The 100,000-square-foot spec building in Hopkinsville’s Commerce Park I will become a manufacturing and distribution hub for a window and door manufacturer that plans to employ 203 full-time workers.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that Elevate Windows and Doors will invest approximately $16 million in the facility. Based in Grand Prairie, Texas, the company will use the Hopkinsville site to expand its operations throughout the southern U.S.
Elevate will acquire the spec building and 22 acres at U.S. 41 and Frank Yost Lane with plans to start production as soon as April, according to the governor’s press release.
It will create 183 light manufacturing and shipping jobs, and 20 office positions. The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved performance-based tax incentives worth up to $2.25 million based on the company’s plan for more than $16 million in investments. The company must meet annual targets that include creating and maintaining 203 full-time jobs for Kentucky residents paying an average hourly wage of $22, including benefits.
Elevate manufactures “contemporary, energy-efficient vinyl windows and doors for residential new construction and replacement applications,” according to its website.
“It’s gratifying to see our vision come to fruition at the most recent spec building in our region. We sought to recruit a strong company and to diversify our industrial footprint by recruiting a new industrial sector,” Carter Hendricks, executive director of the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council, said in the release. “With Elevate Windows, our region has exceeded expectations. … We’re also excited to help company leadership make a positive impact as they’ve pledged to be strong corporate citizens in our award-winning region!”
According to the release, “strategic distribution location, available workforce and business-friendly environment” were factors in the company’s decision to locate in Christian County.
“This is the latest company to recognize the value in locating in Kentucky and the many strengths we offer to ensure their business thrives well into the future. Elevate will be a great addition to our manufacturing sector, which continues to diversify and grow,” Beshear said.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
