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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Fibonacci Opens HempWood Manufacturing Plant in Murray, Kentucky

08/28/2019
Fibonacci LLC, opened their more than $5.8 million, 15,000-square-foot, HempWood manufacturing facility in Murray, Kentucky. The plant will produce sustainable wood made from hemp fiber and soy-based adhesives.

“This new facility will be the first step in our roll out of HempWood and provides the ability to produce up to a million board feet of four-quarter lumber per year,” said Greg Wilson, the company’s Founder & CEO.

“We look to sell these boards to end customers and downstream manufacturers for use in flooring, furniture and home goods made in the USA,” he said. “As a lifetime Calloway County resident, I am proud to help establish HempWood here,” operations manager Phill McCallon said. “The community is also excited to welcome this new and innovative product to Murray.”

According to state officials, company leaders selected Murray because of a relationship with Murray State University, which established a Center for Agricultural Hemp the same month. Currently, the company contracts with West Kentucky growers for 2,000 tons of hemp stalks and plans to purchase 20 percent more next year.

“Kentucky continues to lead the way in the rapidly growing hemp industry, and the opening of Fibonacci’s HempWood facility highlights that progress,” Governor Matt Bevin said. “This company is developing a product unlike anything else on the market, and we are grateful they have selected the commonwealth for this innovative venture. We congratulate Fibonacci and the Calloway County community on their strong partnership and look forward to an exciting future ahead.”

Mark Manning, President of Murray-Calloway Economic Development Corp., said the operation could represent a new market with high growth potential.“I fully believe that fiber is the future for hemp,” Manning said. “I am glad that we were able to work with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to provide incentives for what I feel will be a very successful venture.”

To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) on February preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $300,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $5.8 million and annual targets of: Creation and maintenance of 25 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years.

Paying an average hourly wage of $20 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.

In addition, Fibonacci can receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network.

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