FRANKFORT, Ky. – The tally for Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup ranking is in, placing Kentucky 10th in the nation for new and expanded industry activity in 2007.   The ranking is based on a state’s total number of qualified projects as tracked by Conway Data Inc.’s New Plant database.  Kentucky has the smallest population of any state ranked in the Top 10. 

“We are proud to finish as one of the top ten in the nation for business expansion activity,” said Economic Development Cabinet Secretary John Hindman.  “This ranking shows just how competitive Kentucky is in expanding our industrial base and validates our evolving strategic approach to identify and target economic opportunities.”

Qualified projects include those that meet at least one of three criteria: (a) involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, (b) create 50 or more jobs or (c) add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor space.  During 2007, Kentucky generated 199 projects that met the database requirements.  In total, 316 location or expansion announcements were reported in Kentucky resulting in 13,371 net new jobs created.  Investment was estimated at more than $2.3 billion. 

“Kentucky is a perennial strong performer in our annual tally of New Plant activity in the ,” says Mark Arend, Editor in Chief of Site Selection. “This Top 10 finish in 2007 will make Kentucky’s economic development successes that much more visible to the corporate site location community worldwide.”

Site Selection publisher Conway Data has showcased the annual Governor’s Cup rankings since 1978.   Its yearly analyses are regarded by corporate real estate analysts as “the industry scoreboard”.  The magazine’s circulation base consists of 44,000 executives involved in corporate site selection decisions.

In addition to the Governor’s Cup, three Kentucky metro areas are recognized in their respective categories for the number of industry location and expansion projects.  For metro areas with populations over 1 million, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky/Middletown, Ohio/Ky./Ind. finished second with 111 qualifying projects.  Lexington-Fayette County tied for 10th place with 22 projects in the second tier of metros, comprising those with populations between 200,000 and 1 million.  Bowling Green tied for sixth place with nine projects in the third tier of metros, those with a population between 50,000 and 200,000.

A total of six smaller Kentucky communities also fair well in the magazine’s Top Micropolitan Ranking.  Glasgow, Paducah, Danville, Frankfort, Madisonville and Mayfield made the 2007 Top Micropolitan list, giving Kentucky a fifth place ranking for most top micros.