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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Blue Run Spirits Plans Georgetown, Kentucky, Distillery-Rickhouse

09/02/2022
Blue Run Spirits will establish a new whiskey operation in Georgetown, Kentucky. The roughly $51 million project is expected to create 45 jobs.

The location will include a 35,000-square-foot distillery and a 20,000-square-foot rickhouse and will serve as the company’s first vertically integrated distilling operation and future headquarters. Investment will go toward the purchase of distilling equipment, site acquisition and construction costs, as well as other startup-related expenditures.

“When we started Blue Run Spirits in October of 2020, we never imagined a distillery would be in our future, but our unprecedented growth has deemed that a necessity, which is an incredibly exciting prospect for our entire team,” said Blue Run Spirits CEO and co-founder Mike Montgomery. “The generous support of the commonwealth is making this a reality. We look forward to becoming a dynamic contributor to the economic vibrancy of Scott County and Georgetown and deepening our connection to an area so significant in the rich history and the promising future of bourbon in Kentucky.”

To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) last Thursday preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program.

The performance-based agreement can provide up to $700,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $50,976,430 and annual targets of creation and maintenance of 45 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years and paying an average hourly wage of $31.92 including benefits across those jobs.

Additionally, KEDFA approved Blue Run Spirits for up to $150,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.

“Our state’s bourbon industry continues to build momentum and reach new heights,” added Governor Andy Beshear. “This investment by Blue Run Spirits is a welcome addition to the Georgetown and Scott County community and the Kentucky bourbon and tourism scene. I want to thank the company’s leadership for their vision to grow in the commonwealth and add to Kentucky’s position as the bourbon capital of the world.”

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. Blue Run may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments. In addition, the company can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers.

“The Blue Run Spirits project is another perfect example of diversification of our Georgetown/Scott County economy and will give greater visibility to our bourbon heritage and tourism industry. A most welcome and significant investment, said Jack Conner, executive director with Scott County United”

Blue Run Spirits’ planned expansion builds on recent bourbon and spirits growth across Kentucky. Since the start of the Beshear administration, the commonwealth’s spirits industry has announced more than 50 new-location or expansion projects totaling over $1.1 billion in planned investments and creating more than 900 announced full-time jobs. Currently, approximately 60 spirits facilities directly employ more than 5,300 people.

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