Mayor And Governor Break Ground On $33 Million Manufacturing Facility

Earlier this week, Mayor Greg Fischer and Gov. Matt Bevin joined company leaders to break ground on LINAK U.S. Inc.’s 145,000-square-foot plant expansion, which will allow the company to double the size of its current facility that manufactures linear actuators for hospital beds, office desks and farm equipment.

“LINAK’s expansion and investment in Louisville is a testament to our city’s strength in advanced manufacturing, which is a key component to our economic success – today and in the future,” Mayor Fischer said. “Louisville is proud to be the home of LINAK’s U.S. headquarters, and we look forward to helping the company achieve more for its customers, our city and our state.”

The $33 million investment, which will create more than 400 full-time jobs, includes the purchase and installation of new production equipment. The expansion project will allow LINAK to improve efficiency, generate higher profits and make more reliable deliveries to customers, while lowering production costs by 25 percent. The company expects to double output and sales over the next five years.

“Since locating in the commonwealth more than 20 years ago, LINAK has steadily grown its business and presence, in Louisville,” Gov. Bevin said. “We are witnessing another great investment in Kentucky as ground breaks today on the expansion of LINAK’s Louisville-based manufacturing facility. Kentucky is on the rise, and I thank LINAK for its decision to select Kentucky to support its expansion. We hope to see continued growth for years to come.”

LINAK, headquartered in Denmark, operates facilities in 35 countries and maintains its Americas headquarters in Louisville. The company introduced linear actuators to many existing products, improving ease of operation. Linear actuators use low-voltage DC motors to convert rotational movement into linear motion. Uses for actuators include in hospital beds, agricultural appliances, adjustable workstations and office desks. LINAK’s other products include lifting columns, control boxes, controls and a wide range of accessories.

“With this expansion LINAK will significantly increase the domestic production footprint which we know is highly valued by our customers,” said Jan Peterson, vice president of operations at LINAK. “Since day one, both the city of Louisville and the commonwealth of Kentucky have been a great home for us. We are excited to continue our partnership with this community for years to come.”

LINAK opened a sales office in Louisville in 1994 and established its manufacturing facility in 1999, which currently employs 300 people.

To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in December 2016 preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $3.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

Additionally, KEDFA approved LINAK for up to $350,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.

For more information on LINAK, visit www.linak-us.com.