KY: Office of Community Services Grant Supports Creation of 250 Jobs in Southeastern Kentucky

The United States Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Community Services (OCS) awarded a Community Economic Development (CED) grant to Kentucky non-profit, Community Ventures (CV), to support the creation of 250 jobs in southeastern Kentucky. In the next three years, 100 of these jobs will be filled.

“Opening this 33,000-square-foot facility will allow us to quickly create 100 full-time, high-paying jobs and expand our production of the strongest, most ballistically resistant, and weldable metal that the Army has been seeking for over 30 years now,” said Gary Gola, Jr., Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Flash Steelworks. “We are grateful to Bell County Judge Executive Albey Brock for helping us secure a site where we can expand and for assisting us in acquiring funds from the State of Kentucky to the Appalachian Regional Commission, and to OCS for the CED funding provided through Community Ventures.”

Flash Steelworks broke ground on a brand-new plant in Middlesboro in Bell County in October 2022, which is projected to be operational in the summer of 2024. The steel manufacturing plans to hold a job fair in Middlesboro in the spring of 2024 to recruit staff for the Middlesboro plant.

“Adding employers like Flash Steelworks to Bell County strengthens our economy and provides quality jobs for our neighbors, family, and friends,” said Bell County Judge Executive Albey Brock. “We have worked closely with Flash Steelworks to ensure it has the land necessary to grow and expand, and we look forward to welcoming this new enterprise to our community.”

“This new development will create high-paying jobs with benefits for the residents of Bell County and southeastern Kentucky,” said Dan Heffernan, President of New Market Tax Credits at Community Ventures. “This region has been hit hard by job losses in the coal industry, and we are proud to work alongside companies like Flash Steelworks to provide economic opportunity for Kentuckians and their communities.”  

The Flash Steelworks project is also supported by funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and First State Bank of the Southeast. The ARC funds were matched by $5 million in state funds, allocated from the 2022 state budget.