(LEX 18) — Governor Andy Beshear cut the ribbon at the grand opening of Badger Technologies’ corporate office and Center of Robotics Excellence in Nicholasville on Wednesday. That's where he praised the company for helping grow Kentucky's tech sector.
"We’ve been known for a long time around the world for our world-class bourbon, for being the thoroughbred racing capital of the world, and for our hospitality," Beshear said. "But more and more, we’re being known for our technology."
Beshear emphasized that tech jobs are important to the state's future.
"They’re important because they are the jobs of the future," said Beshear. "When you look at AI, robotics, jobs dealing with the cloud - you see areas where jobs are increasing more and more and more."
"It’s really important that we are part of the economy of the future because we’ve been hit before when we didn’t evolve the way we needed to and saw job loss historically across Kentucky," Beshear added. "That can’t ever happen again. So, by getting in the EV space, by being in this robotics space, we make sure that we know we have jobs that will exist in the next 20, 30, 40 years - and they’re good jobs."
Beshear explained that Kentuckians who work for Badger Technologies are building robots for retail spaces. The robots can do things like scan aisles at stores for inventory updates.
"These robots are capable of helping companies work smarter, not harder - to work safer and to do better," Beshear said.
However, there has been some criticism in the past over robots taking jobs away from people. Leaders at Badger Technologies told reporters that is not what their goal is.
"We actually enable associates to work on the valuable by removing some of the dull and the dangerous," said Emil Martinez, the CEO of Badger Technologies. "The technology doesn’t replace folks, it makes them sort of bigger, better, faster, stronger. It enables them to do the things of greater value to the organizations."
Jabil, the parent company of Badger Technologies, employs around 2,000 people in Kentucky, according to the company.
