Steel-maker Nucor Corp. to build $1.3 billion plan
Post# of 65629
Mar 28, 2019
BRANDENBURG, Ky. (WDRB) – Nucor Corp., the largest steel-maker in the United States, will build a $1.3 billion plant in Brandenburg, Ky., creating 400 jobs, according to Kentucky economic development documents.
"We can't wait for the day when we melt our first plate of steel here," Nucor CEO John J. Ferriola said at a news conference with Gov. Matt Bevin on Wednesday in Brandenburg, an Ohio River town of about 2,700 that is roughly 45 miles southwest of Louisville.
Video: https://www.wdrb.com/in-depth/steel-maker-nuc...377c1.html
"We saw the energy around getting us here, we got to know the people of Brandenburg, and this is what we want."
Ferriola said most of the production job lines will in fact be high-paying, saying the average Nucor "teammate" working on the floor will make about $72,000 a year. He said he hopes most of those workers can come from the community, but some more experienced workers will be shifted from other plants.
"We'll work with this facility and with local colleges close by to train local teammates," Ferriola said. "We want this to be a community company."
A state board approved up to $40 million in tax breaks and other public subsidies for the Charlotte-based company during a special meeting Wednesday. Nucor can collect the subsidies over a 15-year period if it follows through with the plant.
"These are the kinds of things that every community in America dreams of," Bevin said of the deal.
Nucor said Kentucky was able to beat out other states in a highly competitive process.
Nucor already has a steel mill up the Ohio River in Gallatin County, Ky., the former Gallatin Steel, which Nucor bought in 2007.
Bevin said the mill planned in Brandenburg is "one of the five biggest economic investments ever made at a single time in the history of Kentucky." He added that it is the "largest ever" economic investment west of Interstate 65, a region people sometimes need to be reminded is "still a part of Kentucky."
When asked if the deal had anything to do with the Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs, both Bevin and Ferriola said they had a huge impact.
While speaking to reporters, Bevin got a phone call from the White House and put President Trump on speaker phone for reporters to hear. The president thanked the governor and Ferriola for the work they've done to make the deal a reality.
"The job that Nucor is doing all over the country ... The steel industry is back," Trump said. "The plants haven't been built for decades, and now, they're being built throughout the country."
Nucor expects to start construction by the end of 2019, and the facility should open sometime in 2022.