Gov. Andy Beshear was joined by local leaders and executives from Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing, a subsidiary of e-Storage, to announce the largest economic development project in Shelby County’s history and the largest jobs announcement in the commonwealth in more than two years today ( Friday, November 15, 2024). The nearly $712 million project creating 1,572 skilled, high-tech jobs represents the third-largest project for job creation during the administration and the fourth-largest investment.
“I want to thank Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing for their investment in Kentucky and the Shelbyville community,” said Gov. Beshear. “This is the single largest investment and job creation announcement we have on record for Shelby County, and it is the largest project Kentucky has seen this year. This project will solidify our role as a leader in the country’s energy storage sector and will transform our economy, creating opportunities for Kentucky families for generations.”
The project will establish a state-of-the-art, 6-gigawatt hour battery cell, module and packaging manufacturing facility in a 1 million-square-foot building located on Logistics Drive in Shelbyville. These self-contained energy storage systems will be packaged into modular, containerized utility-scale batteries. Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing will support e-Storage’s rapidly growing U.S. energy storage business and deliver American-made energy storage solutions to customers throughout the United States.
Production at the Shelbyville plant is expected to begin by the end of 2025.
The investment adds to Kentucky’s significant growth in battery-related production. Since the start of the administration, Gov. Beshear has announced projects across every phase of the electric vehicle lifecycle, from production of batteries and their components to recycling. The addition of utility-scale energy storage production represents further investment in emerging technologies and diversification of Kentucky’s battery-related industries.
Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 1,000 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling nearly $34 billion in announced investments, creating roughly 57,500 jobs. This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth’s history.
The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2022 and 2023 topped $26 in consecutive years for the first time.
Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, which have solidified Kentucky as the electric vehicle battery production capital of the United States: Ford Motor Co. and SK On’s transformative $5.8 billion, 5,000-job BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County; AESC’s $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory project in Warren County; Toyota’s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County; and INFAC North America’s $53 million investment in Taylor County, among others.
The Governor’s administration also secured the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund, as well as the most jobs filled in state history. Last year, Kentucky set the record for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history.
