Property for proposed aluminum mill back with local authority, Beshear says

Property once eyed for an aluminum mill in northeastern Kentucky is again under local control, Gov. Andy Beshear said. 

He announced Thursday that Unity Aluminum has transferred more than 240 acres to the Northeast Kentucky Regional Industrial Authority, an economic development group that manages the multi-use business park near I-64 between Grayson and Ashland. 

During his weekly presser, the governor said the authority has also closed on additional property that the company purchased outside of state agreements. 

“There was donated land that the company provided back and we are grateful for that,” Beshear said. “And we fought to get that land back. Coming in, I would have never thought that we could have secured both the money and the land but we are now at a special place where we can have a real project, real hope and real jobs, and we have one of the bigger sites in the commonwealth to put it on.”

Before changing its name from Braidy Industries, the company received a $15 million investment from the state for the project, which was along the Industrial Parkway, according to previous media reports. Former Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration backed the proposal. The state’s funding was later recovered in 2022. 

The aluminum mill was never built after the company struggled to raise funds for the project. 

In March, the Northeast Kentucky Regional Industrial Authority received $750,000 in state support through the Kentucky Project Development Initiative as part of $1.5 million for extra land acquisition. 

Counties that are part of the Northeast Kentucky Regional Industrial Authority are Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Greenup and Lawrence.