Toyota Kentucky starts RAV4 Hybrid assembly, supports new training center
Toyota Kentucky is still driving forward after 40 years of business in the Bluegrass State.
Supported by $2 billion investments in the past two years, the Japanese car manufacturer — with its largest U.S. plant in Georgetown — started production of the all-new RAV4 Hybrid June 22 and said it awarded Bluegrass Community and Technical College $500,000 for a regional workforce training facility.
Also on Monday, the car manufacturer broke ground on a paint facility; a roughly $922 million investment meant to increase flexibility in future production of electric vehicles and advance Toyota’s goal of achieving zero carbon emissions in 2050.
“Today’s milestones are significant steps toward our journey that furthers highlights Toyota Kentucky as a cornerstone for Toyota manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Toyota Kentucky President Kerry Creech, who is retiring June 26 after nearly 36 years at the plant. “We believe that investing in our operations and education go hand in hand. If you want to build the future of mobility, we also need to help build the future workforce that supports it.”
Partnership between Toyota and BCTC
The partnership between BCTC and Toyota is as old as the plant itself. The two have supported each other’s needs through scholarships, internships, new degree programs and now, the training center.
It will be part of BCTC’s Winchester campus, parts of which the school purchased roughly three years ago and have been used to expand nursing programs, said the school’s President and CEO Greg Feeney.
The training center was previously used by Amazon to prepare its workers and was home to a call center, but now will equip new students and upskill current Toyota workers in advanced manufacturing and other fields.
“They’re making sure that they’re applying, creating and developing the needs that we have to have for our workforce,” Creech said. “... The industry is evolving. And it’s not just somebody that’s going to tighten the bolt or shoot a screw. We need technicians. We need people that can work on robots ... that is a more advanced team member, and we’re getting that help through BCTC.”
The facility will bring in welding classes and is similar to the BCTC Georgetown campus but on a smaller scale, where the school can focus on advanced manufacturing. The center will operate 24/7 to accommodate Toyota’s shift schedule, something that was previously expensive to do, but will be covered by the grant from the automaker.
At the plant Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the Toyota is leading the way in continuing to invest in Kentucky that will set communities up for years to come.
“The announcement today on job training is great,” he said. “What it means is first year workers are going to have a higher skill level, and thus they’re going to make more on day one. It means they’ll be more efficient, there will be less learning on the job. It’s better for the worker; it’s better for the company.”
RAV4 Hybrid and Toyota’s electric vehicles
With the assembly of the RAV4 Hybrid, the plant’s lineup of vehicles continues to evolve as demand for electrification increases. In September, the manufacturer is set to launch its new Highlander battery electric vehicle.
While an EV lineup has been an easy road for Toyota Kentucky, other car manufacturers trying to assemble vehicles haven’t made the same turn.
Ford Motor Co. facilities at what was BlueOval SK in Glendale are being converted to manufacture battery storage systems rather than parts for electric vehicles. The automaker split up its joint venture with an Asian EV company at the end of 2025 when demand slowed, federal tax credits for EV purchases sunset and President Donald Trump signaled he would put the pedal to the metal on policy favoring gasoline-powered cars.
“Isn’t it amazing that the same president who killed EV investments that had Kentucky booming also started a war that skyrocketed the price of gas thinking if there was only something other than gas that could power our vehicles,” Beshear said. “... Thankfully, we’re still churning, we’re still hustling. Kentucky’s economy is still pushing forward. But that’s in spite of the federal administration, not because of it.”
The governor sent a letter to Trump June 8 encouraging the president to work toward a resolution in the conflict with Iran that would open the Strait of Hormuz and in the meantime, temporarily suspend the federal gas tax.
Beshear is turning to the president after he clashed with the Republican-led General Assembly over a difference in political will. Beshear wants to give immediate relief to Kentucky’s drivers through an extended pause on the state gas tax and legislators want to ensure long-term funding for the state’s transportation infrastructure — even if it means taking money from local communities still participating in the cut.
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