FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear announced a new distribution facility in Midway for Lakeshore Learning Materials LLC, a developer of educational materials and classroom furniture and supplies, creating 40 full-time jobs with a $27.3 million investment.
Lakeshore Learning will construct a 360,000-square-foot distribution facility to add to its existing one-million-square-foot network in Midway. The site is located on 14 acres near Georgetown Road in Woodford County. Work on the project is expected to begin in December of this year and be completed by December 2023.
“Lakeshore Learning values its partnership with the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Midway community,” said Artin Ghazarian, chief distribution and logistics officer at Lakeshore Learning Materials. “We’re proud to continue to grow here and look forward to serving even more customers with this expansion.”
Founded in 1954, Lakeshore is a leading U.S. developer of educational materials and classroom furniture and supplies. In 68 years of business, the company has grown from a single retail store in Oakland, California, to a multimillion-dollar company with over 60 retail stores, a thriving e-commerce business, catalogs and a sales force with customers in every state and across the globe. Over the last decade, the business has continued to show consistent growth. Lakeshore Learning partnered with Kentucky state and local government in 2016 and 2019 to build distribution facilities totaling 1 million square feet in Midway to address the strains on the growing supply chain needs.
In December, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program to encourage investment and job growth in the community. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $500,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of over $27.3 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 40 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $21.60 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, Lakeshore Learning 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.
