Area Development
H.T. Hackney Co, a wholesale supplier to supermarket and convenience stores, unveiled its newly designed 166,261-square-foot distribution center in Paducah, Kentucky.

The food distributor is one of the largest wholesales in the country, with 30 supply centers serving more than 20,000 retail customers in 22 states. "We are happy to expand our distribution center in a community that has readily available industrial parks that allow us to reduce our down time," said Dean Ballinger, H.T. Hackney's vice president and chief operating officer. "Paducah is a leading location choice for the distributors. The incentive certainly helped us make a favorable decision for Paducah."

"Paducah offers everything we need to successfully serve our existing and future customers," said Steve Butler, manager of the expanded Paducah operation. The city offers a logistic advantage."

The food distributor, which employs 117 full-time workers in Paducah, plans to add 40 new jobs as part of the expansion and will make a more than $15 million investment in the Commonwealth, said Governor Steve Beshear.

To encourage the expansion in McCracken County, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved H.T. Hackney for tax benefits up to $588,000 through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act. This program allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development, and electronic processing equipment.

"H. T. Hackney is a terrific example of a privately held and well-managed firm continuing on the path of success," said Paducah Mayor Bill Paxton. "We are a community on the move with tremendous resources for regionally and nationally based distributors. The decision by H. T. Hackney to expand the existing distribution center in Paducah says we have an excellent labor pool to meet the current and future needs of the company."