Even before April’s announcement that a 2,000-employee electric-vehicle battery plant was coming to the Kentucky Transpark, the industrial recruitment successes of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce were getting national attention that ranks it among the top economic development organizations in the country.

Based on 2021 activity alone, the local chamber is included for a second consecutive year among Site Selection magazine’s list of the top economic development organizations in the nation.

Released this week, the Site Selection list of 20 communities winning the Mac Conway Awards that recognize economic development success includes the Bowling Green chamber along with three other Kentucky communities.

Bowling Green made the list along with Elizabethtown/Hardin County, Louisville and northern Kentucky.

“The Mac Conway Award is an incredible honor, and we are delighted to be recognized … for the second year in a row,” said Ron Bunch, the Bowling Green chamber president and CEO. “It is a privilege to work alongside our broader economic development team partners to help Bowling Green and Warren County flourish.”

A news release said the local chamber announced 20 projects totaling $860 million in capital investment and creating nearly 2,000 jobs during 2021.

Among the biggest 2021 announcements were the 450-job, $355 million Tyson Foods plant and the 200-job, $147 million Ball Corp. plant, both located in the Transpark.

Such announcements placed Bowling Green on a list of Mac Conway Award winners that includes bigger metro areas like Nashville, Austin, Texas, and Phoenix.

The inclusion of Bowling Green and the other three Kentucky communities among those larger cities, said Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon, “says something about the business environment in our state.”

“The chamber’s solutions-oriented approach to move quickly and bring the right people together enables us to get things done,” Buchanon said in a news release.

Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott also praised the recognition, saying the local chamber “is not only competing for projects, but they are winning and bringing an amazing amount of new investment and new jobs that will transform our vibrant city.”

The Site Selection magazine website said the Mac Conway Award winners are selected based on an index of total projects, job creation and facility-related capital investment data calculated both cumulatively and per capita.

The local chamber made the Mac Conway list a year ago after announcing projects that brought in $331 million in capital investment.

Bowling Green’s 2021 economic development announcements more than doubled that 2020 investment, and now 2022 is certain to be even bigger.

That announcement in April that Japan’s Envision AESC plans to build a 3 million-square-foot plant on a 500-acre addition to the Transpark represents a $2 billion capital investment by itself.

– More information about the Mac Conway Awards, including a complete list of this year’s winners, can be found at siteselection.com.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.