Economy
Main article: Economy of Lexington, Kentucky See also: List of employers in Lexington, KentuckyWith its abundance of government and technology jobs, Lexington has one of the nation's most stable economies. Lexington has been described as having "a fortified economy, strong in manufacturing, technology and entrepreneurial support, benefiting from a diverse, balanced business base". The Lexington Metro Area had a July 2008 unemployment rate of only 5.4%. Lexington was named the 4th best city for "Businesses and Careers" in 2011 by Forbes Magazine, the 5th best city for Young Professionals in 2008 and 6th Best Value Cities 2011 by Kiplinger. As such, the city is home to several large corporations. There are three Fortune 500 companies located within the city, Affiliated Computer Services, Lexmark International and Hewlett Packard, employing 1,200, 3,450, and 250 respectively. United Parcel Service, Trane, Tempur-Pedic, International and Amazon.com, Inc. have a large presence in the city, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky is within the Lexington CSA in adjoining Georgetown. The city is also host to a Jif peanut butter plant that produces more peanut butter than any other factory in the world, and to the Forcht Group of Kentucky, a holding company that employs more than 2,100 people across Kentucky. Forcht Group operates several businesses in Lexington including First Corbin Bancorp, Kentucky National Insurance Company, My Favorite Things, BSC, a bank data services company, and First Lab, among others.
The city's largest employer, the University of Kentucky, as of 2012, employs about 14,000, although that number is expected to shrink due to reduced funding from the state. The University is the ninth largest economic company in the state of Kentucky, with an annual budget of $1.4 billion, and the College of Medicine within the University is the 21st-largest company in the state.
Other sizable employers include the Lexington-Fayette County government and other hospital facilities. This includes the Fayette County Public Schools, employing 4,651, and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, employing 3,936. Central Baptist Hospital, Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East, and the Veterans Administration Hospital employ 6,206 total.
Read more about this topic: Uptown Lexington
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.... for really new ideas of any kind—no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be—there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)
“War. Fighting. Men ... every man in the whole realm is in the army.... Every man in uniform ... An economy entirely geared to war ... but there is not much war ... hardly any fighting ... yet every man a soldier from birth till death ... Men ... all men for fighting ... but no war, no wars to fight ... what is it, what does it mean?””
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)