Small Business Program Helps Create 211 Jobs Across Commonwealth

Kentucky companies incentivized to grow full-time employment, invest $2.1 million

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 6, 2021) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced 64 small businesses leveraged the Kentucky Small Business Tax Credit (KSBTC) program to create 211 full-time jobs and reinvest $2.1 million into their operations year-to-date.

“Small businesses employ nearly half of Kentucky’s workforce, and this growth serves as another indicator of their resiliency and strength,” said Gov. Beshear. “To further their tremendous economic impact, it’s important we partner with these companies to magnify their efforts. Small businesses took some of the hardest hits economically during the pandemic, and I’m encouraged by and grateful to see this growth.”

The KSBTC program incentivizes companies with 50 or fewer full-time employees that hire and sustain at least one new job and purchase at least $5,000 in qualifying equipment or technology. Applicants can receive between $3,500 and $25,000 in credits annually.

The 211 new jobs incentivized through KSBTC this year pay well, with an average hourly wage of $27.45 before benefits.

One company benefitting from KSBTC is Central Kentucky-based Hinkle Environmental Services LLC (HES), a family-owned operation. HES President Will Hinkle used the program in 2021 to create eight jobs and invest more than $156,000 into the business.

When recent flooding tore through Eastern Kentucky, Hinkle and his crew of nearly 50 helped the region recover. His team restores hillsides, provides slope stabilization and repairs roadbeds and other land-support structures following floods and erosion.

Hinkle is a regular with KSBTC, having used the program since 2016 to help create a total of 25 jobs and invest nearly $400,000 directly into the business. Additionally, HES reinvested a portion of the $81,500 in KSBTC tax incentives from across those years into equipment and technology vital to the business.

As the company grew throughout the past five years, KSBTC provided the opportunity to hire more people in the community. HES strives to employ a workforce entirely of Kentuckians — with over half from parts of the state typically hit hardest by flooding.

Since 2011, KSBTC helped small businesses create nearly 3,200 jobs and invest over $32 million across 72 Kentucky counties. Prior to 2015, KSBTC on average assisted 15 companies annually. Today, the program provides incentives to around 160 small businesses per year.

Job creation and investment spurred through KSBTC advances recent economic momentum in the commonwealth.

In September, Gov. Beshear, Ford Motor Co. Executive Chair Bill Ford, CEO Jim Farley and Dong-Seob Jee, president of SK Innovation’s battery business, announced the single largest economic development project in the history of the commonwealth: a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs and places Kentucky at the forefront of the automotive industry’s future.

This year alone, the Governor has announced over $8.7 billion in total planned investment and 11,700 full-time jobs in private sector new-location and expansion projects across the coming years. Through July, Kentucky’s average incentivized hourly wage was $23.47 before benefits, a 6.2% increase over the previous year.

In July, thanks to strong fiscal management by the Beshear administration, the state budget office reported the commonwealth ended the 2021 fiscal year with a general fund surplus of over $1.1 billion – the highest ever in the commonwealth – and a 10.9% increase in general fund receipts to $12.8 billion.

In May, Moody’s Analytics published a positive economic outlook for Kentucky, noting mass vaccination as the driving force behind a sustained recovery in consumer services. The state’s recovery, Moody’s said, benefited from earlier reopening efforts and increased demand for manufactured goods over services. The report also found Kentucky’s manufacturing industry outperformed the nation’s since the national downturn last year.

Fitch Ratings in May improved the state’s financial outlook to stable, reflecting the commonwealth’s solid economic recovery. The state’s April sales tax receipts set an all-time monthly record at $486.5 million, as did vehicle usage tax receipts at over $64 million.

In March, Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings for 2020 positioned Kentucky atop the South Central region, and third nationally, for qualifying projects per capita. The commonwealth also placed seventh overall in total projects, the highest of any state with a population under 5 million. Site Selection also recently placed Kentucky in a tie for fifth in its 2021 Prosperity Cup rankings, positioning the state among the national leaders for business climate.

For more information on the Kentucky Small Business Tax Credit, visit ced.ky.gov/entrepreneurship/KSBTC.

In addition, businesses within the state 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.

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.