Kentucky and its automotive industry (Louisville, Bowling Green: incomes, income tax, cost of)

[EclecticEars]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alaba...urg-south.html

Why doesn't Kentucky get its head out its butt and make a strong attempt to bring in these jobs? Seems like Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas have been getting most the automotive manufacturing jobs lately.

Ford in Louisville is chugging along but has greatly downsized. GM in Bowling Green is expanding but not enough to boast about it. Toyota is still doing well in Georgetown and has its North American headquarters in the Florence area. So Kentucky is still producing a good portion of this nation's cars, but it isn't enough; we owe it to ourselves to do more and better diversity this sector of our economy. Remember the Hyundai proposal for Hardin Co.? We botched that up BIG TIME and Montgomery, Alabama got the jobs, and deservedly so.

I don't see Kentucky having the long-term financial intellect and foresight to bring in a diverse array of career opportunities and encourage entrepreneurialism while that dee-dee-dee Governor of ours is in office. (Come on, all he campaigned on was "I ain't no Fletcher" and "Casiners.") We also need to greatly lower our corporate and personal income tax rate to...zero! What do ya'll think?

[InLondon]

Let's see Georgetown has the Toyota plant that employs 7,000 people, Louisville has the Ford plant and Bowling Green is the only place in the world that assembles Corvettes.....

[censusdata]

Part of the problem is that KY is trying to sell sites in areas that already have a high average income and a strong UAW presence (greater Louisville). The areas where the new factories are going (Tupelo MS, Montgomery AL) have median incomes that aren't even 1/3 of the incomes in the Triangle.

I think a factory in London/ Corbin/ Middlesboro makes more sense because the labor cost are so much cheaper than in the Triangle.

[InLondon]

London has Aisin Automotive which makes parts for Nissan, Toyota, Honda and it employs 700 people.

[bw87a]

i would like to know more about having personal income taxes at zero. how does this work and if it's effective, why don't more states do it?

[RuralGuy]

According the US Department of Commerce, Kentucky is ranked 4th in the nation in total vehicle production, so I'd say we're not doing too bad.

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by RuralGuy

According the US Department of Commerce, Kentucky is ranked 4th in the nation in total vehicle production, so I'd say we're not doing too bad.

Who's one through three?

[RuralGuy]

Originally Posted by missymomof3

Who's one through three?

I looked at GDP statistics from 2006 and these these were the top five:

1. Michigan
2. Ohio
3. Indiana
4. Kentucky
5. Missouri

Tennesse, Alabama, and Texas also are in the top ten, but I can't remember their exact rankings.

[InLondon]

Oh don't worry JCM will come up with more negative stuff to post on here.......

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by censusdata

Part of the problem is that KY is trying to sell sites in areas that already have a high average income and a strong UAW presence (greater Louisville). The areas where the new factories are going (Tupelo MS, Montgomery AL) have median incomes that aren't even 1/3 of the incomes in the Triangle.

I think a factory in London/ Corbin/ Middlesboro makes more sense because the labor cost are so much cheaper than in the Triangle.

I agree with you. Basically, any area east of I-75, as well as certain very rural counties along the Cumberland, Western Kentucky and Pennyrile Parkways would be better places to build such facilities. The highway infrastructure is already in place and the cost of doing business is substantially less.

Western Ky. would be better, actually, b/c the land is not nearly as hilly or mountainous, meaning it would cost tens of millions of dollars less to build a mini-city b/c of land removal as it would in eastern Ky.

Originally Posted by InLondon

Oh don't worry JCM will come up with more negative stuff to post on here.......

Hmmm...okay. It's hard to build a Toyota plant on a mountain in Gray, Paintsville, Morehead, Hindman, or any other EKY town that even has a major highway running through them. Seriously. This isn't negative, but realistic; why do you think so few factories locate east of I-75, at least in comparison to the rest of the state?