COVINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday announced some of the items in his proposed two-year budget. One of the things that made the list was growth in the life sciences industry, a field Covington city leaders said is booming in northern Kentucky.
What You Need To Know
- Beshear on Tuesday announced a project out of northern Kentucky made it onto his budget proposal
- It's a $10 million request in state funding to construct a life sciences research lab facility
- City leaders say a handful of life sciences companies exist in Covington already
- They say providing the lab space does provide more opportunities for these companies as well as opportunity for new business in the industry
In proposing the budget, Beshear said northern Kentucky companies have been huge in COVID-19 vaccine development.
“One of the untold stories in Kentucky is the work of some northern Kentucky companies on testing and ensuring these vaccines that are saving lives around the world were, and are, safe," Beshear said.
Bexion Pharmaceuticals, CTI, and Gravity Diagnostics exist in Covington already. Tom West, economic development director, said life sciences is one of the fastest growing sectors in northern Kentucky.
“Even before the pandemic, jobs in the life sciences sector in this region grew at 82%, which is a phenomenal amount of annual growth," West said.
Now they're looking to expand on something that's continued to grow, even through the pandemic. It's a $10 million request in state funding to construct a life sciences research lab facility.
“The idea of having a shared lab here is that if they get their start here, we hope we can keep them here," West said.
While it's still just a proposal, the goal is to have it pass through the state legislature during this year's session.
“And then, once it’s passed, then we go to work on planning and designing the facility," West said.
West said they have a few places in mind in Covington to try and build the facility.