Kentucky State Seal

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*OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ANDY BESHEAR*

*COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY*








*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*




*Contact:*?

*Crystal Staley*
*502-545-3714*

*Brandon Mattingly
502-782-2006*






*Gov. Beshear Joins Leaders at Goose Creek To Break Ground on $5 Million Expansion Creating 160 Full-Time Jobs*

"Project will help company meet rapidly growing customer and retailer demand"

*LIBERTY, Ky. (March 8, 2024) *? Today, Gov. Andy Beshear joined local officials and representatives from Goose Creek Candles, a family-owned candle, soap and wax melt manufacturer, to break ground on the company?s new distribution facility expansion project in Casey County, a $5 million investment creating 160 quality, Kentucky jobs.

?Congratulations to Goose Creek Candles for this incredible investment into the local community and workforce,? said *Gov. Beshear*. ?A Kentucky company finding success and expanding its operations in the same community where it first started over 25 years ago shows the growing strength of our economy. I?m thrilled to be here today to celebrate this exciting next step for the company and wish Goose Creek many more years of success here in the commonwealth.?

To meet rapidly growing customer and retailer demand and projected additional sales growth, Goose Creek Candles is expanding its existing distribution center in Casey County. The project will see the company add 85,000 square feet to its current operation, allowing room for two new pick lines to help with order fulfillment, additional warehousing for inventory and expanded replenishment capacity. Goose Creek?s expansion is set to begin this year, with the 160 new, full-time jobs opportunities bringing the company?s Kentucky employment to 280. The added positions will improve ship times, meet the growing product demand and assist in expanding the Walmart partnership, where Goose Creek products can be found in over 3,600 stores nationwide.

?We believe the future of fragrance will look different, and that?s why we are investing in new fragrance applications and technologies,? said *Jordan Meece, chief marketing officer at Goose Creek*.??From smart home devices to laundry care, we believe the Goose Creek brand will continue to be a fragrance leader for decades to come.?

?While manufacturing of Goose Creek products takes place all across the U.S., the national headquarters in Liberty houses management teams and order distribution,? said *Micah Meece, chief operating officer at Goose Creek*. ?Currently, our biggest challenge is shipping orders quickly enough to keep up with customer demands. We are shipping over 25,000 pieces per shift, and that?s just not enough.?

Goose?Creek is a Kentucky-based home fragrance brand located in Liberty. Founded by Chuck and Tamara Meece in 1998, the brand is now mass-produced in factories across the United States. Goose Creek has experienced exponential growth in the home fragrance sector, making the brand?a household name. Owned and managed by the Meece family, forward-thinking business strategies have enabled the brand to surpass other industry players. More than just candles, the Goose Creek brand has also become known for other fragrance categories, such as body care?products and flameless?fragrance options. All orders placed on the company?s website are processed in the distribution center in Liberty, which currently employs over 120 people.

*Liberty Mayor Dr. Housam Haddad*?looks forward to Goose Creek?s expansion and continuing their successful partnership within the community: ?We are excited to have Goose Creek expand their operations here in Liberty, bringing additional employment to our citizens. We welcome Gov. Beshear and the support he brings to Liberty and to our industrial base.?

*Nicki Johnson, director of the Liberty-Casey County Chamber of Commerce*, highlighted the positive impact the company has on the community and looks forward to supporting their future success: ?Goose Creek is a well-loved local business that has invested in our community since its beginning. Battling the fire, relocations and expansion, Goose Creek remains steadfast in being an employer that our community embraces, supports and encourages in all their efforts as they grow to serve a global reach for the quality products they produce. The Liberty-Casey County Chamber of Commerce endorses Goose Creek and their groundbreaking for expansion and will to contribute in every way possible to their success.?

Goose Creek?s investment and job creation build on the best four-year period for economic growth in state history.

Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 1,000 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $30.3 billion in announced investments, creating more than 52,000 jobs. This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth?s history.

The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2022 and 2023 topped $26 in consecutive years for the first time.

Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, which have solidified Kentucky as the electric vehicle battery production capital of the United States: Ford Motor Co. and SK On?s transformative $5.8 billion, 5,000-job BlueOval SK Battery Park [ [link removed] ] in Hardin County; AESC [ [link removed] ]?s $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory project in Warren County; Toyota [ [link removed] ]?s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County; and INFAC North America [ [link removed] ]?s $53 million investment in Taylor County, among others.

The Governor?s administration also secured [ [link removed] ] the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund, as well as the most jobs filled in state history. Last year, Kentucky set the record [ [link removed] ] for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history.

Kentucky also secured rating increases from major credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings [ [link removed] ] and S&P Global Ratings [ [link removed] ], and Moody?s Investors Service upgraded Kentucky?s credit outlook from stable to positive.

This month, Site Selection magazine ranked [ [link removed] ] Kentucky third nationally and first in the South Central economic development projects per capita in its 2023 Governor?s Cup rankings. Previously, Site Selection placed Kentucky first in the South Central region and top 5 nationally in its 2023 Prosperity Cup ranking, which recognizes state-level economic development agencies for their success in landing capital investment projects.

Gov. Beshear announced a ?Supply Kentucky [ [link removed] ]? initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies.

To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in January 2024 preliminarily approved a 15-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $650,000 in tax incentives based on the company?s investment of at least $3.6 million and annual targets of:


* Creation and maintenance of 160 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 15 years; and
* Paying an average hourly wage of $16.55 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, Goose Creek Candles 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.

For more information on Goose Creek Candles, visit goosecreekcandle.com [ [link removed] ].

A detailed community profile for Casey County can be viewed here [ [link removed] ].

Information on Kentucky?s economic development efforts and programs is available at "CED.ky.gov" [ [link removed] ]. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion at "facebook.com/CEDkygov" [ [link removed] ]", on Twitter ""@CEDkygov" [ [link removed] ]", Instagram ""@CEDkygov" [ [link removed] ]" and ""LinkedIn" [ [link removed] ].

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