“At the Elizabethtown-Hardin County Industrial Foundation (EHCIF), we have the great honor of representing an economic powerhouse in the Bluegrass State. From manufacturing to defense to health care, Elizabethtown and Hardin County’s strong, diverse economy attracts incredible opportunities to our region. We invite you to explore Elizabethtown and Hardin County using the resources on this site and contact us if we can be of assistance.”
Industrial Foundation Works to Bring In, Retain Jobs
The News Enterprise 4/12/18
The Elizabethtown-Hardin County Industrial Foundation is tasked with a simple mission, President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Games said at Wednesday’s Hardin County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Pritchard Community Center – a mission to “create and retain” jobs. Rick Games, president and chief operating officer of the Elizabethtown-Hardin County Industrial Foundation, speaks Wednesday about the work of the foundation during the monthly Hardin County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown. Photo: Jill Pickett/The News Enterprise
The foundation, Games said, started in 1956. Since then, it has been a tradition of those involved in the foundation, such as on the all-volunteer board, to go out and sell the area to potential investors.
“It is a group that is very diligent in not only attracting business, but attracting the right kinds of business and industry for our community,” he said.
Games said more than 3,000 jobs have been added in the last several years to factories and businesses in the Elizabethtown Industrial Park, boosting the total to about 9,500 employees.
“That is a fair number for a community our size,” he said. “We’ve got a great team of people who work together and sell our community not only to industry, but retail.”
Games said the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area was ranked as one of the top five best places in the nation to work in manufacturing for 2017. He said the MSA, which covers all of Hardin, LaRue and Meade counties, also ranked ninth in corporate facility investments among MSAs with a population of less than 200,000.
Games said these types of recognitions, which are driven by existing manufacturers, allow the area to continue to thrive.
“Typically, 80 to 85 percent of new jobs in America are created by existing companies,” he said. “That is why the quality of existing companies is so important.”
Games also noted the foreign investments in Hardin County with 11 foreign-owned plants, comprising companies from Japan, Germany, Netherlands, India, United Kingdom and other locations.
Ann Thompson looks at a display of Eurotrol’s products set-up as part of a manufacturers’ showcase during the monthly Hardin County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown. Eurotrol opened a distribution center on North Black Branch Road in Elizabethtown. The company provides materials for verifying invitro diagnostics analyzers. Photo: Jill Pickett/The News-Enterprise
“We are an international destination and that helps with other companies who are locating in the U.S. for the first time,” he said. It gives them a certain level of comfort to know that others have done the same in the community.”
Quality of life is another factor Games said potential businesses look at.
“The things that make people want to come here and live here are extremely important for what I do,” he said.
Games said the community is incredibly important, as well as health care, shopping, recreation, entertainment and infrastructure.
Games said advanced manufacturing is a growing sector, with ample job opportunities. He said some of the only work prerequisites is work ethic, getting to work on time and being drug-free.
“There are great opportunities in the workforce,” he said. “If you know people who want a job, believe me, they are out there.” Robin Fentress looks Wednesday at a map showing the T. J . Patterson Industrial Park and the Hughes Center of Commerce and Industry setup as part of a manufacturers’ showcase during the monthly Hardin County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Pritchard Community Center in Elizabethtown. Photo: Jill Pickett/The News Enterprise
Reprinted with permission from The News Enterprise http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/news/local/industrial-foundation-works-to-bring-in-retain-jobs/article_0f27aaf9-10f8-5437-ba57-28492f548495.html#tncms-source=article-nav-next