If you are looking for a career in manufacturing in the Southeast, head straight for Kentucky. Kentucky offers more manufacturing employment opportunities than any other state in the nine-state region.

Kentucky Manufacturers are the Leaders in Industrial Employment According to the 2007 Kentucky Manufacturers Register, the state provides 8.4% of the Southeast's manufacturing employment. Kentucky has 6,163 manufacturing entities providing employment to 328,393 people. The directory published by Manufacturers' News, Inc. (MNI), states that Kentucky lost 26,545 jobs following October 2002, but the state has shown negligible losses in industrial employment during the past 12 months. According to MNI's regional study, Kentucky's neighboring states showed considerable declines in manufacturing jobs in 2006. Tennessee and Ohio lost 3% of their manufacturing jobs, while Indiana lost 1%. Surveyed companies included large businesses, small manufacturers, and startup enterprises employing handfuls of employees. Kentucky is the Home of Many Major Manufacturing Players Around 20% of Kentucky's industrial jobs are in the motor vehicle sector. Ford Motor Company has two plants in Louisville that manufacture light trucks, while Toyota has an assembly plant in Georgetown. Apart from automakers, many other leading employers in Kentucky are manufacturers. MNI's directory profiles 260 manufacturers of transportation equipment. Headquartered in Lexington, Lexmark International makes laser and inkjet printers. Big names such as General Electric, Tyson Foods, The Trane Co., and RR Donnelley also have presences in the state. According to MNI's findings, the industrial machinery and equipment sector is the largest manufacturing sector in the state. Printing and publishing ranks second, while lumber and wood production ranks third. Around 35% of the state's manufacturers represent these three industries. Kentucky's Cities Attract Manufacturers Most of Kentucky's large manufacturing facilities are located along the Ohio River, with the state's top three cities (Louisville, Lexington, and Bowling Green) offering 30% of its industrial jobs. Louisville holds the top slot with more than 65,000 jobs. Lexington, Kentucky's second-largest manufacturing city, has flourishing medical services and retail trade sectors. Bowling Green and Hopkinsville are industrial cities located in Southwest Kentucky. Owensboro, Paducah, Ashland, and Henderson are manufacturing centers on the Ohio River. Kentucky's capital, Frankfort, which has a population of about 30,000, is also a manufacturing center. Apart from leading in the manufacturing sector, the state is one of the region's top producers of tobacco and also ranks high in production of corn, soybeans, winter wheat, hay, barley, and sorghum.

On the net:Louisville First in Southeast for Manufacturing Jobs
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2007 Kentucky Manufacturers and CD-ROM Databases
www.mnistore.com/products.asp?STATE=KY

Kentucky Cities and Manufacturing
www.britannica.com/ebi/article-203400

Kentucky Facts
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