GLENDALE, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., joined business and community leaders Wednesday to cut the ribbon on a new job training center at the BlueOval SK Battery Park.
The park is expected to create 5,000 new jobs, the governor's office said, and has the world's two largest battery plants. It has already hired more than 700 employees from all experience levels.
Beshear's office said the new, 42,000-square-foot ECTC BlueOval SK Training Center will start onboarding classes in June.
"Thanks to great Team Kentucky partners like Ford and SK On, we’re the electric vehicle battery capital of the United States, and I want to thank them for betting on Kentucky and our world-class workforce,” Beshear said. “I also want to thank ECTC and Trace Creek Construction for getting this center ready ahead of schedule."
Along with Beshear, also attending the ribbon cutting were officials from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC), BlueOval SK, SK On, Ford Motor Co. and Trace Creek Construction, along with state legislators and ECTC students.
"It is an exciting time to be a Kentuckian," Beshear said. "This summer, we’re going to start preparing folks for new jobs at BlueOval SK – a park that is going to benefit Kentucky families for generations to come."
The governor's office said the facility's primary curriculum will support battery knowledge, roles and skills. BlueOval SK employees will learn SK On's proprietary technical, quality and manufacturing processes in the ECTC BlueOval SK Training Center's virtual reality labs, industrial maintenance lab, work simulation lab and ergonomics techniques classrooms.
“The new ECTC BlueOval SK Training Center provides another opportunity for Kentuckians to begin working toward a rewarding, lifelong career,” BlueOval SK CEO Michael Adams said. “Students here will be able to take the first step in learning to build the batteries of the future.”
The General Assembly allocated $25 million for the project during a Sept. 2021 special session in Senate Bill 5, which Beshear signed. Beshear and ECTC and BlueOval SK leaders broke ground on the facility in April 2023 before the governor awarded an additional $10 million to support training and employee development in Nov. 2023.
During the ceremony, Beshear honored two Trace Creek Construction leaders as Kentucky Colonels: David Milam, vice president, and Scott Dalton, superintendent. Beshear's office said because of their expertise and collaboration, the center was completed more than three weeks ahead of schedule.
Beshear also congratulated 10 new hires at BlueOval SK, all of whom are ECTC graduates, and congratulated members of the ECTC VEX U Robotics Team who attended the ceremony. The team earned the highest individual match score at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas.
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