Gov. Beshear: R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co.
Expanding in Floyd County With More Than
$17 Million Investment Creating 65 Full-Time Jobs
Fourth-generation family-owned trucking equipment
manufacturer founded in 1968
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 12, 2026) – Today, a week after announcing the largest investment on record for Owsley County, Gov. Andy Beshear celebrated an estimated $17 million investment in Floyd County by R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co. The fourth-generation family-owned trucking equipment manufacturer is expanding its operations for future growth and creating 65 new full-time jobs in Eastern Kentucky.
“From Owsley County to Floyd County, we are celebrating some great wins for Eastern Kentucky that we create more opportunities for the hardworking families who call this region home,” said Gov. Beshear. “Our state was built on small, family-owned businesses choosing to reinvest and grow here, and I want to thank the leadership of R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co. for their commitment to our commonwealth and our people. I am excited to see their continued success in the years to come.”
To enable growth and allow for increased productive output, R/S-Godwin is planning an expansion of land, buildings and machinery. This type of manufacturing expansion will create skilled labor jobs for the following skillsets: welding, fabrication, CNC plasma, CNC pressbrakes, material handling and others. The company is also in the initial phase of procuring the adjacent 7-plus acres that will allow for the future growth of its manufacturing capacity.
“The Godwin Group is proud to be partnered with the state of Kentucky, Floyd County and surrounding areas to help R/S-Godwin continue to grow,” said Ryan Taylor, CEO of R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co. “We are proud that this will also see those citizens of this area prosper as well.”
R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co. is part of the Godwin Group of companies, one of the nation’s largest family-owned trucking equipment manufacturers. R/S-Godwin began in 1968 as a small local job shop catering to the Eastern Kentucky coal industry with a marketing range of only a couple hundred miles. The main product focus was on highway use trucks, but the company occasionally built equipment for off highway use when local demand called for it. In 1977, R/S-Godwin diversified into other dump body markets. In 2002, R/S-Godwin was purchased by the Godwin Group out of North Carolina. This move further solidified the company’s presence in the truck equipment market. Product demand became so high that the decision was made to remove trailers from R/S-Godwin’s offerings to better focus on dump body production. And recently, the company expanded to 165,000 square feet to accommodate a new state-of-the-art powder coat paint and primer facility.
Floyd County Judge/Executive Robbie Williams thanked the company for reaffirming its commitment to the area: “Thanks to R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co. for choosing to continue to invest in Floyd County. Our county is a great place to grow a business, from mom-and-pop shops to manufacturing. I would also like to thank the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, One East Kentucky and Kentucky Power for their work in supporting this project.”
Eric Ratliff, executive director of Big Sandy Area Development District, spoke on the future of Floyd County: “This expansion of the company is a great investment in Floyd County. The $17 million investment is creating 65 great-paying jobs for the people of Floyd County and the surrounding area. With the continued growth and success of R/S-Godwin, the future of Floyd County is looking great. Congratulations to Floyd County Judge/Executive Robbie Williams, Floyd County Fiscal Court, R/S-Godwin and others for making this expansion possible.”
R/S-Godwin’s investment and job creation furthers what has been the best six-year period for economic growth in state history.
Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced nearly 1,400 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $54 billion in announced investments, creating more than 71,000 jobs. This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth’s history and $33 billion more than the next highest total.
Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, which have solidified Kentucky’s position as a national leader in automotive and energy storage system battery production: Ford Motor Co.’s nearly $3 billion, 2,200-job commitments in Louisville, as well as its $2 billion, 2,100-job project at the Kentucky 1 plant in Hardin County; Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing’s $712 million investment, creating 1,572 jobs in Shelby County; and Toyota’s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County, among others.
In February, the Governor announced Kentucky once again set an all-time record for products shipped globally, with $51.6 billion in exports in 2025, representing a 7.65% increase over 2024.
Unemployment rates fell in all 120 counties between December 2024 and December 2025.
The Governor’s administration also secured the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund. In 2023, Kentucky recorded over 2 million jobs filled for the first time ever and has stayed above that number ever since.
In addition, Kentucky has secured rating increases from major credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.
Earlier this year, Site Selection magazine ranked Kentucky in the top five nationally and second in the South Central region for economic development projects per capita in its 2025 Governor’s Cup rankings. In June, Area Development magazine awarded the commonwealth a Silver Shovel designation in its 2025 Shovel Awards, which highlight states for attracting high-value investment projects that will create a significant number of new jobs in their communities.
Gov. Beshear also announced a new initiative, called New Kentucky Home, to increase economic investment, attain and attract talent, and increase tourism across the state.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in April preliminarily approved a 15-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $2.1 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $17.28 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 65 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 15 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $35.84 including benefits across those jobs.
Additionally, KEDFA approved R/S-Godwin for up to $150,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.
In addition, R/S-Godwin can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.
For more information on R/S-Godwin Truck Body Co., visit RSTruckBody.com.
A detailed community profile for Floyd County can be viewed here.
Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at NewKentuckyHome.ky.gov. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion at facebook.com/CEDkygov, on Twitter @CEDkygov, Instagram @CEDkygov and LinkedIn.
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