Seemingly riding high with industrial and residential growth putting it among Kentucky’s fastest-growing areas, Simpson County is now dealing with the loss of its primary industrial recruiter and questions from residents and city of Franklin leaders about how the Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority is handling the growth and some resulting debt.

The first blow came when some two dozen residents turned out for a Feb. 14 industrial authority meeting to voice concerns about a proposed expansion of the Henderson Industrial Park near the Interstate 65 exit 6 interchange.

Twelve days later, IA board members received a letter from Executive Director Dennis Griffin, telling them he was resigning to take a position as marketing director for a Barren County industrial park.

Griffin had served 25 years in the role and was instrumental in developing industrial parks and bringing to Simpson County such employers as the Trader Joe’s distribution center and the Tractor Supply Company distribution center.

Although his resignation coincides with the concerns raised by some residents and Franklin city leaders, Griffin said in an email that he is simply seizing an opportunity to gear down.

“After 25 years, I am leaving as director of the industrial authority,” said Griffin, who worked previously as an industrial recruiter in Bowling Green. “I will be taking a part-time position as marketing director for the 450-acre Mid-South Industrial Park in Cave City. I am ready to slow down, and this position became available.”

Griffin’s departure was unexpected, say some Simpson County leaders.

“I was quite surprised,” said Gary Broady, chairman of the industrial authority board of directors. “Everything was going well. Denny will be missed.”

Likewise, Simpson County Judge-Executive Mason Barnes was disappointed to lose an industrial recruiter he believes is largely responsible for the county growing by some 2,000 residents between the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census Bureau counts.

“Denny was doing an outstanding job with industrial recruitment,” Barnes said. “He had several things in the works. It’s always hard to lose a good person and be able to keep that momentum going.”

Barnes and Broady say their first priority is to find a qualified interim director for the industrial authority while they search for a permanent replacement.

But that may not be their most pressing concern.

Citing a dearth of available land now that a number of new companies have moved in to the existing industrial parks, the industrial authority has an option to purchase two tracts of farmland that would expand the Henderson Industrial Park by nearly 180 acres.

But efforts to exercise that option have been met with pushback from neighboring residents concerned about encroachment on their residences and from Franklin city officials who think the IA has already taken on too much debt.

In a letter addressed to Simpson Fiscal Court and signed by all members of the Franklin City Commission, city leaders raised questions about the IA’s debt load.

According to the letter, the IA had in November of 2023 more than $20 million in long-term debt.

The letter states that the IA’s balance sheet “looks fairly healthy today,” but Franklin Mayor Larry Dixon and the four city commission members expressed concerns about the future.

“What we have determined to this point is that there is no long-term plan or anything that seems to be in place as to how the IA is going to pay off that debt or to definitively plan for the future,” the letter states.

Both Barnes and Broady take issue with the city commission’s characterization of the IA’s finances, arguing that there is adequate income from lease payments and other sources to pay off the debt.

“The industrial authority’s financial condition is excellent as far as I’m concerned,” said Broady, who retired in 2020 after 38 years with Franklin Bank & Trust Company. “The debt that we have, there are strong assets to back that.”

Barnes concurs, and he adds that pulling back the reins on taking on more debt could slow the county’s growth.

“There’s debt, but there’s also revenue well in excess of what we need to meet our obligations,” Barnes said. “The reality is that if you want your community on a path to prosperity, you’re going to have to continue growth efforts.”

The rising amount of debt isn’t the only concern raised by some Simpson County residents. Joel Peyton, one of the residents resisting the IA’s efforts to expand the Henderson Industrial Park near the Trader Joe’s site, has used open records requests to delve into the IA’s finances and questions some of what he has found.

Peyton said he found “a lot of questionable stuff” in going through a year’s worth of credit card statements, including charges for meals and to Amazon.

A response to Peyton from the Leach & Cummins law firm that represents the industrial authority included a note from Griffin that characterized some of the questionable charges as mistakes that were later corrected.

“Once I found out about the charges, I wrote checks to reimburse the industrial authority for those charges,” the note reads. “On one other occasion, I used the wrong credit card at a local shop in Bowling Green, but immediately reimbursed the industrial authority once I discovered my error.”

Peyton’s doubts about Griffin and the IA’s finances aren’t shared by Mike Jones, the businessman who brought him on to help with his privately owned Mid-South Industrial Park.

“Denny will be tasked with developing the property at exit 53 in Cave City,” said Jones, co-founder of Franklin-based Worldwide Technologies. “Denny is a great guy. He’ll be successful.”