Earth Breeze Cuts Ribbon For New Harrodsburg Facility
The Harrodsburg Herald/Robert Moore
Earth Breeze Vice President Chris Hoch, with scissors, prepares to cut the ribbon at Earth Breeze’s new facility in Harrodsburg. Standing next to Hoch on the left is Gov. Andy Beshear and to Hoch’s right is Earth Breeze Chief Operating Officer Ben Smith. They were joined by local and state officials and Earth Breeze employees for the facility’s grand opening Tuesday.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
Gov. Andy Beshear welcomed Earth Breeze to their “new Kentucky home” In Harrodsburg on Tuesday, April 29.
Gov. Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman joined local leaders and company executives for Earth Breeze’s ribbon cutting ceremony at their new facility on Morgan Soaper Drive.
Earth Breeze is America’s top producer of environmentally friendly laundry detergent sheets. The facility is valued at roughly $5.9 million and will create 226 jobs. Opening the Harrodsburg facility makes Earth Breeze the only company producing laundry sheets in the United States.
“We’re incredibly excited,” said Ben Smith, the chief operating officer of Earth Breeze, who welcomed everyone to the factory. Smith and Chris Hoch, vice president of Earth Breeze, detailed the process it took to bring the company to the oldest town in Kentucky.
Harrodsburg was not the company’s first choice. The other locations fell through because of zoning issues or lack of available power. Hoch credited Scott Moseley, former Mercer County judge-executive and mayor of Harrodsburg and project manager with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, for steering them to Hogtown.
Hoch, who’d never been to Harrodsburg before, recalled eating breakfast at Granny’s Diner.
“We knew we were in the right place,” Hoch said.
It has been a rapid process. Earth Breeze already has equipment on site and last week manufactured the first laundry sheets ever made in the United States. Earth Breeze executives also announced their first two local hires—Production Manager Brandon Wilson and Plant Director Josh Ayers.
The Harrodsburg Herald/Robert Moore
Earth Breeze’s first two local hires, Production Manager Brandon Wilson and Plant Director Josh Ayers, share a fist bump at the company’s grand opening in Harrodsburg on Tuesday, April 29.
Gov. Beshear noted that while Mercer County was celebrating Earth Breeze’s opening, FEMA had opened a recovery center to help residents file claims for disaster relief after the disastrous flooding earlier this month. The governor noted the commonwealth has had 14 declared disasters over the past five years.
At the same time, Beshear said Kentucky has been on an economic winning streak. During his tenure as governor, Beshear said he had overseen the largest private sector dollar investment in the commonwealth’s history, at $35 billion, more than $14 billion more than Gov. Steve Beshear, his father, who recorded the second greatest economic development.
Beshear noted that it wouldn’t have happened if “you weren’t ready to go.” If Fred Hilpp hadn’t built a factory space on spec at Morgan Soaper Drive, if officials like Harrodsburg Mayor Bob Williams and Mercer County Judge-Executive Sarah Steele, The Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Greyson Evans as well as State Rep. Kim King and State Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, had not been prepared to move when the opportunity presented itself.
“Much more is coming,” Beshear said, referring to the 958 acre Wilkinson Farm Industrial Park.
“It’s one of the best sites in the state,” Beshear told the crowd. “This is a big deal.”
Mayor Williams welcomed Earth Breeze to Harrodsburg. “We begin to close the hole in the doughnut,” Williams said, referring to the lack of economic development in Harrodsburg since the Great Recession.
Judge Steele called Earth Breeze laundry sheets “an amazing product” and invited Mercer County to support the company.
The Harrodsburg Herald/Robert Moore
Gov. Andy Beshear talks with Earth Breeze Chief Operating Officer Ben Smith. Earth Breeze, the leading manufacturer of laundry sheets, opened their Harrodsburg facility—the first manufacturer of laundry sheets in the United States—on Tuesday, April 29.
Echoing remarks made by Gov. Beshear, Steele said Earth Breeze’s opening is an example of what can happen “when we all work together as a team.”
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, The Harrodsburg Herald talked to Production Manager Brandon Wilson and Plant Director Josh Ayers.
Ayers said they will look to begin hiring within the next week, starting with shift leaders and production workers. Ayers said Earth Breeze hopes to reach full production by this fall.
