LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington-based Quality Logistics LLC, doing business as Longship, opened its new office in Fayette County, a $4.3 million investment creating 155 well-paying jobs for Kentucky residents.
Longship’s leaders, including founder Kenny Ray Schomp, cut a ribbon at the company’s new 29,000-plus-square-foot office on Sir Barton Way. Relocated from its former operation on Newtown Pike, the larger office will accommodate additional staff to better serve the company’s growing customer base of transporters.
Established in Lexington in 2012, Longship is a third-party logistics provider specializing in shipping fresh, frozen, and dry products. Its fleet includes refrigerated trucks, flatbeds, dry and vented vans, step deck, Conestoga, and removable gooseneck trailers. The company began with a lone double-wide trailer transporting produce throughout the United States and has grown to include operations in Lexington and Nashville with a network of 400,000 trucks equipped with load-tracking GPS services and 24/7 client support.
Longship’s relocation furthers the growth of Kentucky’s distribution and logistics industry, which employs nearly 80,000 people at 590 facilities statewide. Due to online ordering throughout the pandemic, warehouses and shippers saw surging demand and expansion opportunities. In the past 12 months, distribution and logistics companies committed to creating nearly 2,000 full-time, Kentucky-resident jobs over the coming years with 34 facility expansions and new-location projects statewide. Those projects include nearly $285 million in private-sector investment in the commonwealth.
The new facility also supports Kentucky’s food, beverage, and agritech sector, which includes more than 350 facilities employing over 52,000 people.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in May 2020 preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $1.25 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $4.3 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 155 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $28 including benefits across those jobs.
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, Longship can receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training, and job training incentives.
For more information on Longship, visit Longship.us.
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