KY lands largest economic development project ever: 5,000 jobs and $5.8B investmenthttps://t.co/SY9H3QHE8y pic.twitter.com/0GnTmWrbJ6

— Bluegrass Politics (@BGPolitics) September 27, 2021

Kentucky has landed the single largest economic development project in its history, a $5.8 billion investment by Ford Motor Corp. and South Korea-based SK Innovation to build two battery manufacturing plants in Glendale in Hardin County that are expected to employ 5,000 people.

The announcement Monday puts Kentucky at the forefront of the automotive industry’s future with electric vehicles, said an elated Gov. Andy Beshear.

The project, said Beshear, “will transform our economy, creating a better Kentucky with more opportunities for our families for generations. Our economy is on fire —and now, it’s electric. Never again will we be thought of as a flyover state. Our time is now. Our future is now.”

Beshear said the $5.8 billion investment is more than triple the previous largest single investment announced in Kentucky and that the jobs created will double the number of any previous announcement in the state. The first plant is expected to open in 2025 and the second would follow in 2026.

The 5,000 announced jobs are full-time jobs at the plants and do not include construction, supplier or dealership jobs.