Area Development
ZoomEssence Inc, a research and development food ingredient manufacturing firm, opened its $3 million facility in the northern Kentucky Boone County city of Hebron, creating 20 jobs in the Commonwealth.

Gov. Steve Beshear applauded the success for ZoomEssence, which utilizes its DriZoom technology to deliver liquid-quality flavors and ingredients in a powder form. The firm developed its patented DriZoom process technology for converting liquids to powders at ambient temperature. DriZoom is a cost effective process that replaces standard high-temperature spray drying by delivering products with improved efficacy, longer shelf life and improved solubility.

Bob Corbett, CEO of ZoomEssence said, “We appreciate the support received from Gov. Beshear, Lt. Gov. Abramson and the entire Kentucky business community. We look forward to many more years of growth, job creation and involvement in our community.”

ZoomEssence creates and manufactures powdered flavors and food ingredients, with more than 300 types in various snacks, soups, coffee, tea, and other products. The company also manufactures instant coffee, instant tea, Omega-3 powders, vitamins, and other dry products serving a wide variety of customers. Eleven of the 20 new, full-time jobs at ZoomEssence are considered high-tech and technical support jobs, with an average annual salary of approximately $67,000, excluding benefits.

“ZoomEssence is an example of a high-tech company developing and manufacturing innovative products here in the Commonwealth, and we are very proud of that,” said Gov. Beshear. “The workforce, logistical advantages and business climate in Kentucky all play vital roles, but quality products and top-notch people make companies such as ZoomEssence stand out.”

As an incentive to encourage the investment and job creation in northern Kentucky, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $300,000 through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

KEDFA also approved ZoomEssence for funding up to $175,000 through the Cabinet for Economic Development’s High-Tech Investment Pool. The Pool is used to support technology-based and research-intensive companies and projects in the Commonwealth.

“ZoomEssence exemplifies the type of success we anticipate for northern Kentucky companies in the start-up mode,” said Boone County Judge-Executive and Chairman Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation Gary Moore. “This company exhibits technical expertise through their employees, products and overall drive to succeed. We are appreciative that they’ve chosen northern Kentucky to grow their business and grateful that the ezone, a division of Tri-ED is able to support this growth.”