A Fourth-Generation Shop in Floyd County Is Doubling Down on Making Things in Eastern Kentucky

In mid-October, WYMT reported that R/S-Godwin Truck Body Company is making a $17 million expansion in Floyd County, bringing 65 new full-time jobs to eastern Kentucky. That's a fourth-generation, family-owned shop in the mountains deciding the best place to grow is exactly where it already stands.

What happened

The fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer is growing its dump truck body operation with more land, new buildings and upgraded machinery. And these aren't vague someday jobs — the project will support skilled work in welding, fabrication, CNC plasma and pressbrake operations, and material handling, with an average hourly wage, including benefits, just under $36 an hour.

The company is thinking past this round, too. It's also moving to buy more than seven acres next to its current site to plan for future growth. CEO Ryan Taylor put it plainly: "We are proud that this will also see those citizens of this area prosper as well."

Why it matters

This is not a company parachuting in. R/S-Godwin began in 1968 as a small local job shop catering to the Eastern Kentucky coal industry. Initially focused on highway-use trucks, it diversified into other dump body markets in 1977 before being acquired by the North Carolina-based Godwin Group in 2002 — and today it's part of the Godwin Group of companies, one of the nation's largest family-owned trucking equipment manufacturers.

Fifty-eight years from job shop to this. Four generations of a family deciding, over and over, that Floyd County is where the work gets done. When people talk about manufacturing coming back to American small towns, this is usually what it actually looks like: not a ribbon-cutting on a parachute drop, but a shop that never left adding another building.

A pattern, not a one-off

The company had already been building toward this. As demand increased, R/S-Godwin discontinued trailer production to concentrate on dump bodies, and more recently expanded its facility to 165,000 square feet to accommodate a new powder coat paint and primer operation. The planned $17 million investment builds on those improvements, positioning the company to increase output while adding skilled manufacturing jobs in Floyd County and the surrounding region.

Welding, fabrication, CNC work — these are trades you can build a life on in the Big Sandy valley without moving to Lexington or Louisville or out of state entirely. Sixty-five of those jobs in a county the size of Floyd is the kind of news that shows up in actual kitchens, not just press releases.

What you can do about it

If you're ever rolling down the Mountain Parkway toward Prestonsburg, take the long way. Eastern Kentucky is full of places like this — small towns with trailheads, elk country, music venues carved into mountainsides, and shops where people still make heavy, useful things. Spend a weekend and spend some money there.

And if you're the type who wears your geography on your chest, our whole Kentucky collection was made for exactly this feeling — the quiet pride of a place that keeps showing up. The Script Kentucky Tee says it the way folks in Floyd County would: no explanation needed.

Common questions

What does R/S-Godwin actually make?

Truck equipment — specifically dump truck bodies. R/S-Godwin is part of the larger Godwin Group, a truck equipment manufacturer, which makes things like dump truck bodies and hoists. If you've seen a dump truck on a Kentucky highway, there's a decent chance part of it was welded in Floyd County.

How many jobs is this, and what kind?

The expansion brings 65 new full-time jobs to eastern Kentucky, supporting skilled trades like welding, fabrication, CNC plasma and pressbrake work, and material handling. These are hands-on manufacturing trades, not seasonal or temp positions.

Is this new to the area?

Just the opposite. The company began in 1968 as a small local job shop serving the Eastern Kentucky coal industry, and it has been making things in Floyd County ever since. This expansion is a longtime neighbor getting bigger, which is the best version of this story there is.

Reported by WYMT. Details as published at the time of writing.