FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 26, 2023) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Papa John’s International Inc. (“Papa Johns”) will remain the sole owner of its Louisville campus and maintain its current office space, as well as the Papa Johns Quality Control Center, retaining more than 600 jobs at the campus.
“Kentucky has been proud to count Papa Johns among our state’s leading corporate citizens,” said Gov. Beshear. “Today, we welcome 1Vision to our great state, and we look forward to working with Papa Johns as it builds upon its long-standing commitment to Kentucky – from employing thousands of people across the state to helping make Kentucky an even better place to live and work.”
In addition, Papa Johns and 1Vision, a leading national provider of marketing services, announced that 1Vision has completed the acquisition of Preferred Marketing Solutions, a subsidiary of Papa Johns that will continue to operate on Papa Johns Louisville campus.
Papa Johns first shared plans with team members to pursue the sale and lease-back of its Louisville corporate offices earlier this year to address the evolving workstyles and preferences of its Louisville workforce. By maintaining ownership of its Louisville hub and partnering with 1Vision, more than 550 team members of Papa Johns and 50 team members of 1Vision, will remain on the Louisville campus long-term.
“Louisville has been home to Papa Johns for almost 40 years, and we remain committed to investing in this community,” said Papa Johns CEO Rob Lynch. “As the teams and executives of our IT, supply chain and legal departments continue to be based in our Louisville corporate hub, which will now also become a new home for 1Vision as they expand into the region, we both look forward to maintaining a strong presence in the city.”
1Vision, one of the fastest-growing printing and marketing solutions companies in the U.S, will be integrating Preferred Marketing’s operations and capabilities into its expanding platform of print, mail and marketing solutions companies. Louisville offers a large fulfillment and mail hub, which will improve 1Vision’s capabilities to service the eastern region of the United States.
“Preferred Marketing has expertise in providing best-in-class marketing solutions, helping marketers supporting thousands of unique locations to drive foot traffic through digital marketing, direct mail, onsite branded materials and associate apparel,” said 1Vision CEO Allen Taheri. “We look forward to continuing our investments in our new Louisville operation, which complements our operations in Denver, Houston, Las Vegas and Jackson, Mississippi, as we work to bring one of the most compelling retail marketing solutions in the industry.”
Papa Johns opened its doors in 1984 and was the first national pizza delivery chain to announce the removal of artificial flavors and synthetic colors from its entire food menu. Papa Johns is co-headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky, and is the world’s third-largest pizza delivery company with more than 5,700 restaurants in approximately 50 countries and territories. Since 2020, when the company moved to a multicorporate hub model, Papa Johns and the Papa Johns Foundation for Building Community together have invested more than $300,000 in Louisville community organizations, in addition to team member volunteerism and hundreds of in-kind donations of pizza.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg thanked the company for its continued commitment to the city: “Thank you to Papa Johns for its renewed commitment to our city. Johns is a bedrock company within Louisville’s food and beverage industry and within the community at large. These headquarter operations positions are the type of jobs that we want and need in our city, providing good pay and allowing people to advance in their careers.”
Jeffersontown Mayor Carol Pike spoke on the collaborative efforts the project required: “Since becoming mayor, my directive has been to retain Jeffersontown businesses while continuing to attract more. I am excited to announce the retention of Papa John’s International within Jeffersontown, Kentucky. This is a relationship first fostered in 1997 with the construction of their first-class facility. I am proud of the collaborative efforts with Gov. Beshear’s Cabinet for Economic Development, Mayor Greenberg’s CED, as well as my own CED to deliver the incentives necessary to secure the future of Papa Johns within Jeffersontown. I applaud the capital investment Papa Johns has committed to itself, its employees and the City of Jeffersontown. I believe this is a testament of the real value Jeffersontown provides as the benchmark for business and community life in Kentucky!”
Papa Johns’ investment and job creation builds on recent economic momentum in the commonwealth.
On Oct. 10, Gov. Beshear reported that General Fund receipts for September 2023 totaled over $1 billion, marking the 13th straight month with revenues over $1 billion. The Governor also recently announced that his administration secured the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund, as well as the most jobs filled in state history.
The General Fund budget surplus at the end of fiscal year 2023 was more than $1.55 billion. Nearly all of the $1.55 billion surplus will go into the commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund, bringing the fund to a record balance of $3.7 billion – a 2,700% increase since Gov. Beshear took office in 2019.
This year, the Governor announced that Kentucky set the record for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history.
Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced 904 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $27.8 billion in announced investments, creating 48,700 jobs. This is the highest investment figure for any governor in state history.
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 On 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 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.
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 introduced 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. Beshear announced that 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. Recently, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Kentucky’s credit outlook from stable to positive.
Site Selection magazine 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 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 investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) today preliminarily approved Papa Johns for up to $180,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA) based on the company’s investment of $6 million and annual job retention target. KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
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, Papa Johns 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 Papa Johns, visit PapaJohns.com.
A detailed community profile for Jefferson County can be viewed here.
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