Economic Transformational Report - September 2023

Elizabethtown –
Fort Knox MSA

Transformation Project
________
Measuring the Impact

of the
BlueOval SK Battery Park
on the
Elizabethtown Metro Area
Luke B. Schmidt
with Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.
August 9, 2023
_________
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Table of Contents
• Transmittal Letter ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....5
• Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……7
• Methodology & Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………………………9
• Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13
• Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Research & Analysis ………………………………………………………………..….31
o Economic and Demographic Characteristics of the 10-County Elizabethtown Region ……..33

o Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area Peer MSA Analysis …………….…….59
o BlueOval SK Battery Park Impact on Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA ………………………………75
• Boomtown Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..109
o Georgetown, Kentucky …………………………………………………………………………………………………..109

o Reno, Nevada …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………121
o Meridian, Idaho ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..135
o Round Rock, Texas …………………………………………………………………………………………………………146
• Key Stakeholder Engagement – Pre/Post-Project SWOT Analysis & Surveys/Interviews ………………159
o Pre/Post-Project Community Leader SWOT Analysis ……………………………………………………..159

o Key Community Leader Surveys & Interviews ………………………………………………………………..162
o Outer County Leadership Groups …………………………………………………………………………………..174
▪ Meade County ………………………………………………………………………………………………….174

▪ Grayson County ………………………………………………………………………………………………..176
▪ Hart County ………………………………………………………………………………………………………178
▪ Larue County …………………………………………………………………………………………………….180
• Overview – Competitive Community Economic Development Platforms ………………………………………183
o Bowling Green, Kentucky …………………………………………………………………………………………..……183

o Columbia, Tennessee ………………………………………………………………………………………………………184
o Decatur, Alabama ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………185
• Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Geographical Expansion ………………………………………………………………187
• Bluegrass/Western Kentucky Parkway Conversions to Interstate Status ………………………………………..193
• Project Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..199
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Luke B. Schmidt
President
2800 Rivers Edge Road

Louisville, Kentucky 40222 USA
+ 1.502.292.2898 (Voice)
+ 1.502.292.2899 (FAX)
+ 1.502.718.6342 (Mobile)
lbschmidt@lbschmidt.com
www.lbschmidt.com
August 9, 2023
Dr. Juston Pate, Ph.D. Kenny Rambo

President President
Elizabethtown Community & Technical College Heartland Communications Consultants
600 College Street Road 55 Public Square
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701 Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Margy Poorman Rick Games

President & Chief Executive Officer President
Hardin County Chamber of Commerce Elizabethtown – Hardin County Industrial Foundation
111 West Dixie Avenue 233 Ring Road, Suite 150
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701 Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Tom Carrico
Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Baptist Health Hardin
913 N. Dixie Avenue
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
Dear Juston, Kenny, Margy, Rick, & Tom,
On behalf of my project partner, Paul Coomes, we are pleased to provide each of you with your copy of the final
report on the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project, which accompanies this letter. We
appreciate the opportunity to work with each of you and remain available for further consultation and questions.
Sincerely,
Luke B. Schmidt
Luke B. Schmidt
cc: Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.
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Introduction
The Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project has been developed in response to the announcement
in late 2021 and subsequent construction of the massive BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County. The battery
park, located on the Glendale megasite just south of Elizabethtown will have a profound impact on Elizabethtown,
Hardin County and all of Kentucky.
BlueOval SK Battery Park will be the largest electric vehicle (EV) battery
manufacturing facility in the world and represents the largest single economic
development project in Kentucky’s history.
BlueOval SK (BOSK) is a joint venture between The Ford Motor Company and SK On, a South Korean battery
manufacturing company. BOSK will produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries for new Ford electric vehicles.
L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC, a Louisville-based international consulting firm, in partnership with Dr. Paul
Coomes, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus at the University of Louisville, was retained in 2022 by a consortium of clients to
study the impact of the battery park on the metropolitan area.
Project clients include:
• Baptist Health Hardin

• Elizabethtown – Hardin County Industrial Foundation
• Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
• Hardin County Chamber of Commerce
• Heartland Communication
Additional project clients/funders include:
• Abound Credit Union

• Elizabethtown Tourism & Convention Bureau
• lightsource BP
• PNC
• South Central Bank
• Swope Family of Dealerships
• The Cecilian Bank
• The Land Store, Inc./Tim Aulbach
• WesBanco
• West Point Bank
• Windstream
The findings of the study begin with the Executive Summary which follows.
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Methodology & Acknowledgements
Methodology
The Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project was conducted by utilizing several types of research,
including:
• Online research
• Key stakeholder interviews
• Site visits to “boomtowns”
• Analysis of key government geographical market economic data
• Analysis of data provided by BlueOval SK
The findings which follow in this report are based upon analysis of the “best” data provided by various sources
which was available at the time that the research was conducted. Any unanticipated changes in BlueOval SK’s
business plan as understood at the time this report was issued may alter the impact numbers presented in this
report.
Acknowledgements
Numerous people provided valuable assistance to the authors as this report was compiled.
The following members of the executive team from BlueOval SK provided invaluable support to the authors as part
of the BOSK data analysis:
• Jiem Cranney, Chief Financial Officer

• Neva Burke, Human Resources Director
• Niclas Persson, Internal Control Manager
• Ursula Madden, External Affairs Manager
• Eric Grubb, Director of New Footprint Construction (The Ford Motor Company)
• Mike Fine, BlueOval SK Outside Counsel (Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs)
The following individuals provided invaluable support to the authors as part of the series of outer county key
leaders group meetings:
• Annie Emond, Executive Director, Meade County Chamber of Commerce

• April Spalding, Executive Director, Grayson County Chamber of Commerce
• Ashley Herrington, CEO, Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center
• Blake Burrett, Larue County Judge/Executive
• Bonnie Henderson, Mayor, City of Clarkson
• Bryan Claycomb, Mayor, City of Brandenburg
• David Pace, Chairman, Meade County – Brandenburg Economic Development
• Doug Robinson, Superintendent, Grayson County Schools
• Harold Miller, Mayor, City of Leitchfield
• Heather Whelen, Heartland Communications
• Ilsa Johnson, Director, Leitchfield Tourism
• Jim Phelps, Mayor, City of Hodgenville
• Kenny Rambo, Heartland Communications
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• Lori Woosley, Leitchfield City Clerk/Treasurer
• Nick Sullivan, Director, Larue County Chamber of Commerce
The following individuals provided invaluable support to the authors during site visits to “boomtowns:”
Georgetown
• Jack Conner, Executive Director, Scott County United and Georgetown/Scott County Chamber of
Commerce
• Joe Kane, Georgetown/Scott County Planning
• John Nash, Captain, Georgetown Police Department
• John Ward, Chief, Scott County Fire Department
• Kim Menke, Regional Director/Government Affairs, Toyota Manufacturing North America
• Lori Saunders, Executive Director, Georgetown/Scott County Tourism
• Matt Summers, Georgetown/Scott County Planning
Meridian
• Ashley Squyres, Administrator, Meridian Development Corporation

• Bruce Freckleton, Director, Meridian Community Development Department
• Caleb Hood, Planning Division Manager, City of Meridian
• Dave Winder, Director, Cushman & Wakefield, Boise
• David Miles, Chief of Staff, City of Meridian
• Matthew Stoll, Executive Director, Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho
• Robert Simison, Mayor, City of Meridian
• Sean Evans, President/CEO, Meridian Chamber of Commerce
• Trent Bernt, L & K Carpet One, Pocatello
Round Rock
• Brooks Bennett, Assistant City Manager, City of Round Rock

• Joe Brehm, Director of Community Development, City of Round Rock
• Jordan Robinson, President & CEO, Round Rock Chamber of Commerce
• Ryan Therrell, Director of Business Development, Beck Group, Austin
Reno
• Mike Kazmierski, President, Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada
In addition to the 140 + Hardin County community leaders who participated in the online survey, the following
community leaders provided additional support to the project by participating in one-on-one interviews:
• Adam King, Director, Hardin County Planning & Development Commission

• Beth Avey, Vice President, Knox Regional Development Alliance
• Brandon Fogle, Northern Region President, South Central Bank
• Brett Barnes, Systems Manager, Metalsa
• Carl Swope, President, Swope Family of Dealerships
• Daniel London, Executive Director, Lincoln Trail Area Development District
• Davette Swiney, President, Central Kentucky Community Foundation
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• Ed Poppe, City Administrator, City of Elizabethtown
• Heidi Hartlage Patterson, Director of Administration, Hartlage Management Company
• Janna Clark, Executive Director, Elizabethtown Tourism & Convention Bureau
• Jeff Gregory, Mayor, City of Elizabethtown
• Jeff Key, Vice President, U.S. Healthcare Systems at Vero Biotech
• Jeff Noel, Lead Pastor, Grace Heartland Church
• Jeremy Thompson, Chief, Elizabethtown Police Department
• Jim Bradford, Deputy Garrison Commander, Fort Knox
• Jim Fugitte, Strategy Consultant at Opportunity Expanded
• Jim Iacocca, President, Knox Regional Development Alliance
• Joe Fowler, President, United Way of Central Kentucky
• Joe Humphrey, Partner, Chrome Unboxed
• John Ward, Hardin County Sheriff
• Josh Hubbard, President, West Point Bank
• Juston Pate, President, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
• Keith Taul, Hardin County Judge/Executive
• Kelli Bush, Superintendent, Elizabethtown Independent Schools
• Ken Howard, City Attorney, City of Elizabethtown
• Kenny Rambo, President, Heartland Communications Consultants
• Margy Poorman, President, Hardin County Chamber of Commerce
• Marilyn Ford, City President, Heartland Region, WesBanco
• Michael Bowers, Chairman, Venminder
• Ray Springsteen, President, Abound Credit Union
• Rick Games, President, Elizabethtown/Hardin County Industrial Foundation
• Teresa Morgan, Superintendent, Hardin County Schools
• Tim Aulbach, Owner, The Land Store
• Tom Carrico, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Baptist Health Hardin
• Tom Wallace, Senior Vice President, PNC Bank
Finally, the authors want to thank Bradley Bottoms, Chief District Engineer, District # 4 of the Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet for his assistance in providing additional insight into the issue of converting an existing
parkway to an interstate highway.
Disclaimer:
The information presented is accurate as of the date of publication; however,

like all data, going forward, it is subject to periodic changes in the business
environment.
BlueOval SK’s participation was for the purpose of providing information

about its activities only. Any conclusions made, and the survey conducted, was
done independent of BlueOval SK.
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Executive Summary
manufacturing facility in the world and represents the largest single economic
development project in Kentucky’s history.
BlueOval SK (BOSK) is a joint venture between The Ford Motor Company and SK On, a South Korean battery
manufacturing company. BOSK will produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries for new Ford electric vehicles. The BOSK
Battery Park is one of several EV battery plants which are currently under construction around the country. These
facilities are being built in response to growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly vehicles. The two
charts which follow, produced by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, illustrate the expected growth in the U.S. EV
market, along with growth in related battery manufacturing capacity to power these vehicles:
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When first announced by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, the initial “impact” numbers for the BOSK Battery Park
were astounding: 5,000 new jobs, an initial investment of $5.8 billion, and two four million+ square feet
manufacturing facilities.
From a sheer physical standpoint (square footage), BOSK’s battery park stands out globally in terms of its size:
World’s Largest Manufacturing Facilities1
Total Facility
Company Footprint
Rank Name Location (Square Feet) Description
1 Volkswagen Wolfsburg, Germany 69,965,417 Auto Assembly
2 AVTOVAZ Tolyatti, Russia 64,583,462 Auto Assembly
3 Hyundai Ulsan, South Korea 54,357,747 Auto Assembly
4 Kia Hwaseong, South Korea 35,585,487 Auto Assembly
4 Kia Yancheng, China 35,585,487 Auto Assembly
5 Foxconn Longhua, China 32,292,731 Electronics
6 Kia West Point, GA 28,115,334 Auto Assembly
7 Kia Teplicka and Vahom, Slovakia 17,792,743 Auto Assembly
8 Kia Seo-gu, China 12,809,053 Auto Assembly
9 Tesla Shanghai, China 9,309,544 Auto Assembly
10 Blue Oval SK2 Hardin County, KY 8,400,000 EV Electric Batteries
11 Toyota Georgetown, KY 8,099,993 Auto Assembly
12 BlueOval City3 Stanton, TN 7,000,000 Auto Assembly/EV Batteries
13 Jaguar Lolihull, UK 5,661,816 Auto Assembly
14 Tesla Sparks, NV 5,489,594 EV Electric Batteries
15 Nissan Smyrna, TN 5,338,899 Auto Assembly
1 Source: R List (4/7/23) as measured by facility square footage

2 Source: Update provided during BlueOval SK Battery Park town hall held on 4/4/23
3
Source: Tennessee Town & City; current construction footprint is 7 million square feet, which may ultimately grow to 10 million square feet
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As a stand-alone battery plant investment, BOSK Battery Park will be the largest EV electric battery plant in the
world in terms of investment, physical size, jobs created, and manufacturing capacity.
Largest EV Battery Manufacturing Site Investments 4

(Announced)
Rank Company Location Investment (B) Jobs GW Hour Capacity

1 BlueOval SK Hardin County, KY $5.8 5,000 86
2 BlueOval City5 Stanton, TN 5.6 6,000 43
3 Hyundai Bryan County, GA 5.5 8,100 35
4 Rivian Ft. Worth, TX 5.0 7,500 50
5 Rivian Covington, GA 5.0 7,500 50
6 GM Orion, MI 4.0 2,350 N/A
7 Panasonic DeSoto, KS 4.0 4,000 30
8 GM/LG Energy Lansing, MI 2.6 1,700 50
9 SK Innovation Commerce, GA 2.6 3,000 31
10 Stellantis/Samsung Kokomo, IN 2.5 1,400 33
11 GM/LG Energy Spring Hill, TN 2.3 1,300 50
12 Envision AESC Bowling Green, KY 2.0 2,000 30
13 Ford Multiple Sites (MI) 2.0 3,200 N/A
14 VinFast Chatham County, NC 2.0 7,500 N/A
15 LG Energy Holland, MI 1.7 1,200 N/A
16 LG Energy Queen Creek, AZ 1.4 TBA 11
17 Toyota Liberty, NC 3.8 2,100 N/A
18 Tesla Austin, TX 1.1 5,000 N/A
Finally, as shown in the map which follows, Elizabethtown and Hardin County are centrally located when it comes
to new EV battery facilities, which should generate new supply chain manufacturing site selection interest:
4 Ranked by financial investment; sites shaded in green also include a new auto assembly facility; total investment and new jobs created shown
5
BlueOval City is a multi-purpose manufacturing site; the BOSK battery manufacturing site employment will total 2,500 workers out of the total
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The impact of the BOSK facility on the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA will be enormous. Using data provided by
BOSK, the following key impact metrics have been generated:
Construction Phase6
• Local: 720 workers

• Travelers: 2,880 workers
• Peak: 10/23: 3,500 workers
Housing Requirements:
• Traveling workers: 2,800 units

• Management personnel: 300 units
Construction Payroll: $1.6 billion
Local materials/services: $75 million

Source: Business First of Louisville
Equipment Installation Phase7
• 1,000 engineers on site
Beginning in Q4 of 2023, up to 1,000

engineers from South Korea8 will be on
site to begin the installation of
equipment in BOSK Kentucky Plant # 1
and extending through the end of Q4
of 2025 in BOSK Kentucky Plant # 2.
The number of engineers on site may

range from 500 to 1,000 from time to
time as some engineers may shuttle
between BOSK battery plants in
Kentucky and Tennessee.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The payroll of the engineers is unknown and is NOT included in the construction payroll figure of $1.6 billion listed
above.
Confirmed FTE Workforce9
When the BOSK plant was first announced in 2021, the expected Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workforce of the
complex was announced as 5,000 workers, making this the largest new announced economic development in
Kentucky’s history.
6 Source: BlueOval SK
8 Technicians are temporary workers who will be here on two-year visas installing, calibrating and training personnel on running equipment
9
Source: BlueOval SK
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Confirmed FTE Workforce - BlueOval SK Battery Park
6000
5,000 5,000 5,000

5000
4000
3000
2,500
2000
1000 1000 1000

1000
4.5
0
EOY 2023 EOY 2024 EOY 2025 EOY 2026 EOY 2027
Technicians Confirmed FTE Workforce
Source: BlueOval SK
Additional BlueOval SK FTE Workforce Information – Expected Workforce10
EOY 25 confirmed workforce: 5,000 FTE
• EOY 23 workforce: 1,000 FTE
BOSK plans to run two 12-hour shifts (patterns to be determined)
In terms of employment, by 2026, BOSK will be one of the largest manufacturing site in Kentucky based
on current employment numbers and the confirmed BOSK employment number as shown in the chart
which follows.
• Hardin County will be home to two of the 10 largest manufacturers in Kentucky
• All but one of the Top-10 manufacturers are located along the I-65 Corridor
10
Source: BlueOval SK
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Company Number of Employees Location
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. 8,200 Georgetown
Ford Motor Company, Kentucky Truck 8,000 Louisville
Haier, US Appliance Solutions, Inc. 6,000 Louisville
BlueOval SK 5,000 Hardin County
Louisville Graphite, Inc. 5,000 Louisville
Ford Motor company, Louisville Assembly 4,000 Louisville
Metalsa Structural Products 2,000 Elizabethtown
Rev-A-Shelf, LLC 2,000 Louisville
Bowling Green Metalforming, LLC 1,800 Bowling Green
Dart Container Corporation of Kentucky 1,650 Horse Cave
Source: IndustrySelect.com 10/5/22
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Impact Projections – Compiled by Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.
Key Assumptions used in Modeling Projections:
1. Battery plant construction period: 2022 through 2024; investment of $5.8 billion with average of 4,500
construction jobs over three years with average annual pay of $50,000
2. Plant will begin battery production by EOY 2024 with 2,500 full time employees; EOY 2025 with 5,000 full time
employees with average annual pay of $53,000; with fringe benefits: $73,000
3. Battery plant will attract several new supplier/support businesses to Hardin County
Custom regional input-output models were built for Hardin County, the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA, and the 10-county Elizabethtown
region which provides significant information over 500 industries on such things as local employment, pay, etc. This is the standard method
used by regional economists to analyze potential multiplier effects of new developments. In addition, modeling based on Tesla’s “real-world”
experience to date in Reno was also factored in.
Additionally, projected average annual pay figure was generated by Dr. Coomes based on data provided by BOSK.
Key Findings to Date:
• Each billion dollars of construction

expenditures will support around 11,600 total job
years in the region
• Each billion dollars of equipment

expenditures will support around 823 total job years
in the region
• The 5,000 jobs expected to operate the

plant will support 8,106 total jobs in the region; this represents an employment multiplier of 1.603
o Incremental supply chain development: 1,397 jobs

o Incremental household spending development: 1,619 jobs
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Payroll Information
• By EOY 2026, expected direct plant payroll: $265 million
• By EOY 2026, expected direct plant payroll (with fringe benefits): $363 million
• Cumulative 2026 – 2035 expected direct plant payroll impact: $2.65 billion
• Cumulative 2026 – 2035 expected direct plant payroll impact (with FB): $3.63 billion
Note:
Once BOSK reaches full employment, workers will be subject to a 1% Hardin County Occupational Tax. Tax
proceeds collected over the first 10 years will be rebated to BOSK. Initial Occupational Tax proceeds, based
upon the $265 million annual payroll will total $2.65 million. First 10 years, assuming no wage increase,
proceeds will total $26.5 million.
Source: Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.
As the data was analyzed, the following issues were considered and clarified with BOSK when possible:
• Will BOSK suppliers move to Hardin County?

• What will remaining acreage on BOSK site be used for?
• Will local governments work to accommodate growth?
• Will Hardin County absorb the bulk of new workers, residents?
• How many jobs will be filled by workers moving to the area?
• Will the pay scale at BOSK draw workers from existing manufacturers?
• What will be needed in terms of new housing, schools, etc.?
Elizabethtown – Hardin County Population

Projections
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000 134,242
80,000
105,503 111,862
60,000 94,704
40,000
54,272
20,000
0 22,542 28,531 31,892
2000 2010 2022 Estimated 2030 Projected
Population Population
Hardin County Population Elizabethtown Population
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Projected Growth/Hardin County: 22,380 people – Age Breakout:
• Under age 5 1,424

• Ages 5 – 14 3,128
• Ages 15 – 24 2,924
• Ages 25 – 34 2,956
• All Others 11,949
Using Scott County’s growth as a guide, BOSK will catalyze growth in Hardin County for…
• 8,811 new housing units
• 3,901 new K-12 students
• 75 new hospital beds
• 389 new hospital jobs
• 380 new ambulatory care jobs
Complete backup data for each of the preceding projections can be found in the section which follows, and which is
entitled: Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Research & Analysis, in the subsection entitled: BlueOval SK Battery Park
Impact on Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA.
Additional Issues Raised with BlueOval SK
In addition to data related to employment, BOSK executives were asked to provide input on a variety of issues
related to the incoming plant’s needs and community infrastructure needs/issues. Following are the responses:
Issue Response
Minimum education • High school/GED or Bachelors/master’s degree depending upon the
attainment levels required position
for BOSK positions
Anticipated age breakdown • Unknown at this time as workforce has not yet been hired
of workers
Supplier Chain Issues • “We expect that companies and people from all parts of the globe
will want to do business with BOSK. They will relocate to the region.
We are not able to answer what kinds of workers will fill the positions
of our suppliers”
• Names of companies, site requirements, numbers of employees, etc.

are unknown at this time
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Issue Response
Community infrastructure • More temporary and long-term housing options that are affordable
needs that are currently for all levels of BOSK’s workforce
unavailable in Elizabethtown
• “We encourage developers to create high-quality housing at various
levels of affordability”
• Childcare centers and mass transportation would be an enhancement

for employees
• BlueOval SK does not intend to provide on-site childcare
• “It goes without saying that Elizabethtown will need more housing,
more schools, more emergency services, more healthcare services,
more healthcare facilities, more hotel capacity and grocery stores”
Issue Response
Community quality of life • “We recognize the wonderful park ecosystem in Elizabethtown but
needs that are currently expect more public spaces will be needed”
• “Large YMCA would be good for fitness and may also be a great place
for childcare services”
• “Our workers will be interested in a variety of restaurants and leisure

opportunities (e.g., mall, movie theater, etc.)”
• It would be helpful to have a meeting space for large gatherings of

people (e.g., convention center)”
Issue Response
Korean cultural issues for • Develop community task force to develop better understanding of
newcomers – how can the the Korean community/culture
community assist BlueOval
SK? • Provide services/support unique to the Korean culture
• Develop long-term platform to foster relationships, including possible

Korean sister city
• BOSK is developing tools to help educate the Korean population

around opportunities for families
• BOSK has hired a transition coordinator to assist with

basic/immediate needs (e.g., schools, drivers’ licenses, etc.)
• BOSK will need for the community to “lean” into helping the new
talent feel welcome
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Issue Response
Transportation • Air cargo needs at Elizabethtown Regional Airport (EKX) are unknown
at this time
• Would like to see flights to/from Memphis to

Louisville/Elizabethtown (“expect steady flow of 8 – 15 people”)
• Would like to see regional transit system to bring workers in from

outlying counties
• Would also like to see regional transit system to bring workers from
Louisville and Bowling Green
Medical Issues • BOSK intends to hire an onsite medical services provider which will
work with planned on-site clinics
• BOSK intends to contract with an “Occupational Health Services”

provider in the area
Future BOSK Site Expansion • “BOSK’s primary focus is on delivering its initial plan. Plans for the
Plans future will be determined later.”
Highlights from other sections of the Study include:
Economic and Demographic Characteristics of the 10-County Elizabethtown Region
• The 10-county region has 386,000 residents

• Hardin County has the youngest population among the ten counties
• Taylor and Hardin counties have the most educated residents
• The region supports 177,000 jobs, with manufacturing being a significant source of income
• Average annual manufacturing pay in the region: $74,000 (Hardin County: $80,000)
• Total personal income in the 10-county region: $17.3 billion (2020); $44,772 per-capita
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Area Peer MSA Analysis
• Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA has a population of 154,000
• Peer MSA qualifications: (1) population between

100,000 – 300,000; (2) along interstate highway; (3) not
a state capitol; (4) not a college town; (5) military
installation presence; (6) at least 5,000 manufacturing
jobs; or (7) another compelling reason for inclusion
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Peer Metropolitan Statistical Areas
State
Military's Government's
MSA Manufacturing Share of Total Share of Total
Code Population Jobs Jobs Jobs
14020 Bloomington, IN 169,052 9,817 0.5% ND
14540 Bowling Green, KY 180,751 12,593 0.5% 4.6%
17300 Clarksville, TN-KY 314,364 12,481 18.5% 2.3%
19460 Decatur, AL 152,740 13,688 0.8% 1.2%
21060 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 154,356 7,530 7.4% 1.9%
24140 Goldsboro, NC 123,967 5,415 8.5% 5.7%
25620 Hattiesburg, MS 169,554 6,400 1.4% 4.6%
30020 Lawton, OK 126,775 3,621 19.3% 2.4%
36220 Odessa, TX 167,701 5,166 0.3% 1.7%
44940 Sumter, SC 139,775 7,113 9.9% 2.7%
47580 Warner Robins, GA 188,060 8,853 4.1% 2.2%
48660 Wichita Falls, TX 152,485 5,183 7.2% 3.8%
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, estimates for 2020. Manufacturing jobs in Warner Robins not disclosed
for 2020; 2017 estimate used. State government employment in Bloomington is not disclosed due to Indiana
University dominating the total.
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Boomtown Analysis
Four cities across the country that have experienced massive growth due mostly to one significant economic
development event were analyzed to find out how the communities managed the growth and what lessons which
were learned might translate to Elizabethtown and Hardin County. Boomtowns which were analyzed included:
• Georgetown, KY (Toyota auto assembly plant)

• Meridian, ID (Micron high-tech facility investments/California migration)
• Reno, NV (Tesla EV battery manufacturing plant)
• Round Rock, TX (Dell Computer manufacturing/headquarters)
While there is a wealth of information on each city in this section (including jurisdictional comparisons with
Elizabethtown and Hardin County), some of the key lessons learned in each community included:
• Concern about future workforce development –

where will the workers come from?
• Toyota agreed to be annexed by City to support

future growth
• Messaging (about ongoing growth) needed to be

better; need good communications between city leaders
and citizens
Georgetown – Toyota Auto Assembly Plant

• Tesla exceeded what was projected by Nevada
• Tesla facilitated the “re-branding” of Reno;

attraction of advanced manufacturing is easier
• Workforce development remains a challenge;

worker recruitment now extends to Sacramento
• Transportation “hot spots” develop quickly
Reno – Tesla EV Battery Factory

• City has minimal height requirements for new
buildings; comprehensive plan drives growth
• City/residents need realistic vision and

understanding of what is coming
• Invest in infrastructure (such as parks, libraries) early
• Commuter rail needed to connect Valley cities
Meridian – New Lifestyle Center
Page | 25
• City’s impact fee places infrastructure expansion
costs on developers/customers
• City’s economic development efforts led by chamber

of commerce
• City’s chamber’s five-year Momentum strategy

yields strong results
Round Rock – The District (Under Development)
Key Stakeholder Engagement – Pre/Post-Project SWOT Analysis & Surveys/Interviews
The Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Impact Study also included extensive key stakeholder engagement. Over 140
community leaders received online surveys to gauge community opinion on upcoming growth and the future.
Ninety-one community leaders responded (65% response rate – very high for a survey of this type).
Additionally, thirty-four community leaders participated in confidential, one-on-one in-depth interviews with Luke
Schmidt.
Summaries of both survey processes can be found later in this Study.
Pre- and post-project SWOT analysis were also conducted. The findings of each SWOT analysis can be found on the
following two pages.
Overview – Competitive Community Economic Development Platforms
Going forward, the author believes that the following three cities present the most significant competition for
future economic development along the I-65 Corridor:
• Bowling Green, Kentucky

• Columbia, Tennessee
• Decatur, Alabama
The economic development agencies in each of these cities has been combined with the local chamber of
commerce and/or other agencies to maximize efficiencies.
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Geographical Expansion
Beginning in 2028, local officials should begin to monitor U.S. OMB’s review of potential MSA boundary expansion
to consider expected new commuting patterns related to BOSK which could expand the current MSA boundary.
Additionally, local officials need to begin thinking how to expand Elizabethtown’s urban core population to at least
100,000 people to assure the continuation of the MSA designation, should existing OMB rules change, requiring a
minimum 100,000 urban core population requirement.
Page | 26
Pre-Project SWOT
Elizabethtown/Hardin County
Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats
August 16, 2022
Post-Online Community Leader Survey SWOT Analysis
April 1, 2023
Strengths Weaknesses
•Location, regional medical center, educational opportunities •Lack of sewer in outlying areas
•Balanced economy •Unprepared for labor, housing, and infrastructure needs for
•Good people/good leadership what's coming
•City is poised to lead growth for BOSK with southern •Workforce availability to fill thousands of new jobs
annexation; police and fire can handle annexation •Not going big
•Lack of unified government
Opportunities Threats
•Develop high tech research center with ECTC and battery •Current state of volunteer fire departments/EMS
industry •Lack of new industrial land to recruit battery supply chain
•BOSK will catalyze growth of new retail and restaurants •Lack of vision from community leaders
•Recruit EV battery plant supply chain •Residents/community leaders who are resistant to change
•Annex south and expand services to accomodate growth •Residential growth that does not align with tax structure to
•Expand educational opportunities, medical facilities for fund infrastructure expansion
premium job growth •BOSK will threaten existing industry workforce
•Transform community into advanced manufacturing •Other communities becoming more progressive and
powerhouse gaining new opportunities ahead of Elizabethtown
Bluegrass/Western Kentucky Parkway Conversions to Interstate Status
Every parkway built in Kentucky has been or is being converted into an interstate highway. The remaining portion of
the Western Kentucky Parkway that has not yet been designated I-569 (from I-165 in Ohio County to
Elizabethtown) should be extended so that the entire parkway has been converted. Steps should also be taken to
convert the Bluegrass Parkway to I-565.
Project Recommendations
Finally, the author has taken this opportunity, following extensive community and regional research, to develop
several recommendations for consideration by community leaders. The project recommendations are grouped into
the following categories:
• Community Branding/Promotion
• Community Growth Management
• MSA Future Planning
• Quality of Life
• Transportation
• Community Leadership/Future Regional Planning & Project Facilitation
The full Study now follows.

Page | 30
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Research & Analysis
Introduction
To fully understand the impact of the BlueOval SK Battery Park on the Elizabethtown Metro Area, significant
research and analysis was conducted by Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D. This process began by establishing a baseline on
just where the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stands today in terms of economic
performance – prior to the opening of the BOSK Battery Park – in terms of size, economic output, etc.
Once the baseline was established, the authors also wanted to find out how the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA
compares with peer MSAs. Is the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA out-performing or lagging peer MSAs around the
country. The authors established a list of peer MSAs taking account of the following key demographic factors
(among others):
• Advanced manufacturing center

• Adjacent to a large military base
• Lack of a four-year university (in most cases)
• Adjacent to an interstate highway
The list of peer MSAs includes:
• Bloomington, IN
• Bowling Green, KY
• Clarksville, TN
• Decatur, AL
• Goldsboro, NC
• Hattiesburg, MS
• Lawton, OK
• Odessa, TX
• Sumter, SC
• Warner Robbins, GA
• Wichita Falls, TX
Finally, the authors examined data provided by BlueOval SK specific to the new battery park. From that, Dr. Coomes
generated specific impact numbers for the MSA based on the plant’s expected size, investment, and employment
footprint.
Project research and analysis now follows:
Page | 31
Page | 32
Economic and Demographic Characteristics of the 10-County Elizabethtown Region
By Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.
Elizabethtown lies at the center of a 10-county region that stretches north to the Ohio River, south to the Green
River and cave country, east to Bardstown, and west to Leitchfield. Interstate 65 cuts through the middle,
connecting industries in the Midwest and Great Lakes to the South. The Bluegrass and Western Kentucky Parkways
provide interstate-like transportation corridors to the east and west of Elizabethtown. The region, of course,
includes Fort Knox. Indeed, the metropolitan area is named Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY MSA, and includes Hardin,
Larue and Meade counties. The ten counties are shown on the map, along with county seats, major roads, and
water features11. The region includes several major reservoirs and resort parks, including Rough River, Nolin Lake,
and Green River Lake.
11
Christopher Butz created the map.
Page | 33
Economic and Demographic Overview
In this section, we review the latest data on economic and demographic conditions in the greater Elizabethtown
region, with special attention to county-level measures. Among the most important and interesting findings are:
1. The 10-county region has 386,000 residents, up from 231,000 five decades ago. Hardin County accounts
for 29 percent of the regional total, followed by Bullitt County (21 percent) and Nelson County (12
percent). Bullitt has been the fastest growing county in the region. The three-county Elizabethtown-Fort
Knox MSA accounts for two-thirds of residents in the region.
2. Hardin County has the ‘youngest’ population among the ten counties in the region, with a median age of
37 years, and Green County has the ‘oldest’ population, with a median age of 44 years.
3. Bullitt, Nelson and Hardin counties have the fewest share of residents reporting a disability. However,
over one in five residents of Green, Taylor, Hart and Breckinridge counties report a disability.
4. Taylor and Hardin counties have the most educated residents, with the highest rates of college
attainment and the highest rate of adults with a graduate or professional degree. The least educated
residents are in Hart and Green counties, where over 20 percent of adults did not finish high school, and
less than 12 percent have a college degree.
5. Bullitt and Nelson counties have the highest employment rates, with over 60 percent of adults working,
followed by Hardin and Meade. At the low end are Green and Breckinridge counties, with employment
rates of 47 percent.
6. The average number of persons per household in the region is 2.62, which is between the state average of
2.55 and the national average of 2.67. Bullitt and Grayson counties have the largest household size, at
2.70 persons. LaRue County has the smallest household size, at 2.47.
7. Meade County has the highest percentage (88%) of households with a broadband internet subscription,
followed by Bullitt and Nelson. Broadband access is lowest in Grayson, LaRue and Hart counties.
8. The region supports about 177,000 jobs, up from 106,000 jobs five decades ago. Military employment in
the region is down to about 6,000, compared to 41,000 in 1970.
9. Manufacturing is a very significant source of income in the region, with over 21,000 jobs. Hardin County
has the most manufacturing jobs, accounting for almost one-third of the regional total. Together with
Nelson, Bullitt and Hart, these four counties account for 80 percent of the regional total.
10. Manufacturing jobs in the region have an average annual pay of $74,000, not including fringe benefits.
Meade County easily tops the list, with average annual earnings of $117,000. Hardin County ranks second,
with average pay of $80,000.
11. The biggest employment story in the region is the explosion of distribution and warehousing jobs in Bullitt
County. Employment there grew five-fold in just the last thirteen years, from 1,500 to 8,300 jobs.
Page | 34
12. The total personal income of residents in the region in 2020 was $17.3 billion, or $44,772 per person. This
compares to per capita income in Kentucky overall of $47,339, and $59,510 in the United States.
13. The personal income data provides insights into regional commuting patterns since worker earnings by
county of work have to be adjusted to a county of residence basis. By far the largest adjustment is for
Bullitt County, where so many residents work in Jefferson County. Bullitt County residents bring in over $1
billion in earnings by working in other counties than do nonresidents working in Bullitt. Meade and LaRue
counties provide thousands of workers to Hardin County, and thus also bring large paychecks home.
Nelson County residents commute to Jefferson County and many other surrounding counties. Hardin
County has the largest negative residence adjustment, reflecting its role as a central place of work for the
region’s population – more nonresidents take their paychecks out than Hardin residents working outside
the county bring paychecks in. Taylor County (Campbellsville) is the only other county with a negative
residence adjustment.
14. Transfer payments, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, are a large source of personal income
for the region, as they are for the state of Kentucky. In 2020, transfer payments accounted for 30 percent
of the personal income overall in the region. There is a wide range of dependence on these across the
counties, however. Transfers account for 43 percent of personal income in Green County, and 40 percent
in Taylor County. The lowest rates are in Bullitt (25 percent), Nelson (27 percent) and Meade (27 percent).
15. Current commuting patterns only support the inclusion of LaRue and Meade counties in the
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA. They each have over 35 percent of their working residents working in
Hardin County, and the federal threshold is 25 percent. The next highest county in the region is Grayson,
where 13.4 percent of all working residents of Grayson work in Hardin. Using the historical data, it would
take another 1,200 commuters from Grayson to Hardin County to meet the 25 percent criteria
Population growth
Over the past five decades, the population of the region has grown from 231,000 to 386,000. Hardin County
remains the most populous county, though booming Bullitt County may soon equal it. All ten counties posted
population growth over the period; however, Green County’s population today is only slightly greater than it was in
1970.
Page | 35
Five Decades of Population Growth, Ten Counties in Elizabethtown Region
450,000
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis
400,000
Taylor
350,000
Nelson
300,000 Meade
LaRue
250,000
Hart
200,000 Hardin
150,000
Green
Grayson
100,000
Bullitt
50,000
Breckenridge
0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
The three-county Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA now has a population of 154,000 and has added 47,000 residents
since 1970. In percentage terms, the 10-county region’s population grew by 67 percent, and the MSA population
grew by 43 percent. These growth rates are higher than for the state of Kentucky overall, but lower than for the
United States. One can see in the table that Bullitt is by far the fastest growing county in the region, with its
population tripling over the last five decades. In terms of growth rates, Bullitt is followed by Nelson, Grayson, and
Meade counties.
Page | 36
Five Decades of Population Growth, Elizabethtown Region
1970 2020 growth rate
Breckinridge 14,826 20,537 5,711 38.5%
Bullitt 26,462 82,182 55,720 210.6%
Grayson 16,590 26,480 9,890 59.6%
Green 10,356 10,995 639 6.2%
Hardin 78,328 111,309 32,981 42.1%
Hart 14,099 19,013 4,914 34.9%
Larue 10,714 14,431 3,717 34.7%
Meade 18,610 28,616 10,006 53.8%
Nelson 23,473 46,450 22,977 97.9%
Taylor 17,264 25,707 8,443 48.9%
10-County Region 230,722 385,720 154,998 67.2%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA 107,652 154,356 46,704 43.4%

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA is
composed of Hardin, Larue and Meade counties. For comparison, the population of
Kentucky grew by 38.6%, and the United States by 61.7%, over the same period.
Page | 37
Characteristics of the Population
We now turn to the latest Census Bureau data on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the ten
counties in the region. The Bureau’s American Community Survey is conducted each year. Since it is a sample of the
population, the accuracy of the estimates is improved by averaging several years of data. Here we use the five-year
averages for 2016 to 2020.
Share of Civilian
Non-institutional
Population, Aged
Share of Share of 18 to 64,
Population, Population Civilian Reporting a
Population Median Age Aged 65+ Foreigh Born Veterans Disability
Breckinridge 20,283 42.4 19.5% 0.6% 1,564 20.1%
Bullitt 80,921 40.8 15.8% 1.6% 5,601 13.0%
Grayson 26,313 40.8 17.6% 1.2% 1,319 16.0%
Green 11,000 43.8 20.0% 1.1% 713 27.9%
Hardin 109,627 37.0 14.1% 4.0% 13,171 15.7%
Hart 18,833 40.5 16.8% 0.9% 1,181 21.4%
Larue 14,269 41.5 17.4% 3.1% 852 18.7%
Meade 28,379 38.9 14.2% 1.3% 3,212 17.4%
Nelson 45,915 39.9 15.9% 1.2% 3,172 15.1%
Taylor 25,572 37.5 17.5% 1.6% 1,358 20.9%
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2016-2020, 5-year average.
Hardin County has the ‘youngest’ population among the ten counties in the region, with a median age of 37 years,
and Green County has the ‘oldest’ population. For comparison, the median age of all Kentucky residents is 39.0,
and for the US population it is 38.6. Hardin County also has the most foreign-born residents, as well as the most
veterans. This part of the United States tends to have very few foreign-born residents. Nationally, the share of the
population that is foreign-born is 13.5 percent, while in Kentucky overall it is only 4.0 percent – the same as for
Hardin County. Immigrants are primarily drawn to a few large gateway cities, such as New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and Washington DC. Towns hosting major universities, with many graduate
programs, also tend to have a high percentage of foreign-born residents.
Bullitt, Nelson and Hardin counties have the fewest share of residents reporting a disability 12. Over one in five
residents of Green, Taylor, Hart and Breckinridge counties report having a disability. Kentucky has historically had a
high rate of people reporting a disability, and this latest ACS data set shows the rate at 10.3 percent, compared to
16.0 percent nationally. One can see that seven of the ten regional counties have a disability rate above the state
average, and all are above the national average.
12
The Census Bureau definition of disability is found on page 62 of https://www2.census.gov/programs-
surveys/acs/tech_docs/subject_definitions/2020_ACSSubjectDefinitions.pdf “The ACS identifies serious difficulty with four basic areas of
functioning – hearing, vision, cognition, and ambulation. These functional limitations are supplemented by questions about difficulty
bathing and dressing, and difficulty performing errands such as shopping.” An adult with a difficulty in any of these areas is considered to
have a disability.
Page | 38
Median Age of Population
46 Source: US Census Bureau, American Community
Survey, 2016-2020 5-year average
44
43.8
42.4
42 41.5
40.8 40.8
40.5
39.9
40
38.9
38 37.5
37.0
36
34
32
Education
There is a wide distribution among the counties in terms of formal education. Taylor and Hardin counties have the
most educated residents, with the highest rates of college attainment and the highest rate of adults with a
graduate or professional degree. For Taylor County, 23.5 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher. In
Hardin County, the rate is 22.0 percent. Aggregating across the ten counties, we calculate that the college
attainment rate for the region is 17.9 percent. For comparison, the college attainment rate for all of Kentucky is
25.0 percent and is 32.9 percent for the United States as a whole. The least educated residents are in Hart and
Page | 39
Green counties, where over 20 percent of adults did not finish high school, and less than 12 percent have a college
degree.
High school
Population 9th to 12th graduate Some Graduate or High school Bachelor's
25 years and Less than 9th grade, no (includes college, no Associate's Bachelor's professional graduate or degree or
older grade diploma equivalency) degree degree degree degree higher higher
Breckinridge 14,083 3.7% 9.9% 42.3% 21.9% 7.7% 8.2% 6.2% 86.3% 14.4%
Bullitt 56,737 3.3% 7.9% 41.5% 21.8% 9.8% 10.4% 5.3% 88.8% 15.7%
Grayson 17,921 7.2% 10.2% 44.7% 20.0% 7.1% 6.2% 4.6% 82.7% 10.9%
Green 7,978 13.2% 10.4% 41.0% 17.7% 6.2% 5.8% 5.8% 76.4% 11.6%
Hardin 72,705 2.6% 5.7% 29.8% 27.2% 12.6% 12.8% 9.3% 91.7% 22.0%
Hart 12,708 10.5% 12.4% 42.0% 17.1% 6.5% 6.6% 4.8% 77.1% 11.4%
Larue 10,092 5.6% 10.7% 36.2% 21.7% 10.4% 6.5% 8.8% 83.7% 15.3%
Meade 19,549 3.1% 7.0% 36.0% 24.4% 11.3% 10.7% 7.7% 90.0% 18.4%
Nelson 31,363 2.1% 5.8% 35.9% 24.6% 12.3% 11.7% 7.6% 92.1% 19.3%
Taylor 16,785 4.2% 8.2% 37.3% 19.8% 7.0% 14.2% 9.2% 87.7% 23.5%
10-County Region 259,921 4.1% 7.6% 36.9% 23.2% 10.3% 10.6% 7.2% 88.3% 17.9%
Percentage of Adults with Bachelor's Degree or Higher

25%
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community
23.5%
Survey, 2016-2020 5-year average
22.0%
20% 19.3%
18.4%
15.7%
15.3%
15% 14.4%
11.6% 11.4%
10.9%
10%
5%
0%
Taylor Hardin Nelson Meade Bullitt Larue Breckinridge Green Hart Grayson
Page | 40
Labor force
Economic statisticians survey the adult population and distinguish their status into four areas: civilian employed,
armed forces, civilians seeking work (unemployed), and those not in the labor force. The civilian labor force is
defined as those employed and those unemployed, and the unemployment rate is simply the percentage of that
labor force seeking work. A high unemployment rate may truly reflect an excess supply of labor relative to demand,
but sometimes a falling unemployment rate reflects more ‘discouraged workers,’ that is, people giving up finding a
job and leaving the labor force so defined. Those ‘not in the labor force’ may be retired, have a disability, be raising
children, taking care of an ill persons, be a discouraged worker, or simply not interested in a job.
Civilian
Population Civilian Armed Civilian Not in the Employment Unemployment
Aged 16+ Employed Forces Unemployed Labor Force Rate Rate
Breckinridge 16,189 7,630 0 647 7,912 47.1% 7.8%
Bullitt 65,697 40,657 65 2,152 22,823 62.0% 5.0%
Grayson 20,778 10,669 6 389 9,714 51.4% 3.5%
Green 8,947 4,184 0 239 4,524 46.8% 5.4%
Hardin 85,904 47,832 3,123 3,420 31,529 59.3% 6.7%
Hart 14,706 7,607 0 319 6,780 51.7% 4.0%
Larue 11,473 6,411 5 157 4,900 55.9% 2.4%
Meade 22,797 12,676 817 694 8,610 59.2% 5.2%
Nelson 36,135 22,054 50 759 13,272 61.2% 3.3%
Taylor 20,448 11,323 97 580 8,448 55.8% 4.9%
10-County Region 303,074 171,043 4,163 9,356 118,512 57.8% 5.2%

A useful labor market indicator is the ‘employment rate,’ defined as the percentage of the adult population that is
employed or in the armed forces. This provides an indication of a region’s intensity of work. Bullitt and Nelson
counties top the list, with employment rates above 60 percent, followed by Hardin and Meade. At the low end are
Green and Breckinridge counties, with employment rates of 47 percent. The average for the region is 57.8 percent,
which is slightly above the state average of 56.3 percent. However, only two counties have an employment rate
above the national average of 60 percent.
It is interesting that Hardin County has the second highest unemployment rate, at 6.7 percent, even though it has
one of the highest employment rates. This reflects two factors. Recall that Hardin has the youngest population in
the region; and therefore, has a greater share of residents in their prime working years. Second, Hardin’s strong
manufacturing base and recent growth presents more opportunities for work, and thus more people are seeking
work. The overall unemployment rate for the 10-county region is 5.2 percent, which is the same as that for the
state of Kentucky and the United States, both at 5.4 percent.
The ACS also provides estimates of health insurance coverage. Here we display the results for employed civilians in
prime working ages. Keep in mind the data refer to workers based on where they live, not necessarily where they
work. Bullitt County workers have the highest rate of private insurance and the smallest rate without health
insurance. Taylor and Nelson counties rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in terms of having private health insurance.
Page | 41
Green, Hart, and Meade counties have the highest percentage of workers with public health insurance. And Hart
and Green counties have the highest share of workers that are uninsured.
Employed
Civilians, 19 With private No health
to 64 years health With public insurance
old insurance coverage coverage
Breckinridge 7,044 82.0% 15.4% 6.6%
Bullitt 37,535 88.6% 11.0% 3.9%
Grayson 10,007 75.7% 21.1% 7.9%
Green 3,827 70.5% 22.1% 10.3%
Hardin 43,699 83.2% 19.9% 5.7%
Hart 6,910 71.6% 21.1% 11.7%
Larue 5,982 78.9% 17.1% 6.5%
Meade 11,788 83.1% 20.0% 4.3%
Nelson 20,281 86.4% 12.5% 5.5%
Taylor 9,575 86.9% 13.3% 4.2%
10-County Region 156,648 83.6% 16.3% 5.6%

For comparison, in Kentucky overall 81.3% of such workers have private insurance, 14.9% have public coverage, and
7.2 percent are uninsured. The private insurance rate is the same as that nationally, but Kentucky has a much
higher share of workers on Medicaid (public coverage) than does the US (10.5%).
Page | 42
Household Characteristics
The Census Bureau defines as household as an occupied housing unit. The household might contain a single adult,
a married couple with children, a single parent with children, related or unrelated roommates, or anything in
between. The average number of persons per household in the region is 2.59, which is between the state average
of 2.48 and the national average of 2.60. Bullitt (2.69) and Grayson (2.67) counties have the largest household size.
LaRue County has the smallest household size, at 2.42.
Share of
Owner-
Home Homeowner Median Value, Occupied Households
Number of Persons per Ownership vacancy rate Rental vacancy Owner- Units with
Households Household* Rate % rate % Occupied Unit without a Median Rent Broadband
Breckinridge 7,731 2.58 81.8% 2.1 5.4 $104,500 52.9% $296 74.8%
Bullitt 29,940 2.69 81.4% 1.4 7.0 $171,300 34.9% $849 84.2%
Grayson 9,753 2.67 73.6% 3.1 7.2 $118,100 55.7% $583 70.6%
Green 4,440 2.45 72.2% 2.2 0.9 $80,600 51.9% $515 74.3%
Hardin 42,059 2.54 61.0% 1.4 8.1 $157,700 37.2% $811 80.1%
Hart 7,256 2.56 74.1% 0.2 6.2 $93,000 52.0% $559 73.2%
Larue 5,779 2.42 76.2% 2.3 0.3 $125,100 47.1% $711 71.5%
Meade 10,690 2.63 74.5% 3.3 8.3 $154,200 37.5% $856 88.3%
Nelson 17,991 2.52 78.1% 1.0 4.7 $164,200 39.7% $799 84.0%
Taylor 9,659 2.52 63.6% 1.1 1.7 $122,800 47.1% $650 82.3%
10-County Region 145,298 2.58

* Excludes group quarters population, such as corrections, nursing homes, dorms, and military quarters.
The region has a high rate of homeownership, that is, the percentage of residents that own rather than rent their
home. Only Hardin (61.0%) and Taylor (63.6%) are lower than the state average (67.6%). The share of homeowners
without a mortgage varies among the counties. Grayson (55.7%) and Breckinridge (52.9%) have the highest rates,
while Hardin (37.2%) and Bullitt (34.9%) have the lowest rates. The state average is 42.8%, and nationally it is
37.9%.
Meade County has the highest percentage of households with a broadband internet subscription, followed by
Bullitt and Nelson. Broadband access is lowest in Grayson, LaRue and Hart counties. For reference, the state
average rate is 81.6%, and the national rate is 85.2%. Only Meade County has a higher average broadband
connection rate than the United States.
The household size calculation above removes the group quarters population from each county’s total population.
The ACS only provides the total number of persons in group quarters13. To see the detailed breakouts, we need to
turn to the decennial census data – the recently released results from the 2020 Census. Group quarters may refer
to the institutionalized population (corrections, nursing) or noninstitutionalized population (dorms, military
quarters). The next table summarizes the 2020 Census data on group quarters. Several things stand out.
➢ Hardin County has the only military quarters population in the region, at Fort Knox, with 1,260 residents.
13
Thanks to Dr. Matthew Ruther, Kentucky State Demographer, at the University of Louisville for helping us sort the
group quarters measurement puzzle out.
Page | 43
➢ Taylor County has all the college dorm population in the region, at Campbellsville University, with 947
students.
➢ Grayson County has a high population in adult correctional facilities for adults, due to the Grayson County
Detention Center in Leitchfield. The population in other counties in correctional facilities is a function of
the county’s population (jails); however, interestingly, the Census reports zero correctional populations in
Bullitt and Green counties.
➢ The nursing home population reflects the population size of the home county. Green County has the
highest share of its population (0.9%) in nursing homes, double the regional average (0.4%). Recall from
our previous demographic discussion that Green also has the highest median age in the region.
Interestingly, the Census reports no nursing facility residents in LaRue County
Group Quarters Population, 2020
Institutionalized population Noninstitutionalized population

Nursing College/Uni Other
Correctional facilities/Ski versity noninstituti
facilities for Juvenile lled-nursing student Military onal
Grand Total Total adults facilities facilities Total housing quarters facilities
Breckinridge 299 273 207 0 66 26 7 0 19
Bullitt 147 112 0 26 86 35 0 0 35
Grayson 759 723 584 0 139 36 0 0 36
Green 95 95 0 0 95 0 0 0 0
Hardin 2,556 1,105 577 32 496 1,451 0 1,260 191
Hart 233 233 138 0 95 0 0 0 0
Larue 148 148 117 31 0 0 0 0 0
Meade 230 212 152 0 60 18 0 0 18
Nelson 649 268 122 0 146 381 0 0 381
Taylor 1,416 378 194 0 184 1,038 940 0 98
10-County Region 6,532 3,547 2,091 89 1,367 2,985 947 1,260 778
Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census, DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)
We can now re-calculate the average household size by county using the more precise and more current 2020
Census data. We subtract the group quarters population from the total population of each county to get the
household population. Then we divide the household population by the number of occupied housing units
(households). These are shown in the next table. Meade (2.70) and Bullitt (2.61) have the most average persons per
household, well above the regional average of 2.54. Green (2.39) and Taylor (2.42) have the fewest persons per
household. For comparison, the state average is 2.44, and the national average is 2.55, persons per household. The
2020 household size estimates are a bit lower than those from the 2016-2020 ACS, reflecting a national trend in
smaller household sizes. Bullitt County had a large drop.
Page | 44
Households
Total Group (occupied
Population, Quarters Household housing Persons per
2020 Population Population units) Household
Breckinridge 20,432 299 20,133 8,003 2.52
Bullitt 82,217 147 82,070 31,409 2.61
Grayson 26,420 759 25,661 10,440 2.46
Green 11,107 95 11,012 4,606 2.39
Hardin 110,702 2,556 108,146 42,933 2.52
Hart 19,288 233 19,055 7,418 2.57
Larue 14,867 148 14,719 5,879 2.50
Meade 30,003 230 29,773 11,045 2.70
Nelson 46,738 649 46,089 18,462 2.50
Taylor 26,023 1,416 24,607 10,171 2.42
10-County Region 387,797 6,532 381,265 150,366 2.54

Page | 45
Jobs by County of Work
The region supports about 177,000 jobs, up from 106,000 jobs five decades ago. This is a growth rate of 69 percent,
compared to 82 percent statewide. Jobs are different than employed persons since some people hold more than
one job. For example, if someone holds a part-time job at a retail establishment, but also has a sideline business as
a consultant, they are counted twice – once as a wage job, and once as a proprietor. Similarly, a factory worker who
also has a small farming operation gets counted twice, once as a wage worker, and once as a farm proprietor.
Regardless, we can see the steady growth in jobs in the region, as well as the dip in 2020 due to Covid-19
restrictions and closures.
Job Growth in 10-County Region

200,000
180,000
160,000
140,000
+ Proprietors
120,000
100,000 Wage and Salary Jobs
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
Focusing just on the wage and salary jobs, what has been the regional distribution of growth? Bullitt County
dominates the county rankings, contributing almost one-half of all the job growth in the 10-county region over the
last five decades, and most of it during the last decade. Nelson and Grayson counties had the next fastest growth
rates in jobs. Interestingly, Hardin County, which is the largest employment center in the region, had almost no net
job growth over the period. Similarly, the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA posted only a 7.9 percent job growth over
the fifty years. That, of course, is about to change.
Page | 46
Five Decades of Wage and Salary Job Growth, Elizabethtown Region
1970 2020 growth rate
Breckinridge 2,469 3,990 1,521 61.6%
Bullitt 2,882 27,418 24,536 851.4%
Grayson 2,916 7,913 4,997 171.4%
Green 1,793 1,982 189 10.5%
Hardin 51,762 52,609 847 1.6%
Hart 2,473 5,296 2,823 114.2%
Larue 1,587 2,724 1,137 71.6%
Meade 2,188 4,575 2,387 109.1%
Nelson 5,596 16,571 10,975 196.1%
Taylor 6,721 12,915 6,194 92.2%
10-County Region 80,387 135,993 55,606 69.2%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA 55,537 59,908 4,371 7.9%

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA is composed
of Hardin, Larue and Meade counties. Wage and salary jobs only, excludes proprietors.
Estimates on a place of work basis.
Much of the regional job growth summarized above is service based, that is, retail, health care, personal services,
and the like that is related to population growth. These are a mixture of part-time, low paying jobs (restaurants,
convenience stores) and full-time, high paying jobs (hospitals, K-12 education). Economic growth in our part of the
country depends on new jobs in ‘export-based’ industries, where the products are sold to the rest of the world,
thus bringing new dollars into the region. This contrasts with areas with strong natural amenities, like oceans and
mountains, which draw people to move there, with businesses following them for the talent. Farming is an
important export-based industry in the Elizabethtown region, as is the military. However, the manufacturing and
logistics are the biggest drivers of growth. Manufacturing has high multiplier effects. A job in, for example, an auto
parts plant might support three or four other jobs in the region, through its supply chain and the rounds of re-
spending of the employee wages.
While farmers export much of their products outside the state, central Kentucky is not a major agricultural area. It
is characterized by small farms growing corn and soybeans, as well as cow-calf operations and beef production.
There are less than 10,000 farm proprietors in the 10-county region, down from 15,000 five decades ago. Their
total farm income averaged only about $40 million per year over the past decade and was negative in 2016 and
2018.
Military employment in the region is down to about 6,000, compared to 41,000 in 1970. Federal civilian
employment, which includes some Fort Knox-related activity, but also post office and other administrative
employees, is down to 5,800, compared to 7,000 five decades ago.
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Manufacturing is a very significant source of income in the region, with over 21,000 jobs. As one can see,
employment peaked in 1997, fell for the next decade, but has been growing again since 2011. Hardin County has
the most manufacturing jobs, accounting for almost one-third of the regional total. Together with Nelson, Bullitt
and Hart, these four counties account for 80 percent of the regional total.
Manufacturing Employment in 10-County Region

30,000
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Estimates through
2000 on a SIC basis; after 2000 on a NAICS basis.
25,000
Green
Breckinridge
Meade
20,000
LaRue
Taylor
Grayson
Hart
15,000
Bullitt
10,000
Nelson
5,000
Hardin
Of course, the manufacturing industry covers a wide range of activities, some requiring little skill, others requiring
great skill and training. Wages and salaries reflect the skill and training required, and there is wide variety around
the region. Meade County easily tops the list, with average annual earnings of $117,000, not including fringe
benefits. The latest data from BEA do not reflect the new Nucor Steel plant with its four hundred expected jobs.
Hardin County ranks second, at $80,000. Green County ranks last at $45,000.
Page | 48
Confidentiality rules prevent the federal government
from disclosing employment and other economic
Average Annual Earnings, Manufacturing
information if one or two operations dominate a Jobs in Elizabethtown Region
regional total. This is to prevent someone from 2010 2020
inferring a company’s actual payroll. Thus, there is not Breckinridge $44,860 $55,341
much data available on the size of the logistics Bullitt $50,005 $69,690
industries among the ten counties. Fortunately, there Grayson $42,412 $68,702
Green $28,413 $45,448
are enough business establishments in Bullitt County
Hardin $66,749 $79,924
that the totals have been published since 2007. One
Hart $40,387 $68,983
can see the tremendous growth in employment there,
Larue $33,356 $50,052
with a five-fold increase in jobs since 2007.
Meade $85,093 $117,245
Comparable data are also available for Hardin County,
Nelson $56,013 $76,511
showing 1,700 transportation and warehousing jobs Taylor $37,043 $57,170
in 2020, up from 1,500 in 2007. 10-County $53,076 $73,606
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA $64,737 $79,892

Recent Job Growth in Transporation and Warehousing, Bullitt County

9,000
8,296
8,000 8,025
7,813 7,929
7,000 7,041
6,000 5,983
5,186
5,000
4,538
4,444
4,000
3,301
3,000
2,354
1,932
2,000 1,936
1,488
1,000

0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Page | 49
Personal Income of Residents
Personal income for a county or other region is measured as follows. First, BEA estimates the wages, salaries and
proprietors’ income of people working in, not necessarily residents of, the county. One can see that the total for
the 10-county Elizabethtown region is $8.8 billion. Then BEA subtracts out employee and employer contributions to
Social Security and Medicare. The next step is related to commuting patterns. An adjustment is made to net out
how much residents earn in other counties minus how much nonresidents earn in their county. The result for our
region is $2.1 billion, meaning that residents of the 10-county Elizabethtown region earn that much more working
outside the region than nonresidents earn working in the region. Finally, BEA adds in property income to residents
(dividends, interest, and rent), plus transfer payments. The resulting total personal income is $17.3 billion, or
$44,772 per resident. For comparison, per capita income in Kentucky overall was $47,339, and in the United States
was $59,510.
Derivation of personal income, 10-County Region, 2020

Earnings by place of work $8,844,540
Less: Contributions for government social insurance $1,086,891
Plus: Adjustment for residence $2,059,129
Equals: Net earnings by place of residence $9,816,778
Plus: Dividends, interest, and rent $2,238,942
Plus: Personal current transfer receipts $5,213,650
Total Personal Income of Residents $17,269,370
Population 385,720
Per Capita Personal Income $44,772
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Dollars in thousands, except for per capita
income.
It is worth highlighting the county details on the residence adjustment, as it reveals much about regional
commuting patterns. One can see that by far the largest adjustment is for Bullitt County, where so many residents
work in Jefferson County. Recall that Bullitt County is part of the Louisville MSA. Bullitt County residents bring in
over $1 billion in earnings by working in other counties than do nonresidents working in Bullitt. Meade and LaRue
counties, of course, are part of the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA, and thus provide thousands of workers to Hardin
County. Nelson County residents commute to Jefferson County and many other surrounding counties; indeed, in
years past it has been deemed part of the Louisville MSA. Hardin County has the largest negative residence
adjustment, reflecting its role as a central place of work for the region’s population – more nonresidents take their
Page | 50
paychecks out than Hardin residents working outside the county bring
paychecks home. Taylor County (Campbellsville) is the only other Residence Adjustment (000)
county with negative residence adjustment. Both Hardin and Taylor to Personal Income, 2020
have had negative residence adjustment over the complete fifty-year Bullitt $1,073,048
period for which estimates are available from BEA.
Meade $494,932
Transfer payments are a large source of personal income for the Nelson $422,129
region, as they are for the state of Kentucky. In 2020, transfer Larue $184,972
payments accounted for 30 percent of the personal income overall in
the region. There is a wide range of dependence on these across the Breckinridge $160,012
counties, however. Transfers account for 43 percent of personal Grayson $107,419
income in Green County, and 40 percent in Taylor County. The lowest
Green $98,716
rates are in Bullitt (25 percent), Nelson (27 percent) and Meade (27
percent). Hart $25,939
Taylor -$63,537
What are transfer payments? Economists define them as receipts of Hardin -$444,501
money or a valuable service for which no payment is required. One Source: US Bureau of Economic
can see in the next table that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid Analysis
are the main sources of transfer payments in the region (and across
the state), accounting for almost two-thirds of the total. Unemployment insurance payments, income maintenance
benefits, and veterans’ benefits are other major sources of transfers to the region.
Page | 51
Transfer receipts (000) in 10-County Region, 2020
Share of
Amount Total
Current transfer receipts of individuals from governments $4,989,103 95.7%
Retirement and disability insurance benefits $1,398,524 26.8%
Social Security benefits $1,359,902
Excluding Social Security benefits $38,622
Medical benefits $1,881,999 36.1%
Medicare benefits $997,269
Public assistance medical care benefits $812,949
Military medical insurance benefits $71,781
Income maintenance benefits $333,076 6.4%
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits $76,090
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) $82,819
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) $100,963
Other income maintenance benefits $73,204
Unemployment insurance compensation $501,163 9.6%
State unemployment insurance compensation $499,115
Excluding state unemployment insurance compensation $2,048
Veterans' benefits $320,141 6.4%
Education and training assistance $111,145 2.2%
Other transfer receipts of individuals from governments $443,055 8.5%
Current transfer receipts of nonprofit institutions $183,297 3.5%
Current transfer receipts of individuals from businesses $41,250 0.8%
Refundable tax credits $542,430 10.4%
Total $5,213,650 100.0%

Page | 52
Commuting Patterns in the Elizabethtown Region
The personal income discussion above touched on the ‘residence adjustment’ factor that converts worker earnings
by county of work to income by county of residence. In this section, we examine these underlying commuting
patterns more closely, and speculate about the possibility of adding counties to the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA.
Data on county commuting patterns is not as current as those on jobs, population, and income, but the latest
Census data reveal that all ten counties in this study contribute a significant number of workers to Hardin County.
Jefferson County also supplies a lot of workers. One can see from accompanying table that the top eleven supplying
counties account for 97 percent of all workers in Hardin County. By far the most important source of workers is
Hardin County itself, providing 73 percent of the workers.
The table on the right shows where Hardin County residents go to work. This yields a different pattern from the
inflow table. Jefferson and Bullitt counties are major draws for Hardin residents, attracted by job opportunities in
the large urban market of Louisville and the booming logistics industries in Bullitt County.
Residence of Workers in Hardin County County of Work, Hardin County Residents
Share of Share of
Number Total Number Total
Hardin County 40,498 73.1% Hardin County 40,498 81.4%
Meade County 4,088 7.4% Jefferson County 4,012 8.1%
Larue County 2,337 4.2% Bullitt County 1,568 3.2%
Jefferson County 1,908 3.4% Larue County 632 1.3%
Grayson County 1,371 2.5% Meade County 466 0.9%
Nelson County 891 1.6% Nelson County 448 0.9%
Breckinridge County 829 1.5% Grayson County 249 0.5%
Hart County 778 1.4% Breckinridge County 110 0.2%
Bullitt County 623 1.1% Warren County 96 0.2%
Green County 290 0.5% Hart County 85 0.2%
Taylor County 104 0.2%
other 1,680 3.0% other 1,599 3.2%
Total workers 55,397 100.0% Total workers 49,763 100.0%

Source: US Census Bureau, estimates for 2011-15. Source: US Census Bureau, estimates for 2011-15.
www.census.gov/data/tables/2015/demo/metro- www.census.gov/data/tables/2015/demo/metro-
micro/commuting-flows-2015.html micro/commuting-flows-2015.html
Page | 53
Warren County also makes the top ten, but Green and Taylor counties attracts only a few dozen Hardin residents
and are not represented.
Unfortunately, such detailed Census data are only available with a long lag time. The average over the years 2011 to
2015, as shown, has been calculated using detailed data from the annual American Community Survey, and is the
latest available. We will also look at the historical commuting patterns more closely, with an eye to detecting more
recent trends using some alternative data sources. The next batch of county-to-county worker flows will be based
on the ACS for 2016-2020 and is expected to be released in 2023.
What about the commuting flows among the ten study counties? First, consider LaRue and Meade counties, as
they are officially part of the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA. The county-to-county flow of workers is the primary
consideration in defining MSAs, and this shows up clearly in the data. One can see in the first table above that
Meade and LaRue are the top two suppliers of nonresident workers to Hardin. More Meade residents work in
Hardin (4,988) than work in Meade (3,733). And more LaRue residents work in Hardin (2,337) than in LaRue
(2,142).
Top Five County Destinations for Work

County of
Residence 1 2 3 4 5
Breckinridge Breckinridge Hardin Jefferson Perry Grayson
Bullitt Jefferson Bullitt Hardin Clark Nelson
Grayson Grayson Hardin Jefferson Warren Ohio
Green Green Taylor Hardin Hart Marion
Hardin Hardin Jefferson Bullitt Larue Meade
Hart Hart Barren Hardin Warren Jefferson

LaRue Hardin Larue Jefferson Nelson Bullitt
Meade Hardin Meade Jefferson Harrison Bullitt
Nelson Nelson Jefferson Bullitt Hardin Washington
Taylor Taylor Marion Adair Green Jefferson
Source: US Census Bureau, estimates for 2011-15.
www.census.gov/data/tables/2015/demo/metro-micro/commuting-flows-2015.html
None of the other counties in the study region have such a strong employment interchange with Hardin County as
do LaRue and Meade. Some are more pulled into the Louisville orbit (Bullitt). Some are pulled south towards
Bowling Green (Hart). And some have sufficient job opportunities in their home counties that the commute to
Hardin is less attractive (Breckinridge, Grayson, Green, Nelson, Taylor). We anticipate shifts in this dynamic as
Hardin County provides many more high-paying jobs over the next decade.
Page | 54
Another Census Bureau program, OnTheMap (OTM), provides more current, though less comprehensive,
information on the place of residence for workers. This program merges data on individuals from the
Unemployment Insurance system and other federal state databases and can identify worker flows down to the
census track and zip code level. It matches the person’s work address to his or her home address, and generates
detailed estimates by age, gender, industry and pay.
Jobs in Hardin County, by Residence of Worker, 2019

Private
County of All Private Primary Primary
Residence All Jobs Jobs Jobs Jobs
Hardin 21,778 16,428 20,686 15,478
Jefferson 2,512 2,309 2,314 2,122
Larue 2,037 1,644 1,950 1,568
Meade 1,904 1,532 1,815 1,448
Grayson 1,289 1,044 1,247 1,009
Nelson 1,150 844 1,095 802
Bullitt 1,007 894 951 841
Breckinridge 830 713 787 675
Fayette 480 430 442 400
Daviess 469 425 438 399
Warren 468 409 440 385
Barren 446 393 422 373
Hart 426 373 409 358
Oldham 355 318 332 298
Shelby 322 290 293 264
other 7,624 6,724 7,154 6,303
Total 43,097 34,770 40,775 32,723

Source: US Census Bureau, OnTheMap, https://onthemap.ces.census.gov/
The latest data on residence of Hardin County workers is shown in the table above. The OTM data do not match the
commuting data just analyzed, as the program obviously covers fewer workers. However, the top suppliers of
workers are the same as we found using the older Census data on county-to-county commuting. Jefferson, Larue,
Meade, Grayson, Nelson, Bullitt, and Breckinridge top both lists. This is an indication that the basic commuting
patterns in the region have not changed much over the last decade. Green and Taylor counties do not show up in
the top twenty-five supplying counties in the OTM database.
Page | 55
The OTM program provides estimates going back to 2002. The next chart shows the top ten counties supplying
workers in Hardin County, focusing only on ‘primary jobs,’ or those most likely to support a commute to another
county. One can see the effects of the 2008-10 national recession, but that there has been no discernable change in
the proportions over this long time.
Hardin County Workers, County of Residence, Primary Jobs

35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Hardin Jefferson Larue Meade Grayson Nelson Bullitt Breckinridge Fayette Warren
Possibility of Additional Counties for the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA
The US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the official determiner of MSA boundaries. It currently relies on
the results of the ACS commuting patterns discussed above, using non-overlapping five-year ACS results. This
means the next measures considered will be from the 2016-2020 ACS, expected to be released in 2023. There are a
lot of definitions and rules involved, but for the current issue the main criteria has to do with adding counties to an
existing MSA: “Outlying Counties A county qualifies as an outlying county of a CBSA if it meets the following
commuting requirements: (a) At least 25 percent of the workers living in the county work in the central county or
counties of the CBSA”, where the CBSA is the Core Based Statistical Area that can refer to metropolitan or
micropolitan areas.14
14
See the Office of Management and Budget 2010 Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan
Statistical Areas; Notice June 28, 2010, www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2010-06-28/pdf/2010-15605.pdf
Page | 56
Current commuting patterns only support the inclusion of LaRue and
Meade counties, which have over 35 percent of their working residents Share of Working County
working in Hardin County. The next highest is Grayson, where 1,371 Residents that Work in Hardin
resident workers commute to Hardin. This is 13.4 percent of all working County
residents of Grayson. Using the historical data, it would take another
1,200 commuters from Grayson to Hardin County to meet the 25 Breckinridge 11.0%
percent criteria. Bullitt 1.7%
More information on MSA boundary expansion can be found in the Grayson 13.4%
section which focuses on this issue, beginning on Page 187. Green 6.6%
Hart 11.5%
LaRue 41.5%
Meade 35.1%
Nelson 4.5%
Taylor 1.0%
Source: US Census Bureau, estimates
for 2011-15.
www.census.gov/data/tables/2015/de
mo/metro-micro/commuting-flows-
2015.html
Page | 57
Page | 58
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area Peer MSA Analysis
By Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.
Major industrial developments are occurring in the greater Elizabethtown area, and local leaders are endeavoring
to both maximize the regional economic impacts and to prepare the community for anticipated new needs, such as
infrastructure, workforce development, housing, and land use planning. This section of our research examines a set
of similar metropolitan areas to learn where the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)
now stands in terms of demographics, education, economic structure, household income, and other important
measures. Such ‘peer cities analyses’ have been used extensively by economic development groups around the US,
including nearby markets Louisville and Owensboro.
There are 385 MSAs in the US, ranging in population size from Carson City, NV (56,000) to New York-Newark-Jersey
City, NY-NJ-PA (19,124,000). The Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA has a population of 154,000. Elizabethtown is
located on one of busiest interstate highways in the country, the north-south I-65, and is served also by limited
access parkways running east and west. It has a long close historical tie with nearby Fort Knox, a major Army
facility. And the MSA supports about 7,500 manufacturing jobs, with thousands more in the pipeline.
We use these features to filter across the 385 MSAs to find similar places. We have identified eleven other MSAs
that roughly fit the following criteria: (a) population between 100,000 and 300,000, (b) existence of interstate
highway, (c) not a state capitol, (d) not a college town, (e) presence of military installation, (f) with at least 5,000
manufacturing jobs, or (g) have some other compelling similarity to Elizabethtown-Fort Knox.
The twelve MSAs are shown in the table and on the map below. All are on or near an interstate highway. Most have
a major military installation; however, three are home to large universities.
• Bloomington, IN is home to Indiana University, and thus a classic college town. There is no military
installation there. However, it does have substantial manufacturing employment. Interstate 69 passes
through it, and it is only thirty-five miles west of I-65.
• Bowling Green, KY is also home to a large public university, Western Kentucky University; and there is
no military installation. However, it is along I-65 south of Elizabethtown, and has very substantial
manufacturing activity. Moreover, an electric vehicle battery plant is also planned there.
• Clarksville, TN-KY has the largest population of the group and is of course home to Fort Campbell. It is
served by I-24, which connects Nashville and St. Louis.
Page | 59
Peer Metropolitan Statistical Areas
State
Military's Government's
MSA Manufacturing Share of Total Share of Total
Code Population Jobs Jobs Jobs
14020 Bloomington, IN 169,052 9,817 0.5% ND
14540 Bowling Green, KY 180,751 12,593 0.5% 4.6%
17300 Clarksville, TN-KY 314,364 12,481 18.5% 2.3%
19460 Decatur, AL 152,740 13,688 0.8% 1.2%
21060 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 154,356 7,530 7.4% 1.9%
24140 Goldsboro, NC 123,967 5,415 8.5% 5.7%
25620 Hattiesburg, MS 169,554 6,400 1.4% 4.6%
30020 Lawton, OK 126,775 3,621 19.3% 2.4%
36220 Odessa, TX 167,701 5,166 0.3% 1.7%
44940 Sumter, SC 139,775 7,113 9.9% 2.7%
47580 Warner Robins, GA 188,060 8,853 4.1% 2.2%
48660 Wichita Falls, TX 152,485 5,183 7.2% 3.8%
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, estimates for 2020. Manufacturing jobs in Warner Robins not disclosed
for 2020; 2017 estimate used. State government employment in Bloomington is not disclosed due to Indiana
University dominating the total.
• Decatur, AL, further down I-65, is near the Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, with its well-known
concentration of military personnel and researchers. It has twice the concentration of manufacturing
jobs as Elizabethtown-Fort Knox.
• Goldsboro, NC is the smallest of the MSAs, is on I-795 and near to I-95. It is home to the Seymour-
Johnson Air Force Base.
• Hattiesburg, MS is on I-59, and has a major Army Training center. It is also home to Southern
Mississippi University, with 14,000 students, so it can also be considered a college town, though not
so much as Bloomington and Bowling Green.
• Lawton, OK is on I-44, and is home to Fort Sill Military Reservation, with 5,000 employees. It has the
fewest manufacturing jobs of any of the peers.
• Odessa, TX is located on I-20 out on the high Texas plains. Historically, its fate rises and falls with the
oil market, but it nevertheless has a substantial manufacturing base.
Sumter, SC is close to I-95 and I-20 and is home to Shaw Air Force Base.
Page | 60
• Warner Robbins, GA is on I-75, just south of Macon. It is home to Robbins Air Force Base.
• Wichita Falls, TX is northwest of Fort Worth, on I-44. It is home to Sheppard Air Force Base, with its
7,200 employees.
These twelve cities are in ten states as shown on the map15. All but Bloomington are to the south of Elizabethtown.
Summary of Findings
Not surprisingly, because the peers have been chosen for their similarities to the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA, we
find a high correlation among them for most measures. However, Elizabethtown does stand out in a few areas:
1. Relatively strong growth in manufacturing jobs over the past few decades.
2. High annual pay for manufacturing jobs.
15
Christopher Butz created the map.
Page | 61
3. High concentration in production, transportation and material moving occupations. It ranks very low in
sales and administrative office occupations, and also low in the service occupations.
4. Despite the presence of Fort Knox, the MSA does only ranks fifth highest in military’s share of total
employment. It does rank third in the number of working age veterans (12,000) and in the total number
of resident Armed Forces (4,000).
5. Older population, with few foreign-born residents.
6. Elizabethtown-Fort Knox is one of just two MSAs without a college dorm population. The other is Decatur.
Historical Population Growth
One can see in the next table how these MSAs have grown in terms of total population over the past five decades.
Clarksville clearly stands out, both in terms of total number of residents added and in percentage terms. Warner
Robbins ranks highly in both categories, as does Bowling Green. Elizabethtown-Fort Knox ranks eighth in absolute
population growth and ninth in percentage growth. Wichita Falls posted very small net population growth over the
period, and essentially no growth over the last decade.
Manufacturing Job Growth
Five Decades of Population Growth, Peer MSAs

Growth
MSA 1970 to
Code 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2020 Rate
14020 Bloomington, IN 97,656 115,057 126,773 142,709 160,140 169,052 71,396 73.1%
14540 Bowling Green, KY 89,652 107,557 114,270 135,367 159,352 180,751 91,099 101.6%
17300 Clarksville, TN-KY 135,674 168,672 190,352 233,367 274,994 314,364 178,690 131.7%
19460 Decatur, AL 105,018 120,435 132,118 146,095 153,956 152,740 47,722 45.4%
21060 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 107,652 123,258 125,466 134,506 149,852 154,356 46,704 43.4%
24140 Goldsboro, NC 85,747 97,314 104,896 113,648 122,891 123,967 38,220 44.6%
25620 Hattiesburg, MS 96,397 116,240 126,171 143,768 162,866 169,554 73,157 75.9%
30020 Lawton, OK 114,835 120,234 118,112 121,695 131,568 126,775 11,940 10.4%
36220 Odessa, TX 92,704 117,052 118,652 120,694 137,060 167,701 74,997 80.9%
44940 Sumter, SC 105,380 116,269 129,782 137,330 142,557 139,775 34,395 32.6%
47580 Warner Robins, GA 79,693 97,150 110,920 135,165 168,518 188,060 108,367 136.0%
48660 Wichita Falls, TX 134,547 138,486 140,303 151,847 151,657 152,485 17,938 13.3%
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA has posted strong manufacturing growth over the past few decades, and now
has more than twice as many jobs as it did in 1970. Among the peer MSAs, only Warner Robins had faster growth,
both in absolute and percentage terms. Goldsboro and Sumter on net lost manufacturing jobs over the period.
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Manufacturing Employment in Peer Cities
Growth,
1970 to
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2020 Rate
Bloomington, IN 9,566 8,374 10,589 10,879 8,815 9,817 251 2.6%
Bowling Green, KY 8,172 9,967 10,528 14,169 (D) 12,593 4,421 54.1%
Clarksville, TN-KY 9,020 12,038 12,671 15,516 10,236 12,481 3,461 38.4%
Decatur, AL 12,263 14,988 16,568 (D) 12,187 13,688 1,425 11.6%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 3,159 5,072 6,112 7,978 5,427 7,530 4,371 138.4%
Goldsboro, NC 6,702 9,138 8,959 7,335 5,311 5,415 -1,287 -19.2%
Hattiesburg, MS 7,319 8,444 9,004 8,261 4,917 6,400 -919 -12.6%
Lawton, OK 2,068 3,549 3,506 3,859 (D) 3,621 1,553 75.1%
Odessa, TX 3,621 7,574 4,562 4,972 4,826 5,166 1,545 42.7%
Sumter, SC 8,604 10,908 11,627 14,378 6,704 7,113 -1,491 -17.3%
Warner Robins, GA 2,929 5,218 5,588 6,708 7,200 8,853 5,924 202.3%
Wichita Falls, TX 4,125 9,982 8,733 9,055 5,490 5,183 1,058 25.6%
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Estimates before 2001 are on a SIC basis, and thereafter on a NAICS basis.
D: not disclosed due to confidentiality rules. Warner-Robbins data not disclosed for 2020; 2017 estimate shown here.
Average Pay
The average wage and salary job in the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA paid $48,654 in 2020. The national average
was $64,018, which is pulled up by the largest urban markets with their concentration of high paying professional
jobs. One can see in the table that all the peer cities had average pay less than that for the United States, though oil
drilling mecca Odessa comes close16. Elizabethtown ranks fourth highest among the peers, after Odessa, Warner
Robins, and Decatur. This reflects Elizabethtown’s high concentration of manufacturing employment.
16 Odessa supports between 10,000 and 15,000 oil-related jobs, depending on market conditions. By contrast, the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA
supports less than 200 mining jobs, in rock quarrying.
Page | 63
Average Annual Pay Relative to United States Total
Average Pay,
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2020
Bloomington, IN 0.81 0.77 0.77 0.74 0.71 0.73 $46,912
Bowling Green, KY 0.72 0.79 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.70 $44,588
Clarksville, TN-KY 0.77 0.81 0.76 0.76 0.88 0.76 $48,519
Decatur, AL 0.86 0.92 0.85 0.83 0.81 0.77 $49,415
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 0.77 0.81 0.79 0.77 0.85 0.76 $48,654
Goldsboro, NC 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.73 0.73 0.71 $45,465
Hattiesburg, MS 0.70 0.74 0.73 0.68 0.71 0.67 $42,705
Lawton, OK 0.79 0.80 0.80 0.73 0.85 0.73 $46,946
Odessa, TX 0.95 1.10 0.89 0.78 0.93 0.95 $60,968
Sumter, SC 0.65 0.71 0.74 0.69 0.73 0.72 $46,325
Warner Robins, GA 1.04 0.98 0.90 0.88 0.92 0.80 $51,248
Wichita Falls, TX 0.82 0.87 0.80 0.71 0.74 0.69 $44,128
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Wages and salaries divided by wage and salary employment.
Manufacturing jobs in the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA

average almost $80,000 per year in pay. This is fourth highest
Average Annual Pay per Job in
among the peers and is why it ranks high in overall pay per
job. Decatur is easily the highest in terms of manufacturing Manufacturing, 2020
pay, at $89,000 per job. It is home a GE Appliance-Haier Bloomington, IN $79,066
(refrigerators) plant, with about 1,400 jobs, a 3M plant with
Bowling Green, KY $64,996
950 employees, and the Nucor Steel mill, with over seven
hundred employees17. Clarksville, TN-KY $67,275
Decatur, AL $88,762
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY $79,892
Goldsboro, NC $65,572
Hattiesburg, MS $60,918
Lawton, OK $80,367
Odessa, TX $80,134
Sumter, SC $67,209
Warner Robins, GA $61,671
Wichita Falls, TX $72,643
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Data
for Warner Robins not disclosed for 2020;
2017 data shown.
17
See https://mceda.org/facts-mapWe nows/top-employers
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Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics
We now take a deeper look at the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the peer cities. The most
recent data are from the American Community Survey, produced by the US Census Bureau. The survey is
performed every year, but the accuracy is improved for smaller places by averaging several years of data. The five-
year ACS, 2016-2020 is the latest available, and we explore some of the results next.
Percent of Percent Veterans,

Median Population Foreign Aged 18 to
Population Age Aged 65+ Born 64
Bloomington, IN 168,172 31.5 13.8% 7.3% 3,697
Bowling Green, KY 176,852 35.1 14.3% 7.1% 4,786
Clarksville, TN-KY 304,584 31.2 11.1% 4.5% 27,325
Decatur, AL 152,321 40.9 17.6% 3.7% 4,311
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 152,275 37.7 14.4% 3.4% 11,695
Goldsboro, NC 123,785 37.6 16.4% 7.0% 7,268
Hattiesburg, MS 168,646 35.5 14.3% 2.2% 5,534
Lawton, OK 127,157 33.6 13.0% 5.6% 10,517
Odessa, TX 162,067 30.6 9.6% 13.9% 3,166
Sumter, SC 140,540 38.5 18.1% 2.8% 7,249
Warner Robins, GA 182,819 35.8 13.1% 5.8% 13,691
Wichita Falls, TX 151,352 35.7 15.6% 5.6% 6,858
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2016-2020 5-year average.
The median age of the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA population is 37.7. Only Decatur and Sumter have an older
population. Odessa, with its young oil workers and large immigrant population has the lowest median age (30.6)
and the smallest share of residents aged sixty-five or older (9.6%). The two college towns, Bloomington and
Bowling Green, skew younger, and their foreign-born share is lifted by foreign students. The presence of large
military installations provides a high number of working-age veterans for Clarksville, Warner Robins, Elizabethtown-
Fort Knox, and Lawton.
Human Capital
Most of the residents of the peer cities have completed high school, though in Odessa almost one-fourth of the
population is without a high school diploma. The distribution gets much wider when considering college degrees.
Over 49 percent of Bloomington residents have at least a bachelor’s degree, and over 19 percent have a graduate
or professional degree. Odessa is again at the bottom, with only 17 percent of residents with a college degree. The
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Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA ranks eighth highest in college attainment (20.7 percent), and 7th highest for
advanced degrees (8.9 percent).
Percent
with a
Graduate or
High School College Professional
Attainment* Attainment* Degree
Bloomington, IN 91.9% 40.7% 19.4%
Bowling Green, KY 86.4% 27.1% 11.1%
Clarksville, TN-KY 91.3% 26.0% 9.2%
Decatur, AL 83.3% 20.1% 6.6%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 90.6% 20.7% 8.9%
Goldsboro, NC 85.5% 19.8% 6.2%
Hattiesburg, MS 87.8% 27.1% 10.4%
Lawton, OK 90.4% 22.8% 9.3%
Odessa, TX 76.6% 16.6% 4.9%
Sumter, SC 85.3% 19.5% 7.5%
Warner Robins, GA 91.3% 29.6% 13.0%
Wichita Falls, TX 88.6% 23.1% 7.6%
* Percentage of persons aged 25 and older with at least a high school or bachelors degree.
Labor Force Characteristics
The labor force includes persons aged sixteen or older that are employed and those seeking work (unemployed).
Economic statisticians distinguish between the civilian labor force and those in the armed forces. The latest labor
force estimates for the peer cities are provided in the next table. For example, the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA
has 120,000 persons aged 16+. Of those, 3,900 are in the military, 67,000 are employed civilians, 4,300 are seeking
work, and 45,000 are not in the labor force. Those not in the labor force may be retired, disabled, raising children,
taking care of an ill person, or simply not actively seeking work. One can see the strong military presence in
Clarksville, Lawton, Wichita Falls, Warner Robins, Elizabethtown, and Sumter.
The raw numbers need some interpretation. A useful summary measure is the “Employment Rate,” measured as
the percentage of adults who are working, either as civilians or in the armed forces. Elizabethtown-Fort Knox ranks
in the middle of the peers, with an employment rate of 59 percent. Odessa tops the list with an employment rate
of almost 64 percent. Sumter and Decatur are at the bottom.
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Employment Rate
Percent of Population Aged 16+ Working
Odessa, TX 63.9%
Warner Robins, GA 61.0%
Clarksville, TN-KY 60.9%
Bowling Green, KY 60.6%
Wichita Falls, TX 59.6%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 59.0%
Lawton, OK 58.6%
Bloomington, IN 58.1%
Goldsboro, NC 57.3%
Hattiesburg, MS 56.1%
Decatur, AL 53.2%
Sumter, SC 51.9%
40.0% 45.0% 50.0% 55.0% 60.0% 65.0% 70.0%
The widely reported unemployment rate is a measure of the mismatch between labor supply and demand, though
it can be misleading. It is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed by the sum of those employed and
those unemployed (the civilian labor force). When people want to work, but give up searching for a job, they are no
longer counted as unemployed – they are out of the labor force. Thus, it is possible to have a low unemployment
rate but a lot of people on the sidelines. For the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA the average unemployment rate
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over the five-year period was 6.0 percent. This is eighth highest among the peers, bracketed by Sumter (9.3
percent) and Wichita Falls (4.4 percent).
Population, Civilian Civilian Armed Not in the

Age 16+ Employed Unemployed Forces Labor Force
Bloomington, IN 143,758 83,450 5,565 104 54,639
Bowling Green, KY 141,187 85,431 4,766 105 50,885
Clarksville, TN-KY 231,964 120,694 8,257 20,577 82,436
Decatur, AL 121,820 64,708 3,110 61 53,941
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 120,174 66,919 4,271 3,945 45,039
Goldsboro, NC 97,864 53,058 3,031 3,023 38,752
Hattiesburg, MS 132,588 73,636 6,256 789 51,907
Lawton, OK 100,348 50,243 3,598 8,523 37,984
Odessa, TX 118,021 75,343 5,305 42 37,331
Sumter, SC 112,132 54,819 5,541 3,329 48,443
Warner Robins, GA 142,579 82,810 5,352 4,206 50,211
Wichita Falls, TX 120,969 65,849 3,016 6,215 45,889
What is the distribution of employed persons by industry among the peer MSAs? The ACS provides twelve
industrial categories, summarized in the next two tables. The first column provides the number of employed
civilians in the MSAs, and the other columns show the percentage distribution across industries. As expected, the
Agriculture,
forestry, Transportation
Employed fishing and and
Civilians, hunting, and Wholesale warehousing,
Aged 16+ mining Construction Manufacturing trade Retail trade and utilities
Bloomington, IN 83,450 0.7% 5.5% 10.8% 1.4% 9.8% 3.7%
Bowling Green, KY 85,431 1.7% 6.5% 16.6% 3.0% 12.4% 5.8%
Clarksville, TN-KY 120,694 1.2% 6.8% 13.3% 2.0% 11.1% 5.2%
Decatur, AL 64,708 1.2% 8.6% 22.0% 2.6% 11.6% 4.6%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 66,919 0.9% 6.3% 15.8% 1.7% 11.7% 6.4%
Goldsboro, NC 53,058 4.2% 6.2% 13.8% 2.7% 13.3% 4.4%
Hattiesburg, MS 73,636 2.4% 6.4% 10.7% 2.4% 12.2% 5.5%
Lawton, OK 50,243 2.0% 5.5% 10.0% 1.1% 11.8% 3.5%
Odessa, TX 75,343 15.2% 8.0% 6.3% 3.9% 13.4% 8.7%
Sumter, SC 54,819 1.9% 7.0% 15.2% 2.1% 10.7% 5.9%
Warner Robins, GA 82,810 0.8% 4.8% 8.6% 1.4% 13.2% 5.5%
Wichita Falls, TX 65,849 3.5% 6.5% 8.4% 2.0% 13.2% 6.1%
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Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA ranks high in Manufacturing (third) and the ‘Transportation and warehousing, and
utilities’ (2nd) industries. It ranks first in the Information industry, though this is a very small share of employment in
all the MSAs. It ranks low in ‘Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining.’ and in the ‘Educational services,
and health care and social assistance’ industries, both 10ths highest.
Professional,
scientific, and Arts,
management, entertainment,
Finance and and Educational and recreation,
insurance, and administrative services, and and
real estate and and waste health care accommodatio Other services,
rental and management and social n and food except public Public
Information leasing services assistance services administration administration
Bloomington, IN 1.8% 4.5% 7.7% 34.4% 11.1% 4.4% 4.1%
Bowling Green, KY 1.0% 4.0% 7.9% 23.7% 10.6% 4.4% 2.3%
Clarksville, TN-KY 1.6% 4.4% 9.8% 23.2% 9.5% 4.6% 7.4%
Decatur, AL 1.2% 3.6% 8.6% 19.5% 8.3% 4.7% 3.4%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 2.0% 4.8% 7.7% 20.9% 9.2% 4.9% 7.7%
Goldsboro, NC 1.0% 3.5% 7.5% 22.9% 8.9% 5.4% 6.1%
Hattiesburg, MS 1.2% 4.9% 6.3% 27.5% 11.3% 4.9% 4.3%
Lawton, OK 1.3% 4.6% 8.5% 25.8% 11.2% 5.2% 9.6%
Odessa, TX 1.2% 4.5% 6.4% 16.3% 8.1% 5.2% 2.8%
Sumter, SC 1.4% 4.2% 7.7% 23.4% 8.6% 5.5% 6.4%
Warner Robins, GA 1.2% 5.1% 9.0% 21.7% 9.2% 4.0% 15.5%
Wichita Falls, TX 1.4% 5.0% 6.9% 24.7% 11.0% 5.7% 5.6%
What is the distribution of occupations in the peer MSAs? The next table provides a summary. In fitting with its
large manufacturing base, the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA has a high concentration in ‘Production,
transportation and material moving’ occupations. It ranks very low in ‘Sales and office’ occupations, and also low in
the Service occupations (healthcare support, firefighting, law enforcement, food preparation, building
maintenance, personal care).
Production,
Management, Natural resources, transportation,
business, science, construction, and and material
and arts Service Sales and office maintenance movin
Bloomington, IN 44.0% 18.7% 19.0% 6.8% 11.4%
Bowling Green, KY 32.3% 17.8% 21.7% 9.1% 19.1%
Clarksville, TN-KY 32.1% 19.1% 21.9% 10.0% 16.9%
Decatur, AL 30.6% 16.2% 20.3% 10.9% 22.0%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 33.8% 16.7% 19.5% 10.6% 19.5%
Goldsboro, NC 29.6% 19.8% 20.6% 11.9% 18.1%
Hattiesburg, MS 34.3% 17.5% 23.3% 9.2% 15.7%
Lawton, OK 37.3% 19.9% 20.2% 9.4% 13.2%
Odessa, TX 23.8% 14.8% 24.0% 17.4% 20.0%
Sumter, SC 29.0% 18.6% 22.6% 10.8% 19.1%
Warner Robins, GA 35.4% 17.0% 23.8% 10.4% 13.5%
Wichita Falls, TX 32.3% 20.1% 21.2% 11.3% 15.1%
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Household Characteristics
The Census Bureau defines a household as an ‘occupied housing unit.’ It could refer to a single adult, a married
couple with kids, unrelated roommates of any age, or anything in between. As one can see in the table, most of the
peer cities have households averaging around two and one-half people each. Odessa with its large young
immigrant population has the highest household size (2.99). Elizabethtown-Fort Knox ranks in the middle of the
peers in terms of persons per household. It ranks higher in median and average household income (third). But it
ranks only eighth in terms of the share of households with a broadband connection.
Percent of
Households
Average Median Average with
Number of Household Household Household Broadband
Households Size Income Income Connection
Bloomington, IN 65,229 2.34 $52,226 $70,787 86.4%
Bowling Green, KY 67,547 2.50 $51,591 $72,185 84.4%
Clarksville, TN-KY 111,845 2.63 $54,911 $70,402 84.5%
Decatur, AL 58,939 2.55 $51,842 $68,866 75.1%
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 58,528 2.55 $56,680 $75,605 80.7%
Goldsboro, NC 48,198 2.51 $47,221 $65,694 83.7%
Hattiesburg, MS 62,222 2.64 $48,231 $67,866 77.2%
Lawton, OK 45,456 2.59 $52,219 $70,509 86.0%
Odessa, TX 53,602 2.99 $63,096 $83,130 84.1%
Sumter, SC 54,479 2.51 $45,854 $60,607 77.4%
Warner Robins, GA 68,257 2.63 $63,074 $78,422 86.1%
Wichita Falls, TX 56,210 2.44 $51,099 $67,321 80.5%
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The household size calculation above removes the group quarters population from each county’s total population.
The ACS only provides the total number of persons in group quarters18. To see the detailed breakouts, we need to
turn to the decennial census data – the recently released results from the 2020 Census. Group quarters may refer
to the institutionalized population (corrections, nursing) or noninstitutionalized population (dorms, military
quarters). The next table summarizes the 2020 Census data on group quarters. Several things stand out.
➢ The college dorm population is very significant in Bloomington, Bowling Green and Hattiesburg.
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox is one of just two MSAs without student housing.
Institutionalized population: Noninstitutionalized population:
Nursing
Total Correctio facilities/ Other College/U Other
nal Skilled- instituti niversity noninstit
facilities Juvenile nursing onal student Military utional
Subtotal for adults facilities facilities facilities Subtotal housing quarters facilities
Bloomington, IN 12,441 1,250 255 21 927 47 11,191 10,645 0 546
Bowling Green, KY 6,354 1,574 616 35 808 115 4,780 4,391 0 389
Clarksville, TN-KY 9,874 3,122 1,777 47 1,168 130 6,752 1,450 5,049 253
Decatur, AL 2,501 2,284 1,443 33 792 16 217 0 0 217
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 2,934 1,465 846 63 556 0 1,469 0 1,260 209
Goldsboro, NC 3,972 2,516 1,388 26 491 611 1,456 400 580 476
Hattiesburg, MS 6,598 1,811 363 58 1,324 66 4,787 4,297 0 490
Lawton, OK 9,470 3,955 3,008 68 707 172 5,515 161 5,174 180
Odessa, TX 2,550 1,245 782 40 423 0 1,305 674 0 631
Sumter, SC 3,812 2,543 1,737 78 728 0 1,269 410 419 440
Warner Robins, GA 2,999 1,080 482 21 577 0 1,919 1,168 302 449
Wichita Falls, TX 11,268 5,133 4,091 35 1,002 5 6,135 1,594 4,200 341
➢ The military quarters population stands out in Lawton, Clarksville, and Wichita Falls, with Elizabethtown-
Fort Knox ranking fourth.
➢ The corrections population is very large in Wichita Falls (Alfred Unit maximum security prison) and Lawton
(Lawton Correctional Facility, medium security, adult male).
➢ The nursing home population follows the population size of the MSAs.
The ACS provides detailed estimates of homeownership and related housing variables. The Elizabethtown-Fort
Knox MSA does not really stand out in any of these measures. Bloomington, Clarksville, and Bowling Green have
the highest median home values, while Wichita Falls, Sumter, and Lawton have the lowest home values. Odessa,
Bloomington, and Clarksville have the highest median monthly rents, while Decatur, Sumter, and Goldsboro have
the lowest rents.
18 Thanks to Dr. Matthew Ruther, Kentucky State Demographer, at the University of Louisville for helping us sort the group quarters
measurement puzzle out.
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Share of
Owner-
Median Occupied Median Rent
Home Value, Owner- Housing Units of Occupied
Homeowner Rental Ownership Occupied Without a Units Paying
Vacancy Rate Vacancy Rate Rate Units Mortgage Rent
Bloomington, IN 1.4 5.2 58.3% $177,700 37.3% $931
Bowling Green, KY 1.4 5.4 62.7% $161,500 40.6% $798
Clarksville, TN-KY 1.6 8.1 59.3% $165,100 33.6% $920
Decatur, AL 0.9 6.7 73.5% $137,600 49.7% $666
Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY 1.9 7.7 65.0% $153,700 38.4% $806
Goldsboro, NC 1.4 3.8 62.9% $125,900 43.6% $784
Hattiesburg, MS 1.3 10.5 65.1% $135,600 48.2% $815
Lawton, OK 3.1 7.7 54.4% $121,500 41.0% $810
Odessa, TX 1.3 7.0 65.5% $147,900 54.2% $1,073
Sumter, SC 1.9 5.8 67.5% $116,000 49.4% $773
Warner Robins, GA 1.5 6.9 66.0% $155,200 32.7% $907
Wichita Falls, TX 2.1 10.8 63.9% $106,500 51.5% $818
Next, we summarize the MSA rankings for selected measures discussed above.
Ranking of Metro Areas for Selected Indicators
Median Household
Number of Residents Median Age Working Age Veterans Income College Attainment Rate
1 Clarksville Decatur, AL Clarksville Odessa Bloomington
2 Warner Robins Sumter Warner Robins Warner Robins Warner Robins
3 Bowling Green Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Bowling Green
4 Hattiesburg Goldsboro Lawton Clarksville Hattiesburg
5 Bloomington Warner Robins Goldsboro Bloomington Clarksville
6 Odessa Wichita Falls Sumter Lawton Wichita Falls
7 Decatur, AL Hattiesburg Wichita Falls Decatur, AL Lawton
8 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Bowling Green Hattiesburg Bowling Green Elizabethtown-Fort Knox
9 Wichita Falls Lawton Bowling Green Wichita Falls Decatur, AL
10 Sumter Bloomington Decatur, AL Hattiesburg Goldsboro
11 Lawton Clarksville Bloomington Goldsboro Sumter
12 Goldsboro Odessa Odessa Sumter Odessa
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Ranking of Metro Areas for Selected Indicators
Growth Rate,
Manufacturing Average Annual Pay in Student housing Military quarters
Employment Rate Employment, 1970 to 2020 Manfuacturing population population
1 Odessa Warner Robins Decatur, AL Bloomington Lawton
2 Warner Robins Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Lawton Bowling Green Clarksville
3 Clarksville Lawton Odessa Hattiesburg Wichita Falls
4 Bowling Green Bowling Green Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Wichita Falls Elizabethtown-Fort Knox
5 Wichita Falls Odessa Bloomington Clarksville Goldsboro
6 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Clarksville Wichita Falls Warner Robins Sumter
7 Lawton Wichita Falls Clarksville Odessa Warner Robins
8 Bloomington Decatur, AL Sumter Sumter Bloomington
9 Goldsboro Bloomington Goldsboro Goldsboro Bowling Green
10 Hattiesburg Hattiesburg Bowling Green Lawton Decatur, AL
11 Decatur, AL Sumter Warner Robins Decatur, AL Hattiesburg
12 Sumter Goldsboro Hattiesburg Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Odessa
Page | 73
Page | 74
Economic and Fiscal Impacts of BlueOval SK EV Battery Plant on
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA: Preliminary Estimates
Introduction
BlueOval SK Battery Park is now under construction. The battery park, located on the Glendale megasite just south
of Elizabethtown will have a profound impact on Elizabethtown, Hardin County and all of Kentucky.
manufacturing facility in the world and represents the largest single new
economic development project in Kentucky’s history.
When first announced by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, the initial “impact” numbers for the BlueOval SK
Battery Park were astounding: 5,000 new jobs, an initial investment of $5.8 billion, and two four-million square feet
manufacturing facilities.
From a sheer physical site impact (square footage), BOSK’s battery park stands out globally in terms of its size:
World’s Largest Manufacturing Facilities19
Total Facility
Company Footprint
Rank Name Location (Square Feet) Description
1 Volkswagen Wolfsburg, Germany 69,965,417 Auto Assembly
2 AVTOVAZ Tolyatti, Russia 64,583,462 Auto Assembly
3 Hyundai Ulsan, South Korea 54,357,747 Auto Assembly
4 Kia Hwaseong, South Korea 35,585,487 Auto Assembly
4 Kia Yancheng, China 35,585,487 Auto Assembly
5 Foxconn Longhua, China 32,292,731 Electronics
6 Kia West Point, GA 28,115,334 Auto Assembly
7 Kia Teplicka and Vahom, Slovakia 17,792,743 Auto Assembly
8 Kia Seo-gu, China 12,809,053 Auto Assembly
9 Tesla Shanghai, China 9,309,544 Auto Assembly
10 Blue Oval SK20 Hardin County, KY 8,400,000 EV Electric Batteries
11 Toyota Georgetown, KY 8,099,993 Auto Assembly
12 BlueOval City21 Stanton, TN 7,000,000 Auto Assembly/EV Batteries
13 Jaguar Lolihull, UK 5,661,816 Auto Assembly
14 Tesla Sparks, NV 5,489,594 EV Electric Batteries
15 Nissan Smyrna, TN 5,338,899 Auto Assembly
From a market impact/stand-alone investment, BOSK Battery Park will be the largest EV electric battery plant in the
world in terms of investment, physical size, jobs created, and manufacturing capacity.
19 Source: R List (4/7/23) as measured by facility square footage

20 Source: Update provided during BlueOval SK Battery Park town hall held on 4/4/23
21
Source: Tennessee Town & City; current construction footprint is 7 million square feet, which may ultimately grow to 10 million square feet
Page | 75
Largest EV Battery Manufacturing Site Investments 22
(Announced)
Rank Company Location Investment (B) Jobs23 GW Hour Capacity

1 BlueOval SK Hardin County, KY $5.8 5,000 86
2 BlueOval SK24 Stanton, TN 5.6 6,000 43
3 Hyundai Bryan County, GA 5.5 8,100 35
4 Rivian Ft. Worth, TX 5.0 7,500 50
5 Rivian Covington, GA 5.0 7,500 50
6 GM Orion, MI 4.0 2,350 N/A
7 Panasonic DeSoto, KS 4.0 4,000 30
8 GM/LG Energy Lansing, MI 2.6 1,700 50
9 SK Innovation Commerce, GA 2.6 3,000 31
10 Stellantis/Samsung Kokomo, IN 2.5 1,400 33
11 GM/LG Energy Spring Hill, TN 2.3 1,300 50
12 Envision AESC Bowling Green, KY 2.0 2,000 30
13 Ford Multiple Sites (MI) 2.0 3,200 N/A
14 VinFast Chatham County, NC 2.0 7,500 N/A
15 LG Energy Holland, MI 1.7 1,200 N/A
16 LG Energy Queen Creek, AZ 1.4 TBA 11
17 Toyota Liberty, NC 3.8 2,100 N/A
18 Tesla Austin, TX 1.1 5,000 N/A
Finally, as shown in the map which follows, Elizabethtown and Hardin County are centrally located when it comes
to new EV battery facilities, which should generate new supply chain manufacturing site selection interest:
Specific market impact/projected numbers now follow.
22 Ranked by financial investment; sites shaded in green also include a new auto assembly facility; total investment and new jobs created shown
23 Number of jobs as of the date of project announcement
24 BlueOval City is a multi-purpose manufacturing site; the BOSK battery manufacturing site employment will total 2,500 workers out of the
total
Page | 76
Construction Phase
• Local: 720 construction workers

• Travelers: 2,880 construction workers
• Peak: 10/23: 3,500 construction workers on site
• Additional 500 – 1000 (non-construction) technicians on-site Q3 2023 – EOY 2025
Housing Requirements:
• Traveling workers: 2,800 units

• Management personnel: 300 units
Construction Payroll: $1.6 billion
Local materials/services: $75 million
Source: BlueOval SK
Updated BlueOval SK Employment
Confirmed FTE Workforce - BlueOval SK Battery Park

6000
5,000 5,000 5,000

5000
4000
3000
2,500
2000
1000 1000 1000

1000
4.5
0
EOY 2023 EOY 2024 EOY 2025 EOY 2026 EOY 2027
Technicians Confirmed FTE Workforce
Source: BlueOval SK
Page | 77
Additional BlueOval SK FTE Workforce Information – Expected Workforce25
EOY 25 confirmed workforce: 5,000 FTE
BOSK plans to run two 12-hour shifts (patterns to be determined)
Employment/Payroll Projected Impacts
The 5,000 jobs expected to operate the plant will support 8,106 total jobs in the region; this represents
an employment multiplier of 1.603
• Incremental supply chain development: 1,397 jobs

• Incremental household spending development: 1,619 jobs
• By EOY 2026, expected direct plant payroll: $265 million (1% HC Occupational Tax: $2.65 million)
• By EOY 2026, expected direct plant payroll (with fringe benefits): $363 million
• 2026 – 2035 expected direct plant payroll impact: $2.65 billion26 (HC Occ. Tax: $26.5 million)
• 2026 – 2035 expected direct plant payroll impact (with FB): $3.63 billion27
As the data was analyzed, the following issues were considered and clarified with BOSK when possible:
• Will BOSK suppliers move to Hardin County?

• What will remaining acreage on BOSK site be used for?
• Will local governments work to accommodate growth?
• Will Hardin County absorb the bulk of new workers, residents?
• How many jobs will be filled by workers moving to the area?
• Will the pay scale at BOSK draw workers from existing manufacturers?
26 With no pay adjustment
27
With no pay adjustment
Page | 78
• What will be needed in terms of new housing, schools, etc.?
Elizabethtown - Hardin County Population Projections

160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000 134,242
80,000 105,503 111,862
60,000 94,704
40,000
54,272
20,000
22,542 28,531 31,982
0
2000 2010 2022 Estimated 2030 Projected
Population Population
Hardin County Population Elizabethtown Population
Projected Growth/Hardin County: 22,380 people – Age Breakout:
• Under age 5 1,424

• Ages 5 – 14 3,128
• Ages 15 – 24 2,924
• Ages 25 – 34 2,956
• All Others 11,949
Using Scott County’s growth as a guide, BOSK will catalyze growth in Hardin County for…
• 8,811 new housing units
• 3,901 new K-12 students
• 75 new hospital beds
• 389 new hospital jobs
• 380 new ambulatory care jobs
Page | 79
Finally, following are answers to several questions submitted to BOSK executives relative the expected growth in
Elizabethtown and Hardin County:
Issue Response
Minimum education • High school/GED or Bachelors/master’s degree depending upon the
attainment levels required position
for BOSK positions
Anticipated age breakdown • Unknown at this time as workforce has not yet been hired
of workers
Supplier Chain Issues • “We expect that companies and people from all parts of the globe
will want to do business with BOSK. They will relocate to the region.
We are not able to answer what kinds of workers will fill the positions
of our suppliers”
• Names of companies, site requirements, numbers of employees, etc.

are unknown at this time
Issue Response
Community infrastructure • More temporary and long-term housing options that are affordable
needs that are currently for all levels of BOSK’s workforce
• “We encourage developers to create high-quality housing at various
levels of affordability”
• Childcare centers and mass transportation would be an enhancement

for employees
• BlueOval SK does not intend to provide on-site childcare
• “It goes without saying that Elizabethtown will need more housing,
more schools, more emergency services, more healthcare services,
more healthcare facilities, more hotel capacity and grocery stores”
Issue Response
Community quality of life • “We recognize the wonderful park ecosystem in Elizabethtown but
needs that are currently expect more public spaces will be needed”
• “Large YMCA would be good for fitness and may also be a great place
for childcare services”
• “Our workers will be interested in a variety of restaurants and leisure

opportunities (e.g., mall, movie theater, etc.)”
Page | 80
• It would be helpful to have a meeting space for large gatherings of
people (e.g., convention center)”
Source for all of the above charts: BOSK
Issue Response
Korean cultural issues for • Develop community task force to develop better understanding of
newcomers – how can the the Korean community/culture
community assist BlueOval
SK? • Provide services/support unique to the Korean culture
• Develop long-term platform to foster relationships, including possible

Korean sister city
• BOSK is developing tools to help educate the Korean population

around opportunities for families
• BOSK has hired a transition coordinator to assist with

basic/immediate needs (e.g., schools, drivers’ licenses, etc.)
• BOSK will need for the community to “lean” into helping the new
talent feel welcome
Issue Response
Transportation • Air cargo needs at Elizabethtown Regional Airport (EKX) are unknown
at this time
• Would like to see flights to/from Memphis to

Louisville/Elizabethtown (“expect steady flow of 8 – 15 people”)
• Would like to see regional transit system to bring workers in from

outlying counties
• Would also like to see regional transit system to bring workers from
Louisville and Bowling Green
Medical Issues • BOSK intends to hire an onsite medical services provider which will
work with planned on-site clinics
• BOSK intends to contract with an “Occupational Health Services”

provider in the area
Future BOSK Site Expansion • “BOSK’s primary focus is on delivering its initial plan. Plans for the
Plans future will be determined later.”
Source for all of the above charts: BOSK
Following is extensive data/backup for the market projections generated by Dr. Coomes. Additional issues raised
by BlueOval SK executives regarding the company’s arrival in Hardin County can be found immediately following
this section.
Page | 81
Economic and Fiscal Impacts of EV Battery Plant: Preliminary Estimates
by
Paul Coomes and Barry Kornstein
Revised again July 29, 2023 (original 11-28-22)
The BlueOval SK electric vehicle battery plant is under construction near Glendale, just south of Elizabethtown
along Interstate 65. Ford is building two 4.2 million square feet buildings on its 1,550-acre campus. SK Innovation
will install the equipment to make the batteries 28. The battery plant will use less than one-half the acreage at the
site, and it is too early to know how the remaining acreage will fill with suppliers and ancillary businesses 29. We
anticipate significant future developments related to the plant, both at the site and elsewhere in the region.
To project the economic and fiscal impacts on the Elizabethtown region we have made some plausible
assumptions, based on company announcements, interviews with decision-makers, economic models, and
references to the one other similar site in the US – the Tesla Gigafactory (EV battery plant) outside of Reno NV,
which has been operating for five years. We examine the Tesla experience to learn about likely construction and
operations payrolls, as well as supplier linkages.
The key assumptions used in our analysis are:

1. Construction of the battery plant will occur over three years, from 2022 through 2024. The total
investment will be $5.8 billion. There will be an average of 4,500 construction jobs over the three years
(Tesla Giga), with average annual pay per job of around $50,000.
2. The plant will begin battery production by the end of 2024. By the end of 2025, there will be 5,000
employees. The average annual pay for the employees will be $53,000. With fringe benefits, the average
employee compensation will be $73,000.
3. The battery plant will attract several new supplier and support businesses to the site and elsewhere in
Hardin County. Two South Korean companies – Advanced Nano Products and Lotte Aluminum - have
already announced major investments to support battery production, total 215 new jobs.
We have used these basic assumptions to project the direct and spin-off economic activity in the region. Custom
regional input-output models were built for Hardin County, the three-county Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA, and
the ten-county region. These models have rich information on over 500 industries, how much each industry
purchases from all other industries, as well as the current local employment, pay, and output for each industry.
This is the standard method used by regional economists to analyze potential multiplier effects of new
developments.
Main findings to date
28
The two Hardin County plants are to support 86 gigawatt hours per year of annual battery cell production
capacity. See announcement: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/09/27/ford-
to-lead-americas-shift-to-electric-vehicles.html .
29
A November 14, 2022 Wall Street Journal story on the EV supply chain reports that currently almost all the raw
materials (lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese) are found outside the US, particularly in China, Australia,
Indonesia, and Africa. China dominates refining of the materials. See www.wsj.com/articles/electric-vehicles-
scarce-parts-supply-chain-11668206037 .
Page | 82
1. Each billion dollars of construction expenditures is expected to support around 11,600 total job-years in
the region. And each billion dollars of expenditures on new manufacturing equipment is expected to
support 823 total job-years in the region. The equipment impacts are much smaller than the construction
impacts, since presumably the sophisticated machines used to make the batteries will be imported from
other regions – this equipment is not available locally.
2. We have built customized regional input-output models to simulate the operation of the battery plant.
Because there is no history of battery production in the region, we have modified the models to reflect
the new industry, as well as adding the capacity associated with the two supplier plants already
announced.
3. The 5,000 jobs expected to operate the plant will support 8,016 total jobs in the region. This represents
an employment multiplier of 1.603. The interindustry spending linkages (supply chain) accounts for only
an additional 1,397 jobs. The new household spending related to the extra payroll in the region, provides
an additional 1,619 jobs. This indicates that, without the presence of more major battery plant suppliers
in the region, the largest economic impact is through the new payroll caused by the plant.
4. At full operation, by 2026 we expect the direct payroll at the plant to be around $265 million, excluding
fringe benefits. The one percent occupational tax recently levied for the site would therefore be worth
$2.7 million that year, and grow with pay raises for workers at the plant. Assuming a three percent
average annual wage increase, by 2035 the occupational tax revenue would be $3.6 million.
The Tesla Battery Factory near Reno

Batteries for electric vehicles are only now becoming a major US industry, and thus there is little economic
evidence on which to base the BlueOval SK scenario. However, Tesla built an EV battery plant near Reno, Nevada
over five years ago. State officials, in crafting tax and other incentives, hired economists to project the impacts of
construction and operations, and their reports are publicly available30. They estimated that the construction phase
would involve expenditures of $4.9 billion over three years, an amount and timeframe very similar to that for the
BlueOval SK plant. The following table provides their projections.
The average annual pay per job in the table is $56,900 for each year, whether during construction or operations. It
appears that the job numbers in the first three years refer to Tesla employees and are considered operations jobs,
not construction jobs. Later in the report, the analysts provide a more detailed discussion of construction and
focus on the Installation expenditures (their Figure 2). There they estimate direct construction employment to be
3,800, 4,900, and 4,700 respectively, in the first three years, plus hundreds more jobs per year as further
equipment is installed over the horizon. They estimate the average direct personal income per construction job to
be $44,700.
In 2018, the State of Nevada commissioned another economic impact study to bring up to date the developments
at the site . They found that Tesla had invested $6.0 billion in plant and equipment, much more than the $4.95
billion originally projected. Employment at the Gigafactory by mid-2018 was 7,100, as compared to the 6,500 jobs
originally projected. Average annual pay per job was $53,600 . The update also provides fresh estimates of the
regional economic impacts. For employment in 2018, they find that the 7,100 direct jobs lead to an increase in
total regional jobs of 15,300. This implies an employment multiplier of 2.167. However, it is not clear how the The
IMPLAN model of Reno or the state of Nevada that the researchers used would not have any data on battery
manufacturing, since there was no history of such production in the region. Presumably, the researchers used the
30
See www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/79th2017/Exhibits/Assembly/GA/AGA355F.pdf
Page | 83
national battery sector, which would lead to an overestimate of regional impacts (the national IMPLAN model
incorporates all suppliers in the US).spinoff impacts were measured, as the authors do not explain their methods.
The IMPLAN model of Reno or the state of Nevada that the researchers used would not have any data on battery
manufacturing, since there was no history of such production in the region. Presumably, the researchers used the
national battery sector, which would lead to an overestimate of regional impacts (the national IMPLAN model
incorporates all suppliers in the US).
Projections for Tesla Gigafactory EV Battery Plant Outside Reno, Nevada
Jobs Payroll Contruction Equipment Installation

2015 700 $39,817,456 $335,000,000 $592,500,000 $88,875,000
2016 1,700 $96,699,536 $345,000,000 $1,382,500,000 $207,375,000
2017 4,700 $267,345,776 $320,000,000 $1,382,500,000 $207,375,000
2018 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $592,500,000 $88,875,000
2019 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $100,000,000 $15,000,000
2020 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $250,000,000 $37,500,000
2021 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $250,000,000 $37,500,000
2022 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $500,000,000 $75,000,000
2023 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $500,000,000 $75,000,000
2024 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $500,000,000 $75,000,000
2025 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $500,000,000 $75,000,000
2026 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $650,000,000 $97,500,000
2027 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $750,000,000 $112,500,000
2028 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $1,000,000,000 $150,000,000
2029 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $0 $0
2030 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $0 $0
2031 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $0 $0
2032 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $0 $0
2033 6,500 $369,733,520 $0 $0 $0
2034 6,500 $184,866,760 $0 $0 $0
20 Year Total $6,504,465,848 $1,000,000,000 $8,950,000,000 $1,342,500,000
Source: "Economic Impact of Tesla on Washoe and Storey Counties", by Applied Economics for the Nevada
Governor's Office, page 5, September 14, 2014.
Construction Payroll at BlueOval SK Site

We are assuming, based on the Tesla analysis, that there will be an average of 4,500 construction jobs over three
years. The latest data on construction pay is shown in the next table, for both the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA
and the State of Kentucky. One can see that the average pay across all construction categories is between $47,200
and $48,500. Given the May 2021 reference date for the pay data, as well as the recent labor shortages in the
Page | 84
trades, we will assume the average pay for the BlueOval SK project to be $50,000 per year. This implies a total
construction payroll of $673 million, or $224 million per year for three years 31.
Average Annual Pay in Selected Construction Occupations, May 2021

Elizabethtown-
Fort Knox State of
SOC Code Occupational title MSA Kentucky
47-0000 All Construction and Extraction Occupations $47,200 $48,510
47-1011 $62,810
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers $67,940
47-2031 Carpenters $41,850 $45,940
47-2051 Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers $40,510 $41,870
47-2061 Construction Laborers $42,850 $39,480
47-2073 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$51,960 $51,580
47-2111 Electricians $50,750 $53,370
47-2141 Painters, Construction and Maintenance $36,800 $39,270
47-2152 Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters $55,940 $57,630
47-2211 Sheet Metal Workers $44,840 $48,730
47-4011 Construction and Building Inspectors $62,060 $53,830
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Survey, www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21060.htm
Operations Payroll at BlueOval SK
The companies have announced that, once operational, there will be around 5,000 full-time employees at the
battery plant. We have used the national employment matrix to make an estimate of the average pay across the
various occupations. Storage battery manufacturing is classified under the industry NAICS 335900, “Other electrical
equipment and component manufacturing”. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles an employment matrix
that reveals the occupational makeup of employees in each industry. The top 25 occupations for this industry are
shown in the next table, along with the average annual wage for each occupation. The weighted average across
these occupations in 2021 was $53,04932. This is likely below the average wage for the BlueOval SK plant, but until
we have better information we will use this pay. Multiplying the 5,000 operations jobs by the average pay gives us
a total annual payroll of $265.2 million 33.
31
BOSK has provided us with an estimate of total construction payroll of $1.6 billion.
32
Limiting the list to the top 25 occupations biases downward the weighted average, since there are several
occupations with fewer workers that earn much higher wages. For example, just outside the top 25 are
Industrial Engineering Technicians ($61,230) and Software Developers ($120,990).
33
BOSK provided us with an estimated breakout of workers by major occupation, as well as an hourly wage range
for most of the workers. The occupational breakout is: 81% operators, 8% maintenance, 5% engineers, 6%
management/supervisor. Using the mid-point of their wage rates for production workers, and BLS averages for
annual salaries of engineering and management occupations, and assuming 2,000 hours per year, we get $440
million payroll per year, excluding fringe benefits.
Page | 85
The average pay shown above does not include fringe benefits, which are expected to be very significant. For
Kentucky manufacturing industries the average fringe rate is 27 percent, i.e., the ratio of employee compensation
Top 25 Occupations in National Employment Matrix, 335900 Other electrical equipment and component manufacturing
2021 2021 Percent Average
Occupation Employment of Industry Annual
Code Occupation Title (000) Employment Wage
51-2028 Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers 28.1 19.8 $39,630
51-2090 Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators 15.0 10.6 $37,780
51-9061 Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers 5.2 3.7 $44,810
51-1011 First-line supervisors of production and operating workers 5.1 3.6 67,330
17-2112 Industrial engineers 3.6 2.5 $95,200
53-7062 Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand 3.5 2.5 $34,950
41-4012 Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products 3.2 2.2 $72,390
43-5071 Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks 3.2 2.2 $38,210
51-4021 Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 3.2 2.3 $40,520
11-1021 General and operations managers 3.1 2.2 $115,250
51-4041 Machinists 3.1 2.2 $49,020
51-4081 Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 3.0 2.1 $40,830
17-2071 Electrical engineers 2.5 1.8 $107,890
11-3051 Industrial production managers 2.0 1.4 $117,780
17-2141 Mechanical engineers 2.0 1.4 $97,000
49-9071 Maintenance and repair workers, general 2.0 1.4 $44,920
43-4051 Customer service representatives 1.9 1.4 $39,070
17-3023 Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians 1.8 1.3 $69,070
51-4072 Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic 1.8 1.3 $37,530
13-1020 Buyers and purchasing agents 1.6 1.2 $72,540
13-2011 Accountants and auditors 1.5 1.0 $83,980
43-5061 Production, planning, and expediting clerks 1.5 1.1 $52,220
43-9061 Office clerks, general 1.5 1.0 $38,990
49-9041 Industrial machinery mechanics 1.5 1.1 $58,780
51-4121 Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers 1.4 1.0 $48,290
Top 25 occupations 102.3 72.3 $53,049
Total, all occupations 142.2

Source for occupational makeup of industry: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=335900&ioType=i
Source for wage data: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
to wages and salaries paid. However, the rate is higher for manufacturing of electrical equipment (37 percent) and
manufacturing of motor vehicles (28 percent). These fringe rates are very consistent over time. Using the more
specific electrical equipment rate implies that total labor compensation at the BlueOval SK batter plant will be
$363.1 million annually. With average wages of $53,049, this implies average total compensation of $72,700 per
operations job.
Page | 86
Fringe Benefits in Manufacturing, Kentucky, 2021
Compensation of Wages and
employees salaries Ratio
Manufacturing $19,842,591,000 $15,603,496,000 1.27
Durable goods manufacturing $12,723,443,000 $9,982,472,000 1.27
Wood product mfg $555,240,000 $440,498,000 1.26
Nonmetallic mineral product mfg $532,029,000 $424,742,000 1.25
Primary metal mfg $1,209,149,000 $975,997,000 1.24
Fabricated metal product mfg $1,614,946,000 $1,320,706,000 1.22
Machinery mfg $1,576,435,000 $1,245,518,000 1.27
Computer and electronic product mfg $426,546,000 $338,795,000 1.26
Electrical equipment, appliance, and component mfg $1,197,085,000 $874,426,000 1.37
Motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts mfg $4,622,970,000 $3,620,500,000 1.28
Other transportation equipment mfg $345,605,000 $265,390,000 1.30
Furniture and related product mfg $231,430,000 $189,380,000 1.22
Miscellaneous mfg $412,008,000 $286,520,000 1.44
Modeling the Linkages Between the New Developments and Overall Regional Activity
We have constructed IMPLAN models of Hardin County, the 3-county Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA, and the 10-
county region of interest34. These models reveal the economic activity in each of over 500 industries, as well as
how much each industry purchases from the other industries to generate its output. The models also predict how
the new payroll translates in new household income and then local spending on goods and services. We use the
models to predict the spinoff impacts of the battery plant construction and then the ongoing impacts of
models are not
operations. There is no history of battery production in the region, and hence our default
capable of simulating the operation. We made several adjustments to the models to more
accurately reflect the how the plant will likely impact the region.
Modeling the linkages between capital expenditures and overall regional activity
The construction phase involves developing the necessary infrastructure (roads, water, sewers,
telecommunications, parking lots, lighting), putting up the two large buildings, and installing the manufacturing
equipment. The companies have announced an investment total of $5.8 billion over three years, though detailed
spending by category has not been released. Much of the infrastructure has been put in place by the state and
Hardin County prior to the BlueOval SK decision. We focus here on the impact of constructing the buildings and
installing the equipment35.
Since we do not know the breakout of spending between buildings and equipment, we have analyzed these on a
‘per $100 million’ basis. That way, the impact estimates can be scaled up to the ultimate capital investment when
more details become available. We use our IMPLAN models of the region to predict each type of impact.
34
For information about the model, see www.implan.com .
35
Barry Kornstein built the spending patterns profiles for the construction phase, and simulated the model.
Page | 87
First consider the construction of the buildings. For Hardin County alone, our model predicts 825 direct
construction jobs per $100 million in construction spending, and total of 1,067 jobs across all industries in the
County. One can see in the table how the estimated impacts rise as the geographic reference area is widened. The
indirect effects reveal the impact of interindustry spending. The induced effects reveal the impact of new
household spending. One can see that the household spending impacts are greater than the interindustry impacts.
This reflects the fact that construction materials must be imported into the region, and thus there are relatively
few supplier-related jobs. The spending chain from construction payroll has a greater impact on the regional
economy than the supply chain for materials.
The models also predict the new labor income generated by the construction. For all three geographies, the
estimated direct labor income is between $43 and $45 million. This indicates that labor accounts for over 40
Predicted Employment Impacts

per $100 million of manufacturing construction
Elizabethtown-
Fort Knox 10-County
Hardin County MSA Region
Direct 825.2 852.4 875.6
Indirect 91.9 94.5 106.1
Induced 149.8 168.2 181.4
Total 1,066.8 1,115.0 1,163.1
Source: IMPLAN models, using 2019 economic data; simulation of sector
#51 "Construction of new manufacturing structures"
Predicted Labor Income Impacts

per $100 million of manufacturing construction
Elizabethtown-
Fort Knox 10-County
Hardin County MSA Region
Direct $42,876,305 $43,409,141 $45,391,668
Indirect $5,179,188 $5,091,437 $5,271,638
Induced $6,076,670 $6,516,855 $6,656,621
Total $54,132,162 $55,017,434 $57,319,927
Source: IMPLAN models, using 2019 economic data; simulation of sector
#51 "Construction of new manufacturing structures"
Page | 88
percent of the building construction cost. The total predicted labor income, direct plus spinoff, rises from $54
million when considering Hardin County alone to $57 million when zooming out to the 10-county region. If one
divides the direct labor income by direct employment, one can see that the average income per job is just under
$52,000, in line with the occupational wage data we analyzed in the previous section.
These estimates can be scaled up as needed to reflect the actual building construction costs. If, for example, the
buildings cost $1 billion to construct, the estimates shown here can be multiplied by ten. Keep in mind that the
model predictions are on an annual basis, while the construction phase will last three years.
Given the new one percent occupational tax levied on the special district, we can use these estimates to get a feel
for the taxes that will be generated from construction. Keeping with the $1 billion example, the direct Hardin
County labor income would generate $4.3 million in occupational taxes. Most of the spin-off labor income in
Hardin County would presumably be captured in Elizabethtown or one of the other municipalities in the County
that levy their own occupational tax.
Next, consider the impact of expenditures on equipment. Again, we simulate the impact on a per $100 million
basis, which can be scaled up as more information about actual expenditures becomes available. Here the regional
economic impacts are much smaller than for the construction of the buildings. This is due to lack of local suppliers
of the sophisticated equipment needed for the battery plant. The model predicts only 60 total jobs for Hardin
County, and 82 total jobs for the 10-county region.
Similarly, the predicted labor income impacts are relatively small, only $4.2 million under the 10-county simulation.
Predicted Employment Impacts

per $100 million of manufacturing equipment expenditures
Hardin Elizabethtown- 10-County
County Fort Knox MSA Region
Direct 37.9 39.7 52.6
Indirect 12.1 12.2 16.5
Induced 9.5 10.5 13.2
Total 59.5 62.4 82.3
Source: IMPLAN models, using 2019 economic data; simulation using capital
expenditures (Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment) template 3359 - Other electrical
equipment and component manufacturing
So, for example, if capital expenditures on equipment were $1 billion, we can multiply these results by ten. For the
10-county region, the model predicts 823 new jobs and $42.1 million in new labor income. Note that this only
refers to the capital expenditures, not the labor required for installation. The labor component is included in the
construction section just discussed.
Page | 89
Predicted Labor Income Impacts
per $100 million of manufacturing equipment expenditures
Hardin Elizabethtown- 10-County
County Fort Knox MSA Region
Direct $2,588,193 $2,500,989 $3,036,971
Indirect $587,174 $553,712 $686,823
Induced $386,991 $408,940 $484,038
Total $3,562,358 $3,463,641 $4,207,832
Source: IMPLAN models, using 2019 economic data; simulation using capital
expenditures (Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment) template 3359 - Other electrical
equipment and component manufacturing
Modeling the linkages between plant operation and overall regional activity
We turn now to modeling the impact of the battery plant operation. One of the industries in the model is sector
number 333, is ‘Storage battery manufacturing’. Unfortunately, because there is no history of regional economic
activity in battery manufacturing, the models are empty of data for the sector. To simulate the battery plant, we
have used the national production function for that industry and introduced battery employment 36. The model
looks at what is required (nationally) to make storage batteries, checks that against the local capacity for each
supplying industry, and predicts the regional spin-off activity37.
Currently, as one might expect, the region does not supply much of what a battery plant requires. Many of the
most important inputs are minerals mined and processed elsewhere, typically outside the US. However, several
key suppliers have announced major investments in Hardin County. In July 2022, Lotte Aluminum Materials USA,
Annual Economic Impact of 5,000 Battery Plant Jobs, 10-County Region

Impact Type Employment Labor Income Value Added Output
Direct Effect 5,000.0 $394,406,081 $653,168,025 $1,828,114,564

Indirect Effect 1,397.4 $70,292,335 $119,665,315 $286,712,700
Induced Effect 1,618.8 $60,217,751 $121,232,215 $223,083,101
Total Effect 8,016.2 $524,916,167 $894,065,556 $2,337,910,364
implied multiplier 1.603 1.331 1.369 1.279
Source: modified IMPLAN model of 10-county region, using 2019 economic data.
36
Barry Kornstein performed the adjustments to the model, and provided explanations that are paraphrased here.
37
The process is actually more complicate than this. When battery manufacturing is introduced into the model, the
regional inputs it uses are then not available to other industries that use those inputs. This mitigates some of
the positive multiplier effects predicted by the model.
Page | 90
was approved by the City of Elizabethtown for an Industrial Revenue Bond valued at $250 million38. Lotte, a South
Korean firm, will make cathode aluminum to supply the EV battery plant, and expects to employ 122 people full-
time. In August 2022, South Korea’s Advanced Nano Products announced a $50 million investment in a ‘carbon
battery nanomaterials’ plant in Hardin County, to create 93 high-paying jobs39. We have adjusted the IMPLAN
models to reflect this new supplier capacity; and also adjusted it to reflect local (as opposed to national) average
pay per job in the battery industry.
The largest regional spinoff impacts are in sectors like truck transportation, restaurants, building materials, and
building services. The result, summarized in the table above for the case of 5,000 battery plant workers, shows an
employment multiplier of 1.603, which is modest for a manufacturing industry. Note that the Indirect Effect, which
captures interindustry spending linkages, is only an additional 1,397 jobs. The Induced Effect, which measures the
effect of new household spending related to the extra payroll in the region, provides an additional 1,619 jobs. This
indicates that, without the presence of more major battery plant suppliers in the region, the largest economic
impact is through the new payroll caused by the plant.
Note that IMPLAN predicts direct labor income of $394.4 million, which is slightly higher than the $363.1 million
we predicted above using BLS data on manufacturing pay and fringes. This type of difference is common in such
modeling exercises.
For the same simulation, the top ten sectors most impacted in terms of employment are shown in the next table.
Again, the main employment gains are expected in consumer-facing industries, driven by the higher household
incomes due to the battery plant. Sectors like restaurants, retail, and auto repair are most linked to household, not
industrial, spending.
Sector Description Employment Labor Income Value Added Output
333 Storage battery manufacturing 5,000.0 $394,406,081 $653,168,025 $1,828,114,564
417 Truck transportation 188.2 $13,083,162 $15,339,813 $30,627,470
510 Limited-service restaurants 141.9 $2,609,575 $4,260,771 $10,708,800
447 Other real estate 127.8 $2,065,737 $7,120,265 $22,735,097
476 Services to buildings 118.8 $3,234,431 $4,153,723 $8,850,933
405 Retail - Building material and garden equip and supplies 114.4 $4,668,019 $8,357,187 $12,801,477
509 Full-service restaurants 110.0 $2,334,228 $3,465,061 $6,832,929
396 Wholesale - Other durable goods merchants 108.0 $5,698,342 $11,059,914 $24,613,381
411 Retail - General merchandise stores 91.6 $2,768,508 $3,947,540 $6,682,988
512 Automotive repair and maint, except car washes 75.2 $4,499,397 $5,185,577 $7,851,433
As expected, the battery plant multipliers are slightly smaller when the geographic scope is reduced. For example,
the employment multiplier for the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA is 1.591, and for Hardin County alone is 1.555.
38
See www.thenewsenterprise.com/news/local/two-new-companies-coming-to-e-town-s-industrial-
park/article_d035f4fa-0c91-11ed-b525-ef0e07d950d6.html
39
See www.lanereport.com/158717/2022/08/advanced-nano-products-creating-93-jobs-with-nearly-50m-
investment-to-locate-in-
elizabethtown/?utm_source=Faster%20Lane%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=
Page | 91
The primarily reflects the smaller markets to capture household spending as fewer counties are included in the
analysis.
We have focused on employment impacts, but the model also tracks other economic categories. Labor income
includes not only wages and salaries of employees, but also fringe benefits and income to self-employed persons
and/or unincorporated business owners. Output is the value of production. Value added is the difference between
an industry’s Output and the cost of its intermediate inputs. That is, it is a measure of the industry’s contribution
to regional GDP. Value added is the best measure of how much of Output ‘sticks’ to the regional economy. A good
example is a new car dealership. If a person pays $35,000 for a new car, only two or three thousand dollars are
likely captured locally, as most of the spending goes to an out-of-the-region car manufacturer.
Clearly, everyone expects the battery plant to quickly draw suppliers to the site and region. As these are identified,
we can add these to the model and this will yield higher and higher estimates of regional economic impact. The
Tesla Gigafactory outside Reno is a good example. There are now many supplier operations located near its battery
factory.
Pay increases over time

The Toyota/Georgetown experience suggests that average wages rise as workers gain experience, productivity
improves, and the cost of living increases. The accompanying chart shows the strong growth in average wages
statewide the past several years, as the job market tightened and inflation returned. One can also see the declines
in average wages after the 2009-10 recession. The compound annual growth rate over the fifteen years shown is
2.8 percent. Assuming a 3.0 percent annual growth rate for the EV plant implies that total wages would grow to
$356 million by 2035. The one percent occupational tax recently levied for the site would then generate $3.6
million per year.
Page | 92
Average Hourly Earnings, Manufacturing Workers, Kentucky
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Survey
$30.00
$28.20
$26.81
$25.00
$24.64
$22.24 $21.83 $22.67

$21.52 $21.73 $21.72 $22.07 $21.99
$20.61 $20.25 $20.63
$20.00
$19.59
$18.56
$15.00
$10.00
$5.00
$0.00
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Electricity Usage
The company expects to purchase 1,900 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually to operate the plant. We do not
have access to the confidential industrial electricity rate negotiated by the company, presumable with LGE/KU. The
US Energy Information Agency reports that industrial electricity users in Kentucky paid around 6.5 cents per
kilowatt-hour in March 202340. Presumably, such a large customer as BOSK could negotiate a lower rate than the
state average. At 5.0 cents, that implies an annual electricity purchase of $95 million. Hardin County schools levy a
three percent sales tax on utilities41. Under these assumptions, the school system would receive $2.85 million
annually from the tax.
40
See www.eia.gov/electricity/data.php#sales
41
See rates at https://revenue.ky.gov/Business/Utility-Gross-Receipts-License-Tax/Pages/default.aspx
Page | 93
Anticipated Regional Growth in Population, Housing, K-12 Students
Revised Draft: June 12, 2023
The new BlueOval SK EV battery plant and other recent announcements certainly ensure regional growth in
employment, population, housing, school enrollment, traffic, health care, retail sales, and a host of other economic
and demographic measures. But how much growth? No one knows for sure, as there are yet so many key decisions
and responses to make. Businesses have plans, but plans have a habit of changing under new conditions.
Will suppliers to the battery plant move operations to Hardin County, or simply ship the materials and components
in from existing facilities? How will the large remaining acreage fill up with suppliers or other manufacturing
operations? Will local governments accommodate the growth in housing, or will some refuse to extend utilities
and grant building permits? Will Hardin County absorb the bulk of new workers and residents, or will most jobs be
filled by residents of surrounding counties? How many jobs will be filled by workers moving to Kentucky from
downsized Ford (or other company’s) plants in other states? Will the pay scale at the battery plant draw workers
from existing manufactures in the Elizabethtown area, creating labor shortages and new worker recruitment and
training challenges? Will all county school systems add classrooms and staff, or will new workers with children opt
to move to the county most ready to grow and educate?
These kinds of questions cannot be answered with any precision in advance. However, we can begin to anticipate
the size and character of regional growth by studying other communities that have experiences a transformational
industrial development. Two examples stand out – Georgetown KY and Reno NV. We find that:
1. The Toyota plant in Georgetown began producing Camrys in 1988, beginning with about 3,000 workers. It
now employs around 8,000 people. With the new Toyota plant and suppliers, Scott County began a long
boom in jobs, population, and housing.
2. Scott County has been one of the fastest growing Kentucky counties over the past three decades, almost
tripling in population. The strong employment growth caused many people to move to the Georgetown
area. Scott County’s proximity to fast-growing Lexington also makes it an attractive location for
commuters who can zip down I-75 and be in Fayette County in minutes.
3. An 8,000 growth in Scott County manufacturing jobs was accompanied by a 37,000 growth in County
residents, a population growth factor of 4.6. If we were to apply that to the 5,000 new manufacturing jobs
expected for Hardin County, this would lead a growth in Hardin’s population of 22,380. As we get more
information about suppliers setting up operations in the region this estimate will need to be revised
upwards.
4. Both the total number of workers in Scott County, as well as the number of Scott County residents
working there essentially doubled over the period. The total number of people working in Scott grew by
15,900, with 8,100 of those filled by Scott County residents. Fayette supplied the most additional workers
(2,700), followed by Harrison (1,000), Madison (700), and Bourbon (400). The Scott County experience
suggest that counties surrounding Hardin would provide one-half of the workers induced by the growth in
Hardin. However, since Hardin County has a much larger population and labor force than Scott, we
believe up to three-fourths of the workers will be Hardin residents.
5. The Toyota-induced boom, beginning in 1988, led to an increase in housing units directly proportional to
the increase in population. Based on the Scott County experience, the growth in Hardin County’s
population would lead to 8,811 new housing units.
Page | 94
6. In Scott County, there was a slight shift toward home rental as opposed to ownership during the first
decade after Toyota began operations. The homeownership rate slipped from 67% to 66% from 1980 to
1990. However, over the last three decades the homeownership rate increased substantially and is now
over 72%. Hardin County has a low homeownership rate, 61%, due to the large military population. With
over 16,000 renter-occupied units, a very high rental vacancy rate of 8.1%, and thousands of new units in
the permit stage, Hardin seems well-positioned to handle the early influx of new residents.
7. There is an indication that the Scott County housing market was over-built by 2010, with the overall
vacancy rate (combined owner-occupied and renter-occupied) at 9.8%. It has since come back to its
historical norm of just over 6%. Due to Scott’s small residential workforce, the Toyota plant drew workers
from over 75 Kentucky counties. Many long-distance commuters stayed in RV parks and extended stay
hotels. This is much less likely in Hardin County.
8. There was a tight relationship between population growth and school enrollment in Scott County. By
2020, there were 142 public school students per 1,000 Scott County residents. Applying that ratio to the
projected Hardin County population growth calculated above, this suggests that the Hardin County
schools might add 3,901 students. The Scott County experience suggests that the greatest growth in
students comes several years after the initial surge in manufacturing jobs. Also, the growth in enrollment
was very even across grade levels, suggesting an even age profile for the new households.
9. Tesla opened its lithium-ion battery plant (Gigafactory) near Reno in 2016, and has steadily increased
direct employment, as have its suppliers. The facility is in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC), along
Interstate 80, about 24 miles east of Reno. TRIC, anchored by Tesla, now has about 15,000 employees,
compared to 2,000 employees a decade earlier.
10. The Gigafactory and TRIC are situated in very sparsely populated Storey County. It is very arid and has few
towns, homes, or schools.
11. The workforce at the Gigafactory and TRIC are primarily commuters from Reno-Washoe County. The
demographic and economic impact of the industrial park on the Reno MSA is much harder to detect than
that for Georgetown and Scott County, as the Reno market is much bigger than that of Georgetown or
Elizabethtown. The population of the Reno MSA was already growing steadily before the Gigafactory was
developed. There was a slight acceleration of population in the 2015 to 2020 period, but it is difficult to
attribute all that to the explosive growth at the industrial park.
12. Using historical ratios, the anticipated growth in Hardin County’s population will lead to a need to
increase hospital capacity by 75 beds, associated with an additional 389 hospital jobs. The population
growth will also support an increase of 380 ambulatory care jobs, e.g., at offices of physicians.
The Toyota-Scott County experience

The most relevant case study in Kentucky is that of the Georgetown Toyota plant. It began producing Camrys in
1988, with about 3,000 employees. It has subsequently added production lines and now employs about 8,000
people42. Several auto-related suppliers have also located there. Scott County had a small population in the mid-
1980s and has tripled since.
42
See The Kentucky Encyclopedia, John Kleber editor, 1992, page 891; and
https://pressroom.toyota.com/facility/toyota-motor-manufacturing-kentucky-tmmk/
Page | 95
Before we examine the historical data, we should recognize two primary differences between the industrial sites.
First, Elizabethtown and Hardin County are much larger and more economically diversified than Georgetown and
Scott County was thirty-five years ago. Part of this is sheer size, as Hardin County encompasses 628 square miles,
compared to only 285 square miles in Scott County. Second, Scott County is adjacent to Fayette County, and part
of the Lexington MSA, thus providing a large nearby workforce and supplier network. Hardin County is part of the
three-county Elizabethtown-Fort Knox MSA, and therefore is more self-contained.
One can see the exponential growth in manufacturing employment in Scott County beginning in the late 1980s.
Employment went from around 3,000 jobs to 12,000 jobs over the next decade and remains above 10,000 today.
In 1970, manufacturing accounted for 30 percent of all wage and salary jobs in Scott County; by 1998,
manufacturing accounted for 51 percent of those jobs. The share is now down to 37 percent, as strong population
growth induced thousands of new retail and service jobs.
Manufacturing Employment in Scott County, KY

14,000
Toyota production begins

12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
Estimates are on a SIC basis through
2000, then on a NAICS basis.
0
Page | 96
The manufacturing jobs were filled by a mixture of existing County residents, new County residents, and
commuters from surrounding counties. The average wage for Scott County manufacturing jobs is now over
$77,100 per year, with another $18,500 in fringe benefits, meaning these are some of the best jobs in the state of
Kentucky. Scott County has been one of the fastest growing Kentucky counties over the past four decades, almost
tripling in population. The strong employment growth caused many people to move to the Georgetown area. Scott
County’s proximity to fast-growing Lexington also makes it an attractive location for commuters who can zip down
I-75 and be in Fayette County in minutes.
Population Growth in Scott County, KY

70,000
Toyota production begins

60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
Estimates are on a SIC basis through
2000, then on a NAICS basis.
0
Page | 97
So, there are several contributing factors to Scott’s population growth.
How have commuting patterns around Scott County changed since
the late 1980s? The latest data reveals the wide range of
County of Residence of Workers in
commuters from around the Bluegrass region. Sixteen Kentucky
Scott County KY, 2011-2015
counties each provide more than 150 workers to Scott County, and
six counties supply more than 500 workers. These are all in the Scott 14,962 52.7%
Bluegrass region, with the most workers supplied by adjacent Fayette 4,696 16.5%
Fayette (4,700) and Harrison (1,500) counties. Madison, Bourbon, Harrison 1,531 5.4%
Franklin and Clark counties each supply between 500 and 1,000
workers. Woodford and Jessamine counties also supply a significant
Madison 808 2.8%
number of workers to Scott County. Interstate 75 makes it a short Bourbon 683 2.4%
trip, for example, for the 39 miles from Richmond to Georgetown. Franklin 645 2.3%
Compare now the commuting patterns in 1990 with the most Clark 573 2.0%
recent data. We see that the number of Scott County residents Woodford 456 1.6%
working in Scott
County of Residence of Workers in Jessamine 419 1.5%
County more than
doubled since 1990. Scott County KY, 1990 Census Owen 297 1.0%
Only two Scott 6,907 55.4% Grant 253 0.9%
surrounding Fayette 2,046 16.4% Anderson 252 0.9%
counties, Fayette
Harrison 545 4.4% Shelby 232 0.8%
and Harrison,
supplied more than Franklin 357 2.9% Jefferson 230 0.8%
500 workers to Jefferson 336 2.7% Montgomery 224 0.8%
Scott. Fayette more
Bourbon 285 2.3% Nicholas 218 0.8%
than doubled its
commuter flow to Clark 222 1.8% Pendleton 155 0.5%
Scott over the Owen 215 1.7%
subsequent twenty-
Woodford 163 1.3% Other counties 1,747 6.2%
five years, and
Harrison tripled its Madison 153 1.2%
supply of workers. A Montgomery 90 0.7% Total workers 28,381 100.0%
similar ramp-up in Grant 88 0.7% Source: US Census Bureau, estimates for
commuters is 2011-15.
Jessamine 87 0.7%
evident throughout www.census.gov/data/tables/2015/de
the Bluegrass Estill 66 0.5% mo/metro-micro/commuting-flows-
region. Madison Anderson 58 0.5% 2015.html
County, for
example, increased.
Other counties 859 6.9%
Total workers 12,477 100.0%
Source: US Census Bureau

https://www2.census.gov/programs-
surveys/commuting/datasets/1990/worker-
flow/kywrkco.txt
Page | 98
Note that both the total number of workers in Scott County, as well as the number of Scott County residents
working there both doubled over the period. The total number of people working in Scott grew by 15,900, with
8,100 of those filled by Scott County residents. Which counties in the region made up the difference? Fayette
supplied the most additional workers (2,700), followed by Harrison (1,000), Madison (700), and Bourbon (400). The
Scott County experience suggest that Hardin County will see strong population growth because of the new battery
plant. Moreover, the surrounding counties will provide one-half of the workers induced by the growth in Hardin.
This will also stimulate the counties in the region, causing them to grow faster than otherwise.
Let us summarize the historical relationship between job and population growth in Scott County. Interestingly,
over the forty years shown in the table, the growth rate for all wage and salary jobs is the same as the growth rate
in manufacturing jobs (approximately 300%). This suggests a strong linkage between Toyota (plus other
manufacturers) and county-wide employment in retail and service industries.
Scott County Job and Population Growth

Growth 1980 Growth
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 to 2020 rate
Manufacturing jobs 2,616 5,089 11,401 7,994 10,579 7,963 304.4%
All wage and salary jobs 7,079 11,997 24,418 22,724 28,932 21,853 308.7%
Population 21,834 23,943 33,422 47,271 58,470 36,636 167.8%

Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Jobs are on a place of work basis, not place of residence. Population estimates are as of July 1; whereas
decennial census estimates area as of April 1.
However, the growth in population was much slower than job growth, consistent with our discussion of regional
commuting patterns above. An 8,000 growth in manufacturing jobs was accompanied by a 37,000 growth in
County residents, a population growth factor of 4.6. If we were to apply that to the 5,000 new manufacturing jobs
expected for Hardin County, this would lead a growth in Hardin’s population of 22,380.
Housing. How did the housing market in Scott County respond to the strong population and employment growth?
It turns out that the number of housing units grew at an almost identical rate as did population. Just looking at the
thirty-year period from 1990 to 2020, we see that the household population grew by 33,200 (145%), while 13,600
housing units were added (149%). As a result, the average number of people per household remained unchanged.
Based on the Scott County experience, the growth in Hardin County’s population would lead to 8,811 new housing
units.
There was slight shift toward home rental as opposed to ownership during the first decade after Toyota began
operations. The homeownership rate slipped from 67% to 66% from 1980 to 1990. However, over the last three
decades the homeownership rate increased substantially and is now over 72%.
Page | 99
Scott County Housing Characteristics
ACS 2016-
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2020
Total population 21,813 23,867 33,061 47,173 55,961 57,155
Household population 20,817 22,866 31,593 45,857 54,648 56,054
In group quarters 996 1,001 1,468 1,316 1,313 1,101
Total housing units 7,782 9,173 12,977 19,303 22,535 22,795

Occupied housing units (households) 7,268 8,501 12,110 17,408 21,186 21,371
Owner-occupied housing units 4,878 5,628 8,450 12,336 15,326
Renter-occupied housing units 2,390 2,873 3,660 5,072 5,358
Vacant units 514 672 867 1,895 1,349 1,424
Share of occupied units owner-occupied 67.1% 66.2% 69.8% 70.9% 72.3%

Overall vacancy rate 6.6% 7.3% 6.7% 9.8% 6.0% 6.2%
Persons per household 2.86 2.69 2.61 2.63 2.58 2.62
Median value, owner-occupied units * $44,000 $68,200 $107,900 $197,900

Median rent, renter-occupied units * $195 $270 $513 $934
Source: US Census Bureau, decennial census results, plus the American Community Survey 5-year average for 2016-2020. Beginning with the 2010 decennial
census, only a few housing questions were included. Detailed housing characteristics are now only available from the ACS each year.
* For decennial census years, the valuations refer to the prior year, e.g., 1980 Census refers to home values in 1979.
There is also an indication that the housing market was over-built by 2010 (as it was nationally), with the overall
vacancy rate (combined owner-occupied and renter-occupied) at 9.8%. It has since come back to its historical norm
of just over 6%.
Following our projection of Hardin County’ population in the previous section, we can apply the Scott County
housing experience to project new housing units in Hardin. Adding 22,380 new residents to Hardin would require
about 8,811 new housing units.
Schools. We see that public school enrollment grew rapidly after Toyota arrived, but not as fast as population or
jobs. Jobs are measured on a place of work basis, so it makes sense that all the regional commuters into Scott
Summary of School Attendance Relative to Population and Jobs

Scott County, KY
Growth
1988 to
1988 1990 2000 2010 2020 2020 rate
Schools: average daily attendance 3,852 4,173 5,066 7,175 8,331 4,479 116.3%
County population 22,852 23,943 33,422 47,271 58,470 35,618 155.9%
Wage and salary jobs in County 9,358 11,997 24,418 22,724 28,932 19,574 209.2%
Students per 1,000 residents 169 174 152 152 142 -26 -15.5%
Students per 1,000 waga and salary jobs 412 348 207 316 288 -124 -30.0%
Sources: school attendance from Kentucky Department of Education; population and jobs from US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Page | 100
County would not put pressure on the school system. The relationship is tighter with population growth. But the
new residents of the County did not induce public K-12 enrollment at the pre-Toyota rate.43 Alternatively, the new
residents did not have kids at the historical rate. By 2020, there were 142 public school students per 1,000 Scott
County residents. Applying that ratio to the projected Hardin County population growth calculated above, this
suggests that the Hardin County schools might add 3,901 students.
One can see that average daily attendance (ADA) in Scott County public schools has more than doubled since
Toyota began operation. ADA was 3,852 in 1988 and was 8,331 in the 2020 school year. Interestingly, the greatest
growth rate in ADA was not during the first decade, but in the 2000 to 2010 decade.
This aligns with County population growth rates, which were also the strongest in that second decade. Also note
the recent flattening of attendance, with no growth since 2016.
What was the age profile of new students? Thankfully, there are grade-level enrollment data available since the
1999-2000 school year, and these are summarized in the next chart. One can see the strong growth in 2000-2010
decade, where kindergarten attendance jumped 55 percent, grade 1 to 3 attendance jumped 42 percent, grade 4-8
attendance jumped 44 percent, and high school attendance jumped 41 percent. The evenness of the growth across
grades suggests that new residents brought an even age profile of students to the County.
43
There is at least one private school in Scott County, St. John’s Catholic, K-8 with 150 students. Interestingly, the
school had been closed since 1976, but came back to life just as Toyota was building their new plant. See
https://stjohnschoolonline.org/st-john-school-history . Its enrollment is of course not included in the public-
school attendance data shown here.
Page | 101
Scott County Schools, Average Daily Attendance
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
Source: Kentucky Department of Education, annual Revenue and Expenditure reports,
https://education.ky.gov/districts/FinRept/Pages/Historical-Revenues-and-Expenditures.aspx
0
1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Scott County School Attendance

Source: Kentucky Department of Education,Superintendent's Annual Attendance Report (SAAR)
10,000
9,000
Grades 9 to 12
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
Grades 4 to 8
4,000
3,000
2,000 Grades 1 to 3
1,000
Kindergarten
0
Page | 102
The Tesla Gigafactory in Storey County, NV (Reno MSA) experience
Tesla opened its lithium-ion battery plant near Reno in 2016, and has steadily increased direct employment, as
have suppliers44. The facility is in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC), along Interstate 80, about 24 miles east
of Reno. TRIC, anchored by Tesla, now has about 15,000 employees, compared to 2,000 employees a decade
earlier. How has that job growth translated into demographic and housing growth in the region?
One can see in the next chart that before Tesla there almost no manufacturing jobs in Storey County. From 2015 to
2020, the County added 10,000 manufacturing jobs. Other sectors also posted strong growth, particularly
transportation and warehousing, which added 1,500 jobs. Across all industries, the County gained 12,500 jobs,
doubling its employment base in just five years.
The average annual pay in manufacturing is now over $96,500, with fringe benefits bringing the average
compensation to over $117,000, in Storey County, meaning these are some of the best paying jobs in the state of
Nevada.
Manufacturing Employment in Storey County, Nevada

14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
44
For an overview, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigafactory_Nevada and
www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2021/dec/25/gilman-reflects-10-years-tahoe-reno-industrial-cen/ .
For a major recent supplier announcement, see www.wsj.com/articles/redwood-materials-plans-3-5-
billion-battery-materials-plant-in-nevada-11658750400
Page | 103
Storey County is part of the Reno MSA, together with Washoe County and Carson City. The MSA has a population
of over 480,000. Storey County is very arid and sparsely populated, with only 4,300 residents. So, the workforce at
the Gigafactory and TRIC are primarily commuters from Reno-Washoe County. The demographic and economic
impact of the industrial park on the Reno MSA is much harder to detect than that for Georgetown and Scott
County. One can see that the population of the Reno MSA was
already growing steadily before the Gigafactory was developed. Pop Growth, Reno MSA
There was an acceleration in the 2015 to 2020 period, but it is 2005 to 2010 to 2015 to
difficult to attribute all that to the explosive growth at the 2010 2015 2020
industrial park. The Reno market is much bigger than that of
Georgetown or Elizabethtown. 29,420 20,532 34,791
7.4% 4.8% 7.8%
However, it is clear from economic data that manufacturing was
the strongest growth component in the Reno MSA since 2015. The
growth in manufacturing jobs in the MSA mirror that in Storey County. No other industrial sector posted a
comparable employment growth rate in the MSA.
Manufacturing Employment in Reno NV MSA

30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Indeed, total MSA employment grew only 8.5 percent between 2015 and 2020, compared to 78.5 percent growth
for manufacturing. With such high annual pay, clearly the Gigafactory and TRIC have been the growth engine for
Reno the past several years.
I find some evidence that the run up in manufacturing employment boosted home prices in the Reno MSA. The
Federal Housing Finance Agency uses home purchase transactions to monitor the growth in prices. As one can see
in the chart, Reno follows the national pattern, with the pre-bubble buildup in 2004 to 2006 followed by the
Page | 104
national housing bust and recession of 2007 to 2010. However, Reno did see a relative acceleration in home prices
as the Gigafactory was being built and then operating, with Reno’s prices rising faster than the national average
from the second quarter of 2014 through the second quarter of 2017. It appears that once the plant was up and
running that the housing marker reverted to its traditional pattern.
Year-Over-Year Growth Rate, Index of Housing Prices

50%
40%
30%
20%
Reno MSA
10%
United States
Nevada
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
-10%
-20%
Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency, Housing Price Index, quarterly, not seasonally adjusted,
www.fhfa.gov/DataTools/Downloads/Pages/House-Price-Index-Datasets.aspx#mpo
-30%
Given the above, I do not believe there is a lot to learn from the Gigafactory experience regarding demographics
and housing. The industrial park is in a very sparsely populated county, with little in the way of infrastructure,
housing or schools. Employees at the Storey County facility commute from adjacent and very developed Reno and
Washoe County. In 2020 the Washoe population is 477,000, compared to Storey’s population of only 4,200.
Indeed, there are four times more people working in Storey County than there are residents. Washoe County was
large enough to absorb the new employees and residents without unusual stress on its housing market. There is
plenty to learn, however, from studying the suppliers that built operations next to the Gigafactory.
Page | 105
Anticipated Growth in Health Care Industry
How will the expected growth in Hardin County’s population translate into growth in health care facilities? Scott
County KY is not a good example to study, since it is so proximate to Lexington and its major hospitals. However,
one of the boomtowns we have analyzed, Meridian ID, provides some rich insights. Meridian is the fastest growing
city in Idaho. It is in Ada County, which includes Boise, and is by far the most populous county in the state. One can
see the exponential growth in the following chart, particularly over the last few decades. The county has added
200,000 residents in just the last twenty years.
Population of Ada County, Idaho

600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Page | 106
Good data on health care employment in Ada County is available since 2001. We examine two sectors –
ambulatory care facilities45 and hospitals. Between 2001 and 2021, the county population grew 62 percent, while
employment at ambulatory care facilities grew 182 percent, and hospital employment grew 58 percent. The next
chart summarizes the recent growth in employment in terms of jobs per thousand residents. As elsewhere, there
has been a shift from inpatient to outpatient treatment, so that now there are more jobs at the ambulatory care
facilities than at hospitals. Combining the two sectors, we find that the number of employees per thousand
residents rose from 43 to 59 over the period shown. The overall increase in health care employment per capita is
due to the aging population. The median age of county residents increased from 33.0 in 2000 to 37.8 years in
2020.
Health Care Employment per 1,000 Residents, Ada County Idaho

40
35
Hospitals
30
25
Ambulatory Care
20
15
10
5
Source: Employment data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and
Wages, for NAICS 621 and 622; population data from US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
The number of health care employees in Hardin County is much lower on a per capita basis than in Ada, ID. In
2021, there were 14.3 ambulatory care employees per thousand residents, and 17.4 hospital employees per
thousand residents. Combining the two yields only about 32 employees per thousand residents, compared to 60 in
Ada County. The relatively low numbers for Hardin County are no doubt due to its proximity to Louisville and its
many large hospitals, as well as the full complement of specialists supported by the much larger population and
45
The ambulatory health care services industry, NAICS 621, includes the offices of physicians, dentists and other
practitioners, outpatient care centers, diagnostic labs, and home health care services.
Page | 107
the University of Louisville Medical School. This, of course, will not change with the new battery plant and
associated regional growth.
The next chart is included for consistency but is deceptive because BLS did not disclose employment data for the
one (large) hospital owned by local government. Only the data for 2021 is useful here, as it reflects employment at
Baptist Health, which acquired Hardin Memorial in 2020. The data on ambulatory care facilities is comprehensive
and reveals a very steady pattern of employment as a ratio to the number of residents. One can also see the
ambulatory care pullback in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 related service postponements.
Health Care Employment per 1,000 Residents, Hardin County KY

20
18
16
Ambulatory Care
14
12
10
Hospitals
6
4
Source: Employment data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, for NAICS 621 and
622; population data from US Bureau of Economic Analysis. However, no data were disclosed for the ond hospital owned by local
2 government (Hardin Memorial). The hospital was acquired by Baptist Health in 2020, and their employment shows up under
private hospitals in 2021; hence the spike.
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
So, what does all this data suggest about future health care employment in Hardin County? First, the ambulatory
care component has been quite stable historically (pre-COVID), at about 17 employees per thousand residents.
This implies that the 22,380 anticipated new residents will support 380 ambulatory care jobs. Similarly, the 17.4
hospital jobs per thousand residents (in 2021) leads to an additional 389 hospital jobs in the County. Assuming an
average of five employees per bed, this implies that hospital capacity will need to increase by 75 beds.
Page | 108
Boomtown Analysis
Introduction
This component of the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation

Project includes an examination of small cities that have gone through BOOMTOWN CITIES
massive growth due primarily to major economic development in the
community.
• Georgetown, KY
While each city is different, lessons can be learned by how each community • Meridian, ID
managed the growth as it occurred (and, if they were allowed a “do-over,” • Reno, NV
what would they do differently?). Luke Schmidt conducted each of the site • Round Rock, TX
visits and in each case held scheduled meetings with various community
leaders. The site visits included the following key components:
• Community Profile Compilation

• Economic Driver Analysis
• Growth Management Issues Analysis
The boomtown (city/county) jurisdictions are compared with Elizabethtown/Hardin County. Except for Reno,
Elizabethtown at one point was larger than each of the examined communities. Each city serves as the anchor city
of or lies within a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Georgetown, Kentucky
Georgetown is in Central Kentucky, just north of Lexington alongside Interstates 64 and 75.
Page | 109
Georgetown has three and a half exits along I-75 and one exit on I-64. Downtown Lexington is 13 miles away.
Boomtown Economic Driver
Georgetown is the county seat of Scott County. The city’s economy is driven primarily by Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Kentucky’s huge manufacturing complex located on the northeast side of the city.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Georgetown Auto Assembly Plant
Page | 110
Source: Google Image/USA Today
Toyota by the Numbers
FUTURE WORKFORCE
• Toyota started operations with a “clean sheet,” meaning that the DEVELOPMENT
company intentionally targeted first/new hires WITHOUT prior
auto industry experience…12 of the original 2,000 workers had
prior auto industry experience With today's low
• Today, Toyota draws workers from 78 Kentucky counties (87% of unemployment rate, all
Scott County workers live in the nine Bluegrass counties) bets are off…Toyota leader
• Some of the workers that commute stay temporarily in extended is concerned that BlueOval
stay hotels, RV camps, or share apartments with other Toyota SK workers may be
workers recruited/come from other
• Approximately 37% of the Toyota workforce lives in Scott County, existing manufacturers in
with adjacent Fayette, Franklin, Harrison, and Woodford counties the region, which could be
supplying a large share of workers
problematic for all existing
• 40% of the current Toyota workforce are females
employers
• Toyota has an on-site day care center for children
• Two subsidiary companies employ an additional 1,100 workers
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Milestones
•Plant construction begins

1986 - •Engine plant announced
1987
•Auto assembly begins with 2,000 workers (Camry)

•Engine plant production begins (V4 engines)
1988 -
1991 •Plant expansion begins
•Engine plant expansion announced

•Expanded plant production begins (Avalon)
1992 -
1994 •Expanded engine plant production begins (V6 engines)
•Continuous improvements to Camry, Avalon and Solara models

1997 - •Ancillary plant expansions
2015
•Lexus production begins (750 new jobs added)

•TMMK produces 11-millionth vehicle
2016 -
2018 •$1.3 billion plant modernization announced (700 new jobs added)
•9 million square foot facility

•9,300 workers
2022 •550,000 vehicles produced each year
Page | 111
First Lexus Rolls Off the Georgetown Assembly Line
Source: Google Image/USA Today
Community Profile
Toyota’s impact on Georgetown and Scott County has been monumental, as the charts illustrating leading
indicators show the changes over time, beginning with the change in population chart46 which follows:
Population Change - Georgetown/Scott County, KY

(1980 - 2020)
70,000
57,155
60,000
47,173
50,000
33,061
40,000
23,867
30,000 21,813
37,086
20,000
29,098
10,000
10,972 18,080
11,414
0
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Georgetown Scott County
• Georgetown’s population rate of growth (1980 – 2020): + 238%

• Scott County’s population rate of growth (1980 – 2020): + 162%
46
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Page | 112
City of Georgetown Payroll Tax Receipts
(1985 - 2020)
18,000,000 15,614,737
16,000,000
14,000,000
8,542,504
12,000,000
8,576,027
10,000,000
8,000,000
6,000,000 2,597,473
4,000,000 1,586,553
531,079
2,000,000
0
1985 1987 1990 2000 2010 2020
Georgetown Payroll Tax
Georgetown/Scott County Building Permits

(Annual Cost of Construction - All Permits Excluding TMMK)
120,000,000
100,000,000 96,668,041
80,000,000 108,109,682
60,000,000
26,087,149
40,000,000
7,638,500 37,224,788
20,000,000
0
1985 1990 2000 2010 2020
Georgetown/Scott County Building Permits
Source: Scott County United (above and below)
Page | 113
Scott County Property Assessed Value Changes
(1985 - 2000)
8,177,466,826
9,000,000,000
5,399,753,431
8,000,000,000
5,571,628,122
7,000,000,000
6,000,000,000
5,000,000,000
4,000,000,000
1,730,139,219
3,000,000,000
2,000,000,000 468,003,553
1,000,000,000
0
1985 1990 2000 2010 2020
Scott County Property Assessed Value
Average weekly wages are strong in Scott County, and typically exceed the state averages, as shown in the
following chart:
Average Weekly Wages in Industry by Place of Work - 2020

Industry Scott County Kentucky
Contract Construction $1,128.00 $1,093.00
Manufacturing 1,716.00 1,166.00
Transportation, Warehousing, Utilities 1,334.00 1,083.00
Information/Communication 1,642.00 1,263.00
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 1,355.00 1,371.00
Services 775.00 698.00
Federal/State/Local Government 797.00 903.00
Professional/Science/Technical 1,429.00 1,301.00
Source: KY Stats/KY Workforce Development/KY Cabinet for Economic Development/Scott County United
Fourth Quarter by NAICS Codes 2020
Toyota’s Approach to Georgetown
• Upon arrival in the Georgetown community, Toyota was driven exclusively by Japanese culture: the
company worked to "harmonize" with the community, not dominate it
• During the past 30 years, Toyota has worked to help diversify the community's economy, to shield it from
severe ups and downs of the auto industry; such cycles are not as pronounced in Georgetown as they are
in Michigan
• While Toyota strives to be a "good neighbor," the thought still exists in the minds of many that when it
comes to community improvements, "Toyota will pay for it!"
o This is not the company's approach, as it feels it is doing its part by providing millions in annual
payroll (it does support various community initiatives at “appropriate” levels)
Page | 114
To support future community growth, driven by the facility, Toyota agreed to be annexed by the City of
Georgetown early on.
General Comments
Following are general comments shared by site visit meeting participants:
• Georgetown Police Department is short five officers; pay is an issue; previously officers received salary
and health benefits which covered full families; families are no longer covered which has made it more
difficult to recruit/retain new officers; city is now looking at this issue
• Georgetown needs a reset when it comes to how revenue is raised
• Property tax rate increases are constrained by the 4% revenue growth caps per state law
• Communities need to plan long-range for growth, revenue and expenditures
• Communities that receive a large economic development project, such as Toyota, need to "plan for life"
after the incentive package runs out
• Community has dual occupational taxes; Scott County workers pay this tax once, while Georgetown
workers’ pay the Scott County occupational tax, along with the Georgetown occupational tax
• The existing school district does not include a technical training component
• City and county did not keep up with planning for growth; good people were involved; however, it also
requires community will
• Communities should plan for the future by including capital budgeting for Quality-of-Life issues and other
incremental improvements
• Georgetown and Scott County are impacted by Lexington and the surrounding area; a regional economic
development strategy is under development
Page | 115
Jurisdiction Demographics47/Comparisons
Community Factor Georgetown Elizabethtown Scott County Hardin County

Population 37,730 31,931 58,252 111,607
Geography
Population/Sq. Mile 2,187.8 1,155.1 202.8 177.6

Land Area/Sq. Mile 16.95 27.18 281.7 623.4
Population
Demographics
Age/Sex
Under 5 Years 7.5% 6.4% 6.2% 6.3%

Under 18 Years 25.7% 23.6% 24.6% 24.7%
65 Years and Over 10.0% 15.0% 12.7% 14.7%
Female 52.1% 51.9% 50.6% 49.9%
Race
White 84.2% 76.9% 90.3% 80.4%

African American 6.2% 12.1% 5.6% 12.4%
Hispanic 6.3% 4.9% 4.6% 6.1%
Housing
Housing Units 10,733 13,039 23,224 47,324

Owner-Occupied 63.0% 45.6% 72.3% 61.0%
Median Value/O-O $176,300 $175,400 $197,900 $157,700
Median Gross Rent $940 $765 $934 $811
Building Permits N/A N/A 591 353
Computer/Internet Use
Homes with Computer 93.0% 87.0% 93.1% 91.2%

Homes with Internet 88.5% 76.1% 88.0% 80.1%
Education
High School Graduate + 92.7% 92.2% 92.7% 91.7%

Bachelor’s Degree + 29.6% 27.7% 30.4% 22.0%
Transportation
Mean Trav. Time Work 20.1 Min. 20.2 Min. 21.8 Min. 22.3 Min
Income & Poverty
Med. HH Income $66,972 $47,270 $71,750 $57,101

Per Capita Income $30,339 $30,424 $33,536 $30,779
Persons in Poverty 12.1% 13.4% 8.0% 11.2%
47
Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2021 Statistics & Estimates
Page | 116
Jurisdiction Governance, Operations & Miscellaneous/Comparisons

Population48 37,730 31,931 58,252 111,607
Combined Statistical Lexington – Richmond – Louisville – Lexington – Richmond – Louisville –
Area Frankfort Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox Frankfort Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox
Population 749,512 1,512,785 749,512 1,512,785

U.S. Rank 71 38 71 38
Metropolitan Statistical Lexington – Fayette Elizabethtown – Lexington – Fayette Elizabethtown –
Area Fort Knox Fort Knox
Population 517,846 156,766 517,846 156,766

U.S. Rank 109 271 109 271
Government
Governance Mayor/Council Mayor/Council County Judge/Executive County Judge/Executive
Fiscal Court Fiscal Court
Eight councilmembers Six councilmembers
elected at-large elected at-large Seven magistrates Eight magistrates elected
elected by district by district
12 Boards & 11 Boards &
Commissions Commissions 10 Boards &
Commissions
Annual Budget49 $91.8 million $97.2 million $43.4 million50 $55.3 million
Key Revenue Sources General Fund: 43% General Fund: 56% General Expenditures: Federal Grants: 19%
Special Revenues: 52% Special Revenues: 14% 80% General Fund: 45%
Proprietary Funds: 5% Utility Revenues: 10% Road Expenditures: 10% Jail Fund: 12%
Natural Gas Rev.: 20% Jail Expenditures: 10% Misc. 5%
Some projects funded Road Fund: 6%
through reserves Some projects funded Sol. Waste Fund: 12%
through reserves State Grants: 1%
Planning/Zoning Dept. YES YES YES YES
Economic Development Scott County United Elizabethtown – Hardin Scott County United
(SCU) County Industrial (SCU)
SCU leads community Foundation (EHCIF) SCU leads community
economic development; economic development;
SCU operates from the City has a business SCU operates from the
Georgetown – Scott development Georgetown – Scott
County Chamber of department and partially County Chamber of
Commerce offices funds EHCIF for industrial Commerce offices
development.
Hardin County Chamber

of Commerce also
supports commercial
growth
Public Safety
Public Safety – Fire 51 Georgetown Fire Dept. Elizabethtown Fire Dept. Scott County Fire Dept.
# Stations 3 3 653 2154

# Personnel 59 54 51 N/A
Apparatus52 6 11 18 81
48 Source: U.S. Census Bureau; 2020 Census

49 Proposed total expenditures FY 2022 – 2023: City of Georgetown; City of Elizabethtown; Hardin County Government
50
Proposed expenditures FY 2021 – 2022
51 Sources: various jurisdictions
52 Source: KentuckyFireTrucks.com; Includes full time and reserve vehicles
53 Includes Scott County, Stamping Ground, and Toyota departments
54
Includes career departments (Fort Knox and Radcliff) and 12 volunteer fire departments
Page | 117
Public Safety – Police 55 Georgetown Police Elizabethtown Police Scott County Sheriff Hardin County Sheriff
Dept. Dept.
# Personnel 62 7656 N/A 60

# Sworn Officers 57 54 N/A 35
EMS System Georgetown – Scott Hardin County

County Emergency Emergency Medical
Medical Services Services
# Stations 3 3
# Ambulances 9 14
# Personnel 31 N/A
Funding GSCEMS is managed by HCEMS’ FY 2022 – 2023

the County and is jointly budget totals $7 million,
funded by the City ($3.1 which is funded primarily
million) and the County by EMS patient fees ($6
(amount N/A) million), with shortfall
covered by County
Health Care
Hospital System Georgetown Community Baptist Health Hardin
Hospital (GCH); 75-bed (BHH); 300-bed regional
community hospital hospital which serves 10
which is part of the counties with 400,000
LifePointe Health System people
Facility provides Facility employs 2,700

healthcare in 18 workers; 445 physicians;
specialty areas and provides healthcare in 40
employs 460 workers specialty areas with over
40 satellite locations;
No public funding
required Facility undergoing $250
million expansion
No public funding
required
Education
Community College Bluegrass Community & Elizabethtown
Technical College (BCTC) Community & Technical
College (ECTC)
Seven campuses
including satellite Total enrollment: 7,77357
campus located in (ranks third in KY
Georgetown featuring 40 system);
areas of study
Five campuses; 30
education/career
programs
Colleges/Universities Georgetown College Western KY University

Elizabethtown/
Private liberal arts Fort Knox
college
ECTC main campus also
houses WKU campus

56 Source: Kentucky Law Enforcement magazine
57
School Year 2020 - 2021
Page | 118
Local Schools Elizabethtown Scott County Schools Hardin County Schools
Independent Schools
(Consolidated system)
2,473 students 14,655 students
9,440 students
One high school Five high schools
One middle school Four high schools Six middle schools
Two elementary schools Three middle schools Seven elementary
Nine elementary schools schools
Transportation
Airport Georgetown – Scott Elizabethtown Regional Georgetown – Scott
County Regional Airport Airport at Addington County Regional Airport
(27K) Field (EKX) (27K)
General aviation airport General aviation airport General aviation airport

5,500-foot runway 6,000-foot runway 5,500-foot runway
ILS instrument approach
Airport funded through Airport funded through
user fees and with some Airport funded through user fees and with some
support from the City user fees and some support from the City
and the County support from the City and the County
Transit System GTran Transit Authority of Transit Authority of
Central Kentucky (TACK) Central Kentucky (TACK)
Operates two routes on
a deviated route system On-demand system On-demand system
Miscellaneous
Library System Scott County Public Hardin County Public
Library Library
One location One location
Established as an Funded by the County,

Authority with taxing plus various fees
privileges which funds
operations, plus various Governed by the Hardin
fees County Public Library
Board of Trustees
Governed by the Scott
County Public Library
Board of Trustees
YMCA None None None None
Page | 119
Lessons Learned
Following are comments shared by site visit meeting participants regarding “lessons learned” from the growth
brought by Toyota:
• Messaging to the community needed to be better

• Need good communication between city leaders and citizens
• 911 tax could/should be used to fund technology changes
• Communities can "live off of" occupational taxes and property taxes; net profits tax should be used to
fund capital improvements
• Communities should institute zero-based budgeting
• Capital budget/tax is needed to pay for infrastructure improvements
• Set key performance goals for the community and monitor performance and communicate ongoing
progress reports/results
• BlueOval SK needs to quickly designate someone to serve as the company’s community leader while
the plants are under construction and beyond; this person can be a well-respected Elizabethtown or
Hardin County citizen…this person can serve as a bridge between the community and the companies
and address issues as they arise
Page | 120
Reno, Nevada
Reno is in Western Nevada, along the California border. The region is a major tourist destination, with Lake Tahoe,
world-class ski areas, mountain activities, along with gaming. More recently, the Reno area has become known for
its new high-tech industries, including the first electric vehicle battery plant, which was opened by Tesla.
The Tesla plant is located 23 miles east of downtown Reno in the Tahoe – Reno Industrial Center, an industrial park
alongside I-80 which includes 30,000 acres of developable property.
Tahoe – Reno Industrial Center Located in Area Circled in Red;

Tesla Giga Nevada Plant is In the Center
Page | 121
Boomtown Economic Driver
Reno’s growing economy is part of a

defined shift to reduce the historical
dependence on gaming. When the
economy is strong, the gaming/tourism
industry is strong; however, any
significant downfalls can lead to severe
unemployment in the gaming industry.
Reno is also experiencing a migration of

residents from nearby California, who
are fed up with long commutes to work,
unaffordable housing, poor schools, and
high taxes.
As part of its economic development

strategy, Reno touts its high quality of life.
As such, the shift to high tech. Proximity to the Bay Area/Silicon Valley (approximate four-hour drive) and the dry
high desert climate contribute to the region’s success in recruiting high tech industry. Reno has good commercial
air service to other high-tech hubs, including nonstop flights to Austin, Portland, San Jose, and Seattle.
Tesla Giga Nevada Plant, Storey County, NV (Phase One: 1.8 million Square Feet)
Source: Google Image
To more vertically integrate its business, Tesla decided to start building its own electric vehicle batteries. Tesla’s
Giga Nevada plant is the company’s first and is a joint venture with Panasonic. The Reno location, which won out
over several competing states, was driven by its proximity to Tesla’s existing auto assembly plant in Fremont,
California, the relative low cost of land and the arid climate.
Page | 122
Tesla By the Numbers
TESLA NEVADA
• Plant location: Tahoe – Reno Industrial Center (30,000-acre park)
GIGAFACTORY • Plant footprint (Phase One): 1.8 million square feet
• Year construction started: 2014
In every key measurement, • Plant opened: 2017
Tesla’s actual investment,
projected number of full-time o Projected 2018 Number of Employees: 6,0005859
workers, and payroll exceeded o Projected Capital Investment: $4.95 billion
projections given prior to the o Projected Annual Payroll: $353.6 million
execution of the incentive
agreement with the State of o Actual 2020 Number of Employees: 7,80560
Nevada. o Actual Capital Investment (2020): $5.2 billion
o Actual Annual Payroll: $572.2 million
Tesla has been the catalyst to
recent growth across Western
• Projected Economic Benefit to Nevada: $100 billion over 20 years 61
Nevada.
• Projected Tax Base: $1.9 billion over 20 years
• Job Multiplier Number: 2.8462
With respect to the incentive agreement originally negotiated with the State of Nevada, there is no question
whatsoever that Tesla has exceeded all performance measurements.
Rendering – Tesla Gigafactory Nevada Fully Built Out

58
Source: Nevada Office of Economic Development 2018 Economic Impact of Tesla on Washoe and Storey Counties
59 Includes both Tesla and Panasonic workers, along with a smaller number of co-located supplier workers
60 Source: Nevada Office of Economic Development Annual Report Projects with Capital Investments of $3.5 Billion
61 Source: Former Governor Brian Sandoval
62
Source: Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada
Page | 123
Community Profile
There is no denying that Tesla’s investment in Reno has served as a catalyst for additional growth in the region.
Tesla announces Gigafactory 1; Construction completed in 2016 with Mass production of batteries begins in
construction begins; construction 1.9 MM square foot facility 2017
workforce totaled nearly 8,000 over
three years (source: USA Today)
Population Growth
Washoe County, NV 493,492
450,486
445,551
439,914
435,019
422,010 425,495 429,985 456,936
464,182
412,844 417,855
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Population
850 Tesla plant workers 3,249 Tesla plant workers 7,000 Tesla plant 7,557 Tesla plant workers
(source: Electrek) (source: NV Dept. of Econ. workers (source: (source: NV Dept. of Econ.
Dev.) Reno Gazette Journal) Dev.
Page | 124
Population Change - Reno/Washoe County, NV
(1980 - 2020)
600,000
486,492
500,000 421,407
339,486
400,000
254,667
300,000
193,623
200,000
264,175
236,728
100,000 199,177
133,850
100,756
0
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Reno Washoe County
• Reno’s rate of population growth (1980 – 2020): 162%

• Washoe County’s population growth (1980 – 2020): 151%
Building Permits Issued - City of Reno

(2015 - 2021)
12,000
10,000
10,101 10,513
10,323 9,608
8,000 9,060
8,000
6,000 6,848
4,000
2,000
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Building Permits Issued
Page | 125
New Construction Valuation - City of Reno
(2015 - 2021)
(In Thousands)
1,800,000
1,696,466
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,233,023
1,000,000
1,160,152
800,000
1,015,808
600,000 873,647
725,416
400,000
200,000 455,328
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
New Construction Valuation
Page | 126
Jurisdiction /Demographics63/Comparisons
Community Factor Reno Elizabethtown Washoe County Hardin County

Population 268,851 31,931 493,392 111,607
Geography
Population (Sq. Mile) 2,426 1,155.1 74 177.6

Land Area (Sq. Mile) 111.72 27.18 6,542 623.4
Population
Demographics
Age/Sex
Under 5 Years 5.9% 6.4% 5.4% 6.3%

Under 18 Years 20.9% 23.6% 21.2% 24.7%
65 Years and Over 15.1% 15.0% 17.2% 14.7%
Female 49.6% 51.9% 49.3% 49.9%
Race
White 60.3% 76.9% 60.9% 80.4%

Hispanic 24.0% 4.9% 25.9% 6.1%
Housing
Housing Units 13,039 212,930 47,324

Owner-Occupied 47.7% 45.6% 57.9% 61.0%
Median Value/O-O $361,100 $175,400 $360,500 $157,700
Median Gross Rent $1,107 $765 $1,150 $811
Building Permits N/A 5,312 353

Education

Transportation
Income & Poverty
Med. HH Income $61,860 $47,270 68,272 $57,101

Per Capita Income $36,358 $30,424 37,689 $30,779
63
Page | 127

Population64 268,851 31,931 493,392 111,607
Combined Statistical Reno – Carson City – Louisville – Reno – Carson City – Louisville –
Area Fernley Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox Fernley Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox
Population 667,301 1,512,785 667,301 1,512,785

U.S. Rank 76 38 76 38
Metropolitan Statistical Reno Elizabethtown – Reno Elizabethtown –
Population 497,535 156,766 497,535 156,766

U.S. Rank 114 271 114 271
Government
Governance Mayor/Council Mayor/Council County Manager/ County Judge/Executive
Board of Supervisors Fiscal Court
Six councilmembers Six councilmembers
elected by district elected at-large Five commissioners Eight magistrates elected
26 Boards & 11 Boards &
Commissions Commissions 53 Boards & 10 Boards &
Commissions Commissions
Annual Budget65 $660 million $97.2 million $1 billion $55.3 million
Key Revenue Sources Services Charges: 25% General Fund: 56% Property Taxes: 48% Federal Grants: 19%
Other Sources: 17% Special Revenues: 14% C Tax: 36% General Fund: 45%
C Tax: 15% Utility Revenues: 10% Jail Fund: 12%
Property: 14% Natural Gas Rev.: 20% Various fees/funds Misc. 5%
Road Fund: 6%
Various Fees/Funds Some projects funded Sol. Waste Fund: 12%
Economic Development Economic Development Elizabethtown – Hardin Economic Development
Authority of Western County Industrial Authority of Western
Nevada (EDAWN) Foundation (EHCIF) Nevada (EDAWN)
$2.9 million annual City has a business $2.9 million annual

budget (2021); funded development budget (2021); funded
by contributions; department and partially by contributions;
responsible for new funds EHCIF for industrial responsible for new
business and industrial development; business and industrial
development development
Hardin County Chamber
of Commerce also
supports commercial
growth
Public Safety
Public Safety – Fire 66 Reno Fire Dept. Elizabethtown Fire Dept. Truckee Meadows FD
# Stations 14 3 1168 2169

# Personnel 297 54 N/A N/A
Apparatus67 31 11 38 81

65
Proposed total expenditures FY 2022 - 2023
68 Truckee Meadows Fire Department…covers all unincorporated Washoe County (6,000 square mile area); professional department
69
Page | 128
Public Safety – Police 70 Reno Police Dept. Elizabethtown Police Washoe County Sheriff Hardin County Sheriff
Dept.
# Personnel 431 7671 781 60

# Sworn Officers 339 54 365 35
Sheriff’s office also

manages the county jail
EMS System Regional Emergency Hardin County
Medical Services Emergency Medical
Authority (REMSA) Services
# Stations None72 3
# Ambulances 42 ambulances/4 aircraft 14
# Personnel 478 F/T & P/T N/A
Funding REMSA is the exclusive HCEMS’ FY 2022 – 2023

EMS services provider in budget totals $7 million,
Washoe County; REMSA which is funded primarily
provides ground and air- by EMS patient fees ($6
based services million), with shortfall
throughout the region; covered by County
funding is provided
solely through user fees
with no tax subsidies or
funding; oversight
provided by Washoe
County Health
Department
Health Care
70
Sources: various jurisdictions
71 Source: Kentucky Law Enforcement magazine
72 REMSA uses system status management deployment model; ambulances are deployed to various locations throughout Washoe County based
on where people are at any given time; deployment locations are closer to employment centers during the day and residential areas during
evenings; this system provides faster response times
Page | 129
Hospital System Northern Nevada Baptist Health Hardin
Medical Center (BHH); 300-bed regional
(NNMC); 124-bed acute hospital which serves 10
care hospital (operated counties with 400,000
by Universal Health people
Services); provides
healthcare in 13 Facility employs 2,700
specialty areas workers; 445 physicians;
provides healthcare in 40
Renown Health specialty areas with over
946-bed hospital system 40 satellite locations;
with 7,200 employees;
provides all major areas Facility undergoing $250
of care over five million expansion
hospitals and numerous
outpatient facilities No public funding
required
St. Mary’s Health
380-bed hospital offering
31 specialty areas of
care; system has 10
provider locations and is
owned by Prime
Healthcare Services
(Which operates 15
hospitals)
Education
Community College Truckee Meadows Elizabethtown
Community College Community & Technical
(TMCC) College (ECTC)
Total enrollment: 13,000 Total enrollment: 7,77373

(ranks third in KY
Five campuses; 50 system);
education/career
programs Five campuses; 30
education/career
programs
Colleges/Universities University of Western KY University

Nevada/Reno Elizabethtown/
Fort Knox
Total enrollment: 21,453
ECTC main campus also
18 colleges offering houses WKU campus
multiple graduate
degrees
Local Schools Elizabethtown Washoe County Schools Hardin County Schools
Independent Schools District
2,473 students Consolidated system 14,655 students
One high school 64,000 students Five high schools

One middle school Six middle schools
Two elementary schools 17 high schools Seven elementary
17 middle schools schools
66 elementary schools
73
Page | 130
Transportation
Airport Reno – Tahoe Elizabethtown Regional
International Airport Airport at Addington
(RNO) Field (EKX)
Commercial airport General aviation airport

11,000-foot runway 6,000-foot runway
ILS instrument approach ILS instrument approach
Airport is self-funded Airport funded through

through its Authority user fees and some
support from the City
Transit System Transit Authority of Regional Transportation Transit Authority of
Central Kentucky (TACK) Commission of Washoe Central Kentucky (TACK)
County (RTC)
On-demand system On-demand system
Operates multiple fixed-
route intracity and
intercity routes, along
with on-demand services
Miscellaneous
Library System Washoe County Library Hardin County Public
System Library
10 locations One location
Governed by the Washoe Funded by the County,

County Library Board of plus various fees
Trustees;
Governed by the Hardin
$10.3 million budget County Public Library
supported by county Board of Trustees
funds, plus various fees
and grants
YMCA YES – 3 locations None YES – 3 locations None
Lessons Learned
Mike Kazmierski, President & CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) provided
considerable insight into growth issues, given that Reno has just gone through the initial growth phase of the Tesla
plant, including:
• When first announced in 2015, Tesla’s footprint was expected to cover:
o $10 billion investment (when facility is fully built out)

o 10 million square feet
o 6,500 jobs (average wage of over $25/hour)
o $100 billion economic impact over 20 years
• Current structure totals 1.8 million square feet (four levels); includes Tesla and Panasonic advanced
manufacturing facilities
• The Tesla plant impacts a region extending 30 miles in all directions, but primarily 25 miles to the West in
Reno and Washoe County (the Tahoe – Reno Industrial Center (TRIC) lies just over the Storey County line;
Storey County, with the exception of TRIC, is very rural with desert, low rolling hills, and sagebrush; Storey
Page | 131
County in 2010 had a population of 4,010, which grew to 4,104 in 2020, which indicates that virtually all of
the growth impact was targeted towards Washoe County)
• TRIC encompasses 107,000 acres and is the largest industrial park in the U.S. (30,000 acres are
developable)
• TRIC has one access point along I-80 and is home to several distribution centers, fulfillment centers, along
with Tesla and related Tesla suppliers; employment in TRIC totals 25,000 workers
• Traffic is a huge issue; although Reno has a transit system, it does not serve TRIC; Tesla contracts with a
private company and charters 125 buses each day to bring workers to/from Reno
• Tenants in TRIC have staggered start times to alleviate some of the traffic tie-ups
• Mike Kazmierski strongly encouraged Elizabethtown and the Commonwealth of Kentucky to “get its
arms around” traffic before the BlueOval SK facility opens…all options should be explored:
o HOV lane on I-65

o Development of a full-service transit system
o Commuter rail to bring workers in from Louisville and other surrounding areas
• Tesla’s investment has led to numerous community “success” points, including:
o Tesla has rebranded Reno

o Attraction of advanced manufacturing is now easier
o Job growth continues at the rate of 4% (10,000 new jobs per year)
o Unemployment has declined from 14% to 4%
o Easier to attract talent to the Reno region
o Reinforced the city’s effort to attract technology clients
o Increased average wages throughout the region
• Tesla created a job multiplier effect of 2.84 for each direct job created
Challenges
• Workforce Development & Attraction
o Cast a wide net – EDAWN is looking to Sacramento to find workers

o Help/listen to legacy companies
o Activate K-12/STEM and educate parents
o Consider all industries including construction companies
o Coordinate the effort across many agencies
Page | 132
• Housing – Expedite & Encourage More Housing
o Especially affordable housing for workforce

o This is a government problem
o Failure to act will cause many more problems
• PR – Media
o “Negatives” will be covered very well

o Positives – you may need professional help
o Target the entire state
• Transportation
o Hot spots develop quickly – major traffic congestion takes time to fix
o Start planning now for transit/HOV lanes
• Time & Complacency is Your Enemy
o This is a long-term challenge

o Key people and elected officials change
o Maintain a coordinated and committed effort
• Cost of Everything is Going Up
o Labor shortages = pay increases for everyone

o Housing shortages = rent/housing price increases
o Construction costs likely to increase
• Business as Usual Mentality
o Many will doubt what is coming…some are slow to believe

o This makes it hard to resolve issues and use resources
Page | 133
• Cultural Differences – BlueOval SK and South Korea
o Understand the differences

o Seek to develop a welcoming environment
Page | 134
Meridian, Idaho
Meridian is in Southwest Idaho, just west of Boise, alongside Interstate 84.
Meridian has three exits along Interstate 84. Downtown Boise is 12 miles away. Meridian is in Ada County (largest
in Idaho) which also includes the county seat city of Boise (largest in Idaho).
Page | 135
Meridian Economic Drivers
Meridian’s super-hot economy is driven by the following:
• High tech industry economic development investments by Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard
• Significant migration of people from California
Micron Technology Boise Campus

Micron Technology is a high-tech company headquartered in

nearby Boise. The company manufactures digital storage units.
The company employs over 5,000 workers at its Boise campus
(corporate headquarters, major manufacturing site, along with
research and development). Founded in 1978, the company has
grown significantly which has contributed to much of the recent
growth in Meridian. Micron Technology also operates a satellite
facility in Meridian.
Boise HP Campus
Source: Idaho Stateman
Hewlett Packard (HP) also has a large manufacturing presence in the Boise/Meridian area, which employs around
2,000 workers.
The real driver of growth in Meridian has been the migration of California residents relocating to the
Boise/Meridian area. Idaho, one of the country’s “most-Republican” states, is primarily drawing residents from
California’s more conservative areas: Orange County, Riverside County, and San Diego County, with others coming
from Northern California, such as Placer County (between Sacramento and Reno). Californians are fleeing what has
become a deteriorating quality of life, in terms of affordable housing, long commutes to work, crime, poor schools,
etc. Conversely, Idaho’s affordable high quality of life has become a magnet for Californians. The high rate of
Page | 136
migration is also driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and workers who are now working from home has produced
astounding rates of growth:
Net Migration Pathways to Idaho

Source: Bill Lane Center for the American West/Stanford University
Population Change - Ada County/Boise/Meridian

(1980 - 2020)
600,000
500,000 494,567
392,365
400,000
300,904
300,000 205,775
205,671
185,787 235,684
200,000
100,000 125,738 34,919 117,635

9,596 75,092
0
1990 2000 2010 2020
Ada County Boise Meridian
Population Rates of Growth (1980 – 2000): Ada County: 140.3%; Boise: 87.4%; Meridian: 1,125.8%
Page | 137
The Village Shopping Center Urban Lifestyle Center with Numerous Shops, Restaurants, and a Cinema
The City of Meridian has two primary sources of income: the General Fund and the Enterprise Fund. Revenue
sources for each fund are shown in the chart below:
General Fund Enterprise Fund

Property Taxes Water Services
Intergovernmental Fees • Water Utility Sales

• Water Connection Revenue
• State Sales Tax Revenue Sharing • Water Meter Sales
• State Liquor Sales Revenue Sharing
• Rural Fire Agreement Sewer Services
• Grant Revenues
• Sewer Utility Sales
Franchise Fees • Sewer Connection Revenue
• Gas Services Other Revenue Services

• Cable TV Services
• Power/Electricity Services • Investment Interest Revenue
• Trash Billing Services Revenue
Licenses & Permits • Engineering Fees
• Community Building Permits

• Dog Licenses
• Alcoholic Permit Revenue
Development Impact Fees
• Fire Impact Fee Revenue

• Parks Impact Fee Revenue
• Police Impact Fee Revenue
Three indicators of growth in Meridian can be found in the chart which follows: Total General Fund, Total
Enterprise Fund, and Property Tax Collections.
Page | 138
General Fund, Enterprise Fund, and
Property Tax Collection Trends
($)
80,000,000
70,000,000 68,000,000
60,000,000 25,000,000 33,000,000

50,000,000 19,000,000 48,000,000
32,000,000
40,000,000 30,000,000 33,000,000
30,000,000 18,000,000
20,000,000 35,000,000
18,000,000
10,000,000
8,000,000 15,000,000 19,000,000 25,000,000
0
FY 2004 FY 2008 FY 2012 FY 2016 FY 2020
Meridian General Fund Meridian Enterprise Fund Meridian Property Tax
Source: City of Meridian Website; Amounts Shown are Rounded
New Class A Office Building in Meridian (Located Along I-84)

Source: Google Image/Ten Mile Developers
General Comments
A group of Meridian community leaders were asked what they liked most about living in Meridian, along with what
they liked the least about living in Meridian. The chart which follows provides a summary of the group’s comments.
Page | 139
Most Like About Living in Meridian Least Like About Living in Meridian
• Great quality of life…you can ski and whitewater raft all • Meridian (and the entire Treasure Valley) has become a
in one day; skiing is 30 minutes away heat island, with the temperature increase of 5 + degrees
• Great natural areas close to the metro over the past five years
• 16 city parks • City’s rate of growth is a challenge; planning should have
• Family-friendly activities started sooner
• Four seasons • Ada County controls ALL road development plans for the
• City (and state) is business-friendly entire county – including the cities
• Small businesses are the heartbeat of the city • Overwhelming number of people are moving here
• Excellent schools • Lack of vision for growth
• Low utility costs and reasonable tax rates • Some of the growth has occurred in non-priority areas –
• Politically conservative area infrastructure is still catching up
• State of Idaho has made it harder and harder for local
governments/groups to plan and implement (less state
funding to support growth)
• Changing demographic dynamics of migrants (families vs.
retirees)
• Massive use of the regional Boise Trail System by
residents has resulted in an increase in vandalism and
graffiti
Union 93 Mixed Use Development Under Construction Downtown

Source: Google Image/Jackson Main Architecture
• Housing prices have skyrocketed across the metro area…to maximize the value of the land, the City of
Meridian has minimal height requirements for buildings proposed to be built in the downtown and
commercial areas
• Today, the City relies on a Comprehensive Plan to drive and implement growth
• State legislature limits what cities can do to provide affordable housing as part of the overall mix
• Building material costs have impacted overall costs
• Rental rates have doubled
• Prior to the recession, 360 single-family homes were permitted each month by the City
• Now, permitting is one to one single-family vs. multi-family housing
• 20% of the current available housing stock is multi-family
• COVID pandemic pushed migration from California with the growth in “working from home”
Page | 140
Community Factor Meridian Elizabethtown Ada County Hardin County

Population 125,963 31,931 511,931 111,607
Geography
Population (Sq. Mile) 3,353.3 1,155.1 470.5 177.6

Land Area (Sq. Mile) 35.08 27.18 1,052.01 623.4
Population
Demographics
Age/Sex
Under 5 Years 6.8% 6.4% 5.1% 6.3%

Under 18 Years 28.2% 23.6% 28.2% 24.7%
65 Years and Over 12.4% 15.0% 15.6% 14.7%
Female 50.3% 51.9% 49.7% 49.9%
Race
White 89.5% 76.9% 91.7% 80.4%

Hispanic 8.0% 4.9% 9.1% 6.1%
Housing
Housing Units N/A 13,039 204,585 47,324

Owner-Occupied 76.8% 45.6% 70.2% 61.0%
Median Value/O-O $304,500 $175,400 $298,600 $157,700
Building Permits N/A N/A 7,487 353

Education

Transportation
Income & Poverty
Med. HH Income $76,403 $47,270 $69,952 $57,101

74
Page | 141

Population75 117,635 31,931 494,567 111,607
Combined Statistical Boise – Mountain Home Louisville – Boise – Mountain Home Louisville –
Area – Ontario Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox – Ontario Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox
Population 882,138 1,512,785 882,138 1,512,785

U.S. Rank 65 38 65 38
Metropolitan Statistical Boise Elizabethtown – Boise Elizabethtown –
Population 795,268 156,766 795,268 156,766

U.S. Rank 75 271 75 271
Government
Governance Mayor/Council Mayor/Council Chief Operating Officer/ County Judge/Executive
Board of Commissioners Fiscal Court
elected at large but elected at-large Three commissioners Eight magistrates elected
changing to districts in elected by district by district
2023 11 Boards &
Commissions 12 Boards & 10 Boards &
7 Boards & Commissions Commissions Commissions
Annual Budget76 $136 million $97.2 million $342 million $55.3 million
Key Revenue Sources General Fund: 63.5% General Fund: 56% General Fund:77 86% Federal Grants: 19%
(Property Special Revenues: 14% General Fund: 45%
Taxes/Fees/Impact Fees) Utility Revenues: 10% Self-Supporting:78 14% Jail Fund: 12%
Enterprise Fund: 36.5% Natural Gas Rev.: 20% Misc. 5%
(Utility Revenues) Road Fund: 6%
Some projects funded Sol. Waste Fund: 12%
Economic Development Meridian Development Elizabethtown – Hardin Hardin County Planning
Corporation County Industrial Commission
(Responsible for Foundation (EHCIF)
Downtown County planning
Development) City has a development commission and staff
department and partially review development
City also has an funds EHCIF for industrial plans for unincorporated
economic development development; parts of Hardin County
department for business and provide permits
development Hardin County Chamber
of Commerce also
supports commercial
growth
Public Safety
Public Safety – Fire 79 Meridian Fire Dept. Elizabethtown Fire Dept.
# Stations 6 3 2181
# Personnel 125 54 N/A
Apparatus80 N/A 11 81

76 Proposed total expenditures FY 2022 - 2023
77
Supported by various taxes, including property taxes, special levy and special districts
78 Supported by various fees such as special revenue and business taxes/fees
81
Page | 142
Public Safety – Police 82 Meridian Police Elizabethtown Police Ada County Sheriff Hardin County Sheriff
Department Dept.
# Personnel 43 2883 800 60

# Sworn Officers 143 54 400 35
Department also
manages the Ada County
Jail
EMS System Ada County Paramedics Hardin County
Emergency Medical
Services
# Stations 14 3
# Ambulances 28 14
# Personnel 147 N/A
Funding ACP is a property-based HCEMS’ FY 2022 – 2023

ambulance taxing district budget totals $7 million,
which provides 30% of which is funded primarily
the annual operating by EMS patient fees ($6
budget, with the balance million), with shortfall
made up with ambulance covered by County
fees and annual
membership called Vital
Ride
ACP covers all of Ada

County and works in
partnership with five
area fire departments
(including Meridian Fire)
Health Care
Hospital System St. Luke’s Meridian Baptist Health Hardin St. Alphonsus
(Part of the St. Luke’s (BHH); 300-bed regional (Part of the Trinity
Health System; eight hospital which serves 10 Health System; 381 beds;
hospitals with 1,008 beds counties with 400,000 the only Level II Trauma
and other outpatient people Center in the region with
facilities) Meridian 25 specialty areas of
hospital statistics: Facility employs 2,700 treatment); 252
workers; 445 physicians; locations in Idaho and
Opened: 2001 provides healthcare in 40 Oregon
# Beds: 174 specialty areas with over
2022 Admissions: 9,048 40 satellite locations; St. Luke’s Boise
2022 ER Visits: 54,721 (Part of the St. Luke’s
2022 Outpatient Visits: Facility undergoing $250 Health System; eight
199,309 million expansion hospitals with 1,008 beds
2022 Surgeries: 8,771 and other outpatient
2022 Newborns: 873 No public funding facilities) Boise hospital
required statistics:
No public funding
required # Beds: 437
All major specialties
No public funding
required

83
Source: Kentucky Law Enforcement magazine
Page | 143
Education
Community College Elizabethtown College of Western
Community & Technical Idaho
College (ECTC)
One of two
Total enrollment: 7,77384 comprehensive
(ranks third in KY community colleges
system); systems in Idaho; serves
Ada and Canyon counties
Five campuses; 30
education/career Total enrollment: 20,561
programs
Four campuses in nearby
Boise and Nampa; six
schools with 27 majors
Colleges/Universities Western KY University Following institutions
Elizabethtown/ have campuses in nearby
Fort Knox Boise:
ECTC main campus also Boise State University

houses WKU campus
Enrollment: 24,103
100 graduate programs
Idaho State University

and the University of
Idaho maintain satellite
campuses in Boise
Local Schools West Ada School District Elizabethtown Boise School District Hardin County Schools
Independent Schools
Serves West Ada County, 26,000 students
including Meridian, West 2,473 students 14,655 students
Boise and Eagle (largest Four high schools
school district in Idaho) One high school Eight middle schools Five high schools
One middle school 32 elementary schools Six middle schools
36,140 students Two elementary schools Seven elementary
Kuna Joint Sch. Dist. 3 schools
11 high schools
11 middle schools Melba Sch. Dist. 136
West Ada School Dist.
36,140 students
11 high schools
11 middle schools
Transportation
Airport Elizabethtown Regional Boise Air Terminal (BOI)
Airport at Addington
Field (EKX) Commercial airport in
nearby Boise; 10,000-
General aviation airport foot runway; ILS
6,000-foot runway instrument approach
Operated by the city
Airport funded through
user fees and some
84
Page | 144
Transit System Valley Regional Transit Transit Authority of Valley Regional Transit Transit Authority of
Regional mass transit Regional mass transit
fixed route/on-demand On-demand system fixed route/on-demand On-demand system
system which serves the system which serves the
cities of Boise, Meridian, cities of Boise, Meridian,
Nampa and Ada County Nampa and Ada County
Miscellaneous
Library System Meridian Library District Hardin County Public
Library
Four locations
One location
Funded by property
taxes administered by Funded by the County,
the Meridian Free Library plus various fees
District (approved by the
voters in 1974) Governed by the Hardin
County Public Library
Annual budget: $6.9 Board of Trustees
million
YMCA Treasure Valley YMCA None Treasure Valley YMCA None
Six locations with two in Six locations with two in

Meridian Meridian
Lessons Learned
• As the I-84 freeway was expanded across the Valley, including through and around Meridian, frontage
roads should have been added on both sides to accommodate growth along the interstate corridor
• Development of the Eagle Road commercial corridor was poorly managed
• City (and residents) need to have a realistic vision and understanding of what is coming (e.g., better
messaging and communication)
• Invest in infrastructure early
• Invest in amenities such as parks and libraries
• An interurban rail line should have been developed to connect the cities in the Valley to work,
education, and medical facilities to reduce traffic
• Understand and manage the competition which will arise when you have two primary retail areas
(downtown and Meridian’s village shopping areas)
Page | 145
Round Rock, Texas
Round Rock is in Central Texas, just north of Austin alongside Interstate 35.
Round Rock has eight exits along Interstate 35. Downtown Austin is 19 miles away.
Page | 146
Round Rock is a fast-growing city located in Central Texas. Round Rock is located 19 miles north of the capital city
of Austin. For years, Round Rock, located in Williamson County (Austin is in Travis County) served as a small
bedroom community to Austin.
Then, in 1984, everything began to change. Dell Technologies started growing

and moving its operations from Austin to Round Rock. Corporate headquarters
moved from Austin to Round Rock in 1994.
What started out as a vision on the part of first-year University of Texas

student Michael Dell evolved into one of the world’s largest technology
companies. Michael Dell dropped out of college after his freshman year to
focus full time on his vision for computing.
Michael Dell’s initial personal investment of $1,000 to start PCs Unlimited in

1984 has grown to today’s Dell Technologies, with 2022 annual revenue of $101 billion and a market capitalization
of $33.69 billion. Dell Technologies today operates on a global scale and is one of the largest providers of personal
computers in the world.
Today, Dell Technologies’ corporate offices, key manufacturing and sales centers are in Round Rock. The impact on
the city has been enormous. The company today employs 16,000 workers at its various Round Rock facilities.
Round Rock Population Change

(1970 - 2020)
140000
120000 99887
100000
61636 119468
80000
30923
60000
40000 12740
20000 2811
0
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Round Rock
Dell begins its transition from Austin to Round La Frontera commercial center breaks ground in
Rock in 1984 1998
Dell moves its corporate headquarters from Austin

to Round Rock in 1994.
Page | 147
Dell Technologies Corporate Headquarters – Round Rock
Additional Dell Technologies Facility – Round Rock

Source: KVUE-TV
Over the years, Dell’s growth in Round Rock was exponential. As the company grew, so did the city and the need
for services. By 1988, significant growth was underway, and the city needed to find a funding solution that would
help to pay for investments in infrastructure. By leveraging Dell’s direct sales to customers function – based in
Round Rock – the city asked voters in 1988 to agree to implementing a half cent sales tax.
By doing this, the city would receive tax proceeds from every Dell sales transaction. To sell this to the voters, the
city agreed to offset the new sales tax with a corresponding decrease in the property tax rate. Voters approved the
new tax, and the city found its funding source.
At present, the combined sales tax is 8.25%, and is broken down as follows:
Page | 148
Round Rock Combined Sales Tax: 8.25%
1
6.25
Texas Round Rock Williamson County
City of Round Rock Annual Sales Tax Revenue

(2014 - 2023)
$48,937,000
50000000
$37,631,725
45000000
40000000 $24,330,110
35000000
30000000
25000000
20000000
15000000
10000000
5000000
0
Annual Sales Tax Revenue
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
The city’s share of the sales tax is further divided as follows: 0.50 of the proceeds goes towards a reduction in the
city’s property tax, while the remaining 0.50 is dedicated towards transportation and economic development
projects.
Page | 149
Early on, the city also decided that as Dell continued to grow it did not want to become a Dell “company town,”
and it decided to begin efforts to diversify its economy. As such, the city began to focus on commercial
development, hotels and conventions.
La Frontera Apartment Complex Austin Marriott North Hotel (located in Round Rock)
Source: Google Image Source: Google Image
One such development is La Frontera, which is located on the city’s southside. This complex includes hotels,
apartments, shopping and restaurants (over one million square feet of development).
To manage the growth, the city has continuously annexed land to expand the city’s boundaries. Under Texas law,
cities are allowed to annex land and can also serve unincorporated areas with water and sewer and annex the
unincorporated land later.
Round Rock also has an impact fee system, which requires payment by developers for connecting to the city’s
utility system. The rationale behind the impact fee system is that existing citizens should not have to pay for utility
expansion due to growth and development – the developers (and their customers) should bear this cost.
Round Rock has 10 Municipal Utility Districts (also known as MUD’s). MUDs are typically started by developers as
land is developed. Muds function as singular utility districts which can charge fees by users. MUDs enable
developers to recoup costs and are typically sold to or merged with the city’s utility district upon buildout.
Transportation is another huge issue in Round Rock, due to

all the growth. Over time, Interstate 35 has been expanded
through the city. A new loop was built along the southside
of the city, tying in with the expressway system around the
north side of Austin.
Texas’ expressway systems also include frontage roads

along both sides of the expressway, which fosters
commercial growth and ease of access on and off I-35.
Interchange I-35 at Loop 1 (Built During Road Expansion)

Source: Google Image/Wikipedia
Round Rock’s development is led by the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber aggressively recruits
new business and industry which conform to the city’s strategic plan and vision. The Chamber also manages
Momentum – the Chamber’s Five-Year Economic Development strategy.
Page | 150
During the past 10 years, through the Momentum strategy and platform, the Chamber has achieved the following
milestones:
Momentum – 10-Year Milestones/Achievements
• 75 total project wins

• 6,644 new direct jobs
• 10,371 direct and indirect new jobs
• $1.8 billion direct capital investment
• $2.6 billion total investment
• $3.4 million in incremental sales tax
• $96.9 million in incremental property tax
• $100 + million in new revenue to Round Rock Independent School District, the town of Wilco and the
City of Round Rock
The next new development is The District, which is located on the southside of Round Rock, adjacent to booming
North Austin. The District will include luxury apartments, Class A office space, and retail components.
Rendering: The District

Source: Austin Business Journal/Google Image
Downtown Round Rock is also growing. In 1980, the city’s population was just over 12,000 people. Round Rock was
primarily a bedroom community to nearby Austin. As such, the city’s downtown area was small. As the growth
related to Dell and subsequent commercial development occurred, it was mostly on the city’s perimeter and along
I-35.
Page | 151
The city has been intentional about
preserving’s the downtown area’s
older buildings (many of which
feature an attractive limestone
façade, which is unique to Central
Texas communities). Downtown
serves as the city’s government
center (nearby Georgetown is the
county seat of Williamson County).
City Hall has been expanded as the
city has grown to include an
attractive plaza area which is used for
outdoor concerts. A parking garage
has been built behind City Hall.
Many of the older buildings along Main Street

have been converted into bars, coffee shops,
and restaurants, thereby making Downtown
Round Rock an entertainment destination.
The city also just opened a new and expanded
public library downtown.
Round Rock Civic Plaza (Above)

Downtown Round Rock
Sources: Google Image
New Round Rock Library

Page | 152
Community Factor Round Rock Elizabethtown Williamson County Hardin County

Population 123,676 31,931 643,026 111,607
Geography
Population (Sq. Mile) 3,174.0 1,155.1 546.6 177.6

Land Area (Sq. Mile) 37.64 27.18 1,115.83 623.4
Population
Demographics
Age/Sex
Under 5 Years 5.9% 6.4% 5.9% 6.3%

Under 18 Years 25.9% 23.6% 24.5% 24.7%
65 Years and Over 9.1% 15.0% 12.6% 14.7%
Female 50.7% 51.9% 50.3% 49.9%
Race
White 71.2% 76.9% 79.0% 80.4%

Hispanic 28.7% 4.9% 25.4% 6.1%
Housing
Housing Units N/A 13,039 249,308 47,324

Owner-Occupied 58.6% 45.6% 68.2% 61.0%
Median Value/O-O $259,400 $175,400 $282,700 $157,700
Building Permits N/A N/A 15,036 353

Education

Transportation
Income & Poverty
Med. HH Income $86,121 $47,270 $90,834 $57,101

85
Page | 153

Population86 123,676 31,931 643,026 111,607
Combined Statistical Louisville – Louisville –
Area Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox Elizabethtown – Ft. Knox
Population 1,512,785 1,512,785

U.S. Rank 38 38
Metropolitan Statistical Austin – Round Rock – Elizabethtown – Austin – Round Rock – Elizabethtown –
Area Georgetown Fort Knox Georgetown Fort Knox
Population 2,352,426 156,766 2,352,426 156,766

U.S. Rank 28 271 28 271
Government
Governance Council/Manager Mayor/Council County Judge/ County Judge/Executive
Commissioners Court Fiscal Court
elected by district elected at-large Four commissioners Eight magistrates elected
Nine Boards & 11 Boards &
Commissions Commissions Six Boards & Committees 10 Boards &
Commissions
Annual Budget87 $555.5 million $97.2 million $453.9 million $55.3 million
Key Revenue Sources Property Tax: 13% General Fund: 56% General Fund: 53% Federal Grants: 19%
Sales Tax: 20% Special Revenues: 14% Road & Bridge Fund: 10% General Fund: 45%
Hotel Occupancy: 2% Utility Revenues: 10% Debt Service Fund: 34% Jail Fund: 12%
Utility Fees: 11% Natural Gas Rev.: 20% Misc. 5%
Contracts: 13% Road Fund: 6%
Self-Funded Proj.: 30% Some projects funded Sol. Waste Fund: 12%
Planning/Zoning Dept. YES YES YES
Economic Development Round Rock Elizabethtown – Hardin Williamson County Hardin County Planning
Chamber of Commerce County Industrial Economic Development Commission
Foundation (EHCIF) Partnership
The Chamber serves as County planning
the lead agency for City has a development Self-funded collaboration commission and staff
business and industrial department and partially group of around 15 review development
development funds EHCIF for industrial communities in the plans for unincorporated
development; county, including Round parts of Hardin County
Rock…focus is primarily and provide permits
Hardin County Chamber on partnering where able
of Commerce also to develop new business
supports commercial opportunities
growth
Public Safety
Public Safety – Fire 88 Round Rock Fire Dept. Elizabethtown Fire Dept. There are numerous
municipal fire
# Stations 9 3 departments located 2191
# Personnel 13090 54 throughout Williamson N/A
Apparatus89 15 11 County 81

87
Proposed total expenditures FY 2022 - 2023
90 Source: Round Rock International Association of Fire Fighters
91
Page | 154
Public Safety – Police 92 Round Rock Police Dept. Elizabethtown Police Williamson County Hardin County Sheriff
Dept. Sheriff
# Personnel N/A 2894 N/A 60

# Sworn Officers 14593 54 N/A 35
EMS System Williamson County Hardin County

Emergency Medical Emergency Medical
Services Services
# Stations 18 3
# Ambulances 17 14
# Personnel 145 N/A
Funding EMS service is funded by HCEMS’ FY 2022 – 2023

user fees and funds budget totals $7 million,
provided by the county which is funded primarily
raised by taxes by EMS patient fees ($6
million), with shortfall
covered by County
Health Care
Hospital System St. David’s Round Rock Baptist Health Hardin Baylor Scott & White
Medical Center (BHH); 300-bed regional Medical Center
175-bed hospital with hospital which serves 10 Taylor
Level II Trauma Center; counties with 400,000 Part of 52-hospital
facility offers various people system stretching from
services including Dallas/Ft. Worth to San
Williamson County’s first Facility employs 2,700 Antonio; 25-bed hospital
specialized cardiac workers; 445 physicians;
facility provides healthcare in 40 Cedar Park Regional
specialty areas with over Medical Center
Baylor Scott & White 40 satellite locations; 126-bed hospital; 16
Medical Center primary specialties
Round Rock Facility undergoing $250
Part of 52-hospital million expansion
system stretching from St. David’s Georgetown
Dallas/Ft. Worth to San No public funding Hospital
Antonio; 101 beds and required 114-bed facility with
40 primary care areas Level IV Trauma Center;
Ascension Seton No public funding

Williamson required for any of the
181-bed hospital; part of above hospitals
139-hospital system in
19 states; Level II Trauma
Center;
16 primary specialty
areas;
No public funding
required for any of the
above hospitals

93 Source: Round Rock Police Officers Association
94
Source: Kentucky Law Enforcement magazine
Page | 155
Education
Community College Austin Community Elizabethtown
College Community & Technical
College (ECTC)
Total enrollment: 70,000
across 11 campuses Total enrollment: 7,77395
including one in Round (ranks third in KY
Rock; 100 degrees over system);
11 primary study areas
Five campuses; 30
education/career
programs
Colleges/Universities Texas State University Western KY University

Round Rock Elizabethtown/
Fort Knox
Branch of Texas State
University (located 48 ECTC main campus also
miles from the main houses WKU campus
campus in San Marcos);
TSURR is designed for
students taking upper-
level courses,
transitioning from
community college and
offers bachelors,
masters, and doctoral
degrees in 13 primary
study areas
Local Schools Round Rock Elizabethtown There are 16 Hardin County Schools
Independent Independent Schools independent school
School District districts which serve
2,473 students parts of Williamson 14,655 students
46,989 students County, including the
One high school Round Rock Independent Five high schools
Seven high schools One middle school School District Six middle schools
11 middle schools Two elementary schools Seven elementary
35 elementary schools schools
Transportation
Airport Elizabethtown Regional
Airport at Addington
Field (EKX)
General aviation airport

6,000-foot runway
Airport funded through

user fees and some
Transit System Capital Metro Transit Authority of Transit Authority of
Fixed route system
serving Austin metro On-demand system On-demand system
area including Round
Rock
95
Page | 156
Miscellaneous
Library System Round Rock Public There are nine separate Hardin County Public
Library libraries in Williamson Library
County, including one in
One location; new Round Rock One location
building in downtown
Round Rock which also Funded by the County,
includes a new 300-car plus various fees
parking garage; library
averages 30,000 monthly Governed by the Hardin
visits (2019) and in 2019 County Public Library
had an annual budget of Board of Trustees
$2.9 million; library is
operated by the city
YMCA YES None YES None
Lessons Learned
• Fully understand how public/private partnerships work (or should work)

• Maintaining a high quality of life is paramount
• Obtain transportation rights of way sooner rather than later
• During depressed times, build more infrastructure to take advantage of lower costs (downtown Round
Rock Civic Plaza parking garage was built during a “down” market and cost $1.5 million)
• Companies and site selectors should see Round Rock as a great city to live in and work in
Page | 157
Page | 158
Key Stakeholder Engagement – Pre/Post-Project SWOT Analysis & Surveys/Interviews
A major component of the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project revolves around key
stakeholder research. Simply put, as BlueOval SK continues to build out its site in Hardin County and fully staff up
for its 2025 facility opening, it is important to know and understand how metro community leaders perceive the
value of the project and its impact on the region. Research (using both online surveys and in-person interviews/in-
person video interviews) focused on two primary groups:
• Elizabethtown/Hardin County Community Leadership Group

• Outer County Community Leadership Groups
In every instance, all survey responses were aggregated. No individual responses are shown in the data which
follows.
Pre/Post-Project Community Leader SWOT Analysis
To ascertain community leader positions on the “front end,” of this project regarding the new battery park, a pre-
project SWOT analysis was conducted in August 2022, which identified Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats. Later, and as part of the online survey, community leaders were also asked to identify SWOT matrixes
facing the community. Both the Pre and Post SWOT Analysis charts can be found on the following two pages.
Page | 159
Pre-Project SWOT
August 16, 2022
•Existing solid infrastructure will support BlueOval SK •Lack of regional transit
•Ongoing Baptist Health Hardin expansion is a real plus •County/state roads in Glendale area - can they handle
for community heavy truck traffic?
•ECTC/University Center (under development) - great •Is infrastructure in place for massive growth in
connection for transitioning military workers and Elizabethtown?
trailing spouses •Is City prepared to annex adjacent areas to control its
destiny?
•Is City prepared to amend its building height
moratorium to accomodate denser growth?
•Great existing political capital on state/federal levels •Lack of unified government may lead to poor decision
•Housing - will require thoughtful development making across jurisdictions
•Competitively position Elizabethtown for R & D •Segmentation of urban and rural traditions
development opportunities •Level of sophistication of decision making by some in
•BlueOval SK is the accelerator government
•BMW in Spartanburg has a partnership with local •Workforce availability
community college with an R & D component •Existing plants will be competing with BlueOval SK for
•Fort Knox energy independence/proposed solar farms the same workers
•Opporunity for NEW community communications and •Parts of the MSA still have NO access to the Internet
branding
•Need for an understanding of the Korean culture
Post-Online Community Leader Survey SWOT Analysis
April 1, 2023
•Location, regional medical center, educational opportunities •Lack of sewer in outlying areas
•Balanced economy •Unprepared for labor, housing, and infrastructure needs for
•Good people/good leadership what's coming
•City is poised to lead growth for BOSK with southern •Workforce availability to fill thousands of new jobs
annexation; police and fire can handle annexation •Not going big
•Lack of unified government
•Develop high tech research center with ECTC and battery •Current state of volunteer fire departments/EMS
industry •Lack of new industrial land to recruit battery supply chain
•BOSK will catalyze growth of new retail and restaurants •Lack of vision from community leaders
•Recruit EV battery plant supply chain •Residents/community leaders who are resistant to change
•Annex south and expand services to accomodate growth •Residential growth that does not align with tax structure to
•Expand educational opportunities, medical facilities for fund infrastructure expansion
premium job growth •BOSK will threaten existing industry workforce
•Transform community into advanced manufacturing •Other communities becoming more progressive and
powerhouse gaining new opportunities ahead of Elizabethtown
Page | 161
Key Community Leader Surveys & Interviews
A total of 141 in-depth online surveys were sent out to Hardin County leaders. Ninety-one leaders responded,
providing for a 65% response rate – a very good response rate for a survey of this type. Additionally, 34 community
leaders participated in confidential one-on-one interviews.
Key Community Leader Online Survey Summary
Overall, most all the 91 respondents to the online survey were in lockstep on key community issues and
perceptions. The online survey covered the following areas:
• Quality of Life Issues

• Overall Growth Issues
• Economic Development Issues
• BlueOval SK Battery Park Issues
• Future Industrial Development/New Jobs Issues
• The Next Big Project Issue
• Fort Knox
Following is a summary of the key majority viewpoints:
Quality of Life Issues
• People like living in Hardin County and appreciate the collaboration, collegiality, support and
comradery that exists between government, education, healthcare, and business leaders
• People appreciate the low crime rate and the fact that the community is growing and is a good place to
raise a family
• On the other end of the spectrum, people would like more “premium” restaurants, department stores
and better retail opportunities
• Concern was expressed about the new leadership team in Hardin County Government and their lack of
preparedness for the growth and influx that is coming
• Concern was also expressed about the lack of convention/meeting space, public transit and cultural
opportunities
• Strong majorities expressed satisfaction when it comes to education providers (all levels) in the
community, along with the quality of healthcare providers and public safety agencies, and park systems
• While majorities expressed satisfaction with retail opportunities in Downtown Elizabethtown and the
North Dixie retail corridor (excluding Towne Mall), significant dissatisfaction was expressed about the
current status of Towne Mall and retail opportunities in Radcliff and Vine Grove
• Crowne Point Theater and the Elizabethtown Sports Park scored very high marks in terms of
satisfaction of opportunities provided to citizens
Overall Growth Issues
• Strong majorities supported and/or recognized the following when it comes to future growth:
o Managing growth both in the City of Elizabethtown and beyond with smart growth strategies
o Land values will increase resulting in more dense housing developments
o The community should begin planning for new utility corridors to accommodate future growth
o The community should begin planning for extending professional (full-time) firefighting protection
services to outlying areas near the BOSK plant
o The City of Elizabethtown should consider developing a strategic annexation plan, recognizing that
thousands of people already live just outside the city limits, work in and use/enjoy city
services/amenities
Kentucky’s 10 Largest Cities (2020 Census):
1. Louisville 633,045
2. Lexington 322,570
3. Bowling Green 72,294
4. Owensboro 60,183
5. Covington 40,961
6. Georgetown 37,086
7. Richmond 34,585
8. Florence 31,946
9. Elizabethtown 31,394
10. Hopkinsville 31,180
2021 Population Statistics
Elizabethtown Estimated Population: 31,931

Ninth largest in Kentucky
Zip Code Estimated Population: 52,279

Fourth largest in Kentucky
Page | 163
Economic Development Issues
• Strong majorities supported and/or recognized the following when it comes to economic development:
o Elizabethtown/Hardin County will be one of the five growth centers/economic powerhouses of

Kentucky going forward
o It is important to maintain growth and development of new jobs to retain local talent and recruit
new talent to the community going forward
o New regional transit system to efficiently move people and workers around Hardin County
o New community branding is needed for current and future economic development/market
promotion
o Appropriately planned solar energy projects should become part of the community’s power mix
• One area of concern: majority of respondents to not believe that community leaders are aligned
properly to implement the existing growth, and plan for and manage future growth
BlueOval SK Issues
• Strong majorities agreed that BOSK will become a key and valued component of the community,
support the active recruitment of BOSK supplier plants to the community, and that the community
should formally engage with BOSK to support future expansion of the battery park
Future Industrial Development/New Jobs
Strong majorities agreed on the following:
• Support Elizabethtown/Hardin County Industrial Foundation efforts to secure new industrial

development land to compete with regional communities and create new jobs
• Take steps in the foreseeable future to secure land for the next “big project,” which might require a
new mega site
Key Community Leader In-Person Interviews/Key Community Leader Video Interviews
In addition to the extensive online survey, an additional group of community leaders were invited to participate in
follow-up interviews – either in one-on-one in-person interviews conducted in Elizabethtown, or via one-on-one
Page | 164
video interviews. Each of these 34 people participated in a confidential 30-minute interview. Each were asked the
following three questions and all responses were aggregated:
1. From your perspective, what is missing in the community today?

2. What would you like the community to look like in five to ten years?
3. To achieve your vision for the community, how do we get there?
A summary of the responses to the in-person and video interviews begins on the next page.
A summary of each of the four outer county group sessions then follows.
Page | 165
Key Community Leader In-Person/In-Person Video Interview Summaries – Categorized by Author
1. From your perspective, what is missing in the community today?
Community Leadership Education Government Infrastructure/Transportation Community Quality of Life
Community Collaboration & Advanced Government Leadership Housing Downtown Elizabethtown

Leadership Manufacturing/Engineering
• Lack of good working • Adequate number of • Recreational issues –
• One voice from a • High school students relationship between the housing units need more vibrant
regional perspective ready to move into City and County downtown and arts scene
advanced • Affordable housing (for
• Lots of good groups manufacturing • Community is too Fort Knox soldiers and • Public gathering space
doing good things positions – work divided…long run, this BOSK workers alike) downtown
backed with good ready for other than won’t play well when the
people but are not college need to move quickly on • Housing – needs to be • Need more parking
always working an issue comes up defined as to type/market downtown
together; some • More advanced level/quantities
groups tend to work manufacturing • Overall quality of
in silos classes to feed metro leadership is not where it • Lack of
industry needs (all needs to be…City infrastructure…can’t build
• Lack of singular districts/ industries) government tends to be large subdivision that
leadership “voice” “cliquish” when it comes doesn’t have sewer and
(either an individual • College engineering to appointments and water…same goes for
or organization) to school/pathway to other issues schools
represent engineering (no KY
community; community college • Political will to do what is • More mixed use, more
community is full of has an engineering needed is lacking walkable, more attractive
great people, but pathway) developments
who is the natural
leader? • Need to integrate green
space into future
development
• More
housing/entertainment
downtown
Page | 166
Community Branding Workforce Development Public Safety & Related Tax Issues Roads/Regional Transit Greater Elizabethtown
• Lack of community • Linkage between • Volunteer fire • Community needs a • Arts community needs
branding; need to DOD-schools and the departments are having comprehensive plan further development
promote community EC3 facility (Fort Knox serious problems finding (L’Enfant’s master plan for
as the EV battery can’t afford technical volunteer fire Washington, D.C. was • Too many gaps by being
capital/energy center studies area) – issues fighters…staffing is referenced) – how will so close to Louisville
of the world are busing related minimal roads be laid out, utilities?
to/from high schools • Community has evolved
and dollar cost (EC3 is • Ability to get around to a more executive area
• Lack of first-class EMS and
maxed out in space); without a car – regional – 16 generals at Fort Knox
paid county fire protection
EC3 will need to transit, bicycle lanes have made it an executive
expand not only for and the ability to pay for
post
county fire protection
Fort Knox but for • Regional transit system;
BOSK workers and parents don’t • Elizabethtown is not yet
have an opportunity to an executive community
• Need another 30,000 • Lack of taxing district to easily transit the area
people to move to fund EMS and county fire • Lack of good
this area to fill jobs fighting • With coming growth, conference/meeting
infrastructure could facilities
• Workforce become more of an issue
recruitment (roads)…do we have what • Younger people want
we need? Louisville amenities and
will live there if
Elizabethtown doesn’t
provide it
Page | 167
Miscellaneous Workforce Development Regionalization Amenities/Retail
• Four-year university • How do we ensure that • Lack outside of the box • More high-end
we’ll have the workers – thinking restaurants (Jeff Ruby’s)
• Need stronger/more with the skillsets – that
schools will be needed? • Need for • Grocery store in Glendale;
regionalization/regional along with medical
• Affordable land for • How do we ensure that planning services
new schools (last workforces at existing
school – previous industrial plants won’t be • Critical problem of water • YMCA
price: $11,000/acre; cannibalized by BOSK? supply across a multi-
now: $65,000) county region • Childcare facilities
• Collaboration is needed to
make this work but does • Need for regional water • 24-hour vet services
not currently exist system
• Good country club
• A talent attraction • HCWD 1/2 - lynchpin environment
program – led by between Louisville Water
government – is needed and other jurisdictions – • Lack of an area where
equipment age prevents executives can mix
expansion for industrial socially
development
• Lack of Class A office
• HCWD 2 can’t add sewer space
line without City approval
• Lack of fiber
Airport capacity/redundancy in
some areas of the county
• Airport needs to expand –
need commercial • Quality of life – music
flights/larger aircraft venues
• Need more retail stores –

still must go to Louisville
for good men’s clothing
• Needs Dillard’s/Johnson
& Murphy
• Better quality of grocery

stores (Whole
Food/Trader Joes)
Page | 168
2. What would you like the community to look like in five to ten years?
Category Specific
Amenities • More grocery stores – Publix would be good
• Need better restaurants – for entertaining customers/global company leaders – we have to go to Louisville now
• Need more greenspace – will provide a more prosperous look
• Recreation – need bicycle lanes
• Better retail corridor
• More recreational opportunities
Community Leadership/Visionary • Visionary planning is a must
• Engage younger professionals in community issues
• Intentionally incorporate new people into community leadership positions
• I want this to be a community that my kids would want to come back to after college (larger city of more interest to mid-20-year-olds,
but not a huge city)
• I like the “hometown” feel
• A well-planned community that has capitalized on the growth
• Public safety/education – growth needs to be managed in order to maintain a safe city with good schools
• Minimize loss of quality of place
• Minimize political issues
• How do we keep the crime rate low?
• How do we keep quality of schools/medical care?
Page | 169
Category Specific
Cultural Issues • More opportunities for cultural events – we need to up our game and bring in nationally recognized talent
• TED Talk – initiate events from the community
Downtown Elizabethtown • Vibrant downtown, such as Greenville, SC or Bowling Green – existing efforts to grow downtown Elizabethtown need to happen faster
• Replicate downtown Greenville, SC – modern yet historic – beautiful downtown
Education • More schools
• New private school (religious and/or not religious)
• Full four-year branch of Western Kentucky University
• Attract other university engineering programs (Purdue) to Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
• Vigorous program to educate high school students about the value of advanced manufacturing jobs (as an alternative to college)
• Community with good schools
• More balanced distribution of students across county school district
Glendale • Maintain “village” atmosphere (as much as possible)…most likely will have more shops and restaurants
• Grow village in the right way to maintain the environment/ambience that has made Glendale famous
Page | 170
Category Specific
Greater Elizabethtown • Elizabethtown – maintain community feel vs. becoming a “big city” – don’t want it to look like Louisville
• BOSK – productive and doing what its designed to do
• Improve area south of downtown
• Minimize political issues
• City that has maintained its low crime rate, along with its high-quality schools and medical care
• A community that put in upgrades in infrastructure to handle BOSK and other new plants
• Increase in spousal employment opportunities
• New partnerships to make things happen
• New “brand” of being more of a metro area
• Thriving/sustainable market
• A community that did not become another “factory town”
• A community that successfully attracted a younger demographic
• Become a progressive community by making progressive investments in the community
• Want the community to feel like it does today – sense of community
• “Fill in the blanks…” – south side of Elizabethtown needs development
• Going from 36,000 people to becoming a larger city
• Multiple choices/types of places to live
• Strong churches/schools
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Category Specific
Transportation • New regional transit system
• New transportation infrastructure opportunities such as Uber
• A community that has successfully managed traffic and growth
• Airport– upgrade FBO, which serves as the community’s front door
• Airport – expand airport with new commercial flights/air cargo options/new hangars
• Identify the next big “Ring Road” project?
• Build new outer loop around Elizabethtown (10-mile radius)
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3. In order to achieve your vision for the community, how do we get there?
Leadership Government
Vision Development Issues Coordination/Collaboration Issues
• Goal: make this a community where people want to live • Need to work around the disjointedness of existing local governments or find a
better way to deliver local government services
• Need to manage and grow vision for the community
• Need for comprehensive planning – need first class area planner to develop a
• Eliminate good old boy networks and their current acceptability; set aside egos master plan for the Elizabethtown area to assure connectivity to BOSK and other
new plants
• Be intentional about letting go of control
• Ensure that city services are in place for the growth that is coming
• Need tons of collaboration
• Focus on changing some of the regulations/restrictions to allow development of
• Need strategic approach to fulfilling community quality of life needs housing and commercial projects (such as Elizabethtown’s building height cap)
Vision Implementation/Management Issues Revenue Issues
• Community leaders/elected officials need to send message: BOSK will bring change • Determine how to pay for these things
which will benefit the entire community (need campaign)
• New local taxation opportunities are needed in order to grow
• Branding – build on BOSK
• One example is Georgia’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)
• Leaders need to work in unison in planning for the region’s future
Governing Issues
• Assemble group from Elizabethtown and Glendale to talk about growth and how to
get there • Unified government needs to be revisited
• Assemble a group to recruit specific entities to the community
• Need core group of people “who love this community…willing to lead/invest”
• Need for group to set aside egos for the benefit of the community – servant
mindset instead of money mindset
• Everyone “takes a piece” – people with expertise take the lead on various
components
• Need strong group to lead future development of region
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Outer County Leadership Groups
Introduction
A key component of the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project is the key stakeholder interview
process. To fully understand the impact that the new BlueOval SK (BOSK) Battery Park is going to have on the
metro area, it is important to gauge the mindsets of various key community leaders, both inside and outside of
Hardin County. To that end, four interviews were conducted with community leadership groups in the following
outer counties:
• Grayson County
• Hart County96
• Larue County
• Meade County
Each session revolved around a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) theme relative to the
impact that the BOSK plant might have on the outer county. Each session included the following presentation
agenda:
• Welcome/self-introductions
• BOSK project overview
• Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project overview
• General discussion
Following are summaries from each of the four sessions:
Meade County
Meeting attendees included the following people:
• Annie Emond, Executive Director, Meade County Chamber of Commerce

• Bryan Claycomb, Mayor-Elect, City of Brandenburg
• David Pace, Chairman, Meade County Economic Development
• Luke Schmidt, President, L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC (project consultant)
Much of the discussion centered on the Nucor Steel plant that is

currently under construction (and nearly finished) in Brandenburg. The
plant is expected to be fully operational by March 2023 and will employ
427 workers.
The plant site totals 900 acres along the Ohio River, and the building
footprint takes up about 200 acres.
Prior to the plant’s construction, the vacant property’s value contributed
approximately $8,000 per year in property tax to the local school district. With the buildout and improvements,
the site now contributes between $700,000 and $1 million annually.
96
Hart County leadership group session was conducted via video conference
Nucor Brandenburg Mill
Source: The (Elizabethtown) News-Enterprise
General Comments
• Nucor now has 427 employees working on the site

• Plant site is located outside of Brandenburg city limits
• Nucor does not want to be annexed by the City of Brandenburg
• Nucor’s work shed is pulling from six primary counties: Meade, Harrison (IN), Breckinridge, Hardin, Larue,
and Grayson
• KY 313 has improved access to Brandenburg/Meade County and helped to land the plant
• Nucor does not plan to have a childcare facility on the site
• Nucor expects up to 165 trucks per day to pick up product; as such, there is a need for a truck stop/service
center to support drivers and serve as a place to line up for product pickup
• Housing prices have risen with the arrival of the plant; former median house price: $135,000; now
$265,000 - $303,000 for a single-family home
• Median household income has also risen in Meade County with the arrival of Nucor; 3/19 median
household income: $56,000; 12/21: $64,000
• Poverty rate of 14.8% remains in place
• Population has grown by 3,000 over the past three years
Strengths
• BOSK is working with Meade County Schools to develop pathways for careers
• KY 313 access to I-65 is a plus for attracting future industry, including possible BOSK suppliers
• Meade County Industrial Authority is looking for new land on KY 313
• City of Brandenburg’s water system is expanding to 2 million gallons per day
Page | 175
Weaknesses
• KY 313 is considered to be a waste transport corridor; there is concern about transporting waste from the
BOSK plant through Meade County in the event of an accident…this could turn into a haz-mat issue
• Meade County needs more emergency responders
• There is no existing tax base to support growth
Opportunities
• County would like to develop network of EV charging stations and make it a multi-county network
• During COVID, Nucor established digital hotspots around the county which served to expand Internet
access; hotspots remain in place
Threats
• Wage issue is real…originally due to Nucor and now due to both Nucor and BOSK…how with other local
businesses and industry compete?
• Small businesses are finding it harder to find/retain new employees
• Lack of sewer service outside cities of Brandenburg and Muldraugh
Additional Comments
• People need to get facts straight about the development

• BOSK might drive growth from Hardin County, down KY 313 to the Ohio River Bridge
• City of Brandenburg needs to be in position to extend sewer lines if the need presents itself
• Need to look beyond county boundaries for regional growth opportunities
• Meade County Schools are key to retaining talent/residents
• Meade County needs a couple of better restaurants and a new grocery store
Grayson County
• April Spalding, Executive Director, Grayson County Chamber of Commerce

• Ashley Herrington, CEO, Twin Lakes Medical Center/Owensboro Health
• Bonnie Henderson, Mayor, City of Clarkson
• Doug Robinson, Superintendent, Grayson County Schools
• Harold Miller, Mayor, City of Leitchfield
• Ilsa Johnson, Tourism Director, City of Leitchfield
• Kevin Henderson, Judge/Executive, Grayson County
• Loretta Woosley, City Clerk/Treasurer, City of Leitchfield
• Luke Schmidt, President, L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC
Much of the discussion centered on Leitchfield and Grayson County’s proximity to Elizabethtown and the
expectation that many workers from Grayson County will pursue employment at BOSK.
Page | 176
Twin Lakes Medical Center/Owensboro Health
General Comments
• Current Leitchfield population is 6,500, with another 1,500 living just outside of the city
• Most of Grayson County now has fiber access to the Internet
• Many BOSK workers coming from urban areas may want to relocate in a rural area
Strengths
• BOSK team met with county school district leaders and established a pathway between BOSK and the
community
• The Western Kentucky Parkway provides an opportunity to move BOSK goods through Grayson County
• Grayson County Schools are working to scale-up schools to supply students for “jobs of the future”
• Grayson County offers less expensive/more affordable housing without countywide planning and zoning
• City of Leitchfield does have planning and zoning
Weaknesses
• Lack of countywide planning and zoning

• Current county workforce participation in the job market
• Lack of housing for potential BOSK workers to purchase and commute to the plant
Nolin Lake – Significant Source of Tourism Dollars in Grayson County

Page | 177
Opportunities
• County leaders would like to see the Commonwealth develop a national job recruitment campaign
encouraging former Kentuckians to return home to help fill the new positions
• Develop sewer system in eastern Grayson County to accommodate new homes from Hardin County
spillover
• Develop regional transit system to shuttle Grayson County workers to Elizabethtown
• Build on existing 25-acre industrial site to recruit BOSK supply chain companies
• Build on existing plan to add new WK Parkway interchange at Big Clifty
• Begin working regionally to promote the region for business and economic development
Threats
• Potential loss of Leitchfield industrial workers to BOSK
Hart County
Meeting (conducted via video conference) attendees included the following people:
• Joe Choate, Judge/Executive, Hart County

• Kaylie Butler, Executive Director, Hart County Chamber of Commerce
• Nathan Smith, Superintendent, Hart County Schools
• Randall Curry, Mayor, City of Horse Cave
Hart County Blueway on the Green River

General Comments
• County is in the Barren River Area Development District; BRADD is mostly influenced by Bowling Green
and Warren County
• Dart with 1,200 employees is the largest employer in Hart County
• More workers commute into Hart County to work at the Marzetti plant
Page | 178
• Existing industrial parks in Munfordville and Horse Cave are full
• Hart County sits in the “middle” of various jurisdictions/issues which impact the county
• The county is part of KYTC District # 4 (Elizabethtown)
• The county is in the South Central Community College service area (Bowling Green)
• Citizens in Munfordville and northern Hart County go to Elizabethtown for additional services
• Citizens in Horse Cave and southern Hart County go to Bowling Green for additional services
• The Medical Center (Bowling Green) now own Caverna Hospital
• The county is in the Central Time Zone but has economic ties to the Eastern Time Zone as well
Downtown Munfordville
Strengths
• Hart County is located 15 miles from the BOSK site (Bonnieville exit)
• County is located halfway between the BOSK site in Hardin County and the AESC site in Warren County
which should drive interest by supply chain firms
• County is considering regional water/sewer projects with Hardin and Larue counties
• Existing sewer line runs north to Bonnieville; this could be extended to Upton and the industrial park that
is under development at the I-65 exit (Larue County side of Upton)
• Hart County Industrial Authority would like to develop an industrial park in the north end of Hart County
to tie into the Glendale megasite opportunity; 100 + acres have been donated to the Authority in
Bonnieville and the Authority has funding for initial excavation in hand.
• Another 97 acres are available for industrial development in Horse Cave, also alongside I-65; two BOSK
suppliers are looking at the Horse Cave site
Weaknesses
• Hart County has planning services but does not have zoning (Munfordville and Horse Cave do have
planning and zoning); Bonnieville does not have either planning or zoning
• The county is 30 minutes from major hospitals or shopping in Elizabethtown or Bowling Green
• The county has infrastructure shortcomings
Opportunities
• Services need to be upgraded to better serve citizens (e.g., more doctors, etc.)
• There is a need for a “bridge” between the two ADD districts and the two community colleges
• Munfordville could be a great bedroom community – between the two battery plants
• There is a concerted effort to bring veterans processing out of the Army at Fort Campbell to relocate to
the Bowling Green area (BRADD initiative)
Page | 179
• Build on existing infrastructure shortcomings
• Consider the development of incentives to attract new businesses and services (but don’t duplicate
existing services) in Munfordville
• Community alignment in Hart County at present is strong – everyone is working together
• Community needs to be able to pivot with the market when new opportunities arise
Threats
• None reported by the group
Larue County
• David Raleigh, Superintendent, Larue County Schools

• Eric Allen, Director of Student Services, Larue County Schools
• Nick Sullivan, Executive Director, Larue County Chamber of Commerce
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site

Strengths
• There is room for industrial expansion in Larue County…lots of open land

• The county has a very low tax rate
• The county has an excellent school district with high rates of achievement
• Recreation and tourism opportunities are in place with 20 miles of nature trails and a national historic site
Weaknesses
• Cost to procure industrial land may serve as an impediment to development
Page | 180
• Lack of available land to build housing
• County’s low tax rate does not provide funding sources for infrastructure
• Existing mobile home parks and other rental property won’t contribute to increasing the tax base…this
could lead to higher poverty rates
• County residents are resistant to change which impacts ability to grow
• Housing and apartment costs and rental rates are increasing; duplex rent is now $1,600/month
Opportunities
• Growth in population and the economy can lead to smart

growth
• Grow recreation and tourism streams…keep tourists here
after they visit Abraham Lincoln National Historic Site
Threats
• Incremental student enrollment increase without corresponding tax revenue won’t be enough to fund
capital improvements…two of four Larue County schools are now operating at full capacity
• County residents are resistant to change
• Lack of an adequate workforce – where can we find people to fill existing jobs?
• BOSK may poach some of our existing industrial and agricultural workers
• The growth that comes to Larue County may be on the “low end” when it comes to growing the economy
Page | 181
Page | 182
Overview – Competitive Community Economic Development Platforms
As has been shown above, the impact of the new BlueOval SK Battery Park on Elizabethtown and Hardin County
will be enormous. Of almost equal importance is the catalyzing effect that the BOSK facilities will have on the
community for future growth. Not just community growth but future industrial development and new
manufacturing jobs.
The I-65 Corridor is now one of the two most important corridors in the nation when it comes to automobile
assembly and suppliers to the automotive industry. Elizabethtown remains in a very strong position to recruit
additional automotive suppliers to the region, and other types of manufacturing facilities as well. At the same
time, other communities will want to attract their fair share of the business. Three growing communities along the
I-65 Corridor have been identified as potential key competitors to Elizabethtown/Hardin County going forward:
• Bowling Green, Kentucky

• Columbia, Tennessee
• Decatur, Alabama
Following is a brief overview of how each community has organized its economic development assets.
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green lies an hour south of Elizabethtown on I-65. Following is a brief comparison of the two cities:
Category Bowling Green Elizabethtown

County Warren Hardin
County Seat YES YES
Population/City 74,926 31,892
MSA Bowling Green Elizabethtown – Fort Knox
MSA # Counties Four Three
MSA Population/Rank 185,682/234th 157,026/272nd
CSA Bowling Green – Glasgow Louisville – Elizabethtown – Fort Knox
CSA Population/Rank 237,487/127th 1,512,785/38th
Interstate Highway(s) I-65/I-165 I-65
Four Year University(s) Western Kentucky University None
Community College South Central Community & Technical College Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
Hospital/# Beds Greenwood Hospital/211 Baptist Health Hardin/300
The Medical Center/337
Airport/Longest Runway Bowling Green – Warren County Regional/6,500’ Elizabethtown Regional/6,000’
Industrial Parks Kentucky Transpark Hughes Center of Commerce & Industry
T.J. Patterson Industrial Park
Current Available Ind. Acreage97 9 Acres 27 Acres
Lead Econ. Dev. Organization Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce Elizabethtown – Hardin County Industrial
Foundation
Note all population figures are 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates
97
Source: available acreage as shown in the respective state’s economic development website
Page | 183
Bowling Green’s economy revolves primarily around
two principal drivers: manufacturing and Western
Kentucky University. AESC Envision is currently building
an EV electric battery plant in the Kentucky Transpark.
The Bowling Green Chamber (www.bgchamber.com)

serves as the lead economic development organization
not only Bowling Green and Warren County, but also
leads a regional 10-county consortium known as South
Central Kentucky.
The Chamber has won numerous awards for economic development and last year hosted 20 new project
announcements. The Bowling Green Chamber also provides “traditional” chamber services to its 1,200 members.
Columbia, Tennessee
Columbia lies 179 miles south of Elizabethtown on I-65. Columbia is the largest city between Nashville and
Huntsville, Alabama. Following is a brief comparison of the two cities:
Category Columbia Elizabethtown

County Maury Hardin
County Seat YES YES
Population/City 41,690 (2020) 31,892
MSA Nashville – Davidson - Murfreesboro Elizabethtown – Fort Knox
MSA # Counties 13 Three
MSA Population/Rank 2,046,828/35th 157,026/272nd
CSA Nashville – Davidson – Murfreesboro Louisville – Elizabethtown – Fort Knox
CSA Population/Rank 2,143,407/32nd 1,512,785/38th
Interstate Highway(s) I-65 I-65
Four Year University(s) None None
Community College Columbia State Community College Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
Hospital/# Beds Maury Regional Medical Center/305 Baptist Health Hardin/300
Airport/Longest Runway Maury County Regional/6,000’ Elizabethtown Regional/6,000’
Industrial Parks Hughes Center of Commerce & Industry
Current Available Ind. Acreage98 150 Acres99 27 Acres
Lead Econ. Dev. Organization Maury Alliance Elizabethtown – Hardin County Industrial
Foundation
Like Bowling Green, the chamber and economic development

functions in Columbia are combined into one group – the Maury
Alliance (www.mauryalliance.com). At present, only the State of
Tennessee list one 150-acre site as available in Columbia. The
economy is driven by the nearby GM assembly plant in Spring Hill,
which includes an EV electric battery plant which is currently under
construction.
Source: Gresham-Smith
98 Source: available acreage as shown in the respective state’s economic development website
99
Single site; includes existing 87,000 square foot building
Page | 184
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur lies 249 miles south of Elizabethtown on I-65. The city is the anchor city of the Decatur Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) and is adjacent to the Huntsville MSA. Following is a brief comparison of the two cities:
Category Decatur Elizabethtown

County Morgan Hardin
County Seat YES YES
Population/City 57,938 (2020) 31,892
MSA Decatur Elizabethtown – Fort Knox
MSA # Counties Two Three
MSA Population/Rank 157,425/271st 157,026/272nd
CSA Huntsville – Decatur Louisville – Elizabethtown – Fort Knox
CSA Population/Rank 659,486/78th 1,512,785/38th
Interstate Highway(s) I-65/I-565 I-65
Four Year University(s) None None
Community College Calhoun Community College System Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
Hospital/# Beds Decatur Morgan Hospital/120 Baptist Health Hardin/300
Airport/Longest Runway Pryor Field Regional/6,107’ Elizabethtown Regional/6,000’
Industrial Parks Hughes Center of Commerce & Industry
Current Available Ind. Acreage100 23 sites ranging in size from 5 – 238 Acres 27 Acres
Lead Econ. Dev. Organization Morgan County Economic Development Elizabethtown – Hardin County Industrial
Association Foundation
The Morgan County Economic Development

Association (www.mceda.org) leads the economic
development function in the Decatur area as a stand-
alone entity. Decatur’s economy revolves around its
key location on the Tennessee River (it is the largest
port on the Tennessee River in terms of cargo).
Proximity to the port has led to the development of
12 Fortune 500 manufacturing facilities.
Proximity to nearby (and fast-growing) Huntsville – now the largest city in Alabama – has also resulted in more
advanced manufacturing opportunities. Included in this is the Mazda-Toyota auto assembly plant located in
adjacent Limestone County, which opened two years ago.
Each of these three cities are expected to continue to provide worthy competition to Elizabethtown and Hardin
County when it comes to future site selection for manufacturing facilities. Each has certain advantages over the
others (e.g., Tennessee’s lack of personal income tax; Decatur’s extensive port facilities, Bowling Green’s four-year
university, Hardin County’s soon to be largest EV electric battery manufacturing site in the world, etc.).
The most important issue now facing Elizabethtown and Hardin County: securing new tracts of land for industrial
development.
100
Source: available acreage as shown in the respective state’s economic development website
Page | 185
Page | 186
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Geographical Expansion
Research has been completed on an issue of interest to the sponsors of the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA
Transformation Project – that of the possible expansion of the current boundaries of the MSA itself. Following is a
summary of the research:
Background
The Elizabethtown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was first designated in 2000 by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB). In its first delineation, the MSA included Hardin and LaRue counties. By 2013, OMB expanded
the delineation of the MSA to include Meade County (which had been part of the nearby Louisville MSA). The
MSA’s name was also changed at that time to the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area.
(Only two of 384 MSAs include the name in the MSA title of a nearby military installation; Watertown – Fort Drum
(NY) is the other one.)
The Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA ranks 271st in population, with a 2021 estimated population of 156,766 101
people, just behind Grand Junction (CO) and just ahead of Decatur (AL). The MSA is part of the Louisville –
Elizabethtown – Bardstown Combined Statistical Area102, which ranks 37th in the nation with a population of
1,602,309 people.
Kentucky MSAs103
Designation/Expansion of an MSA
To understand how an MSA can be expanded, it is useful to first understand how an MSA is initially designated.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the federal agency tasked with the delineation of “core based
statistical areas.” Every core based statistical area has a “central” county, which always contains the county with
the largest population. There are two types of core based statistical areas: micropolitan and metropolitan (the
name of the core based statistical area is always based on the largest city in the defined geographical area).
101 Source: U.S. Census Bureau

102 The Combined Statistical Area includes adjoining core based statistical areas with overlapping commuting patterns; Bardstown is a separate
micropolitan area which includes Nelson County
103
Page | 187
• Micropolitan areas contain a central county with an overall smaller population, with an urban core area
population of between 10,000 and 50,000 people; micropolitan areas can include more than one county
(Campbellsville, Glasgow, and Somerset are examples of micropolitan statistical areas in Kentucky)
• Metropolitan areas contain a central county with a larger population, with an urban core area population
of 50,000 or more people; metropolitan areas can include more than one county (Louisville, Lexington,
Bowling Green, Elizabethtown – Fort Knox, and Owensboro are examples of metropolitan statistical areas
in Kentucky)
OMB every 10 years, following the census, determines which areas are designated metropolitan or micropolitan
statistical areas. Such designation is based entirely on census figures. OMB also decides if any existing MSA
boundaries need to be revised. Such boundary revisions from one or more outlying counties adjacent to the
central county are based on census data and five-year estimates provided in the American Community Survey
(ACS).
ACS data importantly illustrates commuting patterns between counties. If a county has most of its workers
commuting to the central county, per OMB regulations, then that county is added to the MSA. As indicated above,
due to commuting patterns, Meade County was added to the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA.
By comparison, like Elizabethtown, Bowling Green achieved MSA status in 2000 with two original counties –
Warren and Edmonson. Due to changing commuting patterns, two more counties – Allen and Butler – were added
in 2010. Today, Bowling Green’s MSA’s 2021 estimated population is 182,594. Bowling Green’s MSA ranks as the
236th largest metro, just behind Kingston (NY) and just ahead of Joplin (MO). The Bowling Green MSA is part of the
Bowling Green – Glasgow Combined Statistical Area104, which ranks 127th in the nation with a population of
234,410 people.
Future Expansion of the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA
At present, OMB is reviewing ACS data for every MSA in the country. Per the federal regulations related to this
issue, OMB will announce sometime during June 2023 the delineation for each MSA – the addition of any new
MSAs, and the expansion (or contraction) of any existing MSA. In the case of the current review, OMB will be
reviewing ACS commuting data for the period of 2016 – 2020.
The 2016 – 2020 data may show changes in the MSA commuting pattern to Elizabethtown. If so, then it can be
assumed that one or more counties may be added to the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA.
However, the period of 2016 through 2020 will not have the advantage of including what clearly will bring
significant commuting changes into and out of the MSA. Once the BlueOval SK Blue Oval Battery Park is fully
operational by 2026, it is expected that many new workers will be commuting to Elizabethtown from counties such
as Green (11,291 population), Hart (19,460 population), and Grayson (26,524 population).
The addition of just Hart and Grayson counties pushes the MSA population to 202,750 people. That would make
Elizabethtown – Fort Knox the 225th largest metro, just behind Bend (OR) and just ahead of St. Cloud (MN). It
would also place the metro in a new list – markets greater than 200,000 people – which could be significant
when it comes to potential future economic development and growth.
104
The Glasgow Micropolitan Statistical Area includes Barren and Metcalfe counties
Page | 188
OMB review of ACS commuting data for 2033 MSA delineation will take place in 2028 and will examine
commuting patterns from 2023 – 2028.
Advantages/Disadvantages to MSA Inclusion
When the metro designation was first envisioned back in the 1940s and as it has been implemented by OMB, the
primary intent of the designation (be it metropolitan or micropolitan) is simple: “The classification provides a
nationally consistent set of delineations for collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics for geographic
areas105.”
It has never been the intent of OMB to use this system for the purpose of designating counties urban or rural. In
fact, many rural counties have been routinely added to MSAs over the years.
That said, “Although MSA classifications originally were intended to be used solely to describe a county,
policymakers have used them to make policy on issues such as health care, education, and housing…For example,
transportation, housing, health care and education policy all allocate federal funding using OMB classifications106.”
The larger the MSA, the larger the potential federal grant may be.
As important, aside from federal grants, economic development officials, corporate expansion executives, etc.,
routinely use the list of MSAs to target new markets. As an example, a restaurant company, looking to expand in
the Midwest or Mid-South, may set as an entry threshold “any metropolitan area,” or, any MSA with a population
of over 100,000 people. Counties located in the Midwest or Mid-South that may lie in smaller MSAs or in any
micropolitan area, will miss the cut (and the investment/new jobs opportunity).
Being a part of an MSA also provides a county with new branding opportunities when it comes to community
promotion and economic development.
As the project consultant has examined this issue, the only potential negative for a rural county to be added to an
MSA may be the loss of some future U.S. Department of Agriculture loan/grant eligibility.
105 Source: OMB website

106
Source: The Washington Post (4/19/21)
Page | 189
Potential Future Threat to Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA
While working on this project component, the consultant also spent time reviewing one of OMB’s process
recommendations as to how the metropolitan/micropolitan designation works. As part of its 10-year review,
OMB routinely requests suggestions or recommendations as to how the program should be changed/improved.
OMB’s Standards Review Committee review these recommendations. Public comments are allowed after the
recommendations are first published/posted. Then OMB formally acts on the recommendations.
During the most recent round, one recommendation which OMB formally considered was:
(1) The minimum urban area population to qualify as an MSA be increased from 50,000 to 100,000 107
(emphasis added)
OMB rejected this recommendation, but only after a lot of blowback from community leaders and Members of
Congress. Had this recommendation been formally adopted, 144 MSAs would have been re-classified as
Micropolitan Statistical Areas. This would have included Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, and Owensboro in
Kentucky.
According to an article in the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer (3/20/21), OMB currently lists the core urban
population for each of the three Kentucky metros as follows:
• Bowling Green 78,306

• Elizabethtown 73,467
• Owensboro 70,543
The urban population figure for Elizabethtown most likely includes city limit populations for Elizabethtown,
Radcliff, and Vine Grove, plus some of the outer suburbs of Elizabethtown currently in unincorporated areas
(e.g., Cecilia, Rineyville, Glendale, etc.).
What this means is that based on current population figures, Elizabethtown needs to grow its urban core by at
least 30,000 people to circumvent this threat in the future. The project consultant recommends that
discussions begin in the community to address this issue going forward.
How Can the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA be Expanded?
A review of the OMB regulations does not include a standardized method for a community to use to expand its
MSA. Rather, OMB relies on a ten-year process which revolves around the census. Project consultant Luke Schmidt
met with staff from the offices of Congressman Brett Guthrie, Senator Rand Paul, and Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell. It is the view of Leader McConnell’s staff that the community’s next best opportunity to expand
the boundary of the MSA will occur in 2028. During 2028, OMB staff will do a deep dive into the previous five years
of commuting patterns for each MSA (this will include the first two full years of commuting to the new BOSK
plant).
If the community is not successful in 2028 in expanding the boundary of the MSA, the next opportunity will occur
in 2033 as part of the regular 10-year process described above. It is the view of Leader McConnell’s staff that in
107
Source: OMB
Page | 190
2033, OMB staff will rely on data which include historical commuting patterns to the BOSK plant, beginning in
2025. Consultant Schmidt concurs with this view.
Page | 191
Page | 192
Bluegrass/Western Kentucky Parkway Conversions to Interstate Status
Preliminary research has been completed on an additional issue of interest to the sponsors of the Elizabethtown –
Fort Knox MSA Transformation Project – that being the possible conversion of two of Kentucky’s parkways to
interstate status. Following is a summary of the research:
Background
Kentucky developed a system of turnpikes and parkways, beginning back in the late 1950s. Two of these highways
– the Kentucky Turnpike and the Mountain Parkway – were built before the establishment of the federal interstate
highway system. The parkway system was designed to bring four-lane limited access highways to all parts of the
Commonwealth.
The Kentucky Turnpike connected Louisville and Elizabethtown. The turnpike became part of Interstate 65. In
1963, the Western Kentucky Parkway (now known as the Wendell Ford Western Kentucky Parkway) was built from
Elizabethtown to Princeton. (The parkway was extended from Princeton to I-24, providing an expressway from
Elizabethtown to Paducah.
Kentucky’s Parkway and Interstate System108
In 1965, the Bluegrass Parkway (now known as the Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Parkway) was built from
Elizabethtown eastward to Versailles, providing an expressway link between Elizabethtown and Lexington.
Kentucky’s parkway system was built before and during the establishment of the federal interstate system. As
such, the parkways, like interstates, are limited access highways. The parkways are built like interstate highways
but may not meet all the standards of interstate highways. The parkways opened many parts of Kentucky that
otherwise had been previously served with poor highways and have helped to facilitate economic development.
(All parkways started as toll roads; however, once the bonds were paid off, the tolls were removed.)
Elizabethtown has benefited enormously from its central location, at the hub of I-65 and the Bluegrass and
Western Kentucky parkways.
108
Page | 193
Ongoing Conversion of Kentucky Parkways to Auxiliary Interstate Highway Status
Most of Kentucky’s parkways have either been converted or are in the process of being converted to auxiliary
interstate highway status. An auxiliary interstate highway is defined as a spur, loop, or by-pass route which
intersects with an interstate highway. An auxiliary interstate highway is one that has been built as a new highway
or is an existing highway which has been converted and upgraded to meet interstate standards.
Following is a list of parkways which have been converted or are being converted into auxiliary interstate
highways:
Parkway109 From To Conversion Status

Audubon110 Henderson/I-69 Owensboro No conversion underway
Bluegrass Elizabethtown/I-65 Versailles No conversion underway
Cumberland Park City/I-65 Somerset Currently being converted to I-365
Daniel Boone London/I-75 Hazard Two-lane parkway; does not meet interstate standards
Green River Bowling Green/I-65 Owensboro Converted to I-165
Mountain Winchester/I-64 Salyersville Section from Winchester to Campton is four lanes
Section from Campton to Salyersville is being widened
Parkway will be extended to Prestonsburg
Pennyrile Henderson Hopkinsville Section from Henderson to WK Pkwy converted to I-69
Section from WK Pkwy to Hopkinsville converted to I-169
Purchase Calvert City/I-24 Fulton Converted to I-69
Western Kentucky Elizabethtown/I-65 Eddyville/I-24 Section from Pennyrile Pkwy to Eddyville converted to I-69
Section from I-69 to I-165 designated future I-569
I-165 to Elizabethtown – conversion study completed 2022
As the above chart indicates, all but four parkways have been converted (or are being converted) to interstate
status. The Daniel Boone Parkway is two-lanes and would not qualify for conversion. The Mountain Parkway is
undergoing a major expansion in terms of capacity (upgrading from two to four lanes) and is being extended
eastward to Prestonsburg. Interstate conversion may occur at a future date. Formal discussion about conversion of
the Audubon Parkway to I-369 has taken place.
Parts of the Western Kentucky Parkway have been converted to I-69, and a section at the current western end of
the parkway has been proposed for conversion to I-569 (from I-69 to I-165).
This leaves the eastern most section of the Western Kentucky Parkway and the Bluegrass Parkway which have not
been converted, both of which intersect I-65 at Elizabethtown.
Process of Converting a Parkway to an Auxiliary Interstate Highway
Converting a parkway to an auxiliary interstate highway includes a lot of moving parts, such as taking a highway
currently under “state” management and converting it to “federal” management. One of the benefits to the state
is that after conversion, 90% of maintenance costs become the responsibility of the federal government.
Before a parkway can be converted, it must first be upgraded (where needed) to federal Interstate Design
Standards. Broadly speaking, following are the 10 primary design standards which must be met prior to conversion
(some waivers/exceptions may be permitted):
1. Design Speed
2. Lane Width
109 Parkway historical names listed

110
Proposal would convert Audubon Parkway to I-369 if it is upgraded to interstate standards
Page | 194
3. Shoulder Width
4. Horizontal Curve Radius
5. Superelevation Rate (deals with steep grades)
6. Stopping Sight Distance
7. Maximum Grade
8. Cross Slope
9. Vertical Clearance (e.g., overpasses, overhead signs, etc.)
10. Design Loading Structural Capacity
The process usually begins with a formal study, commissioned by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, to
determine what upgrades will be required to convert the highway. The study will look at such things as:
• Do any existing interchanges need to be rebuilt?

• Are shoulder widths adequate?
• Is pavement strength adequate?
• Are exits spaced properly?
• Are medians wide enough, or is some type of crossover barrier needed in certain areas?
The study will provide a detailed list of all needed improvements, along with an estimated cost. Funding sources
are usually identified in such studies.
As an example, the Cumberland Parkway between Park City/I-65 and Somerset is currently being converted to I-
365 (92-mile four-lane parkway). The upgrade study has been completed and the study’s Executive Summary
follows the narrative in this section of the report. Estimated cost to bring the parkway up to interstate standards
is $72.6 million. A redesign/rebuild of an interchange in Glasgow is the single most expensive upgrade item ($15
million). Conversion signage may be permitted once the upgrades are committed, completed or well underway.
Assessment of Converting the Bluegrass and Western Kentucky Parkways
Western Kentucky Parkway
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet completed a comprehensive study of converting the eastern most section of
the Western Kentucky Parkway, from I-165 to Elizabethtown in May 2022. Initial conversion costs of the 60-mile
stretch of parkway range from $56 million to $64 million. Initial conversion means that immediate safety/design
issues will have been met; however, the parkway will still not meet “final” interstate design standards. It is possible
at this point that the federal government will allow interstate signage to be installed.
To meet final standards, the cost will range from $102 million to $127 million. According to the KYTC study, up to
$70 million of this cost will center on a redesign and rebuild of much of the existing major interchange on the
south side of Elizabethtown, where I-65, the Western Kentucky Parkway, US 31W, US 31W By-Pass, and the Lincoln
Parkway meet. On the Parkway’s section of this interchange, none of it meets the federal interstate design
standard. There are two full expressway interchanges and a grade level intersection all within one mile of each
other. Full remedy of this situation could require new flyover ramps from I-65 to the parkway, along with other
adjustments.
Page | 195
Bluegrass Parkway
According to KYTC, nothing outside of a few conversations has been done to start the conversion process of the
Bluegrass Parkway to an interstate highway.
Using the ongoing Cumberland Parkway conversion as a guide, it can be assumed that many of the same types of
individual items found in their study (e.g., shoulder width expansions, length of ramp areas, etc.) will also be found
in a study of the Bluegrass Parkway.
On the Bluegrass Parkway, along with standard remedial issues, it is anticipated that the interchanges which once
also served as toll plazas at Boston and Bloomfield will need to be redesigned and rebuilt.
For the two parkways, these three interchange issues will be the most expensive part of their respective
conversions.
Conversion Benefits
There are certain benefits which will accrue to the Elizabethtown community if either or both parkways are
converted to auxiliary interstate highway status, including:
1. Implementation of road design enhancements which might take decades to achieve otherwise
2. Improvements in parkway safety
3. Putting Elizabethtown on three (3) different interstate highways, which will enhance economic
development efforts and the creation of new jobs
The first two benefits listed above will also accrue to communities located along the parkways, like Bardstown,
Harrodsburg, Lawrenceburg, and Leitchfield with conversion. However, the most important benefit will be putting
these communities on an interstate highway for the first time, which will enhance their respective efforts to create
new jobs.
Conversion Strategy/I-365
The process by which the Cumberland Parkway is currently being converted to I-365 follows below:
As noted above, the Cumberland Parkway is in the process of being converted
to I-365. To get this process off the ground, the Somerset – Pulaski County
Economic Development Authority (SPEDA) took the lead in sharing the benefits
of conversion to community leaders along the parkway. SPEDA was soon
joined by South Kentucky RECC, Taylor County RECC, and Farmers RECC as
additional sponsors to keep the project moving forward. Outreach to the
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet also took place.
Appropriate state and federal legislative support were developed up front.
The sponsors successfully applied for $500,000 in federal BUILD funds to fund the upgrade study. The study has
been completed and work is underway to fund and carry out the needed upgrades. The Cumberland Parkway has
been designated a future interstate spur.
Page | 196
Recommendations
If community leaders in Elizabethtown decide to proceed with parkway conversion, several things will need to take
place. Because two different parkways are involved, it will require two separate projects (both working to achieve
the same outcome). Following is a preliminary list of what will be required:
Project Management
Because Elizabethtown is served by both parkways (and the community stands to benefit the most from
conversion), it is suggested that the primary sponsor be based in Elizabethtown. The Hardin County Chamber of
Commerce can serve as the primary sponsor and can recruit additional sponsors in Elizabethtown and along both
parkways.
A project facilitator should be selected to manage (on behalf of the sponsors) the projects and keep both moving
forward, including initiation of discussions with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to fully develop an
implantation plan. Starting with District # 4 officials, this will include KY Highway District officials in:
• District # 2 (Madisonville) – Western Kentucky Parkway

• District # 4 (Elizabethtown) – Western Kentucky Parkway/Bluegrass Parkway
• District # 7 (Lexington) – Bluegrass Parkway
Kentucky Highway Department Districts111
Finally, develop talking points and a PowerPoint presentation to “make the case” to various project constituents
and build support for securing state and federal approvals as needed.
Community Leaders Outreach
Along each parkway, initiate outreach to the following organizations and individuals and build support:
• Chambers of commerce
• Economic development agencies
• Mayors and county judge/executives
• State representatives and state senators
• Utilities which serve communities along the parkways
111
Page | 197
Federal Leader Outreach112
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

• Senator Rand Paul
• Congressman James Comer (KY 01)
• Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY 02)
• Congressman Thomas Massie (KY 04)
• Congressman Andy Barr (KY 06)
Part of any plan will need to include an understanding of what will be required of Congress and the Kentucky
General Assembly when it comes to various approvals. This can be confirmed with the initial discussion with KYTC
District # 4 officials.
Conversion of the Bluegrass Parkway will be a “start from scratch” program as no work regarding conversion has
been started, historically. It is expected that the Bluegrass Parkway will be designated I-565.
Conversion of the Western Kentucky Parkway () should build on what has been done so far to convert part of the
WK Parkway to I-569 in Muhlenberg and Ohio counties. It is expected that the remaining portion of the WK
Parkway from I-165 in Ohio County to Elizabethtown will be also designated as I-569.
112
Amazingly, the Bluegrass Parkway cuts across four different congressional districts
Page | 198
Project Recommendations
Introduction
The arrival of BlueOval SK, accompanying supplier plants, Krueger Packaging, and Nucor is an exciting time for the
MSA. Many new opportunities such as commercial, retail, dining, etc. will arrive. Using the aggregated responses
from the Key Stakeholder online surveys provides insight into the thought processes of community leaders as to
the current state of the region and its future.
Bottom line: strong majorities of community leaders who participated in the Key Stakeholder engagement process
support seizing the opportunities provided by BlueOval SK and supporting future growth. As a reminder, following
are summaries of the responses:
Following is a summary of the key majority viewpoints:
Quality of Life Issues
• People like living in Hardin County and appreciate the collaboration, collegiality, support and
comradery that exists between government, education, healthcare, and business leaders
• People appreciate the low crime rate and the fact that the community is growing and is a good place to
raise a family
• On the other end of the spectrum, people would like more “premium” restaurants, department stores
and better retail opportunities
• Concern was expressed about the new leadership team in Hardin County Government and their lack of
preparedness for the growth and influx that is coming
• Concern was also expressed about the lack of convention/meeting space, public transit and cultural
opportunities
• Strong majorities expressed satisfaction when it comes to education providers (all levels) in the
community, along with the quality of healthcare providers and public safety agencies, and park systems
• While majorities expressed satisfaction with retail opportunities in Downtown Elizabethtown and the
North Dixie retail corridor (excluding Towne Mall), significant dissatisfaction was expressed about the
current status of Towne Mall and retail opportunities in Radcliff and Vine Grove
• Crowne Point Theater and the Elizabethtown Sports Park scored very high marks in terms of
satisfaction of opportunities provided to citizens
Page | 199
Overall Growth Issues
• Strong majorities supported and/or recognized the following when it comes to future growth:
o Managing growth both in the City of Elizabethtown and beyond with smart growth strategies
o Land values will increase resulting in more dense housing developments
o The community should begin planning for new utility corridors to accommodate future growth
o The community should begin planning for extending professional (full-time) firefighting protection
services to outlying areas near the BOSK plant
o The City of Elizabethtown should consider developing a strategic annexation plan, recognizing that
thousands of people already live just outside the city limits, work in and use/enjoy city
services/amenities
Economic Development Issues
• Strong majorities supported and/or recognized the following when it comes to economic development:
o Elizabethtown/Hardin County will be one of the five growth centers/economic powerhouses of

Kentucky going forward
o It is important to maintain growth and development of new jobs to retain local talent and recruit
new talent to the community going forward
o New regional transit system to efficiently move people and workers around Hardin County
o New community branding is needed for current and future economic development/market
promotion
o Appropriately planned solar energy projects should become part of the community’s power mix
• One area of concern: majority of respondents to not believe that community leaders are aligned
properly to implement the existing growth, and plan for and manage future growth
BlueOval SK Issues
• Strong majorities agreed that BOSK will become a key and valued component of the community,
support the active recruitment of BOSK supplier plants to the community, and that the community
should formally engage with BOSK to support future expansion of the battery park
Page | 200
Future Industrial Development/New Jobs
Strong majorities agreed on the following:
• Support Elizabethtown/Hardin County Industrial Foundation efforts to secure new industrial

development land to compete with regional communities and create new jobs
• Take steps in the foreseeable future to secure land for the next “big project,” which might require a
new mega site
To tie this project together, the author has developed a series of recommendations for the consideration of
community leaders. The recommendations are grouped as follows:
• Community Branding/Promotion
• Community Growth Management
• MSA Future Planning
• Quality of Life
• Transportation
• Community Leadership/Future Regional Planning & Project Facilitation
Community Branding/Promotion
BlueOval SK not only represents a “once in a lifetime”

opportunity in terms of investment, new jobs, etc., for
the community, it also brings new opportunities for the
community to re-brand itself, to take advantage (among
other things) of the fact that it will be the “EV electric
battery manufacturing capital of the world.”
This presents all new opportunities to position

Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Central Kentucky, the I-65
Corridor, and indeed all of Kentucky on a global basis.
Such repositioning/re-branding can lead to further opportunities for the community to grow in terms of new retail,
dining, industrial development, and job creation.
Recommendation:
1. Develop a steering committee of community leaders to examine this issue to determine how to
proceed in a timely manner to fully maximize the opportunities currently presented by BOSK
Page | 201
MSA Future Planning
As part of the MSA boundary review process previously described in this report, community leaders should
immediately recognize that the previously proposed (and rejected) OMB rule which would require a minimum
urban core population of at least 100,000 people could again be proposed (and accepted), and, if the
Elizabethtown urban population falls below 100,000 that the community could see its current MSA designation
changed to that of Micropolitan Statistical Area, which will lead to a reduction in federal grants; as such,
community leaders should immediately begin looking at opportunities which will enable Elizabethtown to increase
its urban core population to at least 100,000 people
Recommendations:
1. Recognize a possible future threat through a change in OMB MSA designation rules which would
raise the urban core population requirement from 50,000 to 100,000 people
a. Identify opportunities to increase Elizabethtown’s urban core population from 73,000 to

100,000 +
2. At the appropriate time in 2028, monitor U.S. OMB’s interim review of existing MSA boundary
delineation and commuting patterns to ensure that the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA is allowed to
expand appropriately (the addition of Grayson and Hart counties alone would elevate the MSA’s
population to over 200,000 and create a whole new market opportunity)
Page | 202
Community Growth Management
As indicated in the impact section of this report, significant growth is coming to the MSA, most all of it centered on
the City of Elizabethtown and Hardin County. This growth brings new opportunities for both jurisdictions to
examine how each intends to proceed when it comes to managing this growth and providing vital services in the
most cost-efficient manner.
Neither jurisdiction wants “hap-hazard” growth when it

comes to new housing, commercial, and retail
developments. At the same time, many of the thousands
of newcomers who relocate to the region will do so with
an expectation that efficient public services will be
provided (including utilities, law enforcement, planning
and zoning, EMS, and full-time professional firefighting).
Given current revenue streams, the City and the County

need to evaluate just how they can manage the coming
growth, and implement smart growth strategies (e.g., is
the County in position to provide full time fire protection,
enhanced EMS service, develop new parks and other
quality of life needs?).
This, then, raises the overall issues of annexation and/or

unified government (both of which were identified and
supported during the key stakeholder engagement part of
this impact project). Inclusion within the City of
Elizabethtown, through annexation or unified
government brings certain benefits to residents:
Issue Solution/Benefit
Thousands will be relocating to Elizabethtown and This raises the issues of annexation or unified
Hardin County government, either of which will bring benefits:
Neither jurisdiction wants “hap-hazard” growth 1. Professional, full-time police protection

2. Professional, full-time fire protection
Given current revenue streams, the City and the 3. Attainment of higher insurance (ISO) ratings
County need to evaluate how each can manage the 4. Corresponding decreases in insurance
coming growth and implement smart growth premiums
strategies 5. Expanded tax basis – the larger the
jurisdiction, the lower the unit cost to
For example, is the County in position to provide full provide services
time fire protection, enhanced EMS service, develop 6. Access to multiple tax streams, such as
new parks and other QOL needs? property, occupational, lodging, restaurant,
etc.
7. Expansion of alcoholic beverage sales area to
correspond with a growing city
Page | 203
(Conversely, Hardin County, and cities like Radcliff have current limitations – due to state law – which limit their
ability to levy certain types of taxes to help pay for needed public services and infrastructure as the overall
community grows.)
Recommendations:
1. City of Elizabethtown should consider the following:
a. Annex immediate surrounding unincorporated suburban area

b. Annex area south to new I-65/Ring Road interchange
c. Annex the BOSK facility to provide future funding for City services, OR,
2. City and County should consider creating joint commission to explore benefits and develop plan for
unified government to include City and unincorporated Hardin County to present to voters
3. Eliminate height moratorium on buildings in the City to allow for denser residential and commercial
development, while respecting the historic Public Square area, recognizing increasing land costs
4. Plan utility expansion accordingly
a. Consider the development of an impact fee to fund future infrastructure development
What might unified government look like today in Hardin County?
City of Elizabethtown 31,892

Hardin County 111,862
Communities Expected to Opt Out of Unification:
Radcliff 22,953
Vine Grove 6,880
West Point 952
Sonora 565
Subtotal (31,350)
Elizabethtown/Hardin County (unincorporated) 80,512
The preceding chart illustrates the population of a unified government jurisdiction as described above, (this does
NOT include the thousands of expected newcomers).
Elizabethtown would become the third largest city in Kentucky (it currently ranks 9 th).
Another important consideration is the streamlining of government services which could occur with unified
government. The previous study conducted on unified government for Hardin County indicated that 94 existing
government jurisdictions (e.g., departments, fire departments, planning departments, boards and commissions,
etc.) could be reduced to nine departments to provide the efficient delivery of government services.
Page | 204
Quality of Life
Recommendations:
1. Build upon past success by reviewing current City design guidelines, planning and zoning
requirements and amend where needed to ensure that future development will result in an overall
aesthetic making the City the most attractive in Kentucky in which to live; this would include building
design, lighting, landscaping, streetscapes, etc.
2. Build upon the excellent work underway in Downtown Elizabethtown by identifying other downtown
areas which are both historic in nature yet growing and accommodating of both historic structures,
the building of newer, more modern (and taller) structures with parking garages with a net result of
a strong, vibrant downtown core
a. Bentonville, AR
b. Bowling Green, KY
c. Greenville, SC
3. Build upon the existing retail shopping district along North Dixie Avenue by replacing Towne Mall
with a lifestyle center with more upscale stores (similar to The Paddock in Louisville)…this could
include a new hotel, new dining options, new residential options
4. Explore opportunities to develop new parks in unincorporated Hardin County
5. The City should investigate new/alternative funding systems to fund new infrastructure and recruit
new developers, businesses and services with incentives, TIF districts, etc.
Page | 205
Transportation
Elizabethtown/Hardin County’s central location has been the cornerstone

to the community’s success in growing and recruiting new business and
industry to the area. Access to key transportation infrastructure is
essential to the community’s growth going forward and directly
contributes to new jobs and investment. There are several things the
community can do to facilitate further and improved links to the
transportation eco-system.
Recommendations:
1. Interstates/Parkways
a. Convert remainder of Western Kentucky Parkway to I-569

b. Convert Bluegrass Parkway to I-565
c. Monitor KYTC plans to widen I-65 from I-265
2. Develop community EV electric charging station plan
3. Support facilitation of funding for the feasibility study and expeditious construction of a new all-
weather 8,000-foot runway at Elizabethtown Regional Airport (EKX) to support Fort Knox, capable of
handling C-17 transport aircraft for U.S. Army training/deployment needs, thereby opening up new
air cargo capability for the I-65 Corridor
4. Investigate regional transit system needs
a. Hardin/surrounding counties
b. Commuter rail along the I-65 Corridor (Louisville – Bowling Green)
c. Future Louisville – Nashville Amtrak route
5. Recruit Uber and Lyft rideshare services to the area
Page | 206
Workforce Recruitment
Recommendations:
1. Recognizing the need to source thousands of workers to fill the new positions at BlueOval SK – and
the additional direct and indirect jobs which will follow, the community should work with BOSK to
develop a workforce development campaign in areas outside of the immediate region, encouraging
those who are looking for new employment opportunities to relocate to the Elizabethtown metro
area
2. Along with this concept, consider (as other growing communities have done) the development of
some type of incentive program to encourage workers to relocate
Community Leadership/Future Regional Planning & Project Facilitation
Many of the above referenced goals and objectives will require thoughtful consideration. If the community agrees
with many of these and wishes to pursue implementation, it will require a platform from which to advocate, plan,
and implement the ideas incorporated in the goals. How the community (and region) decide to do this will set the
tone (literally) for the next 50 years.
The community and the region need to develop a new platform, commonly found in other successful, larger
regions which can serve as the catalyst for strategic planning, collaboration and project implementation.
Recommendation:
1. Develop new central platform which further integrates existing groups for the purpose of catalyzing
strategic planning, community collaboration, community visioning, and, project implementation
This platform can take many shapes and be either created from “scratch,” or developed as an adjunct to one or
more existing organizations, including (1) a build out of the Hardin County Chamber’s Presidents Circle, (2) a new,
stand-alone entity, or (3) another concept, such as a civic council found in larger markets. The platform can address
the following areas as shown in the chart below:
Page | 207
How to get there:
• Consider other groups to be added (e.g., tourism, etc.)

• Develop steering committee to fully evaluate concept/need
• Develop Mission Statement/Goals & Objectives
• Build out Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s Presidents Council, or,
• Consider civic council concept, or,
• Something else
Page | 208

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Elizabethtown –

Fort Knox MSA

Measuring the Impact

• Transmittal Letter ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....5

• Methodology & Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………………………9

• Executive Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13

• Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Research & Analysis ………………………………………………………………..….31

o Economic and Demographic Characteristics of the 10-County Elizabethtown Region ……..33

• Boomtown Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..109

o Georgetown, Kentucky …………………………………………………………………………………………………..109

• Key Stakeholder Engagement – Pre/Post-Project SWOT Analysis & Surveys/Interviews ………………159

o Pre/Post-Project Community Leader SWOT Analysis ……………………………………………………..159

▪ Meade County ………………………………………………………………………………………………….174

• Overview – Competitive Community Economic Development Platforms ………………………………………183

o Bowling Green, Kentucky …………………………………………………………………………………………..……183

• Elizabethtown – Fort Knox MSA Geographical Expansion ………………………………………………………………187

• Bluegrass/Western Kentucky Parkway Conversions to Interstate Status ………………………………………..193

• Project Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..199

2800 Rivers Edge Road

Dr. Juston Pate, Ph.D. Kenny Rambo

Margy Poorman Rick Games

Dear Juston, Kenny, Margy, Rick, & Tom,

cc: Dr. Paul Coomes, Ph.D.

Project clients include:

• Baptist Health Hardin

Additional project clients/funders include:

• Abound Credit Union

• Jiem Cranney, Chief Financial Officer

• Annie Emond, Executive Director, Meade County Chamber of Commerce

• Ashley Squyres, Administrator, Meridian Development Corporation

• Brooks Bennett, Assistant City Manager, City of Round Rock

• Mike Kazmierski, President, Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada

• Adam King, Director, Hardin County Planning & Development Commission

The information presented is accurate as of the date of publication; however,

BlueOval SK’s participation was for the purpose of providing information

World’s Largest Manufacturing Facilities1

1 Source: R List (4/7/23) as measured by facility square footage

Largest EV Battery Manufacturing Site Investments 4

Rank Company Location Investment (B) Jobs GW Hour Capacity

• Local: 720 workers

• Traveling workers: 2,800 units

Construction Payroll: $1.6 billion

Local materials/services: $75 million

Equipment Installation Phase7

• 1,000 engineers on site

Beginning in Q4 of 2023, up to 1,000

The number of engineers on site may

Confirmed FTE Workforce9

5,000 5,000 5,000

1000 1000 1000

Technicians Confirmed FTE Workforce

Additional BlueOval SK FTE Workforce Information – Expected Workforce10

EOY 25 confirmed workforce: 5,000 FTE

• EOY 23 workforce: 1,000 FTE

• EOY 24 workforce: 2,500 FTE

• EOY 25 workforce: 5,000 FTE

• EOY 26 workforce: 5,000 FTE

• EOY 27 workforce: 5,000 FTE