The Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex is Centrally Located to the Eastern United States

Make It Here

International and homegrown manufacturers have discovered the benefits of making their products in the Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex located in Russell County, Kentucky, USA. The area is home to scenic Lake Cumberland, one of Kentucky's premier outdoor vacation destinations, which attracts millions of visitors every year from across America.

What is the Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex?

The Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex includes successful industrial manufacturing operations, a robust infrastructure, available buildings and properties, and workforce-focused education and training facilities. Like a productive honeycomb, this interconnectivity keeps our community focused on providing good jobs and careers for our residents, and provides companies seeking to start a new enterprise or expand an existing industry the assurance that Russell County has a track record as an efficient and structured location to make your products.

Workforce Commitment

Our community has made a strong commitment to enhancing the region’s established rural work ethic to meet the demands of today’s skilled manufacturing environment. This is demonstrated by our strong working relationship with the Kentucky Career Center - Cumberlands and the community's investment in the Lake Cumberland Regional College & Workforce Center.

Russell County Industrial Development Authority

The Complex is supported by the Russell County Industrial Development Authority, a group of community leaders with the experience and resources to get your business location up and running and keep you growing.

We invite you to visit Russell County.

Quick Start-Up Options

• A 150,000 square foot Build-Ready Pad
• Ample acreage for new and expanding manufacturing facilities

Workforce Training & Apprenticeships

• A Work-Ready Skills College designed for today’s manufacturers
• Successful Local-State-Industry Apprenticeship Partnerships

Ready To Go

• A "Food & Beverage Shovel-Ready Certified" Site
• Designated Opportunity Zone

The Russell County Airport is 2.5 miles from the Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex Site 1, 2.9 miles from downtown Jamestown, and 3.9 miles from Downtown Russell Springs. The runway is 5010 x 78 ft. asphalt, tie-downs, and 24-hour fuel (self-service with credit card). Hanger and repair facilities are available to private aircraft.

Other nearby airports include: Wayne County Airport (15 nm SE), Taylor County Airport (23 nm NW), Lake Cumberland Regional Airport (23 nm E), Tompkinsville-Monroe County Airport (31 nm SW)

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION:

Airport Manager
Chris Maynard

Phone: 270 858-1390 (Office)
628 C Smith Road
Russell Springs, KY 42629

Russell County Airport Board Chairman
John Stivers

Airnav link: http://www.airnav.com/airport/k24

Aopa link: https://www.aopa.org/destinations/airports/K24/details 

Commercial Airlines Services

• Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky (85 miles by road)
• Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, Louisville, Kentucky (111 miles by road)
• Nashville International Airport, Nashville, Tennessee (140 miles by road)

Why does our rural community have such high water capacity? Part of the story is Lake Cumberland. The lake is ranked 9th in the U.S. in size with a capacity of 6,100,000 acre-feet of water. The lake is 101 miles long and over one mile across at its widest point.

In the 1980s, Russell County accommodated the requirements of Fruit of the Loom with a massive water and wastewater expansion. When the company relocated its operations to Mexico in the 2000s, this infrastructure was still in place and currently available for a new industrial user.

The Jamestown Water Treatment Plant has the capacity to produce 7.5 million gallons of fresh water per day, far in excess of current demand. This was a major factor in Russell County obtaining Food and Beverage Shovel-Ready Certification for our Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex Site 1. 

The Jamestown water plant has won many awards for the cleanliness of the water and ranks among the cleanest in the state.

Russell Springs and Jamestown were two of the first fiber optic Gigabit cities in Kentucky. Local Internet service provider DUO Broadband has decades of experience working with businesses and industries meeting and exceeding their data needs. This fiber network is built out in a ring to provide redundancy in the event of a line break. DUO Broadband's state-of-the-art network is structured on three components: 1) all-fiber delivery, 2) cutting-edge network equipment, and 3) a solid path to the Internet backbone that can carry exponentially larger amounts of data than most services in the United States carry today.

Fiber is not only available to businesses but direct to most homes in Russell County — a positive workforce recruitment incentive and high quality of life measurement for any rural community.

As a future-proof technology, Russell County's fiber network will help power any business into the next generation of productivity and commerce. 

The Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex Site One and Site Two have fiber in place, ready for business.

The Seed Academy℠ is an idea conceived by the RCIDA to address an immediate education and workforce sector need: future agriculture. The plan is to develop a regional center to study and advance the latest agricultural sciences and technologies. The momentum for such an educational facility has been bolstered with support from regional schools and colleges, as well as agricultural industries such as AppHarvest, which has offered to help with the curriculum. The plan calls for the RCIDA to build and own the center, while the Russell County Schools will maintain and staff the facility. As modeled by the existing College and Workforce Center, the goal is to share the facility and equipment with area colleges for evening adult instruction. A number of colleges have already voiced strong support and commitments to funding applications.

Funding sources include a $376,000 Rural Development Grant; a $1,478,973 USDA-RCAP Grant; and a $3,000,000 contribution from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Russell County Industrial Development Authority Board and the Russell County Board of Education have also made financial contributions to the project. The AgriTech facility will be constructed in the Lake Cumberland Regional Industrial Complex Site One on 11 acres which was donated by the RCIDA. MSE of Kentucky has been procured to execute the preliminary design and engineering drawings.

Why is the RCIDA building an AgriTech Center?

AgriTech is becoming a major sector in Kentucky’s economy, with companies like Stellar Plants, Kentucky Fresh Harvest, West Kentucky Aquaponics, and others choosing to make the state their home. Cutting-edge agricultural research companies like Alltech, Kentucky BioProcessing, Lepidext, and more are finding Kentucky a great place to innovate and advance the science of food production. Learn more about the future of farming and how Kentucky is structured to accommodate this industry sector on the state’s AgriTech website. 

Lake Cumberland Regional College & Workforce Center is located on the grounds of Russell County High School but is a resource for the entire region. The center serves high school students and adults in all five primary Kentucky Workforce Investment Board sectors — advanced manufacturing, healthcare, technology, construction trades, and transportation. 

Partnerships with Lindsey Wilson College, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Eastern Kentucky University, and Western Kentucky University allows the center to provide associate’s to bachelor’s (or A to B) programs, where students work toward an associate’s degree in high school and enroll in an institution of higher learning to complete a four-year degree. Certification programs will also be offered, and adults will have access to programs in the evening. 

The center will also continue to foster and develop apprenticeship programs with local industries, like one that currently exists with Dr. Schneider Automotive Systems, that offer flexible performance-based credit by allowing students to spend time during the school day receiving on-the-job training. While much of the learning is hands-on and shop/lab-based, the center's courses include instruction that teaches soft skills, employability, workplace math, and safety.

The Russell County Industrial Development Authority joined forces with the school district early in the project, participating in community meetings and committing financial support.

Lake Cumberland Regional College & Workforce Center project history.