$19.8 Million Sale Of Wilkinson Farm Closes
The Harrodsburg Herald/Robert Moore
Local officials celebrated the purchase of the Wilkinson Farm industrial site. Standing from left: Mercer County Magistrates Dennis Holiday, Tim Darland and Susan Barrington; Harrodsburg City Commissioner Marvin “Bubby” Isham; and Greyson Evans, executive director of the Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority. Seated from left: John Trisler, chairman of the Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority; Mercer County Judge-Executive Sarah Steele; Stacey Maynard, chief administrative officer for the City of Harrodsburg; and Harrodsburg Mayor Bob Williams.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
The sale of the Wilkinson Farm industrial site has closed. The Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority has purchased the site from Kentucky Utilities Company at a price of $19,848,955.20, according to the deed filed at the Mercer County Clerk’s Office.
On Friday, Oct. 17, officials from the Mercer County Fiscal Court, the Harrodsburg City Commission and the industrial development authority gathered at the fiscal courthouse to sign the documents.
“This is the big one,” said John Trisler, chairman of the industrial development authority, as he signed the deed Friday.
The Harrodsburg Herald/Robert Moore
Lawyer Emily Cowles of Wyatt Attorneys at Law, left, and Mercer County Judge-Executive Sarah Steele, right, look on as John Trisler, chairman of the Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority, signs the deed for the Wilkinson Farm industrial site.
The industrial development authority is purchasing 958 contiguous acres with frontage on U.S. 127 and KY 390/Bohon Road. In addition, the property includes more than 1.5 miles of mainline with Norfolk Southern.
Greyson Evans, executive director of the industrial development authority, called the Wilkinson Farm site a “top priority of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Evans said the site is being considered for designation by the Site Selectors Guild’s REDI Sites Program, which he called “the most prestigious national standard for corporate/industrial investment readiness.”
“This designation is an indication that the site has been vetted by the foremost corporate consultants in the world, and that it meets their criteria for investment readiness,” Evans said in an email.
Friday’s closing is the culmination of more than four years of hard work by the city, county, the industrial development authority and the industrial development authority’s Land Advisory Committee. The original purchase was announced in 2023.
One issue slowing up the process was mineral rights to the property, which had been retained by a previous owner. The city and county regained the mineral rights through imminent domain earlier this year.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Mercer County Judge-Executive Sarah Steele.
“This is really the first step,” Trisler said Friday. While the site has railroad access, it will need more critical infrastructure for industrial development, including an access road, sewer, water and power.
The third step, Trisler said, was landing jobs.
Community leaders say the site could support thousands of full-time jobs in manufacturing, logistics, research and development and more. They say they are targeting industry sectors including automotive, aerospace, primary metals, critical materials, tech and pharmaceuticals.
Trisler and the other officials thanked Kentucky Rep Kim King and Sen. Amanda Bledsoe for their legislative advocacy and $11.5 million in state funding for the project.
Trisler and Evans also thanked you city and county officials “for believing in this mission and for their buy-in that job creation and growth is a must in our community.”
They also thanked the citizens of Harrodsburg and Mercer County. Evans called taxpayers “investors in the push to attract opportunities” for prosperity in the community.
It is been one of the biggest years in local memory for industrial development in Mercer County. In March, Earth Breeze, a producer of environmentally friendly laundry detergent sheets, opened a $5.9 million facility in Harrodsburg that will create 226 jobs.
In August, Apple made a $2.5 billion commitment to Corning’s Harrodsburg manufacturing facility to create the world’s largest and most advanced smartphone glass production line. The expansion would increase Corning’s manufacturing and engineering workforce in Kentucky by 50 percent. The plant currently employs more than 400 people and is one of the largest employers in Mercer County.
“We’ve got some momentum going,” said Harrodsburg Mayor Bob Williams on Friday.
