– Mary Garrison/Tribune-Courier || Marshall County Judge-Executive Mike Miller speaks with Gov. Steve Beshear at Sekisui Specialty Chemicals America's announcement of a $2.6 million overhaul on Wednesday.

Sekisui to make $2.6 million investment at Calvert plant

Governor Beshear
announces future
partnership and
development

By Mary Garrison
Tribune-Courier Features Editor
mgarrison@tribunecourier.com

CALVERT CITY – Wednesday proved to be a landmark day for Calvert City when Gov. Steve Beshear appeared with executives from Sekisui Specialty Chemicals America, Marshall County Judge-Executive Mike Miller and Rep. Will Coursey to make an important announcement.

“In these economic times, when we’re going through some of the toughest I’ve seen,” Miller said, “to see Sekisui make the kind of investment it’s making here today warms my heart.”

Sekisui has determined to retool its acetic acid facility to the tune of a $2.6 million overhaul. The investment will enable the company to retain 77 jobs.

“In Kentucky we’ve been fighting our way out of this recession job by job, company by company,” Beshear said. “There is light at the end of the tunnel. To retain 77 jobs, that’s 77 families that don’t have to worry about how to get by. And that’s exciting news for Calvert City and for Marshall County.”

Beshear also announced the intent of the state to partner with Sekisui in offering economic incentives through the Kentucky Reinvestment Act in the reconstruction of a distillation tower. Beshear said the company has been given preliminary approval for $880,000 in tax incentives to replace a section of the tower with a high metal alloy by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority.

Beshear said stimulus funds for the Kentucky Reinvestment Act have enabled 158 companies preliminary approval of $1.3 billion in incentives. The initiative carries the possibility of creating more than 8,000 jobs and retaining 4,300 statewide, he said.

According to a statement issued by Beshear’s office, Sekisui was first established in 1947 and produces high-performance resins used in electronics, information recording materials and industrial materials, among others. The company purchased the Calvert City Polyvinyl Alcohol facility in 2009; the Calvert City plant produces pure glacial acetic acid used in products such as paint, coatings and dialysis.

Calvert City Mayor Lynn Jones recalled a time when the entire industrial complex was little more than fields and farmland.

“But a man named Luther Draffen had a dream,” Jones said. “He thought Calvert City could do more.”

He was right, as it turned out. In 1947, Pennwalt established itself in Calvert City, and the rest is history.

Jones said he takes pride in the city’s continued growth and the future of both its residents and the companies that call it home.

“Your graciousness to Calvert City means more than you’ll ever know,” Jones said to an audience of Sekisui executives, including company COO Tony Okana.

Okana said he looks forward to growing Sekisui in Kentucky and future endeavors with the state.