent KPDI grants at the region’s two existing, premier industrial sites. 

These grants have included:

  • In 2021, $400,000 to help fund the 100,000 square feet spec building in Hopkinsville’s Commerce Park.  The building recently sold to Australian based Kitchen Food Company who is in the process of opening their first North American location, investing $69M and creating over 900 new jobs for the region.
  • In 2022 and 2023, the Interstate 24 Business Park in Cadiz, Kentucky, received KPDI grants for $500,000 and $450,000, respectively, to assist with the construction of a 100,000 square foot speculative building, which is currently available, and a new wastewater pump station.

“Since 2021, we have been thankful to have received over $2,000,000 in grants for local industrial sites through the Kentucky Product Development Initiative.  Thanks to the forward-thinking leadership of the General Assembly, the Governor’s office, the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, and the Kentucky Association for Economic Development, our state and local communities have leveraged those grants to develop sites to compete and win future company investments.  As a result, our region has created over 900 new jobs directly attributed to KPDI grant funding. Additionally, South Western Kentucky has nearly two thousand acres available for industrial development in our real estate portfolio,” shared Carter Hendricks, Executive Director, South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council.

For more information on this release, the SWK EDC, the region, and available sites, please contact 270-885-1499 or visit www.southwesternky.com.