Barren County to receive $1 million in funding for industrial park

GLASGOW, Ky. (WBKO) - Barren County and the Barren County Economic Authority will receive $1 million in federal funding for its industrial park.

RELATED: New industrial site to be built in Barren Co. bringing hundreds of jobs

Officials broke ground on the 152-acre industrial park located on Highway 68/80 in Glasgow in August 2021. South Cooper Industrial Park hasn’t changed much physically since then, but officials are hopeful for its future.

“Opportunities are here. And people are coming to Glasgow,” said Glasgow Mayor Henry Royse.

In the fall, Barren County and BCEA partnered on an application for Community Development Funding through Congressman Brett Guthrie’s office. Today, they announced that the $1 million funding was secured.

“We’ve done significant investments already with two graded sites, we’ve added an entrance,” said Maureen Carpenter, Barren Inc & BCEA President, and CEO. “This money will really help us to be able to expand and do additional grading to have additional sites available for potential industries to locate here.”

The park has undergone Phase I Environmental testing. Although there haven’t been any companies secured yet for the site, officials say they are in the process of working to get businesses here.

“We’re receiving a lot of interest, obviously, with the big projects happening to the north and south of us, that does put us in a good position for recruitment,” said Carpenter.

Mayor Royse says industrial growth is critical to the city and county’s development and future.

“People who live here want the opportunities to have good places to work, a good industry that provides a good future for their family,” said Royse.

Over the past ten years, Barren County lost a lot of jobs and industry, especially with LSC Communications closing in 2020.

Royse said he’s excited to hit the ground running as mayor and aims to provide greater productivity to the area.

“We were getting a really bad reputation. I thought, well, if nothing else, I can get in here and we can at least learn how to behave at a meeting. And at least stop this negativity that we’re projecting of ourselves because it really has hurt,” said Royse.

Construction over the last several years has included an access road into the park, the widening of Highway 68/80, and the installation of turning lanes.

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