Area Development
Four Roses started construction on its Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. The company also announced a second expansion of its warehouse facilities in Bullitt County.

Four Roses plans to invest $34 million to add two new buildings and new equipment in Anderson County, which will double the size of the distillery and annual production. The investment, which will be completed in 2018, also will create 15 new jobs.

To store the increased production, Four Roses will create five additional jobs and invest $21 million to build four new warehouses at the company’s Warehouse and Bottling Facility in Cox’s Creek. The new warehouses will be operational by 2022.

The announcement comes just a few months after Four Roses unveiled plans to build a new facility in Bullitt County. The 60,000-square-foot operation will contain two bottling lines, bottling support areas and office space. Four Roses expects that facility to be up and running by the spring of 2018.

“Four Roses is extremely pleased to answer the call of our consumers with this overall expansion of our production facilities,” said John Rhea, Four Roses’ COO. “When people think of Four Roses Bourbon, they think of quality. Our first requirement with this expansion was to maintain those same high standards; anything less would have been unacceptable.”

He added, “We are certainly grateful to the state, Anderson County and Bullitt County for their support and cooperation to make this project happen. We want to personally thank Gov. Beshear, Lt. Governor Luallen, County Judges-Executive Orbrey Gritton and Melanie Roberts and Mayor Sandy Goodlett for their efforts and support. We would especially like to thank our employees and the two communities they represent for their hard work and support to make Four Roses Bourbon the popular brand it has become. Lastly, we sincerely appreciate the tremendous support and loyalty of Four Roses fans/consumers everywhere that have generated our fantastic growth.”

To encourage the investment and job creation, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $350,000 through the Kentucky Business Investment program for the Anderson County project. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

KEDFA also approved the Anderson County project for tax incentives up to $300,000 through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act and $500,000 for the project in Bullitt County. The program allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.

“This is another win for our signature bourbon industry and for all of Kentucky,” said Governor Steve Beshear. “To see Four Roses double its production and plan expansions at two locations is further proof that bourbon is more popular than ever. We expect the world’s taste for Kentucky’s native spirit will remain strong for years to come.” “Four Roses is one of Kentucky’s most iconic brands,” said Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen. “This expansion will allow the company to meet growing global demand while still continuing to produce the quality bourbon it’s been known for since the 1800s. I want to congratulate Four Roses on its new level of success.”