Speed Kentucky Lands in Owsley County: $1.47M Investment Sets County Record, Adding 60 Full-Time Jobs
Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers joined local, state and regional leaders on October 2 at the Owsley County Industrial Park for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating Speed Kentucky's new factory in Eastern Kentucky. According to an official announcement from the Kentucky Senate GOP, the project represents a $1.47 million investment expected to create 60 full-time jobs — described by state economic development officials as the largest investment and job-creation announcement in Owsley County history.
The Booneville facility will handle final assembly and distribution of Speed UTV off-road vehicles, serving as the company's Eastern U.S. assembly and distribution hub. It will be Speed Kentucky's first major operational footprint outside its existing U.S. facility in Anaheim, California.
"When I think about these 60 planned jobs, I think about the families who could build a life around them," Stivers said at the ceremony. "People want to make a living without having to leave the place they call home."
To make the project possible, Stivers secured $500,000 during the 2026 Regular Session through House Bill 900, Section 137, appropriating the funding for fiscal year 2026-27 from the state's Budget Reserve Trust Fund, directed through the Department for Local Government to the Owsley County Fiscal Court for upgrades to the Booneville Industrial Building. He said the funding was secured "with opportunities like this in mind."
Darrin Gay, chair of the Booneville/Owsley County Industrial Authority, said the industrial park had worked for more than 25 years to recruit a business; Backroads of Appalachia, a nonprofit focused on motorsports tourism, also helped attract Speed Kentucky to the region.
Context and impact: Owsley County, in the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky, is among the state's most economically distressed counties, making 60 full-time jobs especially significant. Gov. Andy Beshear designated October as Manufacturing Month earlier this month, noting that manufacturing employs more than 260,000 Kentuckians and contributes $47.5 billion annually to the state's GDP — and Speed Kentucky's arrival is another mark of that expansion.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Riis2602 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
