Published: April 08, 2009 12:32 am      

Leaders talk stimulus funding for AK Steel

ASHLAND — A group of state, local and union leaders got together Tuesday for a roundtable discussion that centered on one question:

Is there money in the federal economic stimulus package that could be used to help AK Steel’s Ashland Works?

Based on currently available information, the best answer anyone seemed to be able to provide was ... maybe.

The meeting was initiated by United Steelworkers of America Local 1865, which represents hourly employees at the Ashland Works, and took place at the Steelworkers hall in Ashland.

The roughly 90-minute session was chaired by Greenup County Judge-Executive Bobby Carpenter. In attendance were all the members of northeastern Kentucky’s legislative delegation, the mayors of Ashland and Russell, local economic development officials, representatives of the offices of Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis and others.

Steelworkers President Mike Hewlett said the purpose of the meeting was simply to get local leaders thinking about what could be done to ensure the future viability of the Ashland Works, and whether federal stimulus dollars could be utilized for that purpose.

Specifically, Hewlett said the union was wondering what sort of government assistance might be available to rebuild and upgrade the No. 3 coating line, which was idled along with the rest of the plant in November and has yet to be restarted.

Having the No. 3 line running at capacity would put about 150 jobs back into the local economy, Hewlett said.

Hewlett also said the union believes that channeling stimulus dollars to AK Steel would put the company in a better position to capitalize on an economic recovery.

“When the steel industry comes back, it comes back hard,” he said. “Those who have survived have to be ready to go. If we survive — which we have so far — it (the plant) will have to expand.”

Lawmakers said it was questionable whether stimulus funds could be used to assist the steelmaker because most of that money was earmarked for specific programs, such as transportation, education and Medicaid. How much money the state will have that will be “unobligated” won’t be known for some time, said state Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook.

Adkins said the best hope for providing government help to upgrade the Ashland Works might lie not in the stimulus package, but in the state’s economic incentives measures. That was what happened five years ago, when lawmakers “tweaked” an existing state law to provide the company with $65 million in incentives for a vacuum degasser project.

AK Steel could benefit from a business incentive bill that died in the last legislative session after the House ran out of time to pass it, said Jim Purgerson, president of the Ashland Alliance.

One of the provisions of House Bill 229 would allow existing manufacturing firms such as AK Steel to recover up to 50 percent of their costs for new equipment needed for expansion and 100 percent of their costs for training, Purgerson said.

Adkins said anticipated that Gov. Steve Beshear would call a special session of the General Assembly in June or July, and that he would not be surprised if HB 229 was re-introduced at that time.