LOS ANGELES: Signage was recently placed on the Industrial Parkway announcing EastPark as the future home of Braidy Industries.

Braidy Industries finalised the purchase of 204 acres of industrial park land last month, with the intention to break ground in April.

According to a report from Ashland’s The Daily Independent, the sale price was over $900,000.

Along with the parcel of land, Braidy will acquire a 110,000-square-foot spec building. Braidy Industries will assume the loan balance of that building.

EastPark took out a $2.2 million loan when it built the spec building in 2002 to attract potential suitors, though the building has remained vacant since its construction.

The majority of the aluminium mill will be located in Boyd County, although some of the land purchased is in Greenup County.

Braidy Industries announced plans to build the mill in October, with the intent to build the mill in South Shore.

According to reports, soil tests on the riverfront found the property incompatible for the mill’s construction, which began the discussion of EastPark.

With the mill being constructed in EastPark, it will neighbour Ashland Community and Technical College.

Braidy Industries will partner will ACTC to develop a curriculum to train workers for advanced manufacturing job through an associates degree in material sciences and advanced manufacturing.

The company will initially hire 550 people to work in the plant. There are currently have 18 employees hired for the Ashland location.

“This is a community that for decades now has only been on the negative end of negative economic news... we are set for more prosperity than what we’ve seen in our lifetime. Our time has finally come,” says Boyd County Judge-Executive Steve Towler.

Earlier this year, the state invested $15 million in the project, and agreed to provide up to $10 million in tax incentives.

Boyd and Greenup counties agreed to allow Braidy to forgo paying property taxes on the property in EastPark for 20 years.

Production is set to begin at the mill in 2020.

Braidy Industries recently announced the establishment of a $10,000 Leadership Scholarship Fund for Greenup and Boyd County High School students.

The following schools will benefit from the scholarship: Paul G. Blazer High School, Fairview High School, Boyd County High School, Russell High School, Raceland-Worthington High School, Greenup County High School, Rose Hill Christian School, and Holy Family School.

Craig T. Bouchard - Craig Bouchard built three $3 billion companies, one of which was the highest appreciating stock on the NASDAQ for the full year 2008. He won three hostile takeovers on Wall Street. Craig has an MBA from the University of Chicago, has been a Trustee of Boston University and the University of Montana Trust, is a New York Times Best Selling Author, a member of the Illinois State University College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, and the Hinsdale Central Township High School Hall of Fame, was a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Illinois) 2005, and holds United States Patent 4,212,168 Power Producing Dry Type Cooling Systems.

Michael Porter - Dr. Michael E. Porter is a world-renowned economist, and is the most cited scholar today in economics and business. He leads Harvard University’s Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness and is a long-serving professor at the Harvard Business School. Dr. Porter is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his contributions to global economic theory, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the US Department of Commerce for his contributions to economic development and is the author of nineteen books, including the business classic Competitive Advantage.

Norton “Nordy” Schwartz - General Schwartz served as the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, serving as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, leading Air, Space and Cyber for the Department of Defense. As Commander of the United States Transportation Command, General Schwartz led the Defence Transportation System, with strategic oversight of all logistics operations.

Charles Price - Charles Price is an entrepreneur, industrialist, and President and CEO of Louisville, Kentucky based Charah. Charles and has over 35 years of experience in the construction and industrial industries within the State of Kentucky and beyond.

Dr. Christopher Schuh - Dr. Christopher Schuh is the head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Dr. Schuh’s research is focused on the optimisation of mechanical properties in metals, forming the basis of numerous metallurgical companies, including Xtalic Corporation, which produces coatings on over 10 billion components used in both enterprise and mobile electronics.

John Preston is the former Director of Technology Development (and Licensing) at MIT where he was responsible for the commercialisation of MIT-developed technologies. Of the companies started during his tenure, those that went public have reached an estimated $150 billion cumulative market capitalization. Preston was awarded the rank of “Knight of the Order of National Merit of France” by French President Mitterrand and the “Hammer Award for Reinventing Government” by Vice President Gore.

Tribune News Service