FRANKLIN, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear joined local officials today to break ground on a new Simpson County facility for Trader Joe’s East Inc., a leading retail grocer, which will create 876 full-time jobs, including 91 direct roles behind a more than $259 million investment.
“Leading companies like Trader Joe’s are choosing Kentucky for our exceptional workforce,” said Gov. Beshear. “This new location is creating a significant number of new job opportunities for Kentuckians and will be a great addition to the Franklin community. I look forward to seeing Trader Joe’s continued success here in the commonwealth.”
The project, announced in September 2022, established a new, 1 million-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution, warehousing and cold storage center in Simpson County’s Stone-Givens Industrial Park to serve growing customer demands. The over $259 million investment created 91 direct full-time jobs, but the full scope of the project includes 876 total jobs, with the balance being contracted positions.
The company’s new location also will benefit from funding recently approved for infrastructure upgrades at the Stone-Givens Industrial Park. In January, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) approved $2.4 million in funding from the Economic Development Fund to support the construction of an industrial access road and improvements at the site to encourage economic growth. The infrastructure project also is supported by a $300,000 grant from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Department of Highways.
Trader Joe’s is a subsidiary of TACT Holding Inc. and is a leading retail distributer and supplier of food and beverage products, including canned foods, dry goods, sweets, grocery, beer and wine, frozen foods and other refrigerated products. Trader Joe’s was founded in 1967 offering accessible, high-end products to consumers. The company has grown nationally to 50,000 employees in 537 stores across 44 states.
The announcement adds to Kentucky’s distribution and logistics industry, which currently includes more than 600 facilities employing over 91,000 people. Administration-to-date, companies within the industry have announced 117 new-location and expansion projects totaling $2.2 billion and roughly 7,500 full-time jobs for Kentuckians.
Simpson County Judge/Executive Mason Barnes spoke on the scope of the project.
“We are very excited to announce that Trader Joe’s will become part of our community here in Simpson County. Trader Joe’s will locate in the Stone-Givens Industrial Park and utilize approximately 160 acres for their development. Their investment in our community will be the largest to date in terms of size, dollars invested and employment. Trader Joe’s operation brings some much-needed diversity to our industrial base,” said Judge Barnes. “Although Trader Joe’s has other distribution facilities in the U.S., this facility in Simpson County will be the only one of its type. It will be a distribution and assembly center and will also serve as the mid-America hub for Trader Joe’s. They will be a tremendous asset to our local economy and to job seekers in this entire region.”
Franklin Mayor Larry Dixon mentioned the jobs the facility will create.
“We are extremely proud to have Trader Joe’s locate their distribution facility in Franklin,” Dixon said. “What a great company to have in our community. They will be providing some great jobs for our city and for this entire region of South-Central Kentucky.”
Gary Broady, chairman of the Franklin Simpson Industrial Authority, expressed excitement for Trader Joe’s locating in Simpson County.
“When we created the new Stone-Givens Industrial Park we were hoping to attract a major client to Franklin,” Broady said. “Trader Joe’s is a world class company, and we are very excited about their location in our newest industrial park. We certainly welcome the hundreds of jobs Trader Joe’s will be creating with their project.”
Trader Joe’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth, as the state builds back stronger from the effects of the pandemic
