Kentucky legislators attempt to recoup on a four-year-old $15 million investment in an unrealized aluminum mill project.
The company paid to execute the project’s Executives from Unity Aluminum appeared before Kentucky’s Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue on Sept. 25. “I will be filing a bill this year that demands your repayment of these incentives, and I hope I can enjoy the support of those members on the committee,” Sen. Christian McDaniel, co-chairman of the committee, told Unity vice-president Nate Haney.
Unity Aluminum was given the grant at the 2017 Kentucky General Assembly, only a year into the company’s lifespan, to help fund a 240-acre aluminum mill in Ashland, projected to cost $1 billion in total. Four years later, no construction or production on the project has been underway, despite original promises that the mill would be completed by 2020.
Although the project’s $1 billion projection has not been met, it has amassed a $165 million portion of it. When asked why Unity could not reimburse the investment, Haney said he was not at liberty to answer because the company’s financing is kept confidential.
“I believe one of the worst financial votes I have ever taken was this one,” McDaniel said. “I feel like two administrations now and multiple General Assemblies have been played for fools and written down the road.”
The mill intended to create around 550 well-paying jobs for Ashland. This would help the region recover from the decline of the coal industry, its former primary source of economic stability.
Unity has asked Commonwealth Seed Capital, the government entity through which the grant was provided, for multiple extensions. Even so, regarding the current deadline, Haney told the committee that Unity is “cautiously confident” after “a roller coaster ride over the last couple of years.”
