Bluegrass Times

FRANKFORT, Ky.  – On June 29, Gov. Andy Beshear announced continued investment in Kentucky’s food and beverage industry with Bakery Express MidWest, a commercial bakery manufacturing company that supplies its customers with fresh baked goods. The $10 million facility in Boone County will create over 175 full-time jobs in the area.

“Kentucky’s economy continues to gain momentum, and our state’s food and beverage sector is a crucial part of that growth,” said Gov. Beshear. “This new location in Boone County from Bakery Express MidWest will not only allow the company to take its business to the next level, but will also create quality job opportunities in the Northern Kentucky area. I want to thank the company’s leadership for their commitment to the commonwealth, and I look forward to seeing their success and growth in the future.”

The company is opening a 35,000-square-foot facility in Northern Kentucky that will service Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee with production of fresh baked goods. The construction is expected to begin in late 2023 with completion by December 2024.

“I’m delighted to announce that our team will be expanding our fresh bakery operations to a new location in Boone County, Kentucky,” said Bakery Express MidWest President Charles L. Burman. “I would also like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and appreciation for the support of both Boone County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky for including Bakery Express in the Kentucky Business Investment program. Bakery Express is a 73-year-old group that currently operates bakeries in Maryland, Florida and Texas. The expansion into Kentucky will allow us to provide fresh bakery products to retail outlets throughout the Midwest.”

Founded in 1970, in Halethorpe, Maryland, Bakery Express Mid Atlantic Inc. was the first of many companies to be founded by Charles Burman. Bakery Express of Central Florida, Bakery Express of Central Texas, Bakery Express of Southern California and now Bakery Express MidWest have all been formed to provide fresh bakery products to over 4,000 retail outlets across the United States. Bakery Express companies currently employ 620 people, and the company’s fresh daily product line consists of a wide variety of items including donuts, muffins, cookies, brownies, croissants, bagels, pastries, cupcakes and other specialty items.

This project adds to Kentucky’s growing food and beverage sector, which administration-to-date has seen over 170 private-sector new-location and expansion projects that are expected to create more than 5,800 full-time jobs with nearly $4.8 billion in new investments. The Boone County location also adds to the commonwealth’s thriving manufacturing industry, which includes more than 5,000 facilities and employs over 250,000 people statewide.

Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore welcomed Bakery Express MidWest to Northern Kentucky: “With our improved infrastructure and central geographic location, Northern Kentucky is ideal for Bakery Express MidWest, a growing food manufacturer, to serve its customers in the Midwest. We are thrilled to welcome its newest location with a $10 million investment and over 175 new jobs in Boone County.”  

BE NKY Growth Partnership CEO Lee Crume noted the Northern Kentucky region boasts a thriving food and flavoring industry with more than 30 companies, in addition to nationally recognized distilleries and craft breweries in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties. 

“With strong business, food science, supply chain and operations programs at universities in the Cincinnati region, as well as manufacturing training programs at Gateway Community & Technical College, Bakery Express MidWest will be able to draw on a talented workforce as it builds its new manufacturing center in Northern Kentucky,” said Crume. “We celebrate their investment and first facility in the Midwest.” 

Bakery Express MidWest’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.

Earlier this month, Gov. Beshear announced there are more than 2 million jobs filled in Kentucky – the most in state history – according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its federal survey of business establishments. And the Governor highlighted that 57,000 new jobs have been filled since the beginning of his administration.

The Governor recently announced that Kentucky set the record for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history. On May 18, Gov. Beshear announced that Kentucky set a new historic low unemployment rate of 3.7%, which is the lowest rate ever recorded in the commonwealth.

Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 860 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling $26.8 billion in announced investments.

The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2022 was $26.78 before benefits, the second-highest mark since 2010 and an 11.5% increase over the previous year.

The Governor also secured the best two-year period in state history for economic growth and announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK Innovation celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. In April 2022, the Governor was joined by leadership at AESC toannouncea $2 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs in Warren County. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States.

That position was strengthened even further in May 2023, when the Governor and leaders at Toyota announced a $591 million investment across multiple projects as the company’s largest manufacturing operation in Georgetown introduces its first battery electric vehicle. Growth within the EV sector continued into June as Gov. Beshear joined INFAC North America to break ground on the company’s $53 million investment to support EV-related production in Campbellsville.

Over a two-month period this year, Kentucky secured two credit rating increases from major agencies. On May 12, Gov. Beshearannouncedthat his administration obtained the first state-level credit rating upgrade in 13 years and the first-ever upgrade from Fitch Ratings. On June 29, Gov. Beshear announced the commonwealth received its first-ever rating increase from S&P Global Ratings.

Site Selection magazine recently 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. The publication also placed Kentucky second nationwide and first in the South Central region for its annual Governor’s Cup ranking for 2022, which recognizes state-level economic success based on capital investments.

Gov. Beshear’s administration is projected to post the four highest years of budget surpluses in Kentucky history, and the state’s rainy day fund has a record balance of $2.7 billion.

Gov. Beshear recently announced a new “Supply Kentucky” initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies.

To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) On June 29 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 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $10 million and annual targets of:

• Creation and maintenance of 177 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
• Paying an average hourly wage of $22.20 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, Bakery Express MidWest 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 Bakery Express, visit BakeryExpressMsDesserts.com.

A detailed community profile for Boone County can be viewed here.

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

Read about other key updates, actions and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accountsFacebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Original source can be found here.