Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has announced an investment of $232 million through one of its Swedish Match affiliates to expand production capacity of its manufacturing facility in Owensboro, which produces ZYN nicotine pouches. Officials said the expansion is expected to create an additional 450 direct jobs with an ongoing annual economic impact of $277 million and an additional 410 indirect jobs for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Gov. Andy Beshear will be in Owensboro on Tuesday morning along with other state and local elected officials to discuss the announcement, which was made by the company in a release.
“Philip Morris International’s Swedish Match affiliate has been an important partner and job creator in this region for many years, and I’m excited to see this incredible new investment and the 450 great job opportunities it is creating for families in Owensboro and the surrounding region,” Beshear said in the release. “Our economy continues to set records, and today’s announcement shows we’re bringing jobs to our people instead of making our people move to the jobs. I want to thank and congratulate company leadership for doubling down here in the Commonwealth and look forward to many more years of prosperity.”
Stacey Kennedy, CEO of PMI’s U.S. business, said: “Smoking cigarettes is the most harmful way to consume nicotine. We are accelerating our mission toward a smoke-free future, working with our U.S. affiliates to move adults away from cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products by providing better alternatives. This investment in U.S. manufacturing capacity will increase the Kentucky plant’s workforce by about 40 percent, providing good-paying jobs and helping to meet the increasing demand for smoke-free products.”
Construction of the expanded facility is already underway — including the addition of more production space — with progressive production increases expected during the project. Completion is targeted by the second quarter of 2025. The construction phase of the project alone is expected to create nearly 2,800 jobs with about $414 million in economic impact.
Estimates on job creation were provided from an economic impact analysis study conducted by EConsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based economics consulting firm, according to the release.
Career opportunities at the facility will cover a wide range of skill levels including positions such as engineers, production staff, technicians, and quality control. Career opportunities can be found here.
In addition to facility expansion and ongoing optimization of processes to increase capacity progressively over the coming quarters, the Kentucky facility will move from a 24-hour, 5-days-per-week schedule to a 24-hour, 7-days-per-week schedule to boost production starting in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the release. The Swedish Match Owensboro facility currently has about 1,100 employees.
The ongoing expansion of the facility in Kentucky is expected to provide around 900 million cans of capacity for 2025, the release says..
In July, PMI announced an investment of $600 million over the next two years through its U.S. affiliate to open a nicotine pouch manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colorado. The Aurora facility and Owensboro expansion together “are designed to provide capacity needed in the near- and mid-term to meet the current growth rate of ZYN with U.S. legal-age nicotine consumers,” according to the release.
PMI first entered the U.S. market following its subsidiary’s acquisition of Swedish Match AB in late 2022. Swedish Match’s ZYN oral nicotine pouches have been on the market in the U.S. for more than a decade, with the company saying they are designed as a better option for legal-age consumers who smoke or use other traditional tobacco products and wish to continue using nicotine.
