Beshear calls economic development trip to Europe ‘one of the most effective’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Europe trip included meetings with 45+ firms; 16 employ 4,000 in Kentucky now.
- Beshear secured incentives and workforce support, targeting data center supply.
- Governor’s economic development cabinet confident in already made foreign investment.
Though the United States may seem like an uncertain partner in trade to foreign business leaders, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has made a pitch they keep their eye on the bluegrass state.
Beshear recently concluded an economic development trip to Europe with visits to the United Kingdom, France and Ireland during the week of Oct. 13. Beshear, First Lady Britainy Beshear and members of his staff, including Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary Jeff Noel, made the trip to meet with business leaders, trade officials and further Kentucky abroad.
“In a current world economy when people don’t know what the trade policy of the United States is going to look like tomorrow because it constantly changes, (it’s important to) be a governor that can sit across the table from an international CEO and say, ‘We will make sure that you are successful. We will get your facility up and running faster than anywhere else,’” he told the Herald-Leader Oct. 22.
The team met with more than 45 companies over the course of the week.
Of those companies, 16 have an established presence in Kentucky and already employ about 4,000 people. They have projects that could bring up to 2,900 full-time jobs and over $3.5 billion in investment.
During his two-term tenure as governor , Beshear has solicited projects totaling more than $43 billion in investments across the state that have created 62,300 jobs, according to his office.
The United Kingdom and France are Kentucky’s second and third-largest trade markets, Beshear said. They’re on the receiving end of about $9.7 billion in Kentucky-made goods.
While there have been worries that publicly announced foreign investment might be walked back as President Donald Trump wages a trade war with aggressive tariff policies, Beshear doesn’t think Kentucky will see its projects disappear.
“We feel good about the current commitments that we have, though the tariff policy is causing delays in some of those projects,” Beshear said. In May, Churchill Downs in Louisville paused a major construction and renovation project at its iconic racetrack due to tariffs. Since Trump took office again at the start of this year, Beshear has sharply criticized his administration. The governor, who won twice in the same state Trump did twice, has joined lawsuits asking the president to release federal funding for social services and economic development projects and Beshear has gone on the defensive, saying that tariffs hurt not help Kentucky’s economy.
Beshear said with international companies continuously making investments in Kentucky, he makes it a crucial step in the process to understand their supply chain, “because if we can supply them from a Kentucky company, we’ll grow jobs on both ends.”
“They (people wary of foreign investment) may see a foreign company, but that foreign company is a Kentucky employer,” Beshear said. “I’m able to sit across the table from an international CEO and give them assurances that the commonwealth is going to work with them, that they are going to be able to get their project done on schedule and that the state is a partner,” he added.
Then, he said, the economic development cabinet takes point, detailing potential incentive packages, touring different sites across Kentucky and navigating infrastructure needs.
Beshear called the Europe visit “one of the most effective” economic development trips yet.
“Very rarely during one of these trips can you announce the commitment from a company,” Beshear told the Herald-Leader.
On Oct. 16, Beshear joined Tate, a company specializing in the interior infrastructure of data centers, in Ireland. The company initiated $61.2 million plans for a 746,000-square-foot facility in Barren County that will support 400 jobs.
The facility will focus on manufacturing “high performing thermal management and airflow solutions” for data centers, according to a release from the governor’s office.
Last month, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority gave preliminary approval for a 15-year, performance-based incentive agreement through the Kentucky Business Investment program .
The authority approved $300,000 in tax incentives for Tate through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act, so the company can recoup sales and use tax on construction. In addition, Tate can receive resources from Kentucky’s various workforce service providers, including no-cost recruitment and job placement services and reduced-cost customized training.
Beshear said it’s true data centers themselves don’t create hundreds of jobs. But Kentucky can play a role in making components for the facilities as they pop up across the Bluegrass State or elsewhere. He said Kentucky is well positioned in both investment and employment to be a player in the supply chain.
No hyperscale data centers have begun operating in Kentucky yet. One is being built in South Louisville and another is being discussed in Mason County, where local officials have been meeting largely in secret to get a deal done.
Kentucky governors have regularly traveled internationally for economic development opportunities. Beshear visited Japan and South Korea in 2024 and also spent part of that year in Germany and Switzerland. Beshear said trips abroad aren’t vacations. He spent much of the week in boardrooms.
“If we want to be in the game, if we want to secure these jobs, if we want that next facility to come to Kentucky, you have to do this,” he said. “Both Democratic and Republican governors do it, it’s part of doing business. It’s part of bringing jobs back.”
Earlier this week in Cincinnati, Beshear said he would “consider” running for president if it’s what his family thought was best when 2028 rolls around. He’s on the hypothetical shortlist for Democratic candidates for the position as the party attempts to reassert itself with a new identity. This summer, Beshear has taken the necessary steps to present himself as an option.
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