Hancock County will soon see 85 job openings in the area as Envision Modular, LLC announced Thursday their plans to open a permanent modular construction business at Hancock County Industrial Park. This startup company will invest $25.1 million toward refurbishing and out-of-use facility in Hawesville.
According to a press release, Envision Modular manufactures prefabricated single and multi-story modular buildings. Envision, an Owensboro-based contracting company said its new business will be located in 200,000 square feet of the former Alcoa building in the Hancock County Industrial Park.
This site sits on 30-plus acres of land and can accommodate future growth. River and rail access are included at the site, allowing the company to quickly ship products to customers.
“The Permanent Modular Construction (PMC) operation would be the first of its kind in the Commonwealth,” the release says. “Company leaders anticipate phase one of construction to begin in the next 30 to 90 days, with phase two to follow this summer.”
“Various elements of our group have decades of construction, development and sales experience throughout the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. Region, with heavy involvement in the development and construction of hotel and commercial buildings in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Ed Ray, chief operating officer and counsel to Envision Modular. “The cost and time to build hotels, multi-family units and other vertical projects using traditional methods has resulted in escalating costs and the building industry failing to keep up with the marketplace demand for these projects.”
Ray said that’s where Envision Modular steps in. By implementing a new Permanent Modular Construction facility, those marketplace demands can be met with more ease.
Ray credited partnerships between Envision Modular, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Hancock County Fiscal Court and Owensboro Community & Technical College for leading the way in this venture.
“The Cabinet for Economic Development and the Hancock County Fiscal Court have truly embraced this endeavor and we cannot wait to get our team hired and start building,” he added.
A startup headquartered in Owensboro, Envision Modular was formed to address the disadvantages of traditional construction methods that have caused the building industry to fall behind the demand for projects.
PMC utilizes offsite, lean manufacturing techniques to prefabricate single or multi-story buildings in deliverable module sections. The modules can be used as standalone units or be integrated into site-build projects.
PMC will use the same materials and designs with the same standards as conventionally built structures, but with roughly half the time to construct.
Sen. Matt Castlen said the company realized the advantages of starting a company in this region.
“I am appreciative of Envision Modular, LLC for recognizing the value of our business climate and skilled workforce, and for choosing to operate in Hawesville,” Castlen said. “This is a much-welcomed investment for Hawesville that will provide stable, high-paying jobs in the Commonwealth.”
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) on 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 $2 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $25.1 million, as well as annual targets of creation and maintenance of 85 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years and paying an average hourly wage of $26, 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. In addition, Envision can receive resources through the Kentucky Skills Network, where companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives.
