Tobacco giant expanding Kentucky operations, will create 200 jobs
Rather than splitting its operations across two states, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC is consolidating its manufacturing in a new Kentucky facility and creating more jobs.
The subsidiary of Altria Group Inc., the same company behind Philip Morris USA products, is investing $251 million for a new facility on its existing Hopkinsville site.
It will include leaf processing plants, and some of the investment dollars will go toward an expansion of a current facility, including for new machinery and other manufacturing equipment.
Once operational, the facility would create 200 new jobs, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear predicts.
“Our decision to locate this facility in Kentucky underscores the important role the commonwealth plays in our company’s history, our business today and in our vision for tomorrow,” said the company’s president and CEO Michael Brace in a news release. “This new facility will enhance our manufacturing capabilities, improve operation efficiency and support the continued production of the iconic brands adult smokeless tobacco consumers know and trust.”
The company’s 30-acre Tennessee plant will close in 2028 as part of the consolidation and move to Hopkinsville. Its 300 employees are being encouraged to apply for jobs at the forthcoming Christian County facility or one of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco’s other locations.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved a 15-year agreement with the company May 28 for a $12 million tax incentive package based on predicted job creation and their associated wages.
“This project is bringing great new job opportunities for Kentuckians in Hopkinsville and the surrounding region to provide for themselves and their families,” Beshear said in a news release. “This investment further strengthens the importance of the Hopkinsville operation, which currently employs 165 individuals.”
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company is the producer and marketer of tobacco products that are chewed rather than burned, like Copenhagen and Skoal. The company and its predecessors have had a presence in Kentucky for more than 70 years.
“U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. is one of our strongest manufacturers and a leader in agricultural manufacturing,” said Hopkinsville Mayor James R. Knight in a news release. “We are thrilled to support their continued growth at Hopkinsville’s South Park and appreciate the continued confidence of the company’s leadership as they make another significant investment in our community and our people.”
Its parent company, Altria, produces Marlboro and Virginia Slims.
Since the company’s founding in 1822, it has developed close relationships with tobacco growers in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Few crops are as significant to Kentucky’s agricultural history and economy as tobacco, which has served as a cash crop for centuries. It contributed roughly a quarter of the state’s annual agricultural cash receipts and defined the way of life for a number of Kentucky communities.
The late 1990s Tobacco Master Settlement changed the tobacco industry when tobacco companies settled state lawsuits for Medicaid and other health costs related to smoking. Since, Kentucky has received nearly $3 billion from the agreement.
Despite the settlement, the crop still remains a source of income, especially in western parts of the state where certain kinds of tobacco for smokeless products are easier to grow.
The most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture showed tobacco production in Kentucky totaled $225 million in 2022, down 36% from the previous census conducted five years earlier. The crop falls behind the state’s other, more lucrative commodities like poultry and eggs, corn, soybeans and cattle.
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