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A Winchester manufacturing facility will be growing and adding jobs in the near future.

According to a news release from Gov. Andy Beshear’s office, Catalent Inc., located in the Winchester-Clark County Industrial Park, is planning a $175 million investment to expand its existing operation and add a new research and development facility in Clark County, creating an estimated 277 jobs.

“It’s always great to see existing companies expand in Kentucky, but it’s even better when that growth includes great jobs for our residents,” Beshear said. “Catalent has been an important part of the Winchester community and the creation of 277 well-paying jobs will strengthen its presence in Clark County in the years to come. Thank you to Catalent’s leadership for continuing to create excellent job opportunities in our state.”

Local leaders weighed in on the announcement.

“Our community of Winchester/Clark County is very pleased to work with Catalent on another expansion,” Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham said. “They continually work with our local governments to increase quality of life opportunities for our citizens. They are a wonderful corporate citizen and we are fortunate to have them in our community.”

Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner echoed those sentiments.

“The community of Winchester and Clark County are pleased that Catalent has chosen to expand their operations here and thereby add many new, good-paying jobs and investment to our business and economic base,” Burtner said. “Catalent is an important corporate citizen and we value highly their investment and contributions to our community.”

Catalent partners with pharma, biotech and consumer health companies to optimize the development, launch and life-cycle supply of products for patients around the world. The company opened its doors in Winchester in 1992 and broke ground on a 15,000 square-foot office expansion in November 2021.

The company’s existing 190,000-square-foot Winchester facility on Enterprise Dr. will grow by 90,000 square feet to increase manufacturing capacity within its oral dose division. The company also plans to acquire a nearly 17,000-square-foot facility on Venable Rd. which will house its research and development operations. Work on the project is expected to begin this year and to be completed by 2027.

Company leadership noted Clark County and the commonwealth’s strong workforce and excellent quality of life as advantages to locating the expansion at the existing Winchester operation employs more than 650 people at the location.

“We look forward to further investing and growing in Winchester,” said Chris Rosenbaum, general manager of Catalent in Winchester. “The state of Kentucky’s talented workforce, tight-knit community and business environment provide major advantages to the future growth of Catalent.”