Kentucky Bourbon Boosts Economy by Hundreds of Millions

By bbqandbourbon on Jan 14, 2010 in Featured, Kentucky Barbeque

The study released today by the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, says distillers help create about 10,000 jobs with an annual payroll of $442 million and generate $125 million in taxes each year.

The study was conducted by Dr. Paul Coomes, an economist at the University of Louisville.

“Bourbon and other distilling is truly a signature Kentucky industry “We produce 95 percent of the world’s bourbon. Moreover, the market for bourbon is growing and Kentucky distillers have been adding jobs this decade even as manufacturing employment overall is down.”

Coomes said in a news release.

Distilling employment grew by 6 percent this decade, Coomes said, while the manufacturing industry lost nearly 20 percent of its jobs.

“The distilling industry is much more stable than manufacturing as a whole,” he said.

Distilleries have received more than 1.5 million visits in the last five years, KDA president Eric Gregory said in the release. More than 3,000 people completed the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 2009, a 400 percent increase over last year.

Coomes said the growing number of visitors is significant because communities and hospitality groups benefit the boost in revenue.

“Over time, regular interstate travelers may choose to stay overnight in Kentucky rather than Tennessee, Ohio or Indiana because of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail,” Coomes said. “And it can only be found in Kentucky.”

Some other findings of the study:

• Kentucky hosts 43 percent of all U.S. distilling jobs

• The distilling industry has a job multiplier of 3.29, creating more spin-off jobs than other industries such as tobacco farming, horse farms and coal mining

• Distilling ranks fourth out of 244 Kentucky manufacturing industries in total employment and job multiplier

• Kentucky bourbon is the largest export category of all U.S. spirits and shipped 25 million proof gallons to 126 countries in 2008

• Distillery operations generate $9 million annually in taxes on aging barrels and property