HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. has broken ground on a $250 million manufacturing expansion that is expected to create more than 200 jobs and approximately double the company's Kentucky workforce.

Gov. Andy Beshear joined company executives and local and regional officials at the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday at the company's Eagle One campus in Hopkinsville's South Park. The project calls for development of a modern manufacturing facility expanding U.S. Smokeless Tobacco's existing operations on Weyman's Way, along with investment in new manufacturing machinery and equipment.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco currently employs approximately 165 people in Kentucky. The company's Hopkinsville operations date to 1916, where it receives dark-fired and dark air-cured tobacco from local farmers that it processes into brands including Copenhagen, Skoal, Husky and Red Seal.

"This is more than a new building. It is a statement of confidence in the people of this region and in the future we build together," U.S. Smokeless Tobacco President and CEO Michael Brace said. "When completed, this facility will strengthen our Hopkinsville campus with modern manufacturing capabilities, create more than 200 new Kentucky jobs and approximately double our Kentucky workforce."

The company announced in May that it had selected Kentucky for the project after considering multiple locations. The expansion is part of a broader strategy to consolidate manufacturing operations by relocating nearly all processing, production and finishing from the company's Nashville facility, which is expected to close in early 2028.

Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam said the project will help integrate the region's agricultural production with manufacturing. "Christian County is home to one of the strongest dark-fired tobacco regions in the world, and USSTC's continued investment allows us to take that agricultural strength one step further by vertically integrating it into a finished product right here in our community," Gilliam said.

Hopkinsville Mayor James R. Knight said the investment will have broad community impact. "This expansion is a tremendous vote of confidence in Hopkinsville and in the people who make our community such a strong place to do business," Knight said. "A $250 million investment and 200 new, high-paying jobs will have an impact that reaches far beyond this site."

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Altria Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Altria acquired the company in 2009.