Big Rapids Products, a company that supplies metal stampings and assemblies, plans to expand its operations in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. The $4.5 million project is expected to create 44 jobs in Montgomery County.

The investment will include extensive machinery and equipment that will grow the operation’s production capacity.

“Big Rapids Products does mostly stamp and assembly for automotive products, and we are branching out into solar field hardware, appliance hardware and various other stampings for the agricultural industries,” said Josh Siple, vice president of operations at Big Rapids Products. “The updates at Flint will be used to manufacture, warehouse and ship. Big Rapids enjoys being in the Mt. Sterling location. It’s a good, centralized location, and we do not want to move. As long as we can keep making products, we want to be here.”

To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in April preliminarily approved a 15-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $1.2 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $4.5 million and annual targets of creation and maintenance of 44 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 15 years; and paying an average hourly wage of $27.28 including benefits across those jobs.

By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.

“Our economy continues to see momentum, and manufacturers like Big Rapids Products play an important role in that,” noted Governor Andy Beshear. “This is a great day for Montgomery County and the residents of Mt. Sterling. I want to thank the company’s leadership for their continued support and look forward to seeing years of future success here in the commonwealth.”

In addition, Big Rapids Products can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.

“We are excited to have Big Rapids continuing to invest in its Mt. Sterling operations,” added Mt. Sterling – Montgomery County Industrial Authority and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jason Rainey. “Big Rapids is an important local employer, and we are pleased we are going to have more job opportunities in our community for our citizens. These new jobs will be over $27 an hour including related benefits. We appreciate the support of the executive branch and the Cabinet for Economic Development, and the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) board recently approving tax incentives for this investment in Montgomery County.”

Big Rapids Products supplies metal stampings and assemblies with three facilities in Big Rapids, Michigan, and two facilities in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. The company produces components for the automotive industry and the appliance manufacturing sector, as well as solar, aerospace, agricultural and food service sectors.