Dahl & Groezinger, a 5th generation business, is Kentucky’s oldest family-owned scrap iron and metal processor. Today John and Drew Kirkland, along with their cousin Will Helwig, run the day-to-day operations. All three gentleman are great-grandsons of founder George Groezinger, who started the business in 1885.

In the article, Drew Kirkland explains that Owensboro is a great location for a steel processing scrap yard because there are several foundries close by. He also shares how changing with the times and seizing new opportunities have continually increased business for Dohl & Groezinger over the years.

Along with acquiring more land over the years to expand their business, the trio has upgraded their equipment. This allows them to store and process large amounts of scrap, like old barges for example. They have found that accepting new items has opened new avenues for them, as well as having the vision to adjust and change when new opportunities arise.

Follow the link to learn more about this cultivating manufacturing company.

November is National Entrepreneurship Month and there are resources galore to share that can help you put your passion into action.  Whether it is preparing a plan to begin your business, lining up support through investors or mentoring, there are tons of articles to help you initiate or grow a business.  Here are few resources to get you started.

Preparing a Business Plan

Lining up Support

Grow Your Business

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy has announced that USDA is investing $42.5 million in 133 distance learning and telemedicine projects in 37 states and 2 U.S. territories. USDA is providing the funding through the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program. These investments will benefit 5.4 million rural residents. 

The goal of the Owensboro Health Telehealth Project is to eliminate a geographic barrier in order for rural residents to access health care services. This will reduce the time and cost associated with travel, therefore shortening the time between symptoms, diagnosis, and proper treatment. This grant will also help Kentuckians in rural areas access care to specialists, who are often located in urban areas. 

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements, business development, housing, community facilities such as schools, and high-speed internet access in rural areas. 

There is great competition with manufacturers when looking to locate operations.  Those competitive factors include talent, support services, shipping services, and real estate.  Josh Bays, with Site Selection Group, has posted an article entitled “2019 Industrial Real Estate Outlook for Manufacturers”.  He shares the typical real estate profile for a manufacturing project and indicates the difference between industrial real estate needs for production versus those needs for distribution.  The infrastructure for a building used for production will have different characteristics from those used for distribution and warehousing.

Bays goes on to indicate that within the last 10 years in the U.S, many companies have made acquisitions and will look to optimize their growth by using strategies to consolidate. 

Read more about Josh’s outlook here.

Owensboro, KY is featured in Expansion Solutions Magazine’s September-October issue as an Area Focus spotlight.

Check out how Owensboro can be your next opportunity.

The GOEDC has received a great deal of continued support from our investors, and we like to keep them informed of what we are working on during the year.  Quarterly reports are sent out to our investors, partners and supporters.  In case you missed it, you can view it here.

Highlights from this quarter’s report include 23 visits to businesses and industries and work with 13 active projects, a plant manager’s round-table discussion and a OBKY Local Look video featuring Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline.

Southern Star is a leading transporter of natural gas to America’s heartland, with approximately 5,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline in the Midwest and Mid-Continent regions of the United States.  This video features Southern Star with headquarter operations in Owensboro, Kentucky.

GOEDC held the first “Biz Buzz” meeting Thursday, September 19, 2019. This was a great opportunity for our local Plant Managers of our various industries to network with each other and share with us challenges and successes. We will continue to hold these meetings quarterly in order to stay in touch with the leadership of our existing industries and to regularly discover how we can better serve them. We are grateful for these partners, as our industries are vital to Owensboro’s growing economy.