Woman-owned company was founded in Kentucky in 2011

Frankfort, Ky – On Dec 16th, Governor Andy Beshear congratulated leaders at Mackenzie and Paige Logistics LLC (M&P), a woman-owned logistics provider based in the commonwealth, as they cut the ribbon on its new Florence headquarters. The company invested nearly $4 million and is creating 210 new full-time jobs, including positions for at least 120 Kentucky residents.

“The grand opening of M&P Logistics’ headquarters is contributing to the growing momentum in Kentucky’s distribution and logistics sector,” said Gov. Beshear. “This homegrown and woman-owned Kentucky company is expanding and creating quality jobs for the residents of Florence, and I want to thank M&P for continuing to put roots down in the commonwealth.”

In August, company leaders outlined an aggressive growth plan that included acquisition of a 26,000-square-foot building at 7900 Tanners Gate Lane in Florence. Among the jobs created at the new location are sales, operations and administrative roles, as well as high-end and middle management positions. The company employed approximately 30 people at offices in Boone County prior to the project.

“It’s undoubtedly been an incredible year for all of us here at M&P, and we’re delighted to officially open our doors and move into the new year with true momentum,” said Kimberly Hall, founder/CEO of M&P Logistics. “Once again, we would like to thank Gov. Beshear, the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, Northern Kentucky Tri-ED, City of Florence Mayor Diane Whalen and Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore, for their continued support. Just like M&P, my family and I were born and raised in Northern Kentucky. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Established in 2011, M&P Logistics is Women’s Business Enterprise National Council woman-owned certified transportation brokerage company that has grown exponentially since its founding. In addition to operating dry-van and refrigerated transportation, M&P provides specialized options such as white glove deliveries, rail and port drayage, as well as sprinter and box truck expediting. Along with its growing Kentucky footprint, M&P maintains offices in Florida and recently opened an office in California. Earlier this year, M&P was recognized as one of America’s fastest growing privately owned companies with inclusion on Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 list.

M&P’s growth adds to Kentucky’s strong distribution and logistics presence. Since the start of the Beshear administration, companies within the sector announced more than 7,300 full-time, Kentucky-resident jobs across more than 110 facility expansion and new-location projects with $2.1 billion in private-sector investment in the commonwealth.

Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore congratulated M&P’s leaders on their growth and success.

“M&P is an inspiring, locally founded, family-run company that has a strong history of success in Northern Kentucky,” said Judge Moore. “Congratulations to Kim and Steve Hall on the grand opening of their new 26,000-square-foot headquarters.” 

Mayor Diane Whalen is grateful that M&P expanded in the Florence.

“We are thankful that M&P made the commitment to grow and add more than 200 new logistics roles in the city of Florence,” said Mayor Whalen. “It’s fantastic to see this logistics business, which was founded in Florence, driving impressive revenue growth consistently over the last several years.”

Northern Kentucky Tri-ED CEO Lee Crume noted that logistics management and consulting is a high-growth industry in the region.

“Northern Kentucky offers access to more than half of the U.S. population within a day’s drive and a significant talent pool with logistics expertise,” said Crume. “M&P is an excellent example of a company creating good-paying career opportunities in the logistics management and consultant sector.”

M&P’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.

In 2021, the commonwealth shattered every economic development record in the books. Private-sector new-location and expansion announcements included a record $11.2 billion in total planned investment and commitments to create a record 18,000-plus full-time jobs across the coming years. Kentucky’s average incentivized hourly wage for projects statewide in 2021 was $24 before benefits, a 9.4% increase over the previous year.

That momentum has continued into 2022 with 160 new-location and expansion announcements totaling nearly 14,500 full-time jobs behind nearly $9.3 billion in new investment through November.

New job creation is accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2021 was $24 before benefits, the second-highest mark over the past seven years. Wages have continued to rise in 2022, with an average incentivized wage of $26.71 through November.

Gov. Beshear has now secured the best two-year period in state history for economic growth. Gov. Beshear has announced 41,237 full-time jobs and 728 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling, $22.89 billion in announced investments during his administration.

Gov. Beshear has also 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. And in April of this year, the Governor was joined by leadership at Envision AESC to announce a $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.

Kentucky’s success has been noted by both S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, which have upgraded the state’s financial outlook to positive in recognition of the commonwealth’s surging economy. In addition, Site Selection magazine placed Kentucky at 6th in its annual Prosperity Cup rankings for 2022, which recognizes state-level economic success based on capital investments.

In July, the Governor reported the highest annual growth rate in 31 years. And for the second year in a row, Kentucky’s General Fund budget surplus has exceeded $1 billion. Also in July, Gov. Beshear reported that the state’s rainy day fund is up to a record balance of $2.7 billion, significantly higher than the $129 million balance the fund had when the Governor took office.

Kentucky reported August 2022 General Fund receipts hit an unprecedented high for any August on record, marking 21 straight months of growing revenues for the state.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Kentucky lead the entire nation in job growth for the month of August and tied with New Hampshire for the largest jump in employment growth for September.

In September, Kentucky reported August 2022 General Fund receipts hit an unprecedented high for any August on record, marking 21 straight months of growing revenues for the state. September was also the third highest revenue month on record with more than $1.4 billion reported, marking the seventh month this year with collections topping $1 billion.

And from September 2021 to September 2022, Kentucky added 81,700 new jobs. Except for a four-month recovery period after the initial COVID-19 shock, this is the largest number of new jobs added in 20 years.

To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in August preliminarily approved an incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide tax incentives based on the company’s investment and annual job and wage targets of.

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, M&P 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 M&P Logistics, visit MandPLogistics.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, kycovid19.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accounts Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.