Kentucky may become the new home of a Harley-Davidson manufacturing plant. According to The Courier-Journal, the flailing chopper-maker is considering relocating a 2,500 employee Pennsylvania facility to the greener, cheaper pastures of the Commonwealth.

Like many manufacturers, Harley-Davidson is consolidating in the wake of declining sales and is exploring how to cut costs with its largest union. The current union contract, with an average wage of $23 per hour, expires in February.

In September a spokesman for Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said the state had assembled $15 million in taxpayer-funded incentives for capital repairs and remediation of the company’s 232-acre site in York County.

Gov. Steve Beshear released a statement Wednesday that said Harley-Davidson’s announcement “is a testament to the workforce, business climate, and overall quality of life which Kentucky offers.”

And in this economy, one’s abject destitution is another’s meal ticket. Let the incentive war begin…